Thanks to serendipityisabitch for making my last post "Where Are We Now?" a worthwhile enterprise. And, for pointing out that I should have put an "other" selection in my pole. I also should have used the word "Business" instead of "Corporation" as a selection but I sacrificed clarity for the sake of trying to be true to the original Eric Hoffer Quote.
Where is DailyKos in it's evolution?
Movement?
50% 4 votes
Corporation?
0% 0 votes
Cult?
12% 1 votes
Racket?
37% 3 votes
Analysis: Dinner discussion with my brother yielded the obvious that Dailykos is of course a business. And, success in business often requires it to organize and function in ways that strongly resemble a cult. See my vlog "Cults, Rackets, Jesus People, and Gold" at http://www.youtube.com/... .
In short, a cult is a racket and both of these are forms of a business. Celebrity is a cult based business. Success yields celebrity yields cult following yields big business, it's a self feeding continuous cycle.
But, there is more to Dailykos than this. Here is what serendipityisabitch had to say in her eloquently stated comment to my post:
And now that you've responded so well to my (3+ / 0-)
comment, I suppose I'm pretty well obliged to try for a response to your question.
The problem with trying to characterize Daily Kos in any of the ways listed is that, if it's ever been a movement, it's been a movement in multiple directions at the same time. It's a corporation, by definition, simply because, imho, that's a workable structure for tax purposes.
Not a week goes by (not a day, generally) that there aren't major questions asked about the management and direction of the site. Generally the transition to a cult involves purging questioners, and then limiting new entrants to those who are willing to accept the principles of the few at the top. Even if one accepted the rare banhammer fests as that type of purge, there certainly doesn't seem to have been any major attempt to do the kinds of drastic limitation that would fit the stereotype.
There are groups that can be seen as cliques among the many members, who can be and have been accused of this type of behavior. Lots of them. In just about every area of the political spectrum that could possibly cover calling oneself a Democrat. In other words, a free-for-all, not a movement, with an occasional nod toward electing more and better democrats.
At least half the future I've been expecting hasn't gotten here yet. Sigh.... (Yes, there's gender bias in my name; no, I wasn't thinking about it when I signed up. My apologies.)
by serendipityisabitch on Sun Nov 10, 2013 at 10:03:27 PM EST
Now, that seems like a pretty good analysis to me and I actually started feeling a little stupid for posting this poll until I read this from Kos:
Wherein I talk about how awesome Daily Kos is http://www.dailykos.com/...
As soon as I read how great DailyKos is doing as a website(as a business), I started rethinking the kinds of material I should post. Without realizing it, I began to erect that vaneer of bullshit that every corporate pog in the world must have in order to succeed in the corporate landscape. I live by the skin of my teeth and the good graces of family and friends. If the ship is coming in, I don't want to miss the boat. And, then I knew exactly what Eric Hoffer was talking about :
What starts out here as a mass movement ends up as a racket, a cult, or a corporation.
Wed Nov 13, 2013 at 11:40 AM PT: Puerile: Boyish, Childish, Trifling, Silly , Yobbish, Youthful, Juvenile...
...Entertaining?