Edeity candidacy discussion thread

Hi.

Engagement with the membership of the party is very important to me, as is an executive that is open and transparent.

To this end, I have created this thread for any questions you may have on my candidacy for President.

Consistent with my position that I presented last year, this time is crucially important for the party to move forward and needs particular focus on internal identity, culture and membership.

We are a party with a very broad and robust set of policies and interests. But we should also know what we stand out from the other political parties for.

I am here to bring the digital back to digital activism.

There has never been a time when Pirate Party Australia was more relevant to Australian politics than right now.

Now for some entertainment value, as these campaigns can get a little serious, here is a fun(…ish) video for my election campaign that touches on key issues relevant to the party and the link back to digital activism. It is not an all encompassing video of everything I stand for or am about and is not branded but it is intended to bring a perspective on some aspects of why the history and future of this party over any other is relevant to politics in Australia today.

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Has Anyone Really Been Far Even as Decided to Use Even Go Want to do Look More Like?

A more serious question: What would be the gist of what and how you’d inform the average Anon about the Pirate Party who still thinks we’re a joke party purely based on our name and/or thinks it’s too niche at face value?

tl;dr - What’s your strategy to prove we can be taken seriously and have more to offer than what the public would think we offer?

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Like with all organisations, it starts with ourselves. We need to find and understand our identity. From there the perception of who and what we are is shaped. This will have much more impact and positive change than a bandaid solution of a name change or fadish pitch.

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lol and cool meme. I actually didn’t know that one.

How do you think we might go about doing that?

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Vision that is communicated in actions first and in words that others then take on as their own, each striving to make it real. This is how strategy happens, it’s how business happens, its how politics happens… it is also how cults happen… but that’s a different story…

That sounds like a strategy for having strategies. A bit meta, but good to have.
Got any actions in mind?

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Well, I was actually not planning to run for president until Frew made it clear he was not standing, so it is to be honest still a bit fresh.

That said, I do this for a living, so here we go.

To me leadership means leading. When I talk about vision, I’m talking Steve Jobs, not someone running polls on what is popular right now. Pirate Party Australia is the iPod, the Ford motor car of politics in Australia. If we work off polling we will just be a poor second to the established parties. We lead by leading.

The common expression of this is “fake it until you make it” or a different take is “dress for the job you want not the job you have”.

I have no intention of being the leader of the ALP, nor the Liberal Party nor the Greens. I want to be the leader of Pirate Party Australia. That means I am digital, online, fact driven, fearless in the face of the tyranny of mediocrity and I am a bit left, a bit socialist and damn not afraid to mention it. I care about people, principles and stand against using the internet and more importantly what it represents - freedom of expression and freedom of knowledge as a tool of fear and oppression.

I want our leadership to exude this self conviction. This is not a part time job. This is who we are. Have you met a real communist? It’s not a weekend hobby. They are what they are to the bone, to the death because they believe their passion, sacrifice and principles make the world better for those that come after us. And the world that comes us after us is digital.

Conviction and identity will drive a leap in our engagement and enthusiasm, our numbers will grow and we will do things we never thought we could. But if we do not get this core where it starts right, it does not matter how finely we tune plans or devise detailed strategies, they will always lack follow through when it gets just that bit too hard.

Heart first. Mind second. Right now we need our heart to beat with vigour.

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I supported your nomination last year for a council position other than president, but I feel I know you better this time around. What are your plans for building an effective team to contest an upcoming election within the party?

I dont have one at present and i do have a cold right now, so it’s sort of worst timing possible.

First and foremost I want to rapidly no excuses bulldoze anything in the way of laying down infrastructure for members of the party to connect and talk better. Right now we are frozen in these little silos with what seems like a small group by either design or poor design the only ones with any knowledge of what connects members of the party.

Communication links established, I want to connect with others of like mind for vision led, pragmatically implemented change. But at the same time I want to make sure that those that do not agree with me also have the tools to be effective and pursue their view of the party. More debate more challenge is always better than none at all, which would be the worst outcome.

I may even find I may not be the best future leader and someone far better can emerge and take advantage of what I helped contribute to take the party even further, which is the best possible outcome at least at somepoint in the future.

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What’s your opinion on factionalism?

It is a sign of diversity and tolerance, that to many appears to be the opposite.

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In the position of President, would you forget about your “encouraging robots to take over the world” thing?

If not, how would that work?

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LOL. I am a futurist at heart, and a strong supporter of AI research dating back to my teenage years learning LISP and neural networks etc. I think the future will be wonderful and the machines and new ways of thinking that these machines will do is what will make it that so much more than we can imagine right now.

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Sure, sure, but what about the trolling aspect: actual encouragement to overthrow humanity, without defining much nicer interpretations for words like ‘overthrow’ and ‘humanity’?

I have faith that many people can tell the difference between a dry Colbertesque personality online and a fervent political belief system.

No I do not actually advocate the exctinction of humanity.

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This is a Trump world. Sometimes people now need to say that they aren’t trying to wipe out their species.

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Trump would be all “I will make America the greatest at wiping out humans. We did it the best in world war 2 and it brought jobs.”

Mind you I would totally say that but really really expecting not to be taken seriously.

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Also just a quick note.

Emily has also nominated, and I wish her the best. Choice is important for the party in getting the best possible leadership talent.

I’m also glad it is not a very last minute submission, which to me speaks of a genuine ideal driven intent for the betterment of the party. All the best Emily, look forward to buying each other a beer if you are attending in person, otherwise I will try post a picture of a beer here instead on Friday night.

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Both of you should nominate for Deputy President too (If you haven’t, I am on my phone and too lazy to check). I’d take a Councillor role to get you both in leadership positions. We need new blood to enrich the veins of the Party.

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