cross-posted from: https://lemmy.perthchat.org/post/42852

For a few years now i’ve been immeasurably disappointed (and had my day ruined) my supposed left organization. I’ve asked a lot of political friends over time if they want to create an org or do any praxis and they’ve always been too armchair socialist to be interested. Well good news! Finally met someone who said they’re down!

So since i’ve never made it this far, any pro tips? All i know is that we both agree on most left topics. Not sure what specific topic(s) we’re gonna attempt to target

  • @chobeat
    3•2 years ago

    I’ve created a few at this point and I can give you some mixed advices:

    • start with a clear path to impact: engage people only when you have a clear idea that goes from what you have now to a world changed for the better.
    • avoid engaging with politicized people too early and engage with people impacted by the problem you’re addressing first.
    • don’t go too horizontal too early: horizontality, democracy, fairness are a cost, a cost that most young organizations cannot sustain. Lay down a path from an early, efficient core to a more democratic organization with a clear transition process that triggers once the organization starts to be impactful. Transparency of intentions can make up for horizontality for a while.
    • a small organization of like-minded people can do more of a big organization. Bring on board people that already agree with you on the important topics and share your idea and your plan.
    • detach your public communication from your internal communication: what you say in public doesn’t have to be what you think or say in private. Learn how to play with it.
    • structure your internal processes as soon as possible. Having somebody with experienced with setting up organizations, designing processes, automating workflows, picking tools and structuring informations is very helpful. If you don’t have such a person, reach out to an organization that seems impactful and ask them for help.