Facebooking your solidarity

03.03.11 - 10:19 am | Caitlin Donohue |

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The Wigg Party's shout-out to Ohio

Freaky days, these, what with the war on NPR, Planned Parenthood, and Wisconsin. Freaky enough that people feel the need to make a gesture, which is what Wigg Party neighborhood activists were doing last night while most of us were finishing up that third glass of wine, tucking in the childrens, or being lame and sleeping. Facebook solidarity, baby – social network activism.

“We do feel the larger progressive agenda is really being attacked at this moment in time.” Morgan Fitzgibbons heads up the Wigg Party, Western Addition's neighborhood sustainability group that by night throws bean sprouting classes/parties in a four-story Victorian called the Sunshine Castle and by day works with the SF Bike Coalition on improving the Wiggle, among other ventures.

So Fitzgibbons – who heard about people doing a similar move on Sarah Palin's Facebook profile (it's kind of gem, check it out) – and eight Wigg partiers changed their profile photos on Facebook and social networked that shit out, commenting in tandem on the walls of AFSCME, The Heroic Wisconsin 14, Stand Up For Ohio, PBS, Planned Parenthood, US EPA, AFL-CIO, and 350.org.

“We chose these groups because they have shown great resilience under direct threat, whether due to proposed budget cuts or because they are central to the fight for organized labor,” says Fitzgibbons. Well, mostly. “350.org doesn't quite fit into that, but they were instrumental in organizing nationwide demonstrations in support of the labor issue. In addition, they were recently called a communist organization by Glenn Beck, and they're our friends.” A decent use of a half hour on a Wednesday night that went off, mainly, without a hitch. “It takes a little while for someone to identify as the letter “T” when you're calling them out,” says Fitzgibbons.

So why does it matter, in the grand scheme of things? How many times have you checked your notifications already today? Whatever your thoughts on online activism, a group of people in their twenties and early thirties just spent an evening using their prodigious Interneting skills to show love for the labor movement and other causes, so yay. Says the man in the Wigg: “Ultimately I think the big motive is to inspire other people to do stuff like this with their friends. We all have to be creating right now. We all need to be bending every corner, poking and prodding to see what might help ignite the fire."

Comments

And wearing badges is not enough in days like these

The party that became so powerful by sinking foreign boats
Is dreaming up new promises because promises win votes
And being resolute in conference with the ad man's expertise
The majority by their silence shall pay for days like these

The right to build communities is back behind closed doors
'Tween government and people stands the right arm of the law
And shame upon the patriot when the mark of the Bulldog Breed
Is a family without a home and a pensioner in need

Those whose lives are ruled by dogma are waiting for a sign
The Better Dead Than Red Brigade are listening on the line
And the liberal, with a small L cries in front of the TV
And another demonstration passes on to history
Peace, bread, work, and freedom is the best we can achieve
And wearing badges is not enough in days like these

Billy Bragg "Days Like These"

Posted by marcos on Mar. 03, 2011 @ 11:00 am

interesting

This is all very convenient for our progressives, but very puzzling.

The federal government passing on purchasing mandates to individual citizens is democracy in action, the city government telling you what to feed your kids is a great thing, micro managing business from the board of supervisors who have never worked in the private sector or had real jobs sends our liberals into fits of self congratulation, trying to ban JROTC because a small group of shouters is offended is community action, handing out the spoils in SF's governmental entitlement system is a wonderful way to run a city, but not getting your way elsewhere is an attack.

That is such an odd way to look at the world, when things go your way its democracy, when things are not it's a war on something or another. When our progressives get over its democracy, when they get to tell other people how to live they are ecstatic, when the favor is returned they are persecuted and a woeful lone group of righteous fighters for "the people"(tm).

An odd way to look at the world, when hectoring other people they are righteous, when getting it in return they are victims.

Posted by matlock on Mar. 05, 2011 @ 7:02 am