Collaborative Writing: Progressive Strategy Handbook

It is great to see people collaboratively writing materials for liberals, like the Progressive Strategy Handbook that recently came out. I like how you can print it out yourself, write comments, and users have essentially invested in it.

One of the downsides of this handbook include that it is about top-down political change. It ignores building movements by the number one method that works: building relationships. Instead it is wonky and focuses on new technologies and messaging. Messaging is great if you have money and leaders. But if you want to build a movement you need to first train leaders. (It is possible that the organizations already know this, but still it bears reiterating as it is critical.)

That said, I hope it will be successful so that more people use this model.

Over 5 years ago, I wrote a post advocating for a Collaborative Organizing Guide. We still need one.

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Side note: progressive is becoming a very dirty word for those of us who don't buy into the Democrats. It used to be that progressive was a code word or blanket term that included left liberals, socialists, anarchists, communists, and more. For instance the Progressive Student Network (1980-1993/1994) and many of its chapters or inspired groups (Progressive Student Alliance) were fairly radical (not including the one I started at Notre Dame, which was more moderate due to the nature of the school). Now liberals are fleeing the liberal term for "progressive", and are overwhelming the other leftists.

You now have groups like Campus Progress, the Progressive Democrats of America, and others which are solidly pro-Democrat.

I wonder if "progressive" will become a term that politicians see as embarassing in the next 30 years?