Oh Kaye!
Doug Kaye has posted his interviews
with Marc Danziger,
COO of Spirit of America, and force of nature; and Kerry
Dupont, SoA's Director of Procurement/Logistics. They give a good insight
into how SoA evolved and, importantly, how the project is embraced by all sides
of the political spectrum. (Kerry gives a great example: her husband is very
conservative and his mother's a committed liberal. "At dinners, I think
we'll end up throwing wine." But both of them embrace the SoA vision–and
specifics–enthusiastically. Kerry tells more here.)
Spirited Counterpointer
Dave Winer, bless his heart, is a reliable
curmudgeon. When no one can find something wrong with Spirit of America,
Dave is the loyal opposition, cautioning the rest of us clueless enthusiasts
from joining hands in our shared ignorance:
Jeff Jarvis is promoting
a site called Spirit of America. I don't know much about it, and I don't sign
up for political causes I don't know much about. I see other bloggers singing
glowing praises for it, but sheez, how the heck could they know? I don't think
bloggerdom should be used the way people use talk shows on TV. I said I don't
stand up for causes I don't understand. I guess that's a polite way of saying
that I don't even like what they're doing. I think we need to get over ourselves
in America, because our time is just about over, unless we stop guzzling so
much gas and start electing leaders with brains, morals and courage. I feel
I have to say I like Jeff, I really do, he's come through for me twice at
BloggerCon, and I appreciate that. But his politics are 180 degrees opposite
mine, even on tactics. I think the best thing the US can do for the world
is get our own house in order and stop trying to fix the world, something
we're exceedingly bad at.
I agree that we Americans have to get over ourselves, but that's mostly because
we're a subset of that egotistical species, homo sapiens, that needs,
collectively, to get over itself. Fat chance! About as likely as the absurd
hope that we'll stop guzzling gas and start electing leaders with brains, morals
and courage. As the military says, a hope is not a plan, and hoping for the
impossible is a waste of time and bandwidth.
Alan Kay famously said
that "The easiest way to predict the future is to invent it."
It's a clever way to suggest that the only way to prove something is worth doing
is to make it worthy.
Let's be clear: Dave Winer has invented more future than anyone in the blogosphere.
A couple of months ago, Mitch
Kapor told me that the computer industry has spent the last ten years
implementing the ideas Dave Winer had originated. That's heady praise, indeed,
and true. So when Dave pushes back, it's good to listen.
But I'm missing the dark, ugly American aspects of SoA. Even Dan
Gillmor is more optimistic than Dave, and Dan is our most trusted and insightful
doubter of All-American cure-alls. The only problem
he sees is that gear might not reach its intended recipients:
There are all kinds of things that can go wrong. Violence could make
the relief work impossible. Someone might misuse or steal what gets sent overseas.
The organization might not be able to handle the requests effectively. But
Hake is building in what safeguards he can, and the finances of the non-profit
will be made available for anyone to view on the Web site.
Tomorrow is Memorial Day in America. We remember and honor those who
have fallen in service of their nation.
Maybe we can't put aside our politics when we contemplate this war. I
have my own strongly negative feelings about what President Bush and his advisers
have done in Iraq, and wish we had not stopped halfway in Afghanistan.
We owe something to the people of those nations. Jim Hake and his crew
can't solve the world's, or a nation's, problems by themselves. They can help.
So can the rest of us.
How Do I Question Thee? Let Me Count the Ways
Is it a problem that Americans choose to share their abundance with Iraqis?
Is that a bad example? Should we not take advantage of the communications power
of the Internet and the logistical miracles of space-available air freight?
Which of SoA's self-absorbed, questionable initiatives shall we stifle?
I understand the threat of irresponsible giving that Dave is cautioning us
against. Oh, it started
harmlessly enough when Dianna Smith humored
her husband, Special Forces Sgt. First Class Jay Smith. Jay had asked Dianna
to send baseball equipment so he and his buddies could organize a Little League
program for Afghani kids in the town of Orgun-e, 20 miles from Pakistan. See,
this is how these imperial initiatives start: innocent-appearing, but with a
Pax Americana motivation. The hapless volunteers should have recognized
the xenophobic threat in the next slide down the slippery slope when they helped
load 2 tons – 4,000 pounds! – of Frisbees for delivery
to Iraq.
There is surely a diabolical back story behind the nine Arab TV stations that
the Marines
are about to equip, thanks to about $1,500,000 donated in a week when the
idea was raised at SoA. The Marines had found the buildings and, I guess, antennas
for the nine stations, but the equipment had been destroyed. Now the equipment
is in Iraq, ready to be delivered and lighted up. The stations will be turned
over to Iraqi ownership and management, but the Marines have stipulated that
the stations must accept the Marines' paid commercials, urging Iraqis to not
kill . . . wait for it . . . Marines! You do see the propaganda machine
they're setting up, don't you? Soon the Marines will be broadcasting where the
kids can pick up their frisbees.
I have a soft spot in my heart for American GI's. I hauled a ton of 'em around
Vietnam in '67 and '68. Couldn't find a bad one in the bunch. As an airlift
pilot (trash hauler), I'm aware of the good deeds that airlift crews have done.
Did you know that, during the Berlin Airlift, the crews would airdrop
candy with little parachutes they'd stay up half the night preparing? You
DO know that candy causes cavities don't you? There you have it: another
plot against the world's disadvantaged.
OK. I've gone over the top with this Fox News commentator persona. But we moderates
don't often have the luxury of teasing those who question straightforward humanitarianism.
But there's a deeper opportunity here, and if it's not progressive, what is?
Strike Force Echo: Fulfillment Specialists
Coming Soon to a Global Theater near Someone
Echo is what follows Delta in the phonetic alphabet. Every Tom Clancy
fan knows about Strike Force Delta, the Rambo-ish commandos prepared to project
deadly force anywhere in the world that our wise leaders send them. But perhaps
SoA can help us develop a new model? What if US military specialists were deployed
all over the globe on random acts of kindness and senseless generosity? What
if they were the fulfillment arm of the largesse of American citizens? The last
mile for FedEx deliveries, as it were?
This seems to be Micah Sifry's inkling today:
"Out of solidarity with my friends Britt
Blaser and Jeff
Jarvis, here's a plug for Spirit
of America, a people-to-people effort to bring vitally needed aid to the
peoples of Iraq and Afghanistan.
I suppose this falls into the category of "if you're stuck with
lemons, make lemonade."
Next time, let's do this before the fools in Washington invade another
country, OK?
Micah, who has earned his cynicism from a lifetime in politics, is clearly
restrained and is acting out of personal loyalty as enthusiasm for SoA. The
thing to remember about Micah is that he does more good stuff while skeptical
than most of us do out of childish enthusiasm (my M.O.).
Micah's parting shot is the part that stirs my juices, as well as Jeff's, who
calls SoA "open-source
nation-building". OSNB also energizes Jim Moore, with
whom I've been exchanging voicemails, conjecturing together how this model might
extend to ending genocide in the Sudan, which Jim has been championing ever
since he discovered what happens when you remove the ID
from President: The
Passion of the Present.
The designer in me imagines a set of protocols for peer-to-peer sharing forced
upon the U.S. government by the spontaneous generosity of the American people.
When we want to project our generosity onto the world, Strike Force Echo swings
into action, airlifted into action by the white C-130s (natch) with the teddy
bear logos on the tail.
So maybe Strike Force Echo could be the promotion path for Delta Force guys.
The battle-hardened Teddy Bears in the white helmets;
We deliver the goods that make you feel good!
A Stitch in Time
I have a dream, and it's about how to engage every citizen on the planet in
a global village economy. When I heard about the 1,000 sewing machines that
SoA is preparing to deliver, it dredged up a three-year-old vision I had to
disrupt the Taliban's patriarchy with some good old Yankee P2P trade:
- Get Muslim women to produce shawls, burkas, etc.
- Advertise the goods to American women who want to support the effort
(purchasing the goods as crafts in an expression of solidarity;
a $100 burka on your wall is a Muslim family free to be)
- Somehow exchange the goods by putting money in the hands of Muslim women
That "somehow" detail put the idea on the back burner until Micah
Sifry and I had coffee with Rodger Desai, who has experience with middle eastern
cellular systems and is also excited about SoA. Rodger's interested in many
intiatiatives, and assisted with the Grameen
Bank microcredit project when he was with Accenture. I asked him how to
monetize an Afghani or Iraqi woman's labor, and he has what sounds like a practical
solution: Phone cards.
Heh. It turns out that you can add value to another person's unique phone card
via PayPal. Then the other party can redeem the credits, if the issuer is willing.
Rodger suggested that USAID might be
the agency to redeem phone card credits for real cash.
Adopt the High Way
Spirit of America will be operating
on the Adopt-a-Highway model, where clubs and organizations take responsibility
for specific civic projects. Marc Danziger suggests that, when the Marines document
the need for an irrigation pump for an Iraqi village, the need is publicized
like an auctiuon item, until a person or group takes responsibility for it.
It's a small stretch to see that our best collective urges and actions can
force the government to take the bureaucracy out of nation-building and put
the human heart into diplomacy. It might be called the POW! doctrine of defeating
warfare with the use of the overwhelming force of kindness.
As Dan Gillmor says,
"Jim Hake and his crew can't solve the world's, or a nation's, problems
by themselves. They can help. So can the rest of us."
And a start is the most fun of all.
3:48:54 PM 
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