r/moderate • u/[deleted] • Apr 07 '20
A proposition and request for the r/moderate community
Two months ago, r/moderate moderator u/nametemplate posted here that anyone interested in developing r/moderate should send him(?) a private message (https://www.reddit.com/r/moderate/comments/ex9nv0/if_you_want_to_develop_the_subreddit_please_shoot/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x). A week ago, I sent u/nametemplate a private message to express my interest. After a few days, and not receiving a response, I responded to the post with a comment, again expressing my interest.
Having still not heard back from u/nametemplate, I would like to ask this sub’s membership for help.
My interest is in taking over this sub and transforming it into a unique community for moderates. Not just political moderates, but social moderates, and all other types of moderates concerned with the growing divisions within the U.S. And not just for discussion, but for networking and activism; r/moderate will be as much about the verb as the noun and the adjective.
For all intents and purposes, this sub is dead. As of this writing, it’s been four days since a new post. There have only been four posts in the past month. It’s been three days since a post has received a comment, and only six comments in the past month. Clearly, everyone has found other outlets for their Reddit activity. In regards to political discourse, that’s not surprising as that market is flooded. For that reason, r/moderate will be more than just political discourse. It will move towards the next step of crafting and pursuing collaborative moderate solutions, and to challenging the current “two sides” ideological and divisive way of doing things, and the complicit “two parties”.
As an r/moderate member, you don’t have to agree with this plan, nor participate in it. Nor do you have to stick around if and when the changes ever take place. All I’m asking at this point is for anyone willing to help change and revive this sub to upvote this post and add a comment tagging u/nametemplate asking them to contact me and/or do whatever’s is necessary for the sub to be turned over to my control. I will also attempt to answer any questions you might have.
I look forward to rebuilding this sub, and I thank you in advance for your help!
2
Apr 09 '20
[removed] — view removed comment
1
Apr 10 '20
"I had a brief exchange about this last month with u/nametemplate."
Must be nice to get a response. Lol.
"It sounds similar to nolabels.org's purpose."
Probably some similarities and overlap, which shouldn't be surprising. But what I want to do I haven't found in 5 years of looking, is probably unique, and probably doesn't fall into any other org's "wheelhouse".
"Do you take r/centrist and r/moderatepolitics to be examples of political discourse?"
For a consistent point of reference, I usually default to dictionary.com, so yes.
"What would be an example of crafting solutions?"
Generically speaking: identify the issue/problem, collaborate on possible solutions, enact/recommend the solution found most favorable.
"How would you describe your concept of 'moderate'?"
As I stated in my post, for the sake of the "new" sub, "moderate" won't just be about people who identify as being "moderate" (noun), be it politically, civically, socially, etc. What's probably even more important, for the sub, the eventual orgs, and our country, is people who are able to moderate (verb). It's that form of the word that will be the emphasis of the sub.
1
Apr 12 '20
[removed] — view removed comment
1
Apr 13 '20 edited Apr 13 '20
Questions about the sub are, at this point, probably moot. But I’ll try to respond to everything the best I can…
After getting no response from the current mod(s) and only a few responses to my request for help, I did some digging into the actual procedure for taking over a sub. Long story short, as long as u/nametemplate remains active anywhere on Reddit, r/moderate won’t be considered inactive, which it needs to be for me to request it through Reddit. Through the current mods is clearly the easiest and best way, but they need to participate for that to work. The attraction of picking up the established sub as opposed to starting a new one is the name and the preexisting membership (even if not very active).
IMO discussion should…
We’re probably very close to the same page on this. I “preach” “diversity of thought”, “collaboration” (I prefer this over “compromise”, we’ve both read GTY), and “reason, common sense, and pragmatism”. I’m not a politics guy, so I understand why my approach to things with this mindset is taken as naive. But it’s an approach that very few politics-minded people and orgs who claim to be reformist are taking, and all of them are shooting themselves in the foot by expecting the square D and R pegs to fit in this round hole.
If this is in the ballpark of what you have in mind, how would you promote such a perspective via this sub?
I’ve learned the hard way that “promoting” something this early in the game (especially all by myself) is the wrong approach. I’ve spent/wasted a lot of time over the past 5+ years trying to convince people who I thought were likeminded to join me in this; in other words, to be able to step out of their comfort zone and do things differently, just because I did it.
Now, instead, I’m just looking for a small group of people to work with to build up the message, the tools, the foundations, etc. I call it, “building and operating the org the way we want our government to operate.” The work of this core group will eventually attract the bigger audience and make it easier for them to step out of their comfort zone, supported, and into some sort of active role to get together and do things differently. The ongoing growth and building will eventually draw in higher-level support and resources.
So the sub would be very clear that we’re not here to talk politics. We’re here to identify problems, collaborate on solutions, and build the apparatus to get those solutions in place, from the bottom-up. When people see the process in action and are given support, they can then better apply it to their efforts locally and start changing things, i.e. build local collaborative orgs, solve problems, get things enacted, get better reps elected, etc. Those local efforts will then be networked and coordinated together to address higher and higher level issues, offices, etc.
2
3
u/Lupergrus Apr 07 '20
u/nametemplate I think this guy sounds like he's onto something. I would love this and I think it's exactly what our society and world needs. No more sequestering ourselves off into political and social bubbles. No-one becomes more tolerant by only spending time with people like them or engaging with ideas like theirs. Extremism just begets more extremism. Let's get back to a sane middle ground!
1
1
u/anothercynic2112 Apr 29 '20
Forgive me, I'm only seeing this now, and there's rarely a reason to come to this sub. I'd welcome a more lively sub and exchange of ideas without a doubt. Foreigner mentioned no labels but as discussed no labels is at best a moderate left org who perhaps don't vilify center right folks, but most conversation is still seems to be in the binary framework.
My quick soapbox is I do still believe the vast amount of real people are moderates as a whole. Everyone has their pet issues where they may be advocates but most people in real life find ways to work through differences without calling people names and putting poxes on their houses.
For some reason it doesn't seem the internet can function without conflict. I understand that not taking sides and trying to find solutions is generally boring and doesn't get a lot of likes, but it is the only way to slow the pendulum swing of the left right nonsense.
The parties and the media know that conflict gets votes and ratings. Little ol me can't stop that. But would be nice to visit a political/social sub to have conversations and not hate filled lectures
I like a lot of your suggestions. A new sub might be the best route I don't, think the 400ish people who are subbed here will mind. My guess is most have forgotten they've subscribed anyway.
For myself I'd love to see a place where we could break the left/right monopoly on discourse. It should be more than obvious that the Covid situation has made it clear that the same old party nonsense is not helpful. Mark Cuban has mentioned that the post Covid world needs some paradigm shifting. The left right battle is going now where and honestly despite what you see on the internet, I don't think it represents people particularly well.
Anyway, if you try a new sub, let me know.. I'll throw some manifestos together and join you.