Help Creating Red Party Website

[Reclaimed Dasein]

I am looking to start a revolutionary website.
I must be precisely clear on the objective. It is not to convert liberals or leftists to any particular strand of revolutionary ideology. Rather the express purpose of this website is to convince conservatives and reactionaries of the rightness of the revolutionary cause. This is primarily and directly in the red states of the USA.
The actual structure of the website will consist of a main page that serves as a front end for a VB bulletin system. In this case, people will sign up for the website and enter a particular thread in which they may raise questions without interference of competing ideologies. This will serve as an introduction to revolutionary theory in general and Marxism in particular.
So I need someone who is able to create a front end for VB and willing to create a system of permissions for VB. I am willing to buy both the license and the space for hosting. Please contact me with proofs of concept.
I am willing to compensate whomever can work with me to create this site.
The following are examples of both what the site must look like, and what it must not.
Working Party (http://www.rnc.org/)
Democratic Party (http://www.democrats.org/index.html)
Socialist Party (http://socialistparty-usa.org/)
The design of the website must be clear and concise, not convoluted and distracting.
Please PM me as soon as possible.

[Pogue]

I am looking to start a revolutionary website.
I must be precisely clear on the objective. It is not to convert liberals or leftists to any particular strand of revolutionary ideology. Rather the express purpose of this website is to convince conservatives and reactionaries of the rightness of the revolutionary cause. This is primarily and directly in the red states of the USA.
The actual structure of the website will consist of a main page that serves as a front end for a VB bulletin system. In this case, people will sign up for the website and enter a particular thread in which they may raise questions without interference of competing ideologies. This will serve as an introduction to revolutionary theory in general and Marxism in particular.
So I need someone who is able to create a front end for VB and willing to create a system of permissions for VB. I am willing to buy both the license and the space for hosting. Please contact me with proofs of concept.
I am willing to compensate whomever can work with me to create this site.
The following are examples of both what the site must look like, and what it must not.
Working Party (http://www.rnc.org/)
Democratic Party (http://www.democrats.org/index.html)
Socialist Party (http://socialistparty-usa.org/)
The design of the website must be clear and concise, not convoluted and distracting.
Please PM me as soon as possible.

Whats the point?

[Reclaimed Dasein]

Whats the point?
The point is that I live in an area completely devoid of any radical activity. Moreover, none of the larger parties are willing to help us start things up. Furthermore, even if they were, the sectarian divisions would ultimately turn off most people. Lastly, a party that stands in front of every good fight be it national, state, or local would be amazingly useful in showing conservatives and right wingers that communism is the true answer to their bitter helplessness.

[Pogue]

The point is that I live in an area completely devoid of any radical activity. Moreover, none of the larger parties are willing to help us start things up. Furthermore, even if they were, the sectarian divisions would ultimately turn off most people. Lastly, a party that stands in front of every good fight be it national, state, or local would be amazingly useful in showing conservatives and right wingers that communism is the true answer to their bitter helplessness.

Sectarian divisions would turn off most people? So alone, you've decided to form another left wing party.

Sorry, but its just silly, and not helpful. I find it hard to believe that no other groups will let you join.

[Reclaimed Dasein]

Sectarian divisions would turn off most people? So alone, you've decided to form another left wing party.

Sorry, but its just silly, and not helpful. I find it hard to believe that no other groups will let you join.
It's a little different if, for example, you don't have exclusive membership. It's not about other groups not letting me join. It's that they're not willing to offer support to groups in the middle of the red states. I live in Utah... it had a ridiculously high approval rating for Bush, but I'm making the bet that if we have an open and engaging party/site where people feel welcome and included they'll be more receptive to communist ideals.

I'll be perfectly honest, I meet a lot of people who become interested in communism when I talk to them for a while, but there's no accessible and friendly site that they can join to get personal information about what communism is or what it might mean to them. It's not meant for dedicated communists, marxists, or leftists per se... instead it's about reaching a new group of people that have otherwise been abandoned by traditional communist efforts.

[Pogue]

It's a little different if, for example, you don't have exclusive membership. It's not about other groups not letting me join. It's that they're not willing to offer support to groups in the middle of the red states. I live in Utah... it had a ridiculously high approval rating for Bush, but I'm making the bet that if we have an open and engaging party/site where people feel welcome and included they'll be more receptive to communist ideals.

I'll be perfectly honest, I meet a lot of people who become interested in communism when I talk to them for a while, but there's no accessible and friendly site that they can join to get personal information about what communism is or what it might mean to them. It's not meant for dedicated communists, marxists, or leftists per se... instead it's about reaching a new group of people that have otherwise been abandoned by traditional communist efforts.

What will you do that this site or any of the others like it don't?

[Coggeh]

Talk to Decontioned Reflex +1 , he's really good at creating graphics I'm sure he'd would have skills in that area .

Is their no leftist organisation whatsoever in Utah ?

And how would this website help ? I think maybe stickers(yes stickers) on polls with the website name just to get it out their that its local etc . Around campus's , poor regions and high schools I think should be your target .

Good to see a comrade taking an initiative, whether its practical or not , we'll see I guess .

[Reclaimed Dasein]

What will you do that this site or any of the others like it don't?
Well basically things go down like this. I talk to someone who is generally very conservative and I point out how capitalism is ruining their lives and America. Now usually, they express interest in learning more and give me a number or an E-mail. However, what happens is we usually have a piecemeal but productive conversation. However, this is incredibly time consuming and doesn't usually go anywhere quickly since we all pretty much have to do it through long discussion.

It also doesn't work to necessarily send people to any of the mainline Marxist, communist, or socialist websites because they're absolutely packed with news, analysis, and general information. It's inevitably overwhelming to someone unfamiliar with radicalism.

Simply giving them the manifesto or directing them to marxists.org usually doesn't help because they don't know where to start, and by the time they figure it out they're somewhat off put. In the end, the material (while very good) usually doesn't resonate with them because a lot is written for the 19th century.

To remedy this the website will ONLY feature introductory material to Marxism, one on one forums, and basic organization tools. The introductory material will be incredibly clear to help people get their groundings on difficult concepts like class war, socialism, and capitalism. Ultimately, I hope to have in both text and movie format to make it accessible to everyone.

Besides that, the core material of the site will be one on one forums. In this case, individuals will be granted access to their own thread where they post any questions or concerns they might have. Moderators will have permissions to see the thread and prepare friendly and direct responses (often drawing of an established body of knowledge for common questions) and send that to the admins. The admins will then review it for form and content and then post it in the interaction thread and the process begins again. While revleft might a be a useful tool to some for learning marxism, often the intrusion of OIers, sectarian arguing, and general contempt for "stupid" questions or positions make it very uninviting to many.

In this way, we can move people to support radical leftism gradually by building a fairly personal relationship between them and us. Ultimately, the goal is to get them into events in their community to help make things better directly in people's lives. For example, in Provo (where I used to live) big realestate companies get zoning permits for huge apartment complexes from the city council without any serious cost. Moreover, they don't build enough parking so they force people to pay, fight for parking spots, or get towed. In this way, the Red Party can get behind real issues and show people how capitalism fucks them in their every day life. In this way, we can build grass roots movements among unlikely allies. In this case, the site could have local city, county, and state level red party chapters to deal with issues as they arise.

As people get interested, they'll send more people to the site. This will in turn allow for greater discussion, that will generate more interest. Moreover, since it's non-sectarian if Leninists, Troskyists, Maoists, Ultra-leftists, etc. want to recruit out of the ranks there isn't a big problem since it exists mostly as a tool for introducing people to radical thought.

Again, it would be mostly for Red States where there is little to no leftist or revolutionary activity. I'm pretty certain that most of the leftists in Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana could use a system like this to inform and organize people until substantial organizations could take root.


Talk to Decontioned Reflex +1 , he's really good at creating graphics I'm sure he'd would have skills in that area .

Is their no leftist organisation whatsoever in Utah ?

And how would this website help ? I think maybe stickers(yes stickers) on polls with the website name just to get it out their that its local etc . Around campus's , poor regions and high schools I think should be your target .

Good to see a comrade taking an initiative, whether its practical or not , we'll see I guess .


Thanks for the support and advice. Basically no, there aren't almost any leftist organizations whatsoever in Utah. There are a few anarchist squats in Salt Lake, and the Socialist Party tried to get their presidential canidate on the ballot, but basically no.

http://www.utahpolicy.com/portal/other_parties.htm

Basically the Green Party counts as the radical leftists.

[Plagueround]

There are plenty places on this forum to discuss the practicality and/or uselessness of forming revolutionary parties. Let's keep this thread to assisting with the building of his website please.

[Reclaimed Dasein]

Ok the website is "up." I need help designing a front page, and I'd like to get a custom vBulletin skin. If anyone can help me out with this or is interested, let me know. I'm willing to talk compensation.

http://www.redpartynow.com (http://www.redpartynow.com/)

[Q]

I suggest using a content management system, like Joomla! (http://www.joomla.org/). This'll make your site scalable towards the future (it is easier to handle thousands of pages by a CMS then it is manually).

[Reclaimed Dasein]

I suggest using a content management system, like Joomla! (http://www.joomla.org/). This'll make your site scalable towards the future (it is easier to handle thousands of pages by a CMS then it is manually).
This is a really good idea, and I appreciate it. Nevertheless, I dont' feel up to installing it right now since I've still got to learn HTML, XHTML, CSS, and PHP... the "quick" guide is 47 pages long...

[The Idler]

This is a really good idea, and I appreciate it. Nevertheless, I dont' feel up to installing it right now since I've still got to learn HTML, XHTML, CSS, and PHP... the "quick" guide is 47 pages long...
Sometimes using a CMS such as Joomla means you won't have to learn HTML, XHTML, CSS and PHP compared to setting up a site manually.

[Q]

Sometimes using a CMS such as Joomla means you won't have to learn HTML, XHTML, CSS and PHP compared to setting up a site manually.

Exactly. The point of a CMS is that you don't have to hassle with HTML/PHP/etc code, but instead only focus on the content you want on your website. Design is done by templates which you can design on your own (which indeed requires HTML and PHP knowledge), but in the example of Joomla! there are thousands of ready made templates already available for your chosing.

[ZeroNowhere]

Hell yes, you actually used the correct definition of reformism. :)
Still, a few issues, "Marx was a very smart man from the 1800s." The fuck, you're not talking to 3 year olds here, you're talking to conservatives. There's a (slight) difference. :D
"He realized that the way nations and companies buy and sell hurts us individually, hurts our families, and hurts our communities." Again, oversimplification. And it sounds a hell of a lot like some of the reformist shite about how poverty and the like are simply the product of 'policies' of governments and businesses. Also, 'how they buy and sell' is... Way too much of a simplification, really. I mean, come on, if you're trying to convince people of something, don't patronize them, and certainly, if it's conservatives, little simplifications like this just won't do. Perhaps say 'capitalism', with a link to an article explaining what capitalism is. Though I would leave Marx's theories (critique of the political economy and historical materialism, mainly) to another page, or just link to Rubin (though some may find him dull, but anyways), perhaps Rubel, and I suppose to 'The German Ideology' and 18th Brumaire. Also, I would recommend some of the better critiques of modern economics:
Hilferding on subjectivism and Bohm-Bawerck (http://www.marxists.org/archive/hilferding/1904/criticism/index.htm), Meszaros on 'marginal utility' theory (http://www.marxists.org/archive/meszaros/works/beyond-capital/ch03-2.htm), and hell, even Marx and Keynes (http://www.marxists.org/archive/mattick-paul/1955/keynes.htm) if you want. I've heard Grossman's article (http://www.marxists.org/archive/grossman/1941/dynamics.htm) is good too, though I haven't read it yet (but shall try to do so soon).
Anywways, it seems to be still a work in progress. Good luck.

[Forward Union]

The point is that I live in an area completely devoid of any radical activity

Get a job an unionise it.