Difference between revisions of "User:JohnTheYooper/Michigan"

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(upd into something more clear)
(updating thoughts since clearly the "start of 2026" idea didn't go so well)
 
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==Michigan architecture==
 
==Michigan architecture==
The Michigan Pirate Party (name pending) seeks to have an official existence to point to at the start of 2026, even if its recognition by the PNC or any more formal organization take place later in the year.
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The Michigan Pirate Party (name pending) is not off the table but has been subject to crippling issues in motivation and volunteering. There are a few aspects required for this to exist, but mostly just a couple of people who agree on a vision to see it exist. This page reflects my own vision of what a Michigan Pirate Party would look like and do.
 +
 
 +
==Mission==
 +
Its main practical objectives would be these.
 +
* Provide pirate wheel advocacy in Michigan politics
 +
* Promote third party reforms such as [https://rankmivote.org/ ranked choice voting] and [https://www.mlive.com/politics/2026/05/michigan-third-parties-sue-to-bring-back-a-voting-practice-banned-131-years-ago.html fusion voting]
 +
* A focus on explicit pirate principles in particular, without bogging down too far in left-right debate or specific issues outside of immediate pirate scope. Other organizations would be suitable for these purposes, see the non-exclusivity principle.
 +
* Promoting digital literacy, resources, and projects conducive to the pirate interest, such as inherent opposition to the spread of Flock cameras, or burying deep nonsense like [https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/the-michigan-bill-is-a-danger-for-the-political-discourse-proton-slams-verification-laws-turning-vpns-into-a-liability the attempted VPN ban].
 +
 
 +
From broad conventional review, pirate politics visibly appears 'left libertarian' and I would not deny this. However it is not necessarily incompatible to compromise with people who conventionally lean 'center/right' especially if there is agreement on select issues. In some ways it is libertarian, yet treats corporate domination as a similar threat as government expansion and seeks to achieve more of a balance. This would be an informal core to the pitch of pirate politics. Live your life, but reject all attempts to dominate whether the attempt comes from a business suit or military uniform. There would likely be major disagreements on some matters, if the core pirate interest is compatible then there should be cooperation on the matters that can be worked with.
 +
 
 +
By my reckoning there are some other things this should achieve.
 +
* Non exclusivity: If you want to come and go, be an at large participant, be part of multiple parties, welcome. If you're a Pirate, you belong.
 +
* Support alternative communications to Discord without necessarily being limited to IRC and email.
 +
* Consider a static site built with something like jeckyll or hugo or eleventy, forgoing bulky frameworks like wordpress unless required.
 +
* Able to support other candidates and movements, particularly where they do things well or better.
 +
 
 +
These are the founding aspects I would like to see for a Michigan Pirate Party.
 
===Website===
 
===Website===
* Domain: would like <code>mi.uspirate.party</code> (interim: tbd based on hosting; may select a standalone domain)
 
** holdup: [[IT|IT official]] approval for domain usage, may select a standalone if this becomes a holdup after discussion
 
* Host: current preference nearlyfreespeech.net from positive experience
 
* Site: generated with [https://jekyllrb.com/ jeckyll] or [https://gohugo.io/ hugo]
 
 
 
The site would have the following features:
 
The site would have the following features:
 
* An FAQ, written to 'give it straight' about the pirate movement with inspiration from the national
 
* An FAQ, written to 'give it straight' about the pirate movement with inspiration from the national
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* Relevant political causes to look into, links on how to engage, 'issues of highlight' aside from news entries ^.
 
* Relevant political causes to look into, links on how to engage, 'issues of highlight' aside from news entries ^.
 
===Social Media===
 
===Social Media===
This is going to be tricky because the interim founder doesn't really like social media. Desirable coverage would be youtube, facebook,.... twitter.... possibly IG, mastadon, bluesky?, would like at least one decentralized option and at least one mainstream one. Promote what we want, use what works.
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So this is a point where I'd be terrible because I hate Facebook et al and would only be willing to sustain presence on Mastadon and maybe Bluesky and not a lot else. If some other founding member wants to work on the others that could be cool. Some presence is required so it is apparent we exist.
  
 
===Communication===
 
===Communication===
Leverage national architecture with <code>#michigan</code> on discord and a bridged michigan channel on more libre software. Founder's preference for this would be xmpp.
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Leverage national architecture with <code>#michigan</code> on discord and a bridged michigan channel on more libre software such as Matrix, Stoat or Fluxer, perhaps something like xmpp. Self hosted infra would be nice but likely lean impractical. An email would be available.
 
 
Emails attached to the domain of choice will exist to message the party and the party will be more than happy to signal boost reasonable comment.
 
 
 
==Michigan volunteers==
 
Help explicitly needed to round off membership for PNC recognition, for social media handling, and long term for officer roles including actual leadership. John is a bench warmer for these subjects.
 
 
 
A list of contacts will be maintained of recognized members. This may prove to be a layered party where there are people who are more into observing and don't want to share too much private information (good choice in this age), and people who do want to share more and sign up more boldly.
 
 
 
This is primarily being driven by John McCabe, known in national space as John the Yooper.
 
 
 
==The fuzzy stuff==
 
Speaking as first person here, John.
 
 
 
I'm not a politician, extrovert, door-to-door type, political expert, speaker, any of that.
 
 
 
I'm a dork who plays with computers, spends time in weird rabbit holes and just likes to fill out the corners for the cause like nibbling at long-needed updates for the wiki. So for Michigan I'm a bench warmer and a librarian. Anyone with leadership aptitude and stake in the project can have it.
 
 
 
Everything that exists is online and has little physical world presence. This is effectively a skeleton waiting for people with the necessary drive to take the party to the next step.
 
  
I'm not the guy who will run candidates and get people in office, nor can I manage my way out of a fishbowl let alone a campaign, so that will again require people with a lot more time, energy and relevant skills. But I'm happy to help out and share, even fill the gaps for someone who does want to go further but also needs support to get it done.
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==Needed volunteering==
 +
There must be several people willing to be 'on the record' as members. This doesn't have to be public PII disclosure however. More in the vein of first name, last name, how do we reach you, stored in private, with the alias you desire being your member alias in communication channels. The information would be held by a founding officer. I could be such an officer but would rather have some kind of aide for representation. My schedule compatibility with national party business is poor, everything happens late for me. We just need to be something tangible and could have asynchronous contact if needed, maybe try to have a proper meeting once in a while as long as somehow we're still moving forward on stuff. Even if its pretty humble in practice.
  
===Conceptual things to work out===
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I am rather introverted by nature. I don't do door knocking, you can barely get me on the phone, I do not like speaking, I am not a field expert except in knowing random stuff that exists, I just like computer stuff and pirate politics interests me. In effect I'm something of a bench warmer, certainly not a leader, which is why this page is as far as the michigan party can go until there are others on board. But I am willing to collaborate with others and take initiative as long as its not just me moving the ball forward.
How to avoid shortening the MI Pirate Party so it doesn't read as my pp.
 
  
 
Branding. The Michigander Pirate Party, or just Michigan? Thinking a logo adapted from the pirate brand with Michigan coloring influenced by pirate purple.
 
Branding. The Michigander Pirate Party, or just Michigan? Thinking a logo adapted from the pirate brand with Michigan coloring influenced by pirate purple.
  
=== Michigan principles===
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How to avoid shortening the MI Pirate Party so it doesn't read as my pp. "pirate" is uphill as it is and mi pp is just weird.
A John-founded Michigan Pirate Party would be bluntly honest, stick to the essentials in its technology (I personally intend to explicitly support people who browse without JS or who avoid Discord, and stuff like that), be self aware of its scale and influence, and seek that people who like the mission give it a chance anyway. Promoting not only pirate principles but also the development of third parties and more personal politics not bound by democrat-republican control. A Michigan that represents its components and not just national or majority interests, for example, the UP should be sovereign and self sufficient as far as possible. Michigan is a melting pot and deserves to be represented by its interests. Failing that it should grow in a way where Michigan, its counties, its cities and communities can have a good shot of surviving the collapse or tyranny of central authority. This, while being open to the benefits of unity and taking advantage of resources, while working to encourage the state to use its powers for the people and not for tyranny. Perhaps you could say a libertarian ideal that is more open to cooperation.
 
  
Additionally, this party would not demand absolute loyalty or people's participation in every possible angle the party supports, and be satisfied working with people and groups which generally embrace the spirit of the Pirate movement. It may have participants who overlap with less explicitly political organizations, and it may work with people who take the approach of using one of the mainstream parties to further Pirate ideals, for example a pirate-by-heart who runs in a 'big party' primary.
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==Other resources==
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* https://www.michiganpublic.org/

Latest revision as of 20:09, 25 June 2026

Michigan architecture

The Michigan Pirate Party (name pending) is not off the table but has been subject to crippling issues in motivation and volunteering. There are a few aspects required for this to exist, but mostly just a couple of people who agree on a vision to see it exist. This page reflects my own vision of what a Michigan Pirate Party would look like and do.

Mission

Its main practical objectives would be these.

  • Provide pirate wheel advocacy in Michigan politics
  • Promote third party reforms such as ranked choice voting and fusion voting
  • A focus on explicit pirate principles in particular, without bogging down too far in left-right debate or specific issues outside of immediate pirate scope. Other organizations would be suitable for these purposes, see the non-exclusivity principle.
  • Promoting digital literacy, resources, and projects conducive to the pirate interest, such as inherent opposition to the spread of Flock cameras, or burying deep nonsense like the attempted VPN ban.

From broad conventional review, pirate politics visibly appears 'left libertarian' and I would not deny this. However it is not necessarily incompatible to compromise with people who conventionally lean 'center/right' especially if there is agreement on select issues. In some ways it is libertarian, yet treats corporate domination as a similar threat as government expansion and seeks to achieve more of a balance. This would be an informal core to the pitch of pirate politics. Live your life, but reject all attempts to dominate whether the attempt comes from a business suit or military uniform. There would likely be major disagreements on some matters, if the core pirate interest is compatible then there should be cooperation on the matters that can be worked with.

By my reckoning there are some other things this should achieve.

  • Non exclusivity: If you want to come and go, be an at large participant, be part of multiple parties, welcome. If you're a Pirate, you belong.
  • Support alternative communications to Discord without necessarily being limited to IRC and email.
  • Consider a static site built with something like jeckyll or hugo or eleventy, forgoing bulky frameworks like wordpress unless required.
  • Able to support other candidates and movements, particularly where they do things well or better.

These are the founding aspects I would like to see for a Michigan Pirate Party.

Website

The site would have the following features:

  • An FAQ, written to 'give it straight' about the pirate movement with inspiration from the national
  • A platform, largely driven by the national, with potential special addition of right to repair initiative
  • News, updates, sharing of events of Michigan note.
  • Contact, more in depth about as one page.
  • Relevant political causes to look into, links on how to engage, 'issues of highlight' aside from news entries ^.

Social Media

So this is a point where I'd be terrible because I hate Facebook et al and would only be willing to sustain presence on Mastadon and maybe Bluesky and not a lot else. If some other founding member wants to work on the others that could be cool. Some presence is required so it is apparent we exist.

Communication

Leverage national architecture with #michigan on discord and a bridged michigan channel on more libre software such as Matrix, Stoat or Fluxer, perhaps something like xmpp. Self hosted infra would be nice but likely lean impractical. An email would be available.

Needed volunteering

There must be several people willing to be 'on the record' as members. This doesn't have to be public PII disclosure however. More in the vein of first name, last name, how do we reach you, stored in private, with the alias you desire being your member alias in communication channels. The information would be held by a founding officer. I could be such an officer but would rather have some kind of aide for representation. My schedule compatibility with national party business is poor, everything happens late for me. We just need to be something tangible and could have asynchronous contact if needed, maybe try to have a proper meeting once in a while as long as somehow we're still moving forward on stuff. Even if its pretty humble in practice.

I am rather introverted by nature. I don't do door knocking, you can barely get me on the phone, I do not like speaking, I am not a field expert except in knowing random stuff that exists, I just like computer stuff and pirate politics interests me. In effect I'm something of a bench warmer, certainly not a leader, which is why this page is as far as the michigan party can go until there are others on board. But I am willing to collaborate with others and take initiative as long as its not just me moving the ball forward.

Branding. The Michigander Pirate Party, or just Michigan? Thinking a logo adapted from the pirate brand with Michigan coloring influenced by pirate purple.

How to avoid shortening the MI Pirate Party so it doesn't read as my pp. "pirate" is uphill as it is and mi pp is just weird.

Other resources