Tuesday, May 23, 2006


With What You Got

The privacy policy for our Further Left library, forum, and chat system is at this link. We use what it describes to guide what we do from what it tells in general of who our users are. It can also tell something about who we are.

The Further Left Library evolved from a public Yahoo Government and Politics category chat room titled Further Left, which had existed since August 2003. Yahoo shut down its user created chat rooms in mid June 2005. Anticipating that, we then immediately installed the chat room where it now rests on the IRC EveryWhereChat system. This posting Forum was created in early October 2005.

There is a Forum post below titled "Where Are We From". It indicates contacts with the Further Left Chat Room, Library, and this Forum, taken together and since August 2003, have been from 128 of the world's 192 nations, 64 colonies, and other claimed regions.

We began paying attention to origins of those showing in the EWC chat room in mid July 2005, a month after its inception. Since then, 211 distinct users from 34 nations entered it.

Their locales break down to US 113 (54%), UK 27 (13%), Canada 13 (6%), Australia 9 (4%), Mexico 7 (3%), India 5 (2%), Egypt & Ireland 3 each (2%), China, France, Germany, Malaysia, South Africa 2 each (1%), 21 others 1 each (0%). That makes no comment on quantity or quality of participation but only that they entered the room and said enough to indicate their presense.

A little counting shows that about 80% are from conquest directed imperialist nations mostly populated and run by and for benefit of well off white people and at the expense and suffering of the world's far greater dark majority. It seems to say something about our problem in encouraging change, and If so, it tells even more about the problem faced by the remaining 20% we do get and still more so for that grander share of those of the world from which we hear not. Perhaps most apparent is what it indicates about what kind of people have time, facility, and inclination to mess around with a computer chat room.

A quick conclusion is we are the wrong kind of people. Probably so, but as goes the song: "If that ain't love it'll have to do, Until the real thing comes along." I once hesitated taking a direction in movement activity by proclaiming, "I'm the wrong kind of person". What prompted action was the never forgotten responsive lesson, "You go with what you got, and that is you."

A relatively small number of very dedicated people who lack sophisticated weaponry are showing they can bring to a halt the largest military colossus ever loosed by stealing airplanes and booby-trapping roads and bodies, often their own. Others eschewing such risk stand and oppose oppression by massing in the streets. They all go with what they got, heart. In the manner we have here available, so will we.




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