Redstate

Will you join me?

By Neil Stevens Posted in Miscellanea | Red State — Comments (16) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

In the coming weeks (or months, depending on how many kindly give to the effort) we will, with no doubt, be launching Red State version 3. We can, and we will. You know those teaser screenshots of Erick's? Those are not mockups. They are from a real, live, functioning development site we have up. It's just not done, and we need to get it done.

The new site is so close, I'm excited. I'm grinning from ear to ear. I'm not hyped up for any of the reasons that generally get talked about at length, though. In a sense, I think the coming transition is emblematic of a greater change for the better coming to Red State.

Read On...

Since its founding, Red State has been great at two things: community and commentary. However the one thing we've never consistently done is make the step toward activism. Yes, we've had some fundraising success (helping Egland drive out Doolittle comes to mind immediately), but in my time here the site has never been focused on going out and effecting change.

I believe there is a reason for this: our software has not matched our proper model. By using first the software of Daily Kos, and then a one-size-fits-all package made for ease on the installer, we forced ourselves and the whole community to try to conform to the software, and the activism here suffered.

The Scoop model works great at Daily Kos because of the nature of their ideology. They are the left. They are levelers, they are equalizers, they seek to bulldoze all natural distinctions to force everyone into some Marxist utopian mush. We though, have what Russell Kirk praised as the diversity appreciated by the conservatives. We live in different places, we have different priorities, and we have different needs for activism success. Further, we have loyalties to established order when the institutions have proven themselves; we're not crashing gates and formenting revolution.

Red State 3 will give our wonderful community the opportunity to go in this new direction we need. Using other peoples' software and trying to use other movements' models has not worked, but going our own way once and for all will let us find our own Republican model of activism. I find this idea deeply exciting, and that is why I am committed to seeing it through.

I want it done, and fortunately I have ten years experience in website front end and back end development to make it useful. Erick knows this, too, and our efforts are being scheduled accordingly. The money given to the effort by Eagle and by our readers will be spent wisely. It first goes to getting the system in a functional state, such that we can get it launched, and so that I can begin doing the extra work that needs done to give Red State the functionality and polish we need and you want, to ensure our community is not held back. This way, the things I can do for us for free, can be done for free.

I'm committed, determined, and have big goals. We all do, and the action mailing list is only the first step. Please join us. Your donation will have the deep gratitude of all of us here at Red State.