Backbone > Life in the Balance

E-Sustainability
By Susan Piperato . Photo by Roy Gumpel

Last February 15, with peace vigils and marches held in synchrony throughout the world, we witnessed what the Internet can do to mobilize millions of people with amazing speed. But even if you didn’t attend the march in Manhattan or watch the news on that historic weekend, all you need is an e-mail address to be made aware of the Internet as the world’s newest and perhaps most profound instrument of international social and political change. There is hope, expressed by several members of the sustainable community (from Yes! A Journal of Positive Futures’ Fall 2003 issue [“Government of the People”] to the many Web sites reviewed here), that the Internet can continue to galvanize political action as well as give a voice to the disenfranchised. Although I’m not an activist, not a day goes by, literally, without my own inbox receiving at least one message letting me know that by performing one simple action. I can help change the world. This can involve typing my name at the bottom of a petition and then forwarding it to people I know, or visiting a certain Web site and clicking in support of or against a political action, or clicking to ensure that funds are donated to a certain cause, or even shopping online knowing that a donation from whatever I spend will be made to a cause I believe in. Like most people I know, I dutifully forward the petitions I receive, visit the Web sites and click wherever directed, and do my shopping, whenever possible, in whatever way might be beneficial to the world. (Granted, a few of the petitions I’ve signed and sent onward have turned out to be hoaxes, and there have been times when the news alerts I’ve been forwarded about human injustices or the environment in some far corner of the world have frankly put a damper on my mood, but I would always rather take a chance than remain blissfully ignorant and bereft of ever having tried to fix the world’s wrongs.)

It being the somber season now—when, according to tradition, it’s time to go within and ponder the past, present, and future—and the last remaining months before 2004, an election year providing opportunity for change, it’s a good time to spend at the computer finding out how and where you can make a difference with just a few clicks and a little bit of typing. What follows is a selection of just some of the available current resources for online activism and sustainability.

THE DEEPER QUESTIONS
PlaNetwork (www.planetwork.net) is a San Francisco–based information clearinghouse and think tank that is dedicated to networking a sustainable future through information technology (action alerts, geographic information systems (GIS) and e-mail and online dialogues between activists for peace, social justice, independent media, environmental conservation, progressive entrepreneurship, sustainable living, and software development). PlaNetwork asks big questions, such as: “How can we use technology as a tool to support grassroots organizing efforts and enhance our communication efforts, rather than create more work and opportunities to misunderstand each other?” If you’d like to participate in a specific sustainable project—say, donate funds for a new well in a Venezuelan village or books for a school in Tibet—this site is your starting point. PlaNetwork co-founder Steve Foster, also of Link Tank (www.linktank.org), says PlaNetwork is also looking at systems thinking, social networks, and new economic models, and studying “how online communities are formed and defined, what trust means to a global online community and where trust fits in.”

THE NETWORK
MoveOn (www.moveon.org) is the mother of the online activism movement, having moved online mobilization in the name of international peace and justice to unprecedented levels this past year. With a global network of more than two million activist-members and a proven track record, MoveOn was the main organization behind the peace vigils and meetings with political leaders last March, and has raised millions of dollars for advertising and political campaigns.

Care2 (www.care2.com) bills itself as “the #1 Environmental Network” and “Supersite,” and more than lives up to its promises. At Care2, visitors can take action on current environmental and healthcare issues via free clicks, signing petitions, keeping current on social justice issues, and finding out about action opportunities, joining community discussions, signing up for newsletters, reviewing and participating in polls, and doing some green shopping.

Working for Change (www.workingforchange.com) is a Web site run by Working Assets, the sustainable investment company, which allows visitors to speak out on issues, gather information, and learn of action opportunities. And from there, visitors can e-mail some very cool and informative comics to friends.

THE WHOLE STORY
Truthout (www.truthout.org) is the leader of several progressive newswires, providing the kind of news and political commentary—much of it as disturbing as it is enlightening—that definitely isn’t found in mainstream media.

DO THE WRITE THING
The Petition Site (www.thepetitionsite.com) features a petition of the day and allows visitors to create and/or sign petitions on a variety of subjects. (At press time, these included protecting stellar sea lions, Colombian human rights defenders, and the Caribbean coastline.) “It’s free, authentic, and private!” says this Web site on “Voice. Justice. Change. Democracy.”

Progressive Portal (www.progressiveportal.org) provides form letters about current issues, including the environment and the media, to send to elected officials.

NOT FOR WOMEN ONLY
EMILY’S List (www.emilyslist.org) is the largest grassroots political network in the US, providing several services, including campaign training and job placement for activists, state legislative training for female candidates, “Campaign School” training for recent college graduates and placement on progressive Democratic campaigns, and raising campaign contributions for pro-choice Democratic women candidates.

FOR KIDS
The Freechild Project (www.freechild.org) and Millennial Politics (www.millennialpolitics.com) encourage youth to get involved in working for social change. Freechild’s Web site, geared especially for youth from among groups historically denied political participation, works as a directory for social change organizations, organizes letter campaigns, provides a database on youth rights, and makes free literature available through the Freechild Library. Millennial Politics hosts political discussion boards, “Coffee and Politics” group meetings, and national book clubs promoting books on youth activism and politics.

THE RIGHT TO VOTE RIGHT
Voice4Change (www.voice4change.org) offers an online “Rolling Regime Change Action Kit” that’s designed to help activists reach out to their neighbors on the subject of the need for leadership change. Included in the kit is literature about Bush’s priorities on economy, environment, education, and healthcare, as well as a sample sign-up sheet to create your own local mailing list.

Congress.org (http://congress.org) lets visitors identify and contact their elected officials, check out their congressional voting records, post letters to them online, and create “soapbox” action alerts to publicize their issues and enlist help.

Progressive Majority (www.progressivemajority.org) works on getting progressive candidates elected by providing support to fledgling campaigns and conducting outreach for cultivation of future candidates. Tips online include how to host a house party to create a progressive network. Visitors can sign up for action alerts through ProgressiveNet.

The Center for Responsive Politics (www.opensecrets.org) allows voters to get all the dirt before voting by offering a list of who is contributing how much to whose campaign.