I think you’re hitting some key points here @stevecoffman . I was told that the site is in connection with RFK Jr.'s transition team, and was originally created for a small group of policy contributors to communicate directly with the current administration (at least from my understanding) and it blew up for an understable reason.
The point of the conversation was highlighting the need for change, and how this system could solve the problem. Refine posts → create a system of clear communication through voting → get support from the constituents that are in contact with the transition team. The step we are all excited bout taking can’t happen until the forum functions in a near-perfect fashion. Understandably, no member of Congress would endorse a disfunctional site.
Thus the first step being education and clarification of the road map intended for policy proposals, and the proper format for a policy to advance.
I did mention, if the site where to be used for communication in a public and direct manner with government, that user verification might need to become a priority. I’m not program savy, but am still weary of bots stacking votes, and manipulating the system. I stressed how easily I could make several accounts with different emails and support my own posts for personal prestige.
To my knowledge you can click on the badge section and see which people have awarded the ‘Regular’ badge, most of which are mods and policy contributors. I already tagged everyone who is part of the conversation ^ ‘JayMudholker’
Lots of the issues you point out (monied politics through lobbying and organized political pacs) are issues that need solved through direct organization of the People in their communities. This site can be used for communication and the spread of ideas, but like you said, the use of this for direct influence of policy is a little idealistic as of right now.
But we have a goal. A could be, that seems within grasp. Even RFK Jr. had a portion of his site dedicated to petition signatures, why couldn’t this site use a petition function to get these proposals into legislation? State categories would help that a lot with the seperation and organization of proposals, which was a suggestion from moderation. Than it’s a marketing game to get the word out.
At this point, they’ve heard us. We should be patient and continue to refine our idea. Helping them by creating a thread for suggesting text formats for different types of all policy proposals (general legislation, executive order, amendment, petition) would really help them out.
I can also say that I directly referenced you and your mentioning of the ‘me/mine’ mentality of the forum, and how this system of proposal advancement and requirement for collaboration/formating can lead to a greater mentality of ‘we’.
I honestly wish I had a transcript of the convo, because there were some important details about the centralized and decentralized approach that they were wanting to take that I can’t quite remember. But again, most of this is idealistic conjecture.