This is a community paper, a community media outlet, a network, a caring communication nexus.
But what is “community,” what does it mean?
On a basic level, it’s people living together in equality, with understanding and with respect.
Over the years we’ve seen that it’s easy to conjure with words like “community”, or “democracy”, or “freedom”, and use these things to justify their opposites.
Plenty of people invoke great and simple ideals to justify complex exploitations.
So, here’s an attempt at stating the rules and values that will guarantee our community remains true:
Our pledge
Positive. Community is a positive movement. We will not attack, we will not revolt. We will build a better way to exist. We will replace violence. We will replace evil. We will not forego or ignore laws without good reason. Our methods are friendship, understanding, and respect. We will always give those who disagree with us, or who identify as our opponents, a right to reply.
Transparent. Community is not a secret, it does not hide, it involves trust, it involves understanding. We will make our decisions, meeting minutes and finances public and respond to any requests for information.
Personal. We are real people, we are not machines. Our writers and creators will speak as themselves, not as a disembodied voice pretending neutrality.
Scientific. Our method is scientific. We recognise our humanity, our emotion, our bias, but we build our reports based on careful investigation, cross-checked information, and fact. Where we find inaccuracies, we will correct them transparently.
Sociocratic. We are an egalitarian organisation. We want to maintain efficiency without losing transparency, communication and community. Our teams run autonomously and consensually, with an overall perspective, but without overall leadership.
Apolitical. We are not political. We will not be affiliated with political parties and will not endorse the practices of the national government. We believe in self-organised self-governance. We do not endorse revolutions. We live the way we would live.
Sustainable. We exist in community with the environment that sustains us. We will advocate and employ renewable energies, environmentally sustainable distribution and production, and a reduced human footprint on the natural world. We do not want to make ourselves extinct.
Anti-racist. Tolerance is not enough, we are anti-racist. We will expose and condemn racism where we find it. We will work to create spaces and dialogues in which all people can feel safe and equal, open to express themselves, to exist.
Anti-sexist. Tolerance is not enough, we are anti-sexist. We will expose and condemn sexism where we find it. We will work to create spaces and dialogues in which all people can feel safe and equal, open to express themselves, to exist.
Anti-capitalist.Tolerance is not enough, we are anti-capitalist. We will expose and condemn capitalist practices where we find them. We will work to extract ourselves and our communities from capitalist socio-economic dominion. Where participation in capitalist society is necessary, we will be ethical and transparent in our dealings.
Anti-populist. Appealing lies and false constructs have been used to placate massive populations for centuries. We will counter misinformation, we will be honest before we are popular, we will develop learning networks to enable people to teach themselves. We do not claim to be the teacher, we are the workshop, we are the library.
Queer. We believe in sexual freedom and progress beyond the limitations of gender. We will respectfully explore concepts of gender and challenge atavistic models of sexual and gender relation.
Anti-nationalist. The nation is a necessarily oppressive organisation, built on principles of hierarchy and subservience. While we will never condone or encourage the destruction of society and its contingent communities, we will work to reveal and unravel the trappings of nationalist organisation, which hinder society, community and social progress.