Grovers, I am posting this here and emailing this directly to Drew.
Dear Drew,
On the Loose Change forum I am known as "painter". I have been a member of the forum (#45) from practically, if not actually, the first day the forum opened. You may also note that I have purchased goods from the Loose Change store and complemented you on its functionality. You can look up my name and email addresses in your database.
I am writing to you because of your post in the Loose Change forum and because I am aware that you were challenged somewhat by me and at least one other Administrator regarding your identity and the sudden appearance of your Administrative status. I want to bring to your attention certain things regarding the Forum which I believe you may not know.
First of all, Dylan has a history of making unilateral decisions regarding the forum and its membership without advising, consulting or communicating with the all-volunteer administrative staff. Since Dylan is the owner of this forum he has every right to do as he pleases. However, on several occasions, Dylan's unilateral decisions have created consequences that have had to be dealt with sometimes for weeks afterward by this staff. The security of this forum has been breached more than once and, moreover, this forum is under attack regularly from hostile individuals and groups who want to create chaos, distract, detract, use it as a soap-box for their own agendas, dis-inform or discredit the 9/11 truth movement or who want to set us up for breaking invision free's TOS or who want to set us up for actually breaking the law (eg., advocating violence). Those of us who are in Administrative positions have to be on-guard regarding these behaviors and deal with them in a timely manor. We have, over the months this forum has existed, developed posting guidelines and a mission statement. If you have not read these already, I strongly encourage you to do so now. I'm sure you can understand why some of us were a bit alarmed to find a new Administrator in our midst when NO ONE had had enough respect for us to give us any idea that you were joining, that you were to be made an Administrator and that you would be poking around inside the Administrator Control Panel.
Finally, as a result of our requests for identification, you posted to the forum giving a brief explanation of your identity and your intentions. However, I have to tell you that, although all of us here are happy to be a part of the growing 9/11 truth movement, and all of us are aware of the profound impact Loose Change 2 has had on this movement (which is why we are here) and all of us are looking forward to doing more for this movement and looking forward to the release of Loose Change Final Cut, the way you've come to us and your initial statements leave me feeling, frankly, annoyed, verging on hostile.
I want to be very clear when I tell you why I find your first substantive post to our forum more than a little condescending.
1: You may be a professional but the way you've been brought into this forum was NOT professional. You were not introduced by Dylan and you did not introduce yourself. I suspect that had your identity not been challenged by me and another Administrator, you probably would not have made any contact with us at all. You did not and, so far as I can tell, have not made any effort to get to know US as members of an on-line community. As a professional, I'm sure you know that every forum has its own unique character and culture, that the active members within it often spend hours every day participating in it and that through this they get to know one another as individuals and understand one another's characters. I, so far, see nothing from you to indicate that you have spent any time at all getting to know us or this forum and the community that WE have not only CREATED out of our months of participation but OCCUPY in the same way someone lives in a neighborhood.
2: Your stated intention of using this forum to, inform viewers of new products and to establish a broad-based audience that will be the target of a media campaign that is intended to organize and mobilize the masses of "truth seekers," is laudable. It is also PRESUMPTIOUS almost beyond belief. Has it occurred to you that this "audience" ALREADY EXISTS, that WE are it, and IT is here because of THE WORK that WE have done and are doing on a daily basis? Has it occurred to you, as a professional, that the many members of this forum, especially those "insiders" who have access to the Grove, where you posted, have already begun discussing these issues? In other words, rather than approaching us as people who are already involved and mobilized you have approached us as if we are in need of your "professional" (and, therefore, "superior") guidance. Apparently it hasn't occurred to you that some of us were way ahead of LTW on the 9/11 issue. I, for one, had been anticipating a false flag event for two years prior to 9/11. When it happened I knew exactly what it was -- just as when I saw Loose Change, I immediately recognized its value as a catalyst for disseminating the truth and creating needed social change.
3: You ask us not to contact you regarding the 'roll out' of YOUR new campaign because "the campaign is still in its planning stages." But, again, rather than approaching us from a position of, say, "Hey, guys, we are planning to do x, y or z, what are your suggestions on how to do this, how would you like to participate? . . ." you've presented this "campaign" as something that is outside of our participation EXCEPT AS CONSUMERS. I have to tell you, Drew, as far as I'm concerned that is OLD SCHOOL thinking that in no way addresses the "SWARM" theory of new media, new technology and the new participatory capitalism we are creating.
4: I'm sure none of us ever thought you were "part of the government or any crap like that," but that doesn't mean you are gong to be accepted as a trusted member of our community. To get THERE you have to ENGAGE with us, honestly, from a human place. Not as some "professional" who is going to use US and OUR community solely as a "target audience."
5: I believe when you say, "I’m not here to screw up the board, step on toes, start arguments, or create waves of any sort," that you have no intention of doing so, but as far as I'm concerned, you already have accomplished at least two of these four things. I know my toes feel a little achy and I'm feeling waves of energy all over the place. Moreover when I hear you say, "I probably will not be a super active member of the forum immediately. However, I will be when the time is necessary," I find this bass-ackwards thinking. If I understand you correctly, you won't be an active member of this forum until AFTER the "campaign" you are considering has been rolled out because only then will your "active participation" be "necessary." Perhaps that isn't what you meant to say but perhaps you can see why I and others can read it that way and why we might find it more than a little offensive. Actually it is quite insulting -- not to me personally, but to the very value this community has AS A COMMUNITY.
6: I want to make one thing very very clear to you: 9/11 TRUTH IS NOT A MARKET; 9/11 Truth is THE most vital issue of our time. The fate of not only the United States but in a very real sense, the fate of humanity is going to depend upon the truth of 9/11 getting out. Many of us here have done a lot of thinking about this and we understand that what we are dealing with here is nothing less than a whole new paradigm that dove-tails with the advances in human technology that have brought us to this critical juncture in history. Yes, we need organization and we need tools to bring this very real revolution about. However, I hazard to say that if you think you can package and market this revolution in an OLD SCHOOL way, you are quite mistaken. THAT, my friend, could do more to undermine this movement than just about anything I can imagine short of all of us being branded domestic terrorists (which is a very real possibility).
7: Finally I'll close with this: The reason Loose Change 2 has had the impact it has is because it was NOT marketed in any traditional way. Rather, the VALUE of the product, in terms of its PERCEIVED NEED by those who watched it and disseminated it, were the driving force behind both its production and its distribution. Dylan created it because he felt the living need for getting this information out. How many hours have countless thousands of people spent duplicating and handing out this film -- without any "organization" what so ever? WHY would they do this? Why would WE do this? You should know the answer to this question.
I invite you to become a real member of this forum. Come hang out with us. Get to know us as people. Talk about your ideas with us. Find out just what an enormous resource WE are now and will continue to be in terms of getting the truth of 9/11 out. But please, do not come into our forum, however well intentioned, telling us how professional you are and telling us that it is your intention to relate to us as a "market." It is an insult to our integrity as people and the very fabric of our community. The very fact that you have choose to relate to us in these terms and that you were brought into this community as you have been suggests to me that neither you nor Dylan has any idea what this community really is. True, we wouldn't exist if Dylan hadn't initiated this forum. Nevertheless, the fact is, Dylan started it and then went his way and has had very little to do with it since -- which is as it should be. The REAL creation and maintenance of this forum has been the result of the ongoing participation between those of us who have chosen to place countless hours of our precious time and attention here. What we get out of it IS this community. We have posted thousands of articles, debated thousands of issues, organized its structure, policed it as professionally as we could and enabled it not only to survive the onslaughts of troll attacks but have elevated it to a forum anyone could be proud of. We sincerely do hope that our efforts do not continue to go unnoticed and unacknowledged by Dylan and the LTW team.
Thank you for your time and attention.
painter
