Forum Post: Armchair Congress
Posted 11 years ago on Sept. 18, 2012, 12:06 p.m. EST by Krypton
(73)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
I thought I'd make a website where people with ideas about solving America's issues can express themselves, and -rather than be lost somewhere on a message board- the ideas would be collected and presented upfront, on their own page. Kind of an easier reference for the views of the people on the street. It's not just the people on Capitol Hill who think about ways to fix our country, and our world. Everyone does it, to a certain extent, but there are very few places to get those views out there, in a lasting, meaningful way (unless you're a pundit, or former politician).
You sign up as a member, pick an issue, type out a comprehensive account of how you'd solve it, send it in on the site's contribution form, and it'll get it's own dedicated page, with a link to it on the page of the issue being discussed.
While, yes, I am plugging my new site, I do not make any money off of any part of it. I am severely limited in my ability to participate in restoring democracy to this nation (I wish I could've been in NYC yesterday), as I am taking care of my ailing wife, so I thought this might be a way that I could help the struggle - by organizing and preserving everyday peoples' grand ideas about our big problems.
I hope you won't think I'm a piece of sh*t, and will maybe even join me over at www.armchaircongress.com, to contribute to what I hope will be a great tool for genuine democracy.
Thanks
-Bryan
I'm not sure how effective it will be, but I applaud your effort of creating it on its own.
Thanks for the input. The "debate" aspect isn't really the focus, though. The website is more supposed to act as a showcase of ideas. I liken it to the "platform" page of a political party's website, except with many different platforms by many different authors. Or, with some work on my part, it's to be somewhat like the front page of the Huffington Post, but with everyday people in place of the pundits, politicians, reporters, and celebrities. Contributing shouldn't be a difficult process, and it isn't. I just modified and streamlined it quite a bit. There is no wait to sign up, now. No approval. it's instant. And the submission process is in-site. No email necessary. Anyone can come by, join up quickly, and just basically "drop off" their ideas, if they want. No hassle. To any other casual visitor, it would be less like reading a newspaper, and more like going to a museum (of current events). I hope it'll be great, of course. I'm constantly trying to improve it. Thanks for checking it out, though, folks.
Although I applaud your efforts, I have seen 2 other sites with this purpose. The reason this forum works is two fold. It's exciting for bitter people. It's very simple.
The second part of that, the simplicity, is something the other two projects nor your project posses.
One other key factor, most people with enough time to consider politics and the resources to debate them on the web, are to complacent to do so because they are comfortable.
The only successful internet campaigns I can think of will have to find a way to tap those without recourse and excite the unexcitable . Making the website is the easy part.