I got the below from a friend, someone I respect very much. The ideas (as the author him/herself would note) are not developed fully, or even halfway. This is a kind of stream-of-consciousness reaction to the difficulties that many young (35 and under) people see with our existing two-party system, and its corrosive tribalism.

Feel free to respond in comments, and I’ll make sure the author sees the responses.

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THE IN-KIND PARTY

“Jeff, one day you’ll learn that it’s harder to be kind than clever.”

• Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ grandfather to childhood Jeff Bezos

Libertarians and other free-marketeers are very good at being clever. But often not so good at being kind. Democratic socialists want to see the best for others but don’t always think out the broader or long-term effects of their economic policies.

The In Kind Party is a new kind of political party that seeks to bring back a sense of collaboration and continuous improvement to the political process. We aim to unleash human potential by turning the political system into what it always should have been: a tool for teaching and motivating people to “think globally, and act locally.”

In Kind is positive: we refuse to be coerced into voting “against” an enemy. We will only vote “for” candidates who inspire and motivate us. When we argue, we will seek first to understand, and then to be understood. However, we also focus on “removing harm” before “doing good”. If you are firing a taser at someone’s jugular it doesn’t matter that you are giving him a free bandaid for a scratch on his leg. Stop the tasering, and then see if he wants your bandaid.

How It Works
Given that the US system is designed only to accommodate two parties, we will build up a grassroots group of supporters that can actively change the dialog at the local, state, and federal levels.

We have several key issues about which our preferences are “lexicographic.” This is fancy talk for “these issues matter more to us than all the rest combined.”

Specifically:
● Enabling humans to flourish through work and fun real-world, local community activities and groups.
● Using violence (such as war) and coercion (such as economic sanctions) only in the most dire of situations.
○ Thus, we oppose things like locking people up in jails for messing with their brain chemistry, and giving weapons to Latin American dictators to stop the production of chemicals that alter brain functionality. We also push for transparency around government spending, particularly in war and police activities, to see who is profiting off these activities and which politicians they are funding.
● Recognizing that humans are now powerful enough to destroy our ability to live on Planet Earth.
○ E.g. cutting down all the trees and dumping chemicals into our soil and rivers is generally a Bad Idea. Relying on politicians, many of whom are corrupt or corruptible, and large-scale global agreements is not as optimal as mobilizing individuals to take local action. Thus, we need to ensure that people know what is going on (for example using satellite data to track deforestation) and can effectively organize for cleanups and long-term reforestation projects.

How It Works
Day in and day out, we provide our time and resources to moving the needle on the above 3 pillars. This can include helping to run local vocational training programs in your local community, raising awareness of how the US military is being used as a tool to spread violence around the world (or locally, see: Operation COINTELPRO), and growing forests that produce food, oxygen, and other economic resources with minimal need of chemicals.

On voting day, we look online at our register and see which candidates best address these issues. Hopefully, there will be an In Kind Party candidate in your area (maybe you?).

Case 1: your area does not yet allow ranked choice voting (most places)
● You’ll look on your candidate’s website and see if she or he has deemed another, more-popular candidate from a mainstream party as worthy of voting for and why.
○ If yes: you are encouraged to see if you agree, and vote for that candidate, while sending their campaign a social media message to let them now that the In Kind Party sent you, and that you’re watching them on these key issues.
○ If no: vote for your candidate, or abstain from voting. If you abstain, preferably spend voting day tutoring some kids, coaching a young adult on how to become a great professional, listening to stories from some elders in your local nursing home, and/or planting some trees out in nature with some friends.

Cast 2: your area does allow ranked choice voting (such as Maine since 2016):
● You’ll look at your candidate’s website and see how she or he ranks any of the other candidates in the election as worthy of your vote.
○ If yes: you’ll place the In Kind Party candidate as your first choice and order the others based on your candidates’ suggestion or your own opinions.
○ If no: you’ll vote for the In Kind Party candidate as your first choice, and either add others or not based on your own opinions.

Decentralized, Tech-Enabled
The In Kind Party believes that the best companies and governments provide more over time at lower cost through the use of the most modern technology. Thus, we aim to spend as little money as possible while enabling our candidates and members to have as good data-driven insights and software-enabled tools as candidates from mainstream parties who hire companies like Cambridge Analytica. These tools are all to be open source, so they can be contributed to by our members and used around the world to grow youth employment, minimize violence, and help regrow our planetary ecosystem.

On Money & In Kind Donations
We believe that the power of money is best when it is not given from governments in a top-down manner, but rather created bottom-up from the collaboration of free people. Whichever form of money we use will tend to become more powerful. Thus, we are careful about what money we accept and use, and we keep a close eye on the credit system and our Federal Reserve System to ensure they are moving us toward a less fragile, freer world.

In Kind prefers to take in kind donations wherever possible, and seeks to create kindness and flourishing in all our interactions with others.