The social movement you want is called marxism - a highly efficient framework to use a divide a society to your benefit. In your case, it's the divide between those who have homes and those who don't.
Ask HN: How do I create a social movement to change the world?
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Re: Ask HN: How do I create a social movement to change the world?
#12The problem is hundreds of years old, Tolstoy wrote about it, he was an advocate for Georgism, and there’s also the board game monopoly. Has anyone succeeded anywhere at any time at making housing affordable for the plebs?
Re: Ask HN: How do I create a social movement to change the world?
#13The problem is hundreds of years old, Tolstoy wrote about it, he was an advocate for Georgism, and there’s also the board game monopoly. Has anyone succeeded anywhere at any time at making housing affordable for the plebs?
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Re: Ask HN: How do I create a social movement to change the world?
#14I don't have a direct answer to your question, but in thinking about these issues here's a quote I heard that has always resonated with me:
> When I was a young man, I wanted to change the world. I found it was difficult to change the world, so I tried to change my nation. When I found I couldn't change the nation, I began to focus on my town. I couldn't change the town and as an older man, I tried to change my family. Now, as an old man, I realize the only thing I can change is myself, and suddenly I realize that if long ago I had changed myself, I could have made an impact on my family. My family and I could have made an impact on our town. Their impact could have changed the nation and I could indeed have changed the world.
- Rabbi Israel Salanter (1809-1883)
Re: Ask HN: How do I create a social movement to change the world?
#15If you really want to change the world, your online community is just one piece of the puzzle. It has to drive actual action - for example, regulatory and policy change within your government, campaigns to contact politicians, etc. If something IRL does not follow from the online community, you end up just being a loud vocal online presence... and nothing changes. By all means, start a community... but have a call to…
I feel like I am at the stage of creating an "MVP for a social movement". i.e. trying to work out if this is something that people want, if this is a topic people care about. Presumably if I am alone in my passion for the subject then no-one will ever comment/reply/email/express their agreement. If however lots of people start to agree, to put their hands up and say they feel the same, then I can take a next step whi…
One problem we can all suffer from is the “not invented here” problem. You may want to create a social movement but perhaps the movement you want already exists? These things often lack the publicity they need so you may not have seen it. Your efforts will likely be much more valuable if they are connected to an existing movement with active members and momentum rather than starting anew.
Re: Ask HN: How do I create a social movement to change the world?
#16I think you'd want to start by studying social movements that did change the world. Figure out what they did, how they got going, what problems they faced and how they overcame those problems. See if you can fit what you learn about past successes into your present context.
I also think you need to balance the pros and cons of online activism. The pros are, obviously, that you can spread a message cheaply and build communities. A major con is that it's easy for people to just do the online part. If people have some impulse to support your movement, and they can entirely satisfy that impulse by participating in a subreddit, you may find that all you accomplish is building a subreddit.
I have no advice or idea about how to balance the pros and cons, it just seems to me that there are pros and cons. A group that just complains about something is easier to create than a group that solves a problem. Maybe the complaining group is necessary to raise awareness - but maybe it is also a distraction.
Finally, I would think you would want to experiment and iterate. Both with your approach to organizing and with your actual solution. There is a benefit in starting small - easier to make changes and less consequences if you're wrong.
Re: Ask HN: How do I create a social movement to change the world?
#17Land Value Tax seems to be the sensible solution, but like sensible solutions to climate change, it'll probably take decades before people stop milking it for political drama. Maybe if you can popularize that policy somehow you might speed things along. Do any of the smaller or regional political parties already support that? Found this while googling: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Tax_Review
What stops all of the landlords from just pricing the tax into rent? I guess the tax could be based on how many parcels you own, but then that would just encourage people to buy parcels next to each other (like monopoly).
Re: Ask HN: How do I create a social movement to change the world?
#18Build houses. Feed and shelter or pay others so they can help.
Re: Ask HN: How do I create a social movement to change the world?
#19The social movement you want is called marxism - a highly efficient framework to use a divide a society to your benefit. In your case, it's the divide between those who have homes and those who don't.
You’re right about marxism but your framing about dividing society seems unhelpful in my opinion. Marxism is about recognizing power imbalances in society and understanding how to use our collective power for our benefit rather than the benefit of the few. Focusing on division seems a poor way to present this.
Re: Ask HN: How do I create a social movement to change the world?
#20Start at your local government, figure out what they can and can't do to help. Go to the next level, figure out what can and can't be done at that level. Keep going.