Thank you to everyone for your continued support of The Movement, in whatever way you can manage. We’re able to achieve amazing things when we work together for the Common Good. That’s the thing about the Common Good. It is that Good which we all share, we all participate in.
In my last Notes from The Movement, I spoke about one of today’s essential elements of the Common Good – digital infrastructure and organisation. The online world is not an optional extra, but a necessary aspect of how we function as a society.
This means that it’s how we reach new people. It’s how we connect with the people we know. It’s how we organise events and debate ideas. It’s how we receive news and analysis.
Working Together
As tool-using creatures, it’s the latest tool we use to master our environment and extend our capacity to influence the world and each other.
On October 14, all voters are asked to physically turn up to polling places to cast a secret ballot in a referendum on Labor’s Voice proposal. Yet, most of the debate has taken place in the digital world, on social media, and through video-streaming platforms. Even the NCC’s event with Nyunggai Warren Mundine AO is now streaming here.
One more example: my wife and I, and our children, use shared digital calendars so we are aware of upcoming events and obligations, deadlines and milestones. The shared calendars don’t replace communication, they don’t replace conversation; rather they add to it, by providing a way for us to communicate quickly and remember plans and what is going on.
Transcending Boundaries
The thing about the digital space is that it allows us to coordinate with more people in more places. The NCC is a nation-wide movement. We have all sorts of things happening across the country, some big and some small, including the Rural Australia event hosted by the Democratic Club, Sydney on September 8.
The digital space helps us to organise and communicate about those things. It helps us coordinate and plan. It supports the work the NCC does in the physical world.
This is especially so in dealing with the world over the last few years. Civil society and community groups have collapsed through sustained periods of non-practice. Many activities have shifted exclusively online and others have slowly died. As a result, habits and expertise withered through lack of commitment and use. Young people did not have the opportunity to learn. Rebuilding community is hard work.
One way of advancing and protecting the Common Good is to get involved in the referendum. Can you volunteer at a polling booth? Or as a scrutineer? Or share News Weekly’s analysis and commentary with your contacts?
We thank you and salute you for your efforts, your help, and your support.
