Say WHAAAAT?

Strategic Planning Means Lengthy Incoherent ‘Discussion’, Right?

As ever, Pacifica is incoherent. As ever, Pacifica is unintelligent, irrespective of perspective. As ever, Pacifica is talentless. As ever, above all, Pacifica drifts, and drifts, and drifts…

There is an abundance of incoherence, of tentativity, of doubt evident in the audio of this meeting.

One might have thought that the combination of a fundamentally desperate situation and the fortunate acquisition of a loan of debt consolidation might have meant focus. Might have meant urgency. Might have meant prioritization. Might have meant…

Well, this is Pacifica.

This is the most recent meeting of the Pacifica National Board Strategic Planning Committee. It was formed a few months ago. Thus far, it’s decided to break itself into subgroups.

As of this most recent meeting, months having passed, the subgroup meant to address strategic planning with respect to programming hasn’t bothered to meet. The subgroup meant to address finance hasn’t bothered to meet. The subgroup meant to address infrastructure hasn’t met.

This, then, tentative in the extreme, is the state of the subgroup devoted to definition of purpose, of ‘mission’.

It runs two hours, in full, I’ve managed to reduce it a bit, but it’s still a very, very long slog indeed.

Here’s what matters here if anything matters here and – guess what – nothing matters here:

The Strategic Planning Committee of the Pacifica National Board shows literally no sign of progress, nor of progress toward progress.

Thus far it has a tentative first draft of a possible survey.

That’s it.

The Interim Executive Director pronounces this as stellar progress. Wonderful stuff. A great conversation. A wonderful conversation.

Now, as a simple outside observer, a wandering pirate, one might see neither consensus nor any sign of movement toward consensus as to Pacifica’s purpose, aka ‘Mission.’ It’s clearly leftist, of some sort, only a single member voicing the argument that, given a fair presentation of information people can reach their own conclusions.

Nor is there any interest evident as to any possible purpose other than political.

One member hopes it might be possible for Pacifica to unify the left.

Another hopes it can be a powerful voice to stand for something and against something else.

Have you ever wondered why the left is so easily parodied? Impossible not to parody?

To be fair, in other worlds, a pirate may see signs of possible useful development amongst the youngest age cohorts.

None of these, of course, are represented in Pacifica. Nor are they sought, other than in an abstract thought or two that they ought be supporting Pacifica’s ‘mission’.

A leftist, narrowly focused, diffuse, incoherent, wandering and meandering undefined ‘mission’ that Pacifica feels it ought more formally define.

Someday. Soon. Very Soon. No Rush. No Rush.

We need to converse.

Care to guess where this leads, and where it ends…?

~ ‘indigopirate’ 

The following audio clip is what member Tony Leon (WPFW) had to say at the meeting. Very much in the spirit of the foundational principles, that education and discussion were to serve the public, making it possible for them to listen and to judge… not to take a position of advocacy for a narrow line, which has long been Pacifica’s course for decades.

Needless to say he was politely ignored. Note the tone in the Chair’s voice as he gives him permission to speak in the last portion of the clip.

The segments are separated by click track, unaltered internally.