Marcos Moulitsas Zúniga (@Marcos) founder of the blog DailyKos.com, and author of "Taking on the System" was our guest in our class "Using the Social Web for Social Change" in the green MBA at BGIedu. Topics include blogging, social change, occupy wall street, online communities, and political tactics.

1. Welcome Markos!
Markos Moulitsas Zuniga
Founder, dailykos.com
Author of Taking on the System

2. What was the name of
History your very first blog?
Anything change?
What topics did you
originally plan to cover
How do you cover now
that you didn’t expect
to cover then?
What was your original
social change goal?
How did this evolve?

3. Peer Bloggers
“It has been interesting reading Moulitsas' book
and also reading about Han Han, one of the most
famous bloggers in China, in The New Yorker. This
makes me wonder about the importance of being
connected to your "peer" bloggers. Is it
important? Lisa
Capa
…
Are these two bloggers in touch? Do they keep
track of each other's work to inspire their own?”

4. What holds people back?
“It occurs to me that people are much more likely to
participate in an online community during times of crisis.
I'm thinking about earthquakes, wildfires, floods and riots.
People participate because they have important
information to share. They do it because they want to
help others and save lives. They also participate because
they have been profoundly impacted by events and want to Marcy
share their experience with others. They don't think Tobin
about how their contribution will be judged, they just do
it. Question: Is that what holds many people back from
becoming contributors — the fear of being judged? Or, is
it merely an issue of time — of not wanting to commit the
time to becoming a contributor?”

5. All’s Fair?
“I am fascinated by the line based on Saul Alinsky's, Rules
for Radicals (1971) about ‘all's fair in pursuit of pursuit of
one's noble goals.’ That is a bold statement for someone
like me who tends toward being process oriented,
attempting to be "honest" with myself and others, and to
believe and focus much more in the integrity of the Liz
journey than the destination. I understand that some Feldman
information just is not helpful in some situations. But I
also think that many people have different too-much-
information thresholds. I would be excited to hear any
more stories or thoughts about how you have navigated
these waters.”

6. Stackholder Engagement
“There are many different ways to advocate and
cause change. One of the ways that I ascribe to is
to engage the stakeholders as partners, working
with them in a convincing manner for them to see
the value and necessity of change. This method
encounters less resistance from the stakeholders Amr
and harnesses their cooperation to achieve change. Fouda
What is your opinion of this method and have you
used it successfully in the past? How does it
contrast to an all out activism against a
stakeholders lack of values or inconsistency of their
actions with their values?”

7. Running for Office? Sample Ballot
31st Legislative District Pierce County Court of Appeals
Partisan Office Partisan Office Court of Appeals, D
State Representative Council - District No. 7 District No. 1 - Posi
Position No. 2 Four Year Unexpired
vote for one Term
vote for one
Todd Iverson Lisa Worswick
“Now that there are ways to get around these
Patrick Reed (Prefers Democratic Party)
(Prefers Republican Party) Write In
Betty Ringlee
Daniel Geske (Prefers Democratic Party)
Pierce County Dis
gatekeepers, and take on the system, why aren't we
(Prefers Republican Party) District Court - Pos
Chuck West
Christopher Hurst
(Prefers Democratic Party)
(Prefers Independent Dem. Party) Claire Sussman
William V. (Bill) Sehmel
seeing more candidates running for office?”
(Prefers Republican Party) Kevin A. McCann
Write In
Larry Wingard Lance Hester
Pierce County
(Prefers Republican Party)
Partisan Office
Stan Flemming Karl L. Williams
Prosecuting Attorney
continued vote for one
(Prefers Republican Party)
Write In
Randy Boss
Pierce County Council, District No. 5 Mark Lindquist
(Prefers Democratic Party)
(Prefers Republican Party)
City of Milton
Special Election
John N. Picinich
Bertha B. Fitzer Proposition No. 1
Rick Talbert Erich Sachs (Prefers Independent Party)
(States No Party Preference)
Erich
Levy for Fire Protec
(Prefers Democratic Party) (Prefers Democratic Party) Write In
Write In The City of Milton
_________________________________ _________________________________ Council - District No. 1
Judicial - Nonpartisan Office No. 10-1784 place
voters funding of F
Sachs
State Supreme Court Justice
vote for one Position No. 1 medic and Emerg
Elected Experience: Elected Experience: vote for one cal Services. This
Dan Roach funds Fire and Em
Tacoma City Council; Deputy Mayor No information submitted Stan Rumbaugh
(Prefers Republican Party) Medical Services,
City of Tacoma; Committee Chair, addition of Param
Economic Development Committee; Other Professional Experience: Pat McElligott Jim Johnson
serve the Milton c
I am currently an employee of (Prefers Democratic Party) authorizes an incr
Member, Government Performance
and Finance Committee; Member, Pierce County Parks and Recreation Nicola McDonald Write In regular property ta
State Supreme Court Justice to $1.21 per $1,00
Public Safety, Human Services and and a member of Teamsters Local (Prefers Republican Party)
Position No. 5 sessed value ove
Education Committee. 117. Last year I led the charter team that created the new vote for one for a total rate not
sustainability policy for Pierce County Parks and Recre- Write In
Barbara Madsen $3.00 per $1,000
Other Professional Experience: ation and I am currently developing a recycling program Council - District No. 5 value for collectio
Member Pierce Transit Board of Directors; President, The 2011 levy am
that will be financially self-sufficient, using revenue from vote for one Write In comes the starting
Small Business Incubator; Pierce County Performance the Parks’ recyclables. This program will save money, Rick Talbert State Supreme Court Justice computing subseq
Auditor Position No. 6 increases for the s
increase recycling rates by up to 90%, create jobs, and (Prefers Democratic Party) vote for one four years only. S
keep our District 5 parks open and clean. Erich Sachs
Education: Bryan Chushcoff proposition be app
(Prefers Democratic Party)
BA Political Science, WWU, Lincoln High School Education: Charlie Wiggins
Audrey Chase
Community Service: MBA Candidate in Sustainable Business, Bainbridge
(Prefers Democratic Party) Richard B. Sanders
A lifetime Pierce County resident, Rick Talbert gradu- Graduate Institute; BA, The Evergreen State College
ated from Western Washington University and Lincoln Community Service: Write In Write In
High School. Talbert has extensive experience in pub- Participated in mentoring/ tutoring programs for middle- Court of Appeals
lic service. His community work includes the Eastside school students. Court of Appeals, Division No. 2
Neighborhood Advisory Council, the National League of District No. 1 - Position No. 1
vote for one
Cities, Community and Economic Development Policy Statement Marywave Van Deren
and Advocacy Committee, and the Crystal Judson Fam- Working for Pierce County Government, I see every day
ily Justice Center. that our tax dollars could be used more efficiently. We Write In

8. Diversity
“Since it seems that the social media via the web
reaches only those who are looking for it (and/or
have access), what ideas do you have in getting a
more diverse chorus involved in the symphony of
social change?”
Sonja
Skvaria

9. Other Mediums of Expression
“Do you like to/are you comfortable speaking
in front of large groups? Your blog and book
have a wide reach. Are there other mediums
you work in to get your message out?”
Chantel
Bunkers

10. Full Potential
“Social media is such a powerful mechanism: in
what ways do you think it is not reaching its full
potential and why?”
Ben
Drury

11. The New Gatekeepers
“In light of the blogosphere and other social media working
outside of the traditional gatekeepers of newspaper editors
and radio/TV program directors, in what ways do you see
navigating around the NEW gatekeepers: ISPs, large
telecoms, and governmental agencies (FCC, etc.)? My
example is on Facebook there have been many people
posting pictures of the throngs in NY and other cities for Patrick
occupy wall st. that are now being blocked by Rost
FB...tenaciously, people have changed the filename and added
text to the image to get around these blocks, but as pattern/
visual recognition technology improves, how will we be able
to get around more complex, technological gates as they are
erected by the new gatekeepers?”

12. Occupy
Wall Street
photo credit: David Shankbone on Flickr licensed CC-BY

13. Stalled Change
“Taking On the System speaks with a voice of
hope, telling stories where Netroots have affected
great change. However, in the last two years (with
the exception of what is now happening with
Occupy Wall Street) it seems the change has
stalled (Obama's reelection in doubt, lack of Mike
progress on a progressive agenda, etc.) and Greenberg
perhaps we need a booster. What do you feel has
changed since 2007-2008 to now?”

14. Crafting Stories
“I read your recent blog post ‘My list of absolute
demands for Occupy Wall Street’. I found it very
entertaining and provocative. In your book, Taking on
the System, you encourage people to ‘craft good
stories in order to vest people in the causes we care
about.’ People want to know what the Occupy Wall Marcy
Street story is. If the Occupy Wall Streeters don't Tobin
craft this story won't the media craft it for them?”

15. Speak With One Voice
“You devote Chapter 4 to "Reinvent the Street
Protest." I'd be curious to get a general overview of
your thoughts around the Occupy Wall Street
Movement and to see what, if anything, you would
rewrite in this chapter given the movement's current
progress (or lack thereof, given your perspective) Ryan
Particularly, the idea of "speak with one voice.” Ceurvost

16. Protest Tactics
“In the book you talk about street protests as an outdated or
even obsolete tool for capturing media attention and creating
social change. …
The past couple of weeks have been dominated by news of
Occupy Wall Street and the Tar Sands Action in D.C. How do
you view their uses of the protest tactic? Do you have advice, Tamara
or perhaps an observation about what they are doing that Gordy
might stop them from being rendered obsolete or ineffective?
How can organizers manage the tension between the huge
numbers they need to show to earn credibility, and the
seemingly inevitable messiness that goes with opening the
process to a lot of people in public and in real-time? Is there a
workable answer to this challenge?”

17. Protest Tactics
“I’ve been considering correlations between Taking on the System and Occupy Wall
Street. So, allow me a moment to lay out my train of thought in hopes that you
might discuss the threads.
The lessons learned from Cindy Sheehan were: Don’t believe the hype, work
within your niche. and don’t get caught up in other ideological causes. Another
seems to be: Score political points in the media with simple, albeit emotional,
target shooting. Example: Cindy should have stuck with “For what noble cause did
my son die?” Tom
These lessons strike me as both practical AND short-term, over-simplified. They Long
pertain to election cycles and legislative campaigns but DO THEY APPLY TO
PARADIGM SHIFTS? The purpose of Occupy Wall Street is to question and
change the system, which is greater than the sum of any list of demands.
HOW CAN WE IMPLEMENT SYSTEMS THINKING IN THIS CONTEXT? ...
seeing the forest AND the trees; identifying unconstrained feedback loops,
unrecognized time delays, and confining mental models? In politics, IS IT POSSIBLE
AND PRACTICAL TO THINK HOLISTICALLY AND LONG-TERM?”

18. Questions for What questions do you
Us? have for our our students?