While the sun rises over Europe and pirates everywhere awake to the wonderful news that we have once again shown the world we are not fringe activists but a true power to be reckoned with, a power which will stand up to the corruption and evils of modern politics. I want to also recognize the man who started it all.
I don’t believe in “heroes”, every day there are people who help me and keep me moving forward, every day some person risks their life to save another, there are those who are teaching new generations (like my mother) and those who are sparking revolutions (Mr Assange). These people are all heroes in their own way… However, there are a few people who I look up to most: Paul Watson helps form a lot of my beliefs on activism and the environment and Cory Doctorow exudes amazingness and has become my Thomas Paine for the Digital Revolution (Someone tell Cory I am his biggest fan for me, I squeal for his books like a little school girl). The third person who has momentous influence on me is the subject of this article: Rick Falkvinge.
No thought “belongs” to anyone, the Pirate Party (in some form) would have come out regardless of Rick’s efforts. What makes the difference, however, is Rick’s prodigious abilities in being understandable and charismatic. Rick wasn’t happy letting the snowball grow as it rolled down the hill, and opted for using dynamite to create an avalanche which is now the might of the Pirate Parties around the world.
It isn’t just about the parties either, Rick’s ability to inspire people and show them logic has allowed the Pirate Ideology to grow and become something bigger than any political party. Having created the ever evolving “Pirate Wheel” which is a rough outline of what the Pirate Ideology is all about, and teaching people about it in simple ways which everyone can understand… Rick was able to take what some could call a subculture and throw it into the mainstream.
I am not sure what the decorum is on writing a blog about the guy who owns the blog you are writing on, but I can assure you if/when he screws up I will blog it here as well 🙂 . I want to celebrate the Germans today, but I just didn’t want the man who played a paramount role in our movement even getting this far to be left out of the conversation.
Congratulations PPDE (Berlin), enjoy the wave of success and thanks for keeping the momentum on our side… this is just the beginning, we will defeat those who wish to do harm to human rights and subjugate our digital sovereignty.
Our children (or their children for you older folk) will grow up in a world where sharing our culture and having an active participation in that culture will not be a crime, it will be rewarded. I truly believe we will be able to create a better future, and it’s people like Rick who inspire me (and others) to reach for that goal, and to spread the importance of our cause to others.
Wow. Thank you, Travis.
While I must insist that yesterday was tehe result of a ton of hard work by the pirates here in Berlin, as in “all politics is local”, I want to thank you for the very kind and sincere words.
Like you say, I wasn’t expecting this as a guest post on my own blog.
Thank you!
It’s not JUST you Rick… that’s why I chose the title I did: You have proven to be a great coach for Team Pirate.
We all put effort in to make this movement successful, but you have been instrumentality important in getting the ball rolling and your inspiration is what has kept the momentum up when things seem bleak.
Just don’t let it go to your head 😉
Without starting PP, it wouldn’t have been started. So that’s an absolute prerequisite to getting us where we are 😉 Although I’m quite convinced there is a bunch of extremely tactically clever people in Berlin and Germany, I still think the situation is ideal in Germany compared to many other parts of the world.
You’ve had DDR and Stasi after all; the elder part of the population still remember that and there is living proof of what surveillance can do to a society and it’s citizens.
The elder part of the population in many other european countries don’t know much about the internet, and they are terribly uneducated as to what surveillance means in the digital age. Especially Sweden, whose citizens are used to being nursed and spoon-fed by the government.
Italy has shared the same (terrible) recent history with Germany, yet politics in Italy doesn’t seem to have evolved much, if at all, since then. I don’t think I need to go into (the shameful) details.
The closest thing to PP in Italy is MoVimento 5 Stelle, but although it shares lots of goals and methodologies with PP, it doesn’t have the same “techy” base and it’s quite more “populistic” in some regards.
I know that, since I’m part of it. 🙂
Hopefully we’ll be able to exchange ideas and influence one another. At least that’s my hope.
Still, it’s the best political movement you can approach in Italy
Travis,
You’re totally right-major movements like this take crowds to work, but we need to appreciate the people who have sparked, inspired and guided these crowds.
Rick,
You’re awesome. And a great inspiration for many people, especially in the younger generation whose ideas about rights and freedom in the internet age have been ignored or laughed at. Thanks to you, now they can laugh but ignore us at their peril! Thanks a bunch.