1. Party discipline & TP Turkey

I won’t fuel petty internet drama by naming names, but unfortunately two nominal TP supporters have chosen to attack the organisation generally, referring to it (and Transhumanism as a whole) in extremely unfavourable terms. This is a simple matter of party discipline, and rather than viewing it as a bad thing (although the behaviour itself is certainly unfortunate) we must take it as an opportunity to develop party discipline and make it abundantly clear that deliberate disruption and petty internet drama is not a feature of TP as it is of other groups. Creating such disruption will do nothing but ensure that you are excluded from the organisation for your trouble, as a matter of preserving TP’s reputation, as well as resources such as the time and energy of real supporters.

Once the movement and its organisations have matured, this kind of thing will be a matter for local and national-level party organisations to deal with, and for the different organisations to work out amongst themselves where there is a deep issue. In the meantime, while our infrastructure is still only partially developed, we’ll just have to do what we can and set a good precedent.

So, the two people I’ve mentioned will now be removed from all TP groups without further ado. No-one outside the US party yet has formal, paid membership, so that is not an issue in this situation. One of these people has already made their “outsider status” a badge of honour, so their removal will not be of consequence, but the other is the founder of the small and apparently not-yet-active TP Turkey group. That is unfortunate, but the way forward is clear; TP Turkey needs a new representative, and the new representative needs to create a new Facebook page, group etc (i.e. ones not owned by a known disruptive influence). If someone can do that, then TPG will happily support and include the new TP Turkey group. If no-one steps up, then Turkey will be temporarily removed from the list of nations known to have active and recognised TP groups. If you would like to help with giving TP Turkey a fresh start, then please do feel encouraged to email us at info@transhumanistpartyglobal.org (and don’t feel that you need to wait for our permission, please!)

So, just to hammer the point home: TP, at least at the level of organised party activity, will not tolerate petty internet drama, trolling, or disruption. People who indulge in that kind of thing are only excluding themselves. It is my hope and expectation that serious and respectful people across the Transhumanist movement and beyond will see that we are operating by this rule and will feel reassured that the Transhumanist Party is a movement they can engage with in a civil and constructive manner. The ex-founder of TP Turkey, for example, will not be included in the following development:

2. TPG-reps mailing list

On a much more positive note, I have now created a mailing list (“TPG-reps”) for the representatives of all TP organisations and friendly advisory outside groups to be able to discuss matters directly, keeping lines of communication open across our movement. Representatives in that group will be expected to keep everyone updated re: progress within their groups, and to take information from our joint discussions back to their own groups for sharing as appropriate.

I’ve been a little held up by other matters, but will start adding the known lead organisers of TP groups to that list today. If you are such a person who hasn’t yet emailed me, or are someone who can speak for a potentially TP-friendly organisation and would like to be kept in the loop then please do get in touch (info@transhumanistpartyglobal.org).