calling out into the void

We were hoping that this weekend would be dedicated to discussing the letter below, a kind of call to arms for democratic discourse and commitment to building a new left of common causes. Alas, even after begging a few political lists to speak up, responses were few and far between. There is, of course, a whole host of reasons that this could be the case: people don’t want to read six paragraph letters, people generally agree and have nothing to add, people generally disagree and feel it’s pointless to discuss, etc. etc. I’m willing to accept any and all of these explanations, but I would really like to try to figure out which is true.

One reader wrote… (more in expanded post)

…that the audience is the problem:

Golis, the reason no one is commenting on this is because they haven’t thought that much about New Media and they don’t know that much about the history of the American left. I know you like studying the new left in the sixties, the New Deal coalition and early progressivism, most political people don’t. They like playing paintball.

Another reader wrote that the effort itself was the problem:

Basically, it’s unrealistic to expect that by calling for dialogue you are suddenly going to have an explosion of people rising up and saying brilliant things or suddenly networking. Calling for dialogue is kind of vapid, almost as vapid as the bit about the coalition of infinite causes at the end… which btw is a lot of the reason that the Dems keep losing.

Which is true? Both?

Obviously, there’s something self-indulgent in trying to make an accounting at one’s own failed attempt to gain attention and start a conversation. But it also seems to me important to try to understand why exactly no conversation occurred, even if that means pondering our own inadequacies here at CC. Share your thoughts!