Massachusetts Pirate Party Spring Conference

When:
Sunday, Jun 15, 2025 10:00a -
4:00p

Where:
Lavender room at Arts at the Armory
191 Highland Ave
Somerville, MA 02144

EventScheduled OfflineEventAttendanceMode

Admission:
FREE

Hosted by:
alecstern Alec Stern

Categories:
Classes, Lectures & Conferences, Social Good

Our country is in a dire place. While funding for ICE and presidential golf trips soars, whistleblower protections are eroding and vital programs are cut. Plainclothes ICE officers roam the streets, arresting citizens with REAL IDs, claiming they’re fake. We see them in our cities and towns, outfitted with more weapons and armor than US soldiers in Iraq. They come to attack people who only want a better life and to help build our country. This administration is also targeting its citizens. Alongside musing about putting dissidents in camps, Trump has hired Palantir to illegally connect all of the information that the Federal Government has on individuals into one easy to exploit permanent record. He plans to combine those records with private data gathered by data brokers to make the ultimate dossier on everyone residing in the United States.


I could continue to write more of this administration’s crimes, but the list is long, and it grows every day. Worse, those who claim to defend us are either complicit or incompetent. The Democrats in Congress do not use the tools they have to fight the destruction of our rights and our constitution. Individual judges may rule in our favor, but we cannot rely on the courts. The Massachusetts legislature moves slowly, if at all, to advance real privacy measures. Even if, after untold damage, a Democratic administration is voted into office in 2028, they won’t act in our interests. They are not interested in solving most of the fundamental issues of our country, because their existence relies on them. While most politicians aren’t as openly corrupt as this administration, bribery has been legalized since Citizens United. On popular issues such as privacy, healthcare reform, and the environment, Democrats have failed to deliver. 


In our own state, the blue uniparty has stifled democracy and prioritized graft over governance. How can we have a functioning government without opposition or transparency? Massachusetts has awful public records laws that are routinely ignored by agencies and municipalities. These laws do not even cover the governor, legislature and the courts. Just this past year, the legislature was brazen enough to reject an audit that WE voted for. How can citizens participate in democracy when the functions of our government are hidden from us? 


All this secrecy, while they try to increase surveillance on us. The Massachusetts legislature moves slowly, if at all, to advance real privacy measures. Even the Cambridge City Council voted to put up more surveillance cameras. We’ve been tracking these efforts, and helped stop the police from acquiring drones, for now. 


So, having painted this gloomy picture, what should a concerned citizen do? While we can’t immediately change national politics, we can start here. At the state and local levels third parties face far less disadvantages. We are not interested in running spoiler candidates for president, we want to solve problems and win races. Beyond elections, there is the work of building and organizing political forces into a party which can truly affect change.


I encourage you to come to our Spring 2025 conference on Sunday, June 15th. We will plan the 2026 elections, teach people how to protect their privacy, run for office and add to our map of surveillance systems at https://cctv.masspirates.org. The conference is free, but we request that participants register in advance at: https://masspirates.org/crew/forms/register-our-spring-2025-conference.


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06/15/2025 10:00:00 06/15/2025 16:00:00 America/New_York Massachusetts Pirate Party Spring Conference <p>Our country is in a dire place. While funding for ICE and presidential golf trips soars, whistleblower protections are eroding and vital programs are cut. Plainclothes ICE officers roam the stre...

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