Time for a quick update on the latest doings at Claire’s Cabal. This one’s for current cabalistas and non-cabalistas alike.
First thing: We’re trying out a limited, 30-day free membership. Go to the link, click “join us” and you’ll see it there. Before joining, you should whitelist two specified addresses. Or check your spam filters because mail from those addresses doesn’t always make it through.
The free membership gives you access to the forum, which is the main attraction. It doesn’t let you access all the ebooks or articles.
I’ve hesitated to make this information public for fear of attracting spammers and trolls. But we still have troll control in place. The Cabal is for experienced or growing freedomistas who are willing to share the path with anarchists, minarchists, and constitutional conservatives alike. If you take one of the provisional memberships, please go to the Administrivia board and read the rules before posting; we’re strict about civility. Otherwise … just enjoy. But if you’re a troll, prepare to depart. Swiftly.
I don’t know how long we’ll offer the provisional memberships. As with much else at the Cabal, this is an experiment in community building. We’ll see how it goes.
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As to new doings: We’ve just created two moderated subforums forums at the Cabal. One is called The Philosophers’ Corner, the other The Activists and Agitators Lair. Anybody, including provisional members, can join and participate in these subforums as long as they agree to the moderators’ rules.
The Philosophers Corner enables people to talk about conccepts like self-ownership, the ZAP, anarchism vs minarchism, the Constitution vs the Constitution of No Authority and similar topics, uninterrupted by those not interested in theoretical discussions.
The Lair is where activists can discuss political or non-political actions without upsetting the apple carts of those who view activism with a jaundiced eye.
There’s also plenty going on in the main forums. Off the top of my head I’m remembering: a thread on The Gentle Art of Persuasion; another on biblical interpretation (friendly despite the diversity of opinion in it); speculation on whether we’re headed for civil war; talk of the movie John Wick 2, and a very active thread about whether the Deep State is trying to pull a coup against Donald Trump.
So lots to do and a growing number of good people, ideas, and experiences to enjoy. Not much on guns and gun rights at the moment, though. We need more on that!
Free sounds like a pretty much good deal to me.
I hope other good people think so. “Free sample” is the idea, but even if those good folks want to come in and enjoy/contribute for 30 days then wander off, that’s fine, too.
BTW, those who do want to stay on after the 30 days can use the discount codes in the Administrivia section to renew their memberships at discounted rates. I forgot to say that.
I get the need, financial and otherwise, to recruit new members. My only concern is a privacy issue, since the intention of what goes in the cabal stays in the cabal is put a little more at risk. I also understand that probably a proficient hacker could get in there anyway (certainly our government could) and read/download whatever he/she wanted. I also understand that trolls can easily be disposed of. It’s people who are dedicated to aims opposite to ours, such as http://nypost.com/2017/02/11/how-obama-is-scheming-to-sabotage-trumps-presidency/ whom I’m concerned about, although perhaps there wouldn’t be any real useful information for them anyway. And I guess one of them could simply join for little money and not reveal their true intent. I wouldn’t be paranoid if they weren’t…etc.,etc.
We will always keep an eye out for trolls and other disrupters. We also need to keep a balance between privacy/small community and the need to make the Cabal useful to freedom.
Someone determined to do serious harm would (as you note) not hesitate to either hack the place or pay the normal membership fee to get in in any case. So while free provisional membership is an experiment and may not be continued very long, I don’t think it places us at any greater risk — especially since we all know to be careful online even when we’re among friends.