Action Station

A New Zealand grassroots political group that I really admire is called ActionStation, and the video above is a short version of their Annual Report. Their website has in-depth details about them and the campaigns they worked on this year.

The group says its mission is “to enable the large community of Kiwis with shared progressive values to take powerful, coordinated action on urgent issues we care about.” What that means in practice is bringing pressure to create change in government or business through petitions, ads, billboards, and grassroots lobbying. It’s no affiliated with any political party, and won’t accept donations from them.

I’ve participated in some of their campaigns, and spread awareness of others on social media. What I like about them is that they harness the possibilities of social media and its large audience to organise focused, direct action, something no NZ political party has done very well, though Labour and the Greens are getting much better at it.

For democracy to actually work, it needs the full participation of its citizens, and groups like ActionStation make that much easier for everyone. I think that’s a very good thing, indeed.