Keys to a Future Majority - Introduction

In the Spring of 2004 I was a Masters Student at the Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research in New York City, and was contemplating applying for PHD programs in either political science, psychology, or communications. However, during the presidential campaign, in the Summer of 2004, I worked with a group called Music for America (MFA) turning young people out to vote in music venues, and this work convinced me to switch gears . Instead of continuing on with school and research I decided to instead devote myself to politics and action.

This series, which I have titled “Keys to a Future Majority,” constitutes my Masters Thesis, the final piece of academic work for The New School, and the opening piece that I will use for a new website called “Future Majority” which I am founding with Mike Connery and Josh Koenig, both formerly of Music for America. It is about my experiences working with MFA, and the things that I witnessed within the progressive political universe during the election. It is also about the academic research that led me to believe that MFA had the best chances of any organization to enact long term change in the United States. It is about the people that I met, the things I learned, and the things that I now believe progressives/liberals/Democrats need to do in order to regain majority status in this nation.

Keys to a Future Majority was devised as a series of blog posts, though some of the pieces are a bit longer than typical blog posts. The thesis was written at two points, about a year apart (Spring 2005 and Spring 2006) and it has evolved over time, as has my own career path. Whereas I was a computer technician (in addition to a student) I am now officially entering the political/blogging world full time. I also am attempting to start a new business and non-profit organization built upon the ideas within this thesis and using the connections that I made during 2004. It is meant to be somewhat entertaining, as well as educational, though I’m not 100% sure that I achieved this goal.

Next: Meeting Music for America