Parallel Structures

3. Parallel Structures for People Power

The MAFA spirit and conviction would hopefully inspire the development or bolstering of independent community structures that address identified needs. At least some of those needs may be ones that government, parties or politicians have failed to meet effectively.

Many resources are already in place whether it's a local cooperative to tackle affordable housing, a political action committee that makes recommendations to legislators, a citizen journalism blog, a neighborhood safety team or some of the many civic organizations that already exist in communities.

Promotion of the MAFA spirit in combination with explicit community goals would hopefully boost membership numbers in existing service organizations as well as possibly create new channels for civic engagement outside of partisan gridlock.

These parallel structures should be enclaves of creative thinking and sound reasoning, empowering citizens with a “do it ourselves” mentality. The MAFA movement should be self-generating from the grassroots of American communities and ideally would be an inspiring example of self-initiative, American ingenuity and productivity: Moving America Forward Again.