A Dialogue With A Friend (And With Myself) On Political Organizing, Influencing, Changing People Through Social Media-- In Response To Questions We All Have Regarding Uncertainty And Self-Doubt

A Dialogue With A Friend (And With Myself) On Political Organizing, Influencing, Changing People Through Social Media-- In Response To Questions We All Have Regarding Uncertainty And Self-Doubt

I first learned how to politically organize (including emphatically but not limited to fundraising) by working through an organization, and banging my head against the wall in every conceivable way until I realized what I was doing wrong. It is like hitting a baseball, you fail most of the time, and the best at doing it are those who through experience learn how to fail the least, and how to handle failure.  

Most people here have a lot of passion for ideas and truth, and see things that others don't because they have deeper background, empathy and insight. Many of you are currently going through what I did when I made my first attempts at organizing, when I was literally shocked into disbelief about what I saw as apathy, willful ignorance, indifference, or resistance. "Why don't they see what I see, it's so obvious" was the question which vexed me day in, day out. So I had to take stock of what I was doing when I wasn't getting the results I wanted and was starting to get frustrated. 

First was to ask myself, "what is it that I want to accomplish, and will it have a measurable impact?" 

Second was, "what am I asking of others, and is it realistic to hope they will do it in a timely fashion?" A general rule of thumb is that people aren't disposed to take action without a specific sense of urgency to do so, the worthiness of the cause notwithstanding.

Third was, "how can I show others that their doing the things that I'm asking will have a prospect of succeeding?"

And fourth, "how and where to find examples of when something like this was done before, that it made sense, that it worked, and that those who I'm engaging are themselves capable of doing it?"  

So, through experience I learned a few things. 

Don't preach or moralize-- it alienates or antagonizes people when they think we are trying to compel them to believe in or do something. Both thought and action have to come from inside of the person through a positive idea you've helped them to internalize. Doomsaying and pounding the pulpit about the great evils of the day might work for fundamentalist "holy rollers" pushing "old time religion," but not for the kind of durable political or social changes needed now. We wish to activate people who are more likely to be moved by the discovery of something good and new, not the fear of retribution by some angry gods or bad karma. Very few people can sustain a serious protracted political battle merely to "oppose something." They will however be consolidated in their commitment to join with you by a self-subsisting positive concept, rooted in an identity-centered connection.  We, in order to effectively recruit, need to know what victory looks like and be able to convey that clearly to others. Otherwise, the people and their causes will fizzle out, and their movements die the death of inertia. We should not be organizing like "The Terminator," a dystopian Arnold Schwarzegger plodding around with his Austrian accented cyborg voice of doom and telling people, "come with me if you want to live." If that's our message, just turn around and go home. 

They are joining a movement, not just you-- Understand that what holds good people back from getting involved in some way who share our views is mostly fear, cynicism or stubborness, but also a lack of clarity. If they don't understand why they are being asked to do something, what it will accomplish, why doing it is possible, they won't step forward. They don't want their friends or family to think they are nuts or joining a cult. They will not get involved if they feel isolated, so whatever we are trying to do and asking of others, it has to be part of a visible social process. They can't be made to feel they are joining a covert cell of an underground movement or secret society, and therefore are being recruited as fellow travellers down into your personal rabbit hole. 

People need inspiration-- In order to help others to overcome their fears and rise above cynicism, the best way to do that is to show them examples of how other people in history who were just like them, relatable normal people, (think Rosa Parks and the thousands who then followed her lead and boycotted the buses) who did the kind of things you are asking of them. They need to know they aren't alone, that they can make a difference. They need to see how they can make personal changes themselves to meet these challenges, and have some idea of what the world and their role in it might look like on the other side of that change. People who are frustrated, burned out, feeling beaten, but basically well-meaning, want to know that what you are doing and what you are bringing them into can indeed work. They need to both hear you as an individual, but see you as part of something bigger, different and born of necessity that can succeed. Otherwise they will run the other way.

Remember that you have the power of ideas behind you---Humor, beauty, metaphor in the form of anecdotes and storytelling, real history, exciting breakthroughs by collaborators, etc, are far more effective at moving people's hearts and minds than trying to make speeches, lecturing, or moralizing. We want to avoid telling people, "you should do this, you must do that, if you don't do X, Y or Z, the following bad things will happen and it will all be your fault," etc. Guilt and moral imperatives, like didactic poetry and pontificating lectures are the worst motivators. Our efforts, our cause, whatever it is, must have baked into it the possibility of us finding some happiness in joining it now and in the future, as trite as that might sound. Without a future orientation, anything we accomplish in the present is as good as a dirt sandwich. 

Make "risk-taking" exciting, an adventure, not an onerous burden-- If we ask others to take some risks for a cause, but don't effectively demonstrate where the actual benefit lies, including the legitimate historic nature of it, they will see it as fruitless, or a waste. We have no interest in recruiting anyone to join a political Kamikaze mission. (Which also means don't ask people to do things which might get them arrested, blow up their marriages, friendships or employment, unless they are already in process of blowing up, in which case, just plow ahead) You don't want to set others up for failure, instead give them something which they can see will have a beneficial impact in both the short and long term. And most important is to be "patiently impatient."  Meaning, to both convey the timeliness of acting now, and at the same time taking care to avoid "putting people up against the wall" in your "ask" in order to get immediate results. (We used to call that "animal crackering" a huge no-no) Leadership and activism is like water which seeks its own level, or like in the fermentation of bread, those ideas which enable us to rise to that level. Put your best foot forward and then step aside and allow the process of cognitive engagement to work, because you cannot micromanage or steamroll people into a real revolution in these circumstances, nor should you want to try. Those who want the responsibility for solving our problems will separate themselves out. And I can tell you from personal experience that the best game-changing activists that I have known have always been the most voluntaristic, those who take initiative rather than having to be pushed or pulled grudgingly into action. (The photo below is a metaphor for this idea) 

No one sane wants  to be a martyr for a cause-- They want to do something effective. If they see you as just one person railing against injustice, they'll think you are playing martyr and asking them to do the same. People need to know that you are part of something, or they'll see you as being like a street preacher who is out there with a sign saying "The End Is Near," or some other kind of iconclast who they just want to walk past and ignore. (The actual real iconoclasts from whom the term is derived were the violent rabble organized by the opposition to the hated Orthodox Byzantine Emperors and Empresses of the 8th and 9th Centuries, who in their historical versions of January 6th, stormed the palaces and temples to destroy the Icon paintings of the royals and biblical scenes which hung from the walls)

The message has to be that we are not doomed-- We need to formulate and represent a real and workable program for solving these problems which others will see as worth fighting for. We need to be educated on what that program is, where it comes from, and why it is viable and preferable to others. An effective program will be based in historical precedents, is legal, (very important) realistic, is not narrowly defined around one single issue or one constituency,  and is grounded in fundamental principles of universal justice. Without an actual program, all we have to offer people is air, and all we are doing is "helicoptering" to move some small amount of that air around. And to be frank, people we reach out to will not find hope in the sheer magnitude of our sincere feelings, rather they need a solution concept, along with a vehicle to climb aboard, which has an identifiable roadmap to an actual destination. That combination would then be worthy of our sincere feelings and is therefore something real, not contrived or some form of hype designed to get a happy face or care emoji.

Form "a Squad"-- Ironically, the best hope for getting somewhere individually in organizing is to work with a group in order to accomplish something. That seems contradictory but it is true. The Lone Ranger was never real, and we all know he was nothing without Tonto anyway. You can take initiatives yourself, but it has to be part of a discussion process with someone else you are working with. Fighting for ideas is necessarily social. You cannot organize effectively while cloistered in your house with your devices sitting in bed in your PJ's. Making a revolution is not "remote work from home." Obviously, there's a place for communication, teaching, podcasting and video conferencing in organizing, but it requires the activity of people IRL to bring about the kind of changes which are needed.  An online petition and clicking "like" on the posts of pundits is not "mass organizing," it is digitized junk mail and a form of electronic masturbation. (Sorry, not sorry)

Last but not least, make a plan, and then make the new one you will need when the first doesn't work-- If you are overwhelmed by a problem, don't see a solution, or how to engage others, drop it, rethink the whole thing, figure out something else to work on and start from scratch. Small steps which move us forward are more useful than taking a desperation flying leap into the abyss like Wile E. Coyote, especially when you don't even see what's at the bottom. Don't try to be a hero or make a big splash. Have concrete objectives. Set achievable goals. Enlist allies. And when it doesn't work, don't give up if you are confident the process is viable. It is the day to day work in recruiting activists and progress in increments which make the big changes possible. 

Recently, the thing I've realized is that as much as I originally hoped that what I'm doing through social media like Facebook and Twitter is changing things, I know that fundamentally it is not. "Social Media" is itself a kind of social experiment trap, and we are its subjects in a virtual space, an electronic Lab, a kind of "control group." Once we come to that realization, then we can resolve upon a course of action away from here that amounts to something meaningful. That might be tough to take for some, but I'm convinced of it.

I am writing and posting mainly as a form of public diary, in the hope others might gain insight from my thought process, but I'm not kidding myself that I can change the world with a 500 person readership on Facebook and 2,000 Twitter followers. I'm not a credentialed historian like Professor HCR, or a verified "blue check" mainstream journalist with a national following, and not likely to become one. I'm a wild card, a loose cannon who doesn't play the "click bait game." Someone with my history, without bonafides who doesn't abide by the rules of conventional discourse doesn't get welcomed into the establishment, especially with my career in unconventional politics. If I ever were to "break out" and become well known, I'd be more surprised than anyone. In the meantime, there are other things I'm involved in outside of social media which I am confident can shake things up in a good way from behind the scenes. I'm not resigned to accomplishing nothing after 45 years of involvement in all of this. And speaking for my wife Martha, neither is she. 

I've been at this social media thing heavily since Trump arrived in 2015. The way I write and what I'm writing about is just not suited for Facebook or Twitter if I was simply interested in notoriety. So I'm cognizant of that and realistic about my limitations here. 

But I do it because it is fun, intellectually challenging, an opportunity to occupy my mind with things useful and important, and to constantly self-check my own thought process by subjecting myself to public scrutiny. I want to be corrected, questioned, and challenged, but have a low tolerance for egotistical bullshit. I allowed my "nice guy" club membership card to expire on the day in 2017 that Trump praised the Nazi March in Charlottesville, when I realized that it was "happening here." 

But, If you aren't having fun trying to do something good, then it won't work, and probably isn't worth doing. Otherwise, move on, try something else. Remembering the sage advice of an old friend of mine who was a DJ, "let the party happen." In other words, don't force it.  These are some of my off-the-cuff thoughts.

And be assured, what I just wrote is just as much for myself as a reminder of what I'm realistically doing and why, and also what I'm not trying to do. So take it as self-criticism and reflection on my part not specific to anyone here, but as general principles. 

And seriously, don't be discouraged. (which means literally to lose your courage) That's what our adversary wants.