Resources
Systemic
Actions
Participants in a movement to advance the Declaration’s goals could utilize some or all of the following methods.
Other Actions
Build a Network of Holistic Support Groups — Members affirm shared principles and open meetings with each member reporting on their recent efforts to 1) become a better human being; 2) nurture compassionate community, and; 3) engage in effective political action. These groups join the Network and occasionally hold Network meetings to exchange reports on their work and support each other.
The agreed-on principles, such as Americans for Humanity: A Declaration or some similar affirmation, affirm: 1) mutual support for holistic development; 2) the need to control or overcome the desire to dominate and the willingness to submit for personal gain and; 3) the development of collaborative, respective co-equal partnerships.
Members could develop trust, facilitate honesty, strengthen open communication, reinforce personal and spiritual growth, counter misinformation, encourage political action, and contribute to deep transformation.Political activists, in particular, could benefit from this kind of commitment to mutual support. Activists, after all, are often as addicted to activism as twelve-step members are addicted to mind-altering substances. But political activists are urgently driven to reduce suffering and injustice. It often seems to them there’s not a minute to waste and self-examination is self-indulgent navel-gazing.
By integrating the personal and the political, these communities would set aside time for their members to support one another in an open-ended manner with their personal efforts to become better human beings, and their political efforts to help improve national public policy.
To the best of our knowledge, no currently existing organization uses an easy-to-learn method like this. Once the value of such a method is established, a wide range of groups might choose to use it — and join a growing, larger community such as this proposed network.
Advance political transformation with methods such as:
Develop a Purple Alliance whose members actively support legislation that’s backed by supermajorities of Americans (including large portions or majorities of Republicans).
Transform the Democratic Party into an activist organization rooted in precinct-based teams that fight for its platform year-round rather than merely work on elections.
Establish Community Dialogues with Elected Officials. On the second Saturday of each month at 10 am, Congresspersons, Senators, and the President participate in separate two-hour public forums whether in person or a video conference call. The moderator is a neutral, well-respected journalist. Speakers are selected randomly and have 90 seconds to comment or ask a question on any topic. Speakers can ask the audience to indicate support on an issue by raising their hand. The elected representative then has 90 seconds to respond. Then the moderator recognizes the next speaker. Community organizations distribute literature at tables. Participants stay after the Dialog to discuss issues informally. The officials are responsible for recruiting the moderator, arranging logistics, publicizing the event, and arranging to have it streamed live on the Internet and/or cable TV. Eventually, federal legislation could require all federal elected officials to participate in the dialogs.
A team that endorses the movement’s shared principles enriches their own and other’s understanding by planning and convening one or more of these methods:
Three-hour Democratic Debates to be streamed live on the Internet and recorded for later viewing. The team defines a yes-no resolution as the focus for the event. Examples include: “All people are equally valuable” and “God does not exist.” One speaker stands at the Yes mic and another stands at the No mic. Each speaker has a two-minute time limit. The Yes speaker is first and they rotate. At any time, audience members can stand behind one of the speakers and place their hand on the speaker’s shoulder to indicate their desire to play that role. A moderator facilitates the selection of online members who want to participate. Everyone is encouraged to play both roles — to speak from that perspective. After ninety minutes, the floor is open for an unstructured conversation, during which some participants may argue Yes and No or propose a synthesis of the two positions. Afterwards all participants are invited to submit resolutions for the next Conversation and/or select future resolutions.
Weekend Plunges. An intensive, highly participatory event with on-site meals (catered or bring-your-own) during which cultural events, pre-planned presentations, and small breakout groups enable participants to explore issues related to the movement’s shared principles and report back to the plenary session concerning their discoveries.
Open Space Conferences using Open Space Technology (OST), which as described on Wikipedia is “a method for organizing and running a meeting or multi-day conference…. The actual agenda or schedule of presentations is partly or mostly unknown until people begin arriving. The scheduling of which talk, on which topic in which room is created by people attending, once they arrive. At the end of each OST meeting, a debriefing doc is created…” The focus could be on how to promote holistic and systemic transformation or one of the movement’s principles].
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