To paraphrase Big Daddy Kane, “Democracy ain’t easy.” Especially at the grassroots level where the rubber hits the road. Sometimes there’s lot of friction. So here’s something I like to remember whenever I’m feeling down or pissed off about something. We’re only six steps away from creating a 64 million people strong movement.
Here’s the math:
In the 1st round, you convince 20 people to fight and to convince 20 people they know to also fight. After they convince 20 people, you have 400 leaders. Here’s what this looks like by round:
- 1st round = 20 people
- 2nd round = 400 people
- 3rd round = 8,000 people
- 4th round = 160,000 people
- 5th round = 3,200,000 people
- 6th round = 64,000,000 people
Very quickly we have a powerful movement of leaders. And all you have to do is be able to talk about what you stand for and ask people to fight with you in some way, shape or form.
Okay, I do know it’s not quite this simple. But movements can grow exponentially. We can either talk about how impossible it is to do or we can start with 20 people we know. If it helps, here’s some of the ways I ask people to get involved.
The game of “51”
I call this the game of “51.” I’ve found that if I turn it into a game, it makes it easier for me. The reason I chose 51 is that 51 percent is the percentage of people you need in order to win in a democracy. I also started out by making a list of 51 people I wanted to talk with in the hopes of winning 20 of them.
I like to think of asking people to fight with me as a game because games are fun, games help you learn, and when we talk about politics we should be having fun and learning. Rather than trivialize the issues, I’ve found that thinking of political discussions as a game takes the pressure off and makes it easier to have conversations.
The goals of the game are:
- Meet new people.
- Win people over.
- Learn and improve.
- Encourage new players.
We also have nothing to lose. We’re going to lose the money game. If we know we’re going to lose the money game, why not try something different?
Our biggest strength is numbers.
A few ground rules:
- If it makes you angry, take a break or perhaps target someone different.
- Focus on your ideas and values in discussions. The easiest way to do this is to think about saying “I believe _______.”
- Remember that your goal is to win people over. You don’t win people over by calling them names. You win people over when they want to fight with you.
- Start from places of commonality and with small wins.
- Talk to independents and leave the ideological alone. (This is much harder to do than we often think because we like to argue with those who offend us from a beliefs level the most.) Win the independents, however, and the ideological don’t matter.
Here are my top eight asks:
1. Vote
Not only in elections but in primaries. On issue after issue, people are the new silent majority. Government policy would advance in the direction of people if we just voted consistently for politicians who represent the interests of people. This is why corporations spend so much of their time trying to convince people that their vote doesn't matter.
If voting doesn't matter, why are corporations spending so much time trying to prevent people from voting? Why do they encourage people who will vote for their issues to vote?
Remember, the problem is money's influence on politics. The less we vote, the more influence money has on an election. The more we vote and the more we vote for populist candidates, the less money will matter in elections.
Politicians are working for corporate special interest groups because corporate special interest groups have convinced them that the money they provide wins them elections.
Consistent voting for better candidates would have a ripple effect. The less money matters, the more we would get better, less corrupt candidates.
2. Convince others of the importance of voting
You've made it a point to vote consistently, now help others understand the importance of voting. Talk about what happens when people vote. Look at how easily President Obama was re-elected in 2012 when people turned out to vote despite the huge sums of money spent against him.
Or talk about corporate strategies to prevent people from voting like Voter ID laws and demotivational propaganda.
I know it can be frustrating to vote, especially if it seems like your vote doesn't matter or that the candidate didn't do enough. The thing to keep in mind here is, did or will that candidate move the needle in the direction of the people? Any movement in the right direction is worth a vote.
The question shouldn't be: Did this candidate do X? The question should be: Is this candidate working to shift policy in the right direction?
We need candidates who aren't bought, sold, and delivered by corporate interests. The only way to do this is to get people out to vote consistently for better candidates. And yes, I understand there are Democrats who tow a corporate line. If we would vote more often in primaries for better candidates, we'd see candidates start to get braver.
If people voted consistently, we would always win.
3. Speak about your values and what you believe
You will not win someone over who holds a different worldview by presenting facts that refute their conceptual frame. Simply put, you will not win someone over by telling them that they’re wrong.
If you present people who believe in the idea of “free markets” the wonderful data and conclusions of Thomas Piketty, they are going to tell you that the solution is to make the markets “freer.” Within their worldview, markets are natural things not to be “interfered with.” Until you're able to reframe markets as man-made creations, the analysis will only be viewed as “interference.”
When you speak about your values, you present a vision of the world you would like to see and are working toward. If your vision is compelling enough, people will want to work with you.
Talking about values brings people together, whereas refuting ideas only plays into the divide-and-conquer strategies of corporate lobbyists. These groups use divide-and-conquer strategies because their values are weak and radical. No one thinks wealthy people need more help, for example, except corporate lobbying groups.
If enough people speak about our values, we shift the window of options back in our favor. We elect better representatives. And we would see politicians of all stripes more willing to work toward solutions that benefit people.
Remember, politicians react to the political landscape and will do what is necessary to win elections. Corporate interest groups have changed the landscape to provide political cover for favors like tax avoidance. The way to change things is to change the landscape so these political favors look like the corruption they actually are.
If we truly believed in democracy, for example, and that unlimited campaign donations corrupt elections, we would elect representatives that believe in democracy and working for the people (or we'd put rules in place limiting how much corporations can contribute). If we always voted for the person who took the least amount of campaign contributions, eventually campaign contributions wouldn’t matter. Eventually, politicians would avoid campaign contributions.
And yes, I know this is a stretch right now. But I also know that starting with values is the way to make it happen. You know how I know? Because there was a time when it would have been inconceivable to do many of the things that are on the table today. There was a time when privatizing our schools would have been unthinkable. There was a time when tax cuts for the rich would have been viewed as morally reprehensible. There was a time when gay marriage would have been unthinkable. There was a time when women's rights would have been unthinkable.
To me, the term moral high ground is intricately linked with values and respect. You earn respect by talking about what you believe in and treating other people with respect. If you treat people with respect, you are in a position to ask for respect in return.
You hold the moral high ground when you work to win people over. You hold the moral high ground by talking about your beliefs and values, not by calling people stupid or playing the Republican/Democrat game. You do this by speaking about your values.
This isn't to say you should never be angry. There are times when you will be angry. Remember the goal of winning people over, though. Use your anger effectively. You don't win people over by calling people stupid. If something makes you angry, either confront it in a way that's productive or step away from the conversation.
The way to influence the direction of change is to start with values.
Only collective moral force can unite the world.
—I Ching, Book of Changes
4. Focus on those you can win over
Too often we spend our time and energy on people who we're never going to win over. They make us angry and we can't seem to understand the views they hold so we focus all our time and energy on them.
This is why I recommend focusing on people who you can win over. Focus on your friends. Focus on your family. Focus on independents or those who share a frustration with how corrupt Washington has become.
Look at your group of 51 people and identify those that you're most likely to win over and start with some easy goals.
Put the vast majority of your time and energy into lifting up and encouraging these people, rather than beating your head against the wall on someone you know you will never win over. The difficult part is that from an emotional standpoint, we often want to fight with the people who make us the angriest.
Imagine what our country would look like if we spent our time and energy on winning people over rather than spinning our wheels on ineffective Republican/Democrat fights.
5. Identify representatives with similar values
To move our country closer to a democracy that works for people (and not just corporate special interests and the wealthy), we need people and politicians who believe in democracy as a core value and will work for democracy.
Reporters should be asking candidates about their beliefs and campaign contributions. If they're not, ask them to—put it on their agenda. And if reporters won't ask, find out for yourself. Meet the candidate. Listen to what they say and ask questions at any possible opportunity.
We need candidates who are not corrupt. We need candidates who believe in democracy as a first principle and who are not working for corporate special interest groups.
We should ask candidates specifically about their beliefs in democracy and about their campaign contributions.
Some tell-tale signs that your representative works for people and not corporate special interest groups:
- Your representative publicly states a belief in democracy.
- Your representative believes in an economy that works for everyone, not in trickle-down economics (give to the top and the benefits “trickle down”).
- Your representative believes we have an obligation to ourselves and to others (mutual responsibility).
- Your representative believes the United States is a good investment.
- Your representative believes we are all equal.
- Your representative wants to limit the influence of money on democratic institutions.
- The list of items your representative cares about isn't the same as the list at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (or other corporate special interest group).
- Your representative believes that government is by and for the people of our country—all of them.
6. Share what you believe
Don’t sit back quietly. Share what you believe.
As an example, I like to talk about the work that needs to be done in our country:
There's plenty of work that needs doing in our country. We need better schools and less crime. Bridges are falling apart, parks need keeping up, highways need to be repaired. We need to end systemic racism and inequality. We need new technology like high-speed Internet broadband and we need to find alternative sources of energy before the oil runs out.
What kind of world has all this work but no jobs?
Examples like these are often fun, witty, and speak at a values level.
They're examples that are very easy to share through social media and often won't wear out your friends with the right/left game. They're easy to repost.
It's also easy to bring up ideas like this with people in person. A great way to do this is by asking questions: Why are people who don't believe in government running for office? If elected, why would these people ever do anything for the people of our country? What's the incentive?
Successes are another great thing to share. Democracy (you remember our “by the people, for the people” government that countless other countries have used as a model for their own government) has been so demonized by corporate propaganda that we should point out the good things government does.
It's not the end all be all, but at the same time, our government is not the second coming of Stalin. And it would be a helluva lot better if we could return it to a government by and for the people.
Anyway, you get the picture. Think about creative ways to share your values because you may not see them in the corporate media.
7. Don’t take the bait
How much time do you spend getting angry at someone who says something you don't agree with? How much time do you spend trying to convince people that they're “wrong”?
The answer may be, not much. But if you're like many of my friends, you engage in long drawn-out battles where you're constantly fact-checking some conservative friend.
I'm going to make things easy for you. No amount of facts is going to convince die-hards. They've made up their mind and they are fighting a different war with you. They are fighting a war designed to draw you into the role of fact-checking liberal.
They do this a) to distract you from better goals, and b) so they can play the role of victim (of liberals who are always telling them that they're wrong).
Turn off or ignore the corporate pundits; you know what they're going to say anyways: something to outrage you. Play a better game.
8. Lift up and encourage
You no doubt have likely seen or know people who are de-energized or demoralized from the fight against the well-funded, well-organized few.
The biggest frustration I've heard expressed is: How can people possibly think what they do? They waste enormous amounts of energy on trying to convince these religious people that somehow they are wrong and when they fail in convincing them, they often think that it's just not worth it.
This is why I suggest looking at the “low-hanging fruit,” to steal a popular corporate phrase. Convincing someone to vote is relatively easy. Convincing someone to focus on those we can win over is even easier.
And when you start talking to people and realizing you help people attain these small goals, morale goes up instead of down. When people see small successes, they're more likely to both keep at it and push further.
This is true of any situation in life where you're learning how to do something.
Winning people over may be a bit of a new skill for people in your group of 51. That's why it's important to share your successes and talk about your failures. And if someone is struggling in some area, help out.
Suggest a different approach, suggest some options for an issue they're struggling with, or help them understand where best to focus their energy.
If you can help someone with a problem or issue they're experiencing, you become a leader, someone people look to for advice.
I put this in the low-hanging fruit category because most of the 51 people on your list are friends, family, or acquaintances. It's easy to encourage people you know. If they're down or struggling, forget politics and pick them up.
I've seen many people get down or frustrated because they are either a) in an argument they're never going to win or b) fighting with someone whose main goal is to frustrate them.
Disagreement is okay. You're not going to win every fight. Especially with someone fighting a religious battle. When you see people struggling in a situation like this, show them how to handle, avoid, or get out of the fights that aren't going anywhere. Help people understand how to talk about values and set reasonable expectations.
Energy begets energy when people hit goals and feel like they're making progress. Hitting these small goals will help build confidence that people can make a difference.
Remember, it's a marathon, not a sprint (both a truism and a cliche). Corporations didn't change things overnight. It took a major commitment to a value-based strategy over the course of 40 years.
It’s a numbers game
Even I think these goals are realizable and straightforward, I never ask them all at once. Start with something simple and work toward the more complex. Convincing people to vote should be at the top of any list, for example. If we could just convince more people of the value of voting and repeat it for every election, we would have a much less corrupt government.
The important thing to remember is that once you’ve convinced people to take some steps, you want to start asking them to ask others. This way we get exponential growth. This is how, very quickly, we can get to numbers that can make the difference.
Have fun and remember, you’re only six steps away from 64 million people.
Excerpted from The Little Book of Revolution: A Distributive Strategy for Democracy (now available as an ebook).