This is my diary series to chronicle my struggle to incorporate empathy into the lexicon of my local Democratic Club. Last week I finished up my 2010 Activism Series with the public announcement to the Kos community that I was elected president of my Local Democratic club and that I fully intended to "change the script" in preparation for the 2012 elections.
How you might ask? And, I would answer through Empathy. Well, fortuitously, in a diary posted at Daily Kos, George Lakoff sets the stage for my efforts with an excellent introduction. But, Lakoff's diary is theory. This series is about applying his ideas to activism. Specifically a Democratic Club. Beyond the fold let's get started. (Cross posted at Street Prophets)
At our November 2010 meeting, just a few days after the election, we spent the whole evening talking about the election and politics. What struck me was how abstract the dialog was. Over half of the 30 persons present had no idea what we were talking about. For most Bluedogs, wikileaks, or Google were outside their experience. And the remainder did not have consistent uses for the same words they were sharing.
The conservative message machine has so dominated political discourse that they have changed the meaning of words and made some truths untellable by political leaders in present discourse. It takes a major communication effort to change that.
Daily Kos: Untellable Truths by George Lakoff
It is my observation that not only are Republicans speaking a different language, but most of the Democrats. At our next meeting, a Christmas party, I resolved to try and "frame" the conversation better. As this was not a scheduled business meeting, all I could do is distribute a "FAQ" page and make a short opening remark. And, hope it would influence the direction of the conversation for the better.
I turned to Daily Kos for inspiration and found this diary: I Am a Good Democrat by bink that contains a good list of Democratic values.
I believe in civil rights.
I believe in social and economic justice.
I believe in diplomacy over warfare and that war should always be the last resort, when all other means of resolving conflict have been exhausted. I believe that war should only be carried out for the purpose of national defense and never for conquest.
I believe that government has a responsibility to protect and sustain the welfare of human individuals and families over big business and those new, vast, dark pools of money that now circle the world, draining whole nations of their wealth with little restraint from governments.
I believe that the working class is more important than the investing class.
I believe that society has a responsibility to take care of children and the elderly -- every single one of them without any excuses -- and that government is our means for executing on this responsibility.
And I believe that the best society is one that provides a level playing field for everyone who starts out in life.
I Am a Good Democrat
And to this list I added my "two cents" that all these values in blink's list can be "grounded" in empathy and I stated that empathy should be the foundation of our club. After distributing the "FAQ" and making my welcome statement I spent the remainder of the party talking to the members, individually, about how empathy was at the root of our core Democratic values.
Using empathy as a descriptor, was well received and some started using the word in conversations with out my prompting. The goal now would be to get the club members to use the word consistently to distinguish our Democratic values from Republicans. As Lakoff's says it's complicated, any success that I have achieved has been through acknowledging that complexity and addressing it through preparation and planing.
Communication is a long-term effort. Political leaders rarely say anything that isn’t already in public discourse. That means that people who are not in office have to start effective communication efforts, including new ways of thinking and talking.
Daily Kos: Untellable Truths by George Lakoff
My success, so far, has been built on being a active member of the club and gaining the trust of the membership through communication and setting an example. This relationship has been built up over the last few years by my working on GOTV election efforts, community outreach activities, and club social gatherings.
What is the goal? Lakoff says it best.
Democrats need to unite behind a simple set of moral principles and to create an effective language to express them. President Obama in his campaign expressed those principles simply, as the basis of American democracy.
(1) Empathy — Americans care about each other.
(2) Responsibility, both personal and social. We have to act on that care.
(3) The ethic of excellence.
We have to make ourselves better so we can make our families, our communities, our country and the world better. Government has special missions: to protect and empower our citizens to have at least the necessities. I don’t know any Democrats who don’t believe in these principles. They need to be said out loud and repeated over and over.
Daily Kos: Untellable Truths by George Lakoff
To begin to accomplish this goal I'm making changes to the format of our club meetings. I want to establish a tradition of a members round robin to start the meetings. The meeting attendees are encouraged to make a statement of Democratic values, concern, or just thanks. To seed this tradition I'm going to transcribe Lakoff's list of "Untellable Truths" on to a number of index cards and randomly distribute them to members to read at the opening of the next meeting.
Also, at the next meeting I will be announcing the creation of four committees that will be meeting once a month: 1) Computers & Communication, 2) MOE & Electing Better Democrats, 3) Guest Speakers & Education, and 4) A committee to be determined by group consensus.
Thank You