THE NEED FOR A NEW SOCIAL MOVEMENT

This is an article describing the profound loss of core consensus about our current political universe. The time is ripe of a new social movement. This is a challenging article intended to be a call to action.

Current Situation

The election and subsequent events speak to a heightened level of political turmoil. Many seek a political solution—a mechanism by which we negotiate pragmatic compromises. However our political system no longer sits on a stable foundation. It is not a change in politics that is needed right now, but rather a ground swell of a new social movement. Although political solutions will be a part of the outcome, it is not the place to start. The present situation calls for a much broader movement than just a change in the political guard. Our Constitution is quite specific about how to determine the winners in our electoral process. It does not consider those who shirk their civic duty by not voting. However, ignoring the impact of this non participation and lack of a real majority is proving to be disastrous in our ability to solve the complex problems we face as a nation. The new “leader of the Free World” was chosen by less than 25%¹ of the electorates’ support. The runner up who received the majority of the vote, didn’t do much better, with just over 25%. Truth be told, a significant portion of both candidate’s numbers include a “lesser of two evils” vote. Is it any wonder that our political discourse is so rancorous when so few in the population support any of the candidates? The illegitimate representation of all our citizens has divided us to the point where we are at the brink of failing future generations. It is not what “I” think or, what “YOU” think that is the problem, but rather our inability to find a common ground regarding what WE think are the solutions to “OUR” problems. Mr. Trump’s election and the events of the past several weeks have brought our nation a unique opportunity to recognize that our problems are not really political but rather social. The election of Secretary Clinton would not have had a significant effect on most of the underlying problems of our time. It would have failed to provide long term relief. The social foundation on which our political system rests is eroding.

• The Legislative branch no longer reflects the will of the people, but rather the power of special interests and the political Parties’ efforts to dominate the agendas of their choosing. It does not pass the straight face test to argue that if I give a candidate or Party millions of dollars that I am not expecting something in return.

• The average citizen has lost considerable faith in the judicial system. Courts are over burdened, jails are over crowded and recidivism is on the rise.

• The press has too often failed to provide accurate facts in an unbiased context that aid the average citizen to make informed choices.

• Our economic system is unarguably rigged towards the “haves” as is so clearly shown by the ever widening gap between them and the “have nots”.

New Civic Event Horizon

This political and social chaos is also an unusual opportunity. Our lives are surrounded by a civic event horizon, of what we see “as possible” or what we see as “almost possible” in our society. Inside that horizon, we can see a set of old pragmatic options and real politic compromises. However, every once in a while, something shifts and the boundaries of our shared horizons expand out; people can see the possibility of “new possibilities”. The current political turmoil now provides an opportunity to take advantage of just such a shift in the horizon. There is an opening for creative thinking, simultaneously, by many people, imagining new social forms, that were completely over the previous horizon. We must be able to envision a new future in a world where there are more possibilities. Our history clearly shows that in the 18th century there was a significant cultural upheaval that caused the horizon of that time to shift outward. The great thinkers of the time met this challenge with creativity that lives on today in the following words:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness…²

Evolution is not a constant motion but rather occurs in fits and starts. We are suggesting that such a moment is upon us again.

New Social Movement

The expansion of the civic event horizon opens a space that is larger than a traditional political solution. This space is a hole that is the shape of a social movement. We are not talking about an alternative political party, but rather a social movement that is based on civility, not hate; on inclusion not exclusion. A social movement whose tent is broad enough to include the politely disenfranchised and whose center pole is elevated enough to represent a higher moral ground than present day partisan political tents. A social movement that empowers its participants and resists illegitimate authority. A social movement with a bed rock sense of economic fair play that can confront with the growing disparity of the 99% who make this country great and the 1% who own it. It must provide a voice for those that are not participating. It must provide a path that enables all to become involved. To borrow a concept from the Quaker philosophy ‘The light of Democracy shines equally in every citizen’ and the success of a society is dependent on all members developing a ‘consensus of the meeting’.

New Forms of Social Action

There is a paradox to this suggestion of a new social movement. As was so aptly said in the movie “Network” 40 years ago, “We are as mad as hell, and we’re not going to take this anymore”. But in that story, this cry of frustration was not sustainable and was immediately snuffed out. We are all angry, but realize that anger may be just a spark that is, in the long run, unsustainable. We all want to do something, but the demonstrations and radical political action of the baby-boomer generation seem exhausted. The old forms of political action seem to be nothing more than “…exercises in catharsis, the release of emotions, and grievance politics³ . The evolution of a new form of social action is the core creative challenge for this moment. New, alternative political forms, suitable for the 21st century need to evolve. A social catalyst is needed to give us the capacity to become activists again; that allows anger and frustration to be transformed into a concrete, shared project of making our political lives meaningful again.

Meeting With Friends

Many people are looking for an organization to join, based on the issue they feel is most compelling. However, there is another, very different possibility: that we start weaving the fabric of a big tent social movement that is larger than a single issue. Many people are willing to take risks to open the possibility of significant change. We need to find each other and form a Meeting with Friends, affinity group or coffee klatches and developed a ways of working together. We see these Meetings with Friends as the foundation stones of a new social movement that, in themselves, will require commitment and self-discipline. This is based on the faith that people are ready to “self-organize” into something much more than a onetime march. We hope that these Meetings with Friends can rapidly evolve and intensify, to take on a greater set of challenges:

1. Set up an internal consensus-based decision making process, which not only embraces the principals of participatory democracy, but is also committed to empowering speech and equalization of public voices within the group. Build a rant free zone.
2. Expand the discussion to celebrate the 99 percent and commit to the idea of a tent big enough to embrace patriotism.
3. Focus on collective action for a concrete social goal that will tactically improve peoples’ lives and strategically pose a fundamental moral challenge.
4. Commit to a style of political practice where the ends and the means are both ethical; where the style of political struggle pre-creates a world we choose to live in. Celebrate the 99% but don’t demonize the 1%.
5. Provide a space where individual bitterness and isolated anger can be transformed into playful action – political theater is fun. Art can be self-healing. Music can bind us together.
6. Sponsor discussions, encourage debate, think realistically, dream big.
7. Move outside the group’s comfort zone and build bridges. Be proactive in establishing relationships with individuals and Meetings from socio-economic groups that are outside the orbit of your daily lives. Find common ground.

Loyalty, Commitment

Most Americans are profoundly skeptical about joining any organization that expects them to become “True Believers”. Most political “organizing” today requires a citizen to painfully “suspend disbelief” about the hierarchical, authoritarian sub-structure of most centralized organizations that claim political/social leadership status. The Meeting with Friends structure needs to be radically different – inherently anti-authoritarian – permitting Friends to make long term, intense commitments which increase their sense of personal agency – rather than demanding that their individual voices be submerged in the voice of the choir.

Paradoxically, that same structure of small, intense, far horizon, Meetings with Friends, also poses a real challenge to getting anything significant done because “anything significant” requires structured mass action.

Cross Meeting Networking – Working Committees

Meetings are small teams of courageous people, with loyalties to each other, to the nation, to the project of profound rebuilding our shared future identity. But, much of our work can only be done through collaboration among multiple, geographically dispersed, Meetings. The basic idea is set up Cross Meeting Working Committees to handle these challenges. Probably the best way to implement this is to use collaborative technology to build virtual working committees on the Web. Any Meeting can invent a new Working Committee and advertise it for other Meetings to participate.

Because Virtual Working Committees will be easy to set up on the Web, they can be used for small projects, such as preparing political theater for a specific demonstration, mid-size projects such as supporting Meals on Wheels, or large projects, such as campaigns against student indentured servitude, state gerrymandering or re-imagining solutions for structural unemployment. Cross Meeting Working Committees give Meeting atoms an agile self-organizing capacity to scale projects to the scope of a large social movement.

Conclusion

We as a nation, can create “a more perfect Union” when we learn that what unites us is more important than what divides us There is a challenge to thinking outside the box – to move beyond the exhausting images of a political spectator sport; super-heroes and super-villains, brought into our living rooms on 56 inch flat screen TVs. We have the power to make the narrative in front of the camera one of “a more perfect Union”. As mentioned earlier, our forefathers saw the shift in the civic event horizon and they rose to the challenge. Now, this historical moment is our challenge. We must take up their torch and carry it forward into the 21st century. We can choose to ignore this moment. But we cannot escape the historical responsibility for the consequences of our inaction.

Footnotes

1. Cook Political Report analysis as reported in the International Business Times; US Census statistics estimated population 4/1/16; percentage of population under 18 4/1/15
2. The Declaration of Independence, second paragraph
3.  What Effective Protest Could Look Like, David Frum, Atlantic Magazine, 02/06/17