What Is the Plan?

While speaking to a Chicago Rotary Club last week, I was specifically asked about the “Action Plan” in the title of my book. What was my plan, I was asked? It occurred to me that others might like a synopsis of that plan, so here it is.

I want to help Americans overcome Polarized Politics. To do so, I believe Americans must change their approach to politics by exploring and defining their political philosophy. I am not trying to tell people what to believe. I am trying to get people in touch with what they do believe and then give them the tools to be able to stand up for what they believe, yet have the flexibility to find common ground with other people. The surprise is that we agree about a lot more things than we disagree about. There is profit to be made from making us think we disagree, however, and so disagreement is perpetuated.

When you have a car whose wheels are out of alignment and tires are out of balance (as our political process is), you take that car to a shop. The shop puts the car through a procedure in order to correct those problems and make the car run smoothly again. In the same way, I am putting you through a procedure to explore and define your political philosophy.  Here are the steps in my procedure.

1. Make you resistant to manipulation (better known as “spin”) by media and politicians. Right now I find that people are issue and personality focused with regard to politics. This makes people highly vulnerable to spin. I counter-act this by showing you ways to be principle centered with regard to politics. Political Parties and candidates are represented by human beings. Human beings are flawed and will let you down with constant changes and mistakes. Principles are timeless and unchanging. When you are grounded in principles then you can remain focused on your values, regardless of the spin you’re exposed to.

2. Show others how to be resistant to manipulation. My book has several ways for you to interact with other people, current representatives, and potential representatives in a principle centered way that seeks to drive consensus, not conflict. Conflict is inevitable, but we can learn to manage conflict better. The more people who learn to think this way, the less Polarized Politics will be effective, the more problems we will solve and the better life will be as a citizen of this country.

3. Demand what you want instead of taking what you’re offered. So long as you are issue and personality oriented you will be pushed in the direction others want you to go—and that direction may not be good for you. Being principle oriented will enable you to sort through the rhetoric. Speaking up on behalf of those principles can help create consensus towards solutions that (as I write in the book) do the most good for the largest amount of people for the longest period of time while at the same time doing the least amount of damage to the fewest number of people and is the best solution we can do with the available dollars, given competing priorities.

4. Learn to recognize and neutralize those issues and groups that perpetuate spin in politics. Remember that moment in The Wizard of Oz when the curtain was pulled back and the “Wizard” was exposed for the fraud he was? That was the moment when the actual problem solving began. Similarly, by becoming principle centered politically, you will better be able to recognize and expose those with issues and agendas which, though well intentioned, are keeping consensus from being achieved and progress from being made.

I do all this with a book and blog that I intend to be easy to read and understand. In fact, I’m often told that the book is funny in places (which I intended). If I get criticism, it is usually from two sources. Political Scientists tell me the book is not “academically rigorous” enough. That’s OK with me. I don’t want my book to be “rigorous” for everyday people. I want it to be easy, so a lot of people will read it. It’s based on the variety of experience I’ve had with the exceptional people and organizations I’ve been associated with. What that means to you is that you’re going to find practical ideas that work, not pie in the sky theory.

The second criticisms I get are from “my way or the highway” ideologues at both ends of the political spectrum. One of my favorite quotations is from the Irish poet Robert Burns. “O wad the giftie gie us, to see ourselves as ithers see us.” To repeat the quote with an English slant instead of the Gaelic, “Oh would the good Lord give us, the ability to see ourselves as others see us.” Unfortunately, there are sometimes people who are active politically who refuse to see themselves as others see them. These are people who refuse to acknowledge that there could be another point of view and the potential negative ripple effects of implementing the solutions they advocate. Such people, in my opinion, lose their vote and their influence in discussion of issues due to their inflexibility. Why they have that inflexibility is the topic someday for another blog entry.

Overall, then, I think my book and my blog seeks to have the following influences.

If you are strongly affiliated with one of the two major political parties, then I want to show you some perspectives on what you need to do to attract Independent voters like me. Remember that, like it or not, it is attracting the undecided swing vote in the center which will determine the outcome of an election.

If you are an Independent voter (even if you only a passing interest in politics) then I want to show you some perspectives on how you can make your voting choices in a more effective and efficient way. I also want to show you how (despite the many demands on your time in your busy life) to exert maximum influence on the political process with a minimal investment of time and effort.

One guarantee I can make with absolute certainty. If we make no changes, then nothing will change and Polarized Politics as usual will continue. But if we will change, then everything will change for us. Change will be slow, but the results will be worthwhile.

Have a great day.