Wade’s Weekly: Nov. 24, 2010

Contents:
--"Esalen Celebrates Dick Price"
--Frankly Quoted
--Editor's Note

Esalen Celebrates Dick Price
By Wade Hudson
On the evening of November 17, an overflow crowd of 150 people crammed into a meeting hall at Esalen Institute, the fountainhead of the human potential movement, to celebrate the life and work of its publicity-shy co-founder, Dick Price, twenty-five years after his sudden death. Former friends and colleagues from as far away as Germany came to participate in the event at “God’s Little Half-Acre” on the Big Sur Coast.

As the only person to have recorded an interview with Dick about himself for publication (an excerpt was published in the Esalen catalog), I was a featured speaker. Presenting my remarks proved to be more difficult than I expected. Two or three times I broke down crying. At one point, I wondered if I could finish.

When Chris Price, his former partner, introduced me, she described the abuse that Dick had received while locked up in a mental hospital in the 1950s, when he was subjected to electroshock and insulin coma treatments five days a week for twelve weeks. She then explained that he and I held a common interest in alternatives to psychiatry and referred to my interview.

I began by saying that since “Dick didn’t do publicity” I felt deeply honored that he had allowed me to interview him and hoped that some day his thoughts would gain wider distribution. I then said:

Concerning his experience in the institution, he told me:

Rather than seeing someone through a particular type of experience, [those treatments] were an effort to suppress and negate in every possible way what I was going through. There was a fundamental mistake being made and that mistake was supposing that the healing process was the disease, rather than the process whereby the disease is healed. The disease, if any, was the state previous to the “psychosis.” The so-called psychosis was an attempt toward spontaneous healing, and it was a movement toward health, not a movement toward disease. (It was the power of those words that prompted me to crack up.)

His experience led him to co-found Esalen with a strong personal commitment to finding alternative ways to respond to altered states of consciousness.

When I asked him, “What would have been helpful for you at that time?” he replied:

Well, a space like Esalen, where it’s possible to be outside and not locked up, a place where it's possible to get a good diet, a place where it's possible to live through experience rather than having it blotted out, a place where there aren't the same negative self-definitions of someone going through this type of experience. Also, people available who are not doing what psychiatrists, or at least many of them, characteristically do.

In 1968, Dick’s dedication led Esalen to convene a series of workshops and seminars entitled “The Value of Psychotic Experience” that were designed to integrate and extend the theories of John Perry, R. D. Laing, Fritz Perls, and others.

The next year, in a nearby California State mental hospital, Esalen launched the Agnews Project, a three-year study of drug-free alternative approaches.

Two years later, Loren Mosher launched the Soteria Research Project, also in San Jose, an alternative, drug-free residential community for individuals who would have otherwise been institutionalized.

These efforts likely helped John Perry obtain city funding for Diabysis House in San Francisco, another psychosocial rehabilitation community.

In 1973, Esalen convened in San Francisco a remarkable conference titled “Spiritual and Therapeutic Tyranny: The Willingness to Submit.”

In 1976, Stan Grof and Joan Halifax-Grof with many prominent faculty led a month-long seminar at Esalen on "Schizophrenia and the Visionary Mind."

In 1980, Stan and Christina Grof founded the Spiritual Emergence Network, with Esalen sponsorship, and developed a referral and information network with a worldwide presence and thousands of members.

From 1981-88, Larry Telles convened seven invitational conferences at Esalen on "Alternatives to Institutional Psychiatric Treatment.”

In the mid-1980s, some associates and I obtained a half-million dollar contract for the Tenderloin Self-Help Center in San Francisco. Esalen helped train the staff for that program.

And from the time that Dick and I first met in 1973 at the Network Against Psychiatric Assault, my colleagues and I many times accepted his invitation to visit Esalen and participate in workshops free of charge at any time.

In all of these ways, Dick pursued his original mission with remarkable vigor and great impact.

While preparing these remarks, I discovered in the Schizophrenia Bulletin a review of studies on the Soteria method. That report concludes: “Interest in this approach is growing in the United Kingdom, several European countries, North America, and Australasia…. The studies included in this review suggest that the Soteria paradigm yields equal, and in certain specific areas, better results….”

This instance and the workshop that our friends from Contra Costa County will hold here in December are only some of the many ways that the work of Dick Price lives on.

As I left the microphone, Chris tapped me on the shoulder and we embraced for a long time, with me sobbing in her arms. Afterward, numerous people approached me, expressed their appreciation for what I had to say, and discussed related issues.

My presentation was only one of many emotional moments during the celebration, which began at 2 pm with early arrivals joining a weeklong Gestalt Practice workshop led by Chris Price and two associates. This group of thirty or so introduced themselves by recalling special moments with Dick.

One such report was by Rick Tarnas, who talked about when R.D. Laing turned up for his Esalen workshop on an alcoholic binge. Once, when Laing was very late for a session, Dick invited two of my associates and me to join him at the front of the room to lead a discussion. While Dick was talking, Laing walked behind him and poured champagne on his head. Without moving, Dick responded, “John the Baptist,” which reflected not only his quick wit but also his ability to stay centered.

After a break, we gathered on the lawn in front of the office, where some other members of the Esalen community joined us to walk down to the meditation house by the creek where a bronze plaque reads:

Tao follows the Way of the Watercourse
As the Heart Mind through Meditation
Returns to the Sea
In Memory of Richard Price
Behind the house, there is a Chinese ting, a large brass bowl, which is a sacred vessel used to cook food for offering to the spirits and ancestors. Symbolically it is created to contain a process of transformation and refinement. One by one, we lit candles and placed them to float on the water in the ting.

The participants were then invited to share tea and socialize in the nearby house where Dick and Chris had lived, after which we gathered in the front yard to witness Chris rededicate a long wooden staff onto which she and others had attached items of symbolic significance. The erect staff was secured with a piece of the large rock that had apparently killed Dick in an avalanche while he was hiking in the mountains nearby.

During the evening presentations, Steve Harper spoke vividly about his many hikes with Dick in the Big Sur wilderness. Steve reported that Dick was fearless, often darting off the trail into unknown territory to lead them into fascinating new regions. In combination with soil erosion from a recent major fire, this audacity likely contributed to his death when a falling boulder hit him.

Esalen had barely escaped the fire, but the water line had been damaged and Dick became immersed in the messy repair of the line. One speaker voiced his belief that Dick had gone into the mountains to check on the water line.

Many speakers told touching stories of their encounters with Dick. Some of those accounts particularly stick with me.

Michael Murphy, Esalen’s other co-founder, described Dick as “free from status” and reported on his long, unbroken partnership with Dick. “Over the years, many people tried to get between Dick and me,” he said. “One thing stands out about those people. No one remembers their names, because Dick and I took care of the family business.” Murphy then told the crowd that the governing board had decided to rename the house where Dick and Chris had lived and presented Chris with a sign pointing to the “Price House.”

Another former staff person reflected on how during budgeting sessions, Dick, who inherited some money, always placed zero in the space for his salary. Numerous others commented on his generosity. And many individuals, including the Governor-elect of Minnesota, Mark Dayton, who sent a touching letter that Chris read, reflected on the joy and benefit they experienced working with him in Gestalt Practice sessions.

One aspect of his life not addressed at the celebration was that he was keenly interested in politics, which we often discussed. He (and Chris) very much enjoyed the audiotapes of contemporary acoustic music, much of which contained social commentary, that I would bring or mail to them. .

The one thing about Dick that most amazes me, however, is that never once did he mention to me that he conducted Gestalt workshops, much less that he was Esalen’s principal Gestalt teacher. During my visits, Dick and I would engage in long, energizing conversations, usually over a meal, but it took me at least a few years to discover that Gestalt Practice, as he named it, was a major part of his life. I assume he just didn’t care to evangelize.

I had observed the founder of Gestalt Therapy, Fritz Perls, conduct “open seat” sessions and respected his basic methodology. And having participated in Esalen workshops in San Francisco, I greatly appreciated Esalen’s many innovations in bodywork, meditation, sensory awareness, spirituality, group dynamics, and many other fields.

But when I started visiting Esalen as Dick’s guest, I hardly glanced at the catalog of workshops. Soaking in the tubs on top of the cliff, eating their marvelous food, reading, socializing, and just relaxing was all I needed. As soon as I found out, however, that he led Gestalt groups, I began participating and found them to be immensely valuable.

I suspect that Dick’s extensive, deep work with Gestalt probably helped him become remarkably free of bitterness and anger about his encounters with psychiatry. One of the features of Gestalt Practice is role-playing that involves imaginatively sitting in the other person’s seat and articulating that person’s thoughts and feelings. Getting more deeply into that person’s reality in that way often results in a new understanding that dissolves resentment. Regardless, as a speaker at the celebration commented on, his lack of bitterness was remarkable.

In our time of great social discord, I suspect there is much we could learn from Dick Price. Maybe I should go find an “open seat” and dialogue with him.

+++

Frankly Quoted

Net domestic profits earned by U.S. corporations since the fourth quarter of 2008: $609,000,000,000. Net decrease since then in the amount these companies spent on wages and benefits: -$171,000,000,000.
--Harper’s Index
(From Leonard Roy Frank’s monthly column. To subscribe, email <lfrank AT igc DOT org>.)

Editor’s Note

You can publicly comment on a post by clicking on the "comments" link at the bottom of the post at http://wadeleehudson.blogspot.com/ .

You can share posts with others by clicking on one of the buttons at the bottom of the post and/or copying and pasting the link embedded in the title of the post and sending that link elsewhere.

Wade’s Weekly: Nov. 17, 2010

Contents:
--“Nonviolence: Worldview, Strategy, and Lifestyle”
--Frankly Quoted
--Editor’s Notes

+++++

Nonviolence: Worldview, Strategy, and Lifestyle
By Wade Lee Hudson

Prior to 1964, the civil rights movement displayed an inspiring, effective spirit. The growth and decline of that movement is instructive. We can learn a great deal from that history.

By tapping deep spiritual power (especially with music), focusing on winnable objectives, seeking reconciliation as well as justice, appealing to the enlightened self-interest of their opponents, and engaging in dignified civil disobedience when necessary, that movement achieved major progress.

Those gains, however, led to rising expectations, unrealistic hopes, demands for instant change, inevitable frustration, and counter-productive anger. The mammoth conflict at the 1964 Democratic Party national convention between the party establishment and the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) brought that rage to a boil.

Challenging the official all-white Mississippi party, the MFDP conducted their own primary to elect delegates to the convention and demanded that their delegation be seated. President Johnson offered a compromise under which the MFDP would receive only two non-voting, at-large seats. Martin Luther King was willing to accept Johnson’s offer, but the MFDP delegates were furious and rejected the offer. Many grassroots activists, myself included, were also outraged. (At the next convention, the Democratic Party was largely integrated).

Thereafter, our impatient anger led many of us to try to impose our convictions by force. As Mario Savio said at the Free Speech Movement in late 1964:

There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part; you can't even passively take part, and you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all!

For decades, I embraced that affirmation of the swift, intense application of physical force (that is, violence). Even many of us who never threw a rock or picked up a gun romanticized armed struggle. Many Third World wars against colonialism had achieved liberation, which provided violence with a certain appeal. We supported the Black Panther Party because we believed that rampant police brutality justified violent resistance. We disrupted “business as usual,” alienated workers by blocking traffic, and provoked police riots, falsely believing that “repression (always) breeds resistance.” And many Alinsky-style organizers often advanced a narrow notion of power-over.

The world now is much different. In 1985, Nelson Mandela began negotiating a nonviolent end to apartheid in South Africa and in 1986 the Philippine “people power” revolt overthrew the dictator, Ferdinand Marcos. Since then, many other grassroots struggles throughout the world have been inspired by these examples and have made progress with nonviolent methods.

We can make moral appeals to the privileged few to share more of their wealth and power.  We can point out that their long-term enlightened self-interest dictates that they should support measures that produce broader prosperity and greater democracy. Some of those elites will join us as allies.

But by and large, massive pressure is needed to persuade the power elite to negotiate sincerely. Especially in a society dominated by short-term thinking, most people don’t give up privileges on their own. As Adam Kahane said in his excellent book, Power and Love: A Theory and Practice of Social Change, “The problem has to be felt strongly and closely enough so that it cannot be ignored.” Or, as David Brooks wrote, “As in the civil rights era, politicians won't make big changes unless they are impelled and protected by a social upsurge.”

In general, organized popular pressure from below is necessary to expand economic opportunity and democratize political power. Absent effective opposition, the administrators of our key social institutions use their position to accumulate evermore wealth and power for themselves, their families, and their colleagues.

When key decision-makers refuse to budge on a significant issue that has broad public support, a nonviolent action arm of the economic justice movement, for instance, could get their attention with actions like a sit-in the office of a Congressperson or the local Chamber of Commerce (most local chambers are controlled by small businesspersons who are potential allies).

The willingness to be arrested can get decision-makers’ attention and generate media coverage, which can help build support. And the willingness of some activists to be arrested can elicit support from others who can help push decision-makers to negotiate an agreement.

Basic Principles

Given the potential of nonviolent action, it may be fruitful to review the basic principles of the early civil rights movement and consider how we might adapt them to deal with our current number one issue: the economy.

A good first step would be to agree on a long-term goal that could hold us together over the long haul. In his first speech in the United States after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, Martin Luther King expressed one of his basic motivations, which may point us in the right direction. He said:

Somehow, something reminds me, millions and millions of God's children – and many of them are white – are caught in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society, and because of my concern for humanity I've got to go back to the valley and try to help them!

This statement suggests that we could declare that our ultimate goal is to promote the common good of the entire human family by transforming our global society into a truly compassionate community. This principle could form the foundation of our nonviolent worldview.

From this perspective, to build momentum, we could focus on our own nation first, with the attitude that we don’t desire to improve ourselves at the expense of others. We could insist that our nation’s economic policies benefit the whole world. We’re all on this boat together and need each other.

To better achieve our mission, a basic code of conduct would likely be helpful.

The 1960 Nashville lunch counter sit-ins used the following written rules of conduct:

Do Not:
Strike back nor curse if abused.
Laugh out.
Hold conversations with a floor walker.
Leave your seat until your leader has given you permission to do so.
Block entrances to stores outside nor the aisles inside.

Do:
Show yourself friendly and courteous at all times.
Sit straight: always face the counter.
Report all serious incidents to your leader.
Refer information seekers to your leader in a polite manner.
Remember the teachings of Jesus Christ, Mahatma Ghandi and Martin Luther King.
Love and non-violence is the way.

In spring 1963, participants in the Birmingham demonstrations led by King were required to sign a written pledge that read:

I hereby pledge myself, my person, and my body to the nonviolent movement. Therefore I will keep the following ten commandments:

1.    As you prepare to march meditate on the life and teachings of Jesus.
2.    Remember the nonviolent movement seeks justice and reconciliation - not victory.
3.    Walk and talk in the manner of love; for God is love.
4.    Pray daily to be used by God that all men and women might be free.
5.    Sacrifice personal wishes that all might be free.
6.    Observe with friend and foes the ordinary rules of courtesy.
7.    Perform regular service for others and the world.
8.    Refrain from violence of fist, tongue and heart.
9.    Strive to be in good spiritual and bodily health.
10.    Follow the directions of the movement leaders and of the captains on demonstrations.

In 2003, Soulforce, a gay rights organization, slightly amended King’s principles as follows:

1.    As I prepare for this direct action, I will meditate regularly on the life and teachings of Gandhi and King and other truth-seekers.
2.    I will remember that the nonviolent movement seeks justice and reconciliation - not victory.
3.    I will walk and talk in the manner of love and nonviolence.
4.    I will contemplate daily what I can do so that all can be free.
5.    I will sacrifice my own personal wishes that all might be free.
6.    I will observe with friend and foes the ordinary rules of courtesy.
7.    I will perform regular service for others and for the world.
8.    I will refrain from violence of fist, tongue, and heart.
9.    I will strive to be in good spiritual and bodily health.
10.    I will follow the directions of the squad leaders and other Soulforce leaders on our nonviolent direct actions.

Three points about these pledges strike me as particularly important. First, by referring to “myself, my person, and my body,” the preamble to King’s pledge affirms a holistic attitude that engages the whole person.

Second, all three pledges establish a respectful tone that opens the door to dialogue and makes it more likely that observers will listen.

Third, the thrust of these pledges, especially King’s, is to uphold the need for constant self-improvement. Specifically, when the pledge affirms the need to “strive” to be in good spiritual and bodily health, that formulation implies the need for steady effort in that regard.

None of us are perfect. From time to time we all fall short or backslide. As the Dali Lama said, “"There are two things important to keep in mind: self-examination and self-correction. We should constantly check our attitude toward others, examining ourselves carefully, and we should correct ourselves immediately when we find we are in the wrong." Along this line, we should make more explicit what is clearly implicit in King’s pledge: an ongoing commitment to personal growth.

One principle, #5, does concern me, however. Rather than say, “I will sacrifice my own personal wishes that all might be free,” I would prefer, “I will sacrifice my selfish desires that all might be free.” Total self-sacrifice, as suggested by the original statement, isn’t viable in the long run. We need to take care of ourselves so we can better care for others. But total selfishness is irresponsible. A balance is in order.

Regardless, these pledges could be a valuable starting point for an updated pledge.

Nonviolent Communities

By learning methods like nonviolent communication and compassionate listening and engaging regularly in meditation and other practices that strengthen us individually and collectively, we can develop a thoroughly nonviolent lifestyle and grow compassionate communities that indicate the kind of society we seek. We can steadily improve our society, our culture, and ourselves.

Along the way, from time to time, most of us will suddenly feel like a new person, our communities will take on qualitatively different characteristics, and our cultures will manifest new values.

We can’t fully know in advance what the results will be. Works of creation aren’t pre-determined. Nor will the results be locked in concrete. Transformation is never-ending.

Nevertheless, we can immerse ourselves in the process, accept our responsibility to participate, frequently remind ourselves that we may be mistaken, and celebrate “evolutionary revolution.”

+++++

Frankly Quoted

“We think our civilization near its meridian, but we are yet only at the cock-crowing and the morning star. In our barbarous society the influence of character is in its infancy.”
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
(From Leonard Roy Frank’s monthly column. To subscribe, email <lfrank AT igc DOT org>.)

+++++

Editor’s Note

You can publicly comment on a post by clicking on the "comments" link at the bottom of the post.

You can share posts with others by clicking on one of the buttons at the bottom of the post and/or copying and pasting the link embedded in the title of the post and sending it elsewhere.

Following this issue, I’ll temporarily pause discussing how we might develop a nonviolent action arm for the economic justice movement. Instead, I’ll comment on some other issues, while I summarize some draft ideas for an organizing plan for that project.  When it’s ready, I’ll share that draft here. I’ll also likely present a draft at the January 15 Compassionate Politics Workshop.

Thanks for your interest. I look forward to our conversation.

Wade’s Weekly: Nov. 10, 2010

Contents:
--Race, Class, Status, and Leadership
--Special Program On Thurman - Nov. 13, 2010
--Frankly Quoted
--Reader’s Comments
--Editor’s Note

Race, Class, Status, and Leadership
By Wade Hudson

Nonviolent action to advance economic justice in the United States could grow into a movement that would stay together over time to help transform our global society into a truly compassionate community – if this project is based on a clear long-term vision, solid strategies, effective structures, and strong leadership. At first we may need to primarily focus on our own nation, but we can couch our concerns within the context of a commitment to the entire human family.

Granted, the odds are long. But civil-rights activists engaged in lunch counter sit-ins for more than 20 years before four Greensboro students in 1960 conducted a sit-in that soon grew, garnered national attention, and sparked the struggle to a higher level.

Economic injustice is more ambiguous than Southern segregation, but our economy is so terrible and affects so many people, with no relief in sight, the time may be ripe for nonviolent action. Every day the need for an effective, grassroots movement able and willing to engage in sit-ins, boycotts, strikes, and/or general strikes becomes more urgent.

The super-rich increasingly earn their income with nonproductive financial transactions, such as buying and selling currencies or gambling on future prices. Almost 30% of our nation’s income goes to the top 1%, as most people either barely break even or fall behind. From 1980 to 2005, more than 80% of the nation’s total increase in personal income went to the richest 1 percent. Average wages haven’t increased significantly for 40 years. Widespread unemployment is persistent. More and more homeowners are losing their homes.

These conditions did not happen by accident. Wealth (and power) becomes increasingly concentrated unless social forces, generally acting through the federal government, effectively counter that tendency. Instead, for decades, the government has consciously encouraged greater inequality. We must change those federal policies to grow a more productive economy that benefits everyone.

With support from individuals who do not risk arrest, a grassroots nonviolent action arm for the national economic-justice movement would likely need to focus on a clean, simple, popular demand. Once we’ve identified that demand, we could identify dramatic targets, like local Chambers of Commerce, that should prefer a healthy, productive economy with widely shared prosperity. Then, if necessary, we could engage in civil disobedience to press our concerns.

The success of Jon Stewart’s Rally to Restore Sanity suggests that while building this movement, we shouldn’t take ourselves too seriously and should keep a healthy sense of humor. Many concerned individuals are turned off by self-righteous, angry activists who preach too much and listen too little. By expanding our circles with a humble, kind attitude, we can grow a compassionate, joyful community that reflects the kind of society we seek.

For this project to be effective, it will be critical that the leadership includes strong representation from relatively powerless groups, such as persons of color, low-income communities, and individuals without a college degree. For me, such leadership is essential. My recommendation is that the project not be launched until such a leadership body with a diverse group of talented individuals is in place to guide the effort.

Representatives of relatively powerless groups should have proportionately greater representation in the leadership, but no one should be excluded or disrespected because of their background. Wealthy individuals, for example, who are dedicated to the mission should be fully welcome. Input should be judged on its merit, not its source.

One important tension is the gulf between individuals who have a college degree, which in the U.S. is only 40% of the adult population, and those who don’t. The common assumption is that people with a college degree are more intelligent and therefore deserve a greater voice. Their speaking and writing styles reinforce those assumptions. Individuals with degrees often adopt an air of superiority, which alienates others. And those without a degree often accept their alleged inferiority. These erroneous assumptions of inferiority and superiority based on educational level promote passivity, resentment, division, and conflict. In fact, there are many different kinds of intelligence.

Styles learned in school do not necessarily reflect the skills that are needed on the governing board of a community-based activist organization. The debating skills of a lawyer are largely irrelevant in those matters. Members of such governing boards need to know their communities. They need to be able to listen well and engage in discussions respectfully. They need to be reliable and consistent in their participation. They need to be sober and clear-headed. These skills do not require a college degree.

Democratic leadership is not defined by the ability to mobilize others. Leaders should not manipulate others to follow them out of blind loyalty. We need neither a single charismatic leader nor submission. We need collective leadership and democratic structures that empower all members, which increases prospects for sustained participation.

Democratic leadership involves the ability to facilitate collaborative problem solving. Democratic leaders identify questions that need to be addressed and guide the group in answering those questions. At any time, any member of the group might voice an opinion that others accept as helpful. That is leadership.

Establishing a partnership between board and staff based on a co-equal separation of powers enables individuals with limited free time to play a meaningful role. Recognized community leaders who already have major commitments can join such a board without being worried about getting bogged down in time-consuming administrative details. Having such leaders on the board enables them to bring their special wisdom to board decision-making and boosts the organization’s credibility in the eyes of the general public.

Neither the governing board nor the board chair should micromanage. Rather, they should focus on adopting written policies and priorities to guide the organization strategically, select the executive director (or co-directors), and evaluate the director’s performance, while delegating to the director the responsibility for achieving the board’s goals and instructing the director to maximize democratic management methods internally. The board should leave tactical decisions (like whether to accept a particular legislative compromise) to a team formed by the director.

Board and staff deliberations should be fully transparent on the Internet and members should have ways to voice input. Within two years or so, a mechanism should be established to enable the general membership to select board members responsibly. National conventions could enable representatives from local groups to help shape the organization.

Within the framework of the national organization, local groups would work together democratically to design creative actions that advance the national priority. These local groups could consciously foster a sense of community with activities like shared meals, volleyball games, nonviolence training, and support groups that nurture steady self-improvement.

Initially, to provide the project with stability and assure diversity, the national leadership body may need to be self-perpetuating, with two or more individuals forming the first governing body and then the whole group inviting others to join. When a strong, diverse board is formed, initial policies are adopted, and an executive director is selected, the project could be launched.

All these details may strike some as boring and overly bureaucratic. But sustaining an effective organization over time will require inclusive, strong leadership and clear, democratic structures. These preliminary thoughts are meant to highlight key questions and suggest possible answers. Future issues of Wade’s Weekly will present additional thoughts about how to proceed.

If we get our act together, we may be able to help unify and strengthen the national economic-justice movement. Then, after we deal with the economy, we could stay together to tackle other issues.

It’s worth a shot. Let’s do what we can to be successful and let the chips fall where they may.

Special Program On Thurman

On Saturday, Nov. 13th at the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco from 2:00 - 4:00PM, there will be a special program facilitated by Dr. Liza Rankow celebrating the life and work of Dr. Howard Thurman, and the release of the Thurman audio collection. Please see the OneLife Events page or the Museum website for details.

Frankly Quoted

“You’re being religious when you believe in Jesus or Buddha or any other truly holy being, but... you’re being spiritual when you become the loving, compassionate, caring being they all inspire you to be.”
--Robert Thurman
(From Leonard Roy Frank’s monthly column. To subscribe, email <lfrank AT igc DOT org>.)

Reader’s Comments

Wade, Greetings from Maryhouse Catholic Worker in NYC.  It's good to think of you and to recall your steady wisdom while in Baghdad during the Shock and Awe bombing.  David Smith-Ferri, Jerica Arents and I landed here three days ago after a three-week visit in Afghanistan. Wade, I just don't manage to keep up with reading, study, writing and speaking plans.  The inbox is sometimes so full that I can only randomly answer items.  I think that, for the time being, I shouldn't subscribe to your weekly, but I'm glad you are working on it, and I'll be grateful to be kept on your mailing list.
--Kathy Kelly, Voices for Creative Nonviolence

CONGRATS & MAHAO 4 UR PRECIOUS BEGINNINGS.
--John Vasconcellos, Former Dean of the California State Legislature

Yes! These conversations must be had. As many of us engaging in as many of them as possible, all over the country, translating into action.
--Karen Dolan, Fellow, Institute for Policy Studies

Sign me up. After yesterday's election we especially need a progressive analysis. I just read an editorial in the Times of a book, A Winner Take All Society, by Robert Frank, which should be required reading by every citizen earning less than $100,000
--Daniel Fisher

Count me in! I'm looking forward to sharing your outlook on all things progressive in our sadly misshapen world.
--Juli Lynne Charlot

I loved "The Seat Not Taken" and "Making of Mahatma." Gotcha bookmarked! Love & Peace.
--Melyssa Jo Kelly

I'll stay on your list for now. Here's my two cents on how to raise about $10 to $20 trillion per year -- a 1% sales tax on Wall Street. It's also called a Tobin Tax. But Mr. Tobin set his at 0.05%, and only on forex.   You can google to learn more.
--Mike Coppas

I am so thankful you sent this post [on Howard Thurman’s birthday] and the links - I have recently discovered Dr. Howard Thurman and I am profoundly interested in his teachings and their application to our current political conditions - I am feeling ever more pulled to investigate how we can involve the spiritual dimension of our beings and have it inform how we do the social justice work we are doing in the world - the PBS interviews about him are sending me out to the library to pick up Meditations of the Heart. Thank you!!
--Molly McKay

This [post on Howard Thurman’s birthday] is great, Wade. Thanks for the posting. I had the honor of shooting the video of Dorsey Blake's installation as the new Pastor. Mrs. Thurman was there and gave the blessing. The entire ceremony was deeply moving. A true historic moment.
--Ellison Horne

Editor’s Note

180 individuals, including many with well-known talents and strong connections, have subscribed to Wade’s Weekly.

Wade’s Weekly: Nov. 3, 2010

Contents:
--Our First Short-term Goal
--Recommended Links
--Reader’s Comments

Our First Short-term Goal
By Wade Hudson

Last week, I suggested that a nonviolent action arm of the economic justice movement might push for a tax on the top 1% to fund a federal revenue sharing program for local governments to hire workers to help meet social and environmental needs. That article received substantial positive feedback (see below).

But revenue sharing may not be the best initial focus. Another option, for example, might be clean energy, as articulated by Van Jones in “A beautiful coalition against dirty energy." A more specific focus like clean energy might be more effective than a broader focus on revenue sharing, though local governments could use revenue-sharing funds for green jobs.

Other examples of possible options for our initial focus include: 1) a federal jobs program; 2) immigration reform; 3) campaign finance.

For a national, nonviolent-action project to get off the ground, it will help to begin with a compelling, substantial, short-term goal that could be achieved in five years or less. A meaningful, winnable goal could motivate people to make a sustained effort to begin to transform this nation into a truly compassionate community.

So, what should our first, short-term goal be?

Please share your thoughts as a comment below. Your comments will be available for consideration by others as this project develops, if it does.

We might also discuss these issues face-to-face at the next Compassionate Politics Workshop, Saturday, January 15 (all day) at the Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples, 2041 Larkin St., in San Francisco.

While reflecting on your response, you may want to bear in mind the following principles that could help shape the selection of a short-term goal.

1.    Long-term vision. If this project matures, we may need a concise vision statement that could attract a broad range of individuals and help hold us together over the long haul. This statement of long-term goals could remind everyone that: 1) no one victory will ever be enough, and 2) we need to work consistently on self-transformation as well as social and cultural transformation. “Our Core Principles”  is an example of the kind of statement I have in mind. Our first short-term goal would need to be consistent with that vision.

2. Transformation. Steady, gradual change, both in individuals and societies, can eventually result in transformation – as adding heat to water can create steam, evolution can produce a new species, and individuals can instantly feel like a new person. Gandhi referred to this process as “evolutionary revolution.” Our short-terms goals need to help us move in the direction of comprehensive, fundamental transformation.

3. Changing structures. In terms of society at large, it is especially important to re-form social structures – that is, how our relationships are organized in consistent patterns -- so individuals and communities have more power to shape their lives. Ideally, our short-term goals will help restructure society, especially in terms of power relationships and access to vital resources.

4. Winnable goals. We need to build momentum by steadily achieving concrete goals, both immediate and short-term. While working on a short-term, achievable goal like enacting federal legislation, we could focus on immediate, local goals, like getting our Congressperson to co-sponsor legislation that has already been introduced and/or persuading City Councils and local business organizations to endorse that goal.

5. A majoritarian strategy. We should focus on goals already supported by a majority of the American people. Our task is to build a large, nonviolent, grassroots movement as quickly as possible. To do so, we need to address others’ felt concerns, rather than trying to tell them what they should be concerned about.

6. The economy. Clearly the issue of greatest concern now is the economy and the need for more good jobs. Activists who work on other issues can continue that work while occasionally providing support to concrete actions focused on the economy.

7. National goals. Because the federal government structures our economy, only the federal government has the power to restructure that economy. We therefore need to focus on federal legislation that can unite activists throughout the country.

8. Progressive taxation. Almost one-fourth of our nation’s total personal income goes to the top 1%. Because these super-rich individuals receive many benefits from society that enable them to get rich, they should repay their debt through a progressive tax system based on the ability to pay. But the super-rich pay no higher percentage of their income in taxes than do ordinary Americans. Our movement probably needs to include this issue in its initial, short-term goal.

9. Reconciliation, not victory. The early civil rights movement aimed for the spiritual health of all people. As increasing polarization seeks to scapegoat and defeat “enemies,” that basic nonviolent principle is particularly important. We need to pursue win-win solutions and appeal to the enlightened, long-term self-interest of all people, even powerful elites (at least some of whom can be valuable allies). Rather than demanding submission, we can seek to engage in serious negotiations with key decision-makers.

10. Proactive. We need to propose positive solutions and learn how to counter irrational appeals to fear and anger with rational appeals to humanity’s deep-seated compassion. We need to inspire each other and ourselves to honor our higher angels. By being the change that we seek, we can build our movement person-by-person with contagious joy and enthusiasm.

The world cries out for effective action. Nonviolence has proven to hold great potential for contributing to profound social change. Not all of us will have to risk arrest. Others can provide valuable support to those who do. But clearly some new methods are needed to break the logjam.

Whether or not a nonviolent action project of this sort launches remains to be seen. But if we are skillful, perhaps we can start by drafting a viable organizing plan that can be modified in the future as needed. And maybe we can identify folks who would be actively supportive if and when a strong, inclusive governing body forms to guide this project.

In future issues of Wade’s Weekly, I’ll continue to discuss how we might build this undertaking.

+++

Recommended Links

The Rescue Triangle
The Rescue Triangle describes a manipulative dance between victim, aggressor and rescuer. The Rescue Triangle raises awareness of manipulation in relationships.

Happiness, gratitude and depression
A new study reveals that daily expressions of gratitude can boost happiness.

The Seat Not Taken
For a man of color, riding a train in the age of Obama is more complicated than it might seem.

The Making Of A Mahatma
Gandhi's differences with Tolstoy and Thoreau are significant. He focused on winnable, proactive, collective action.

Canada, Italy, Brazil...People Power is Winning!
‎"Our community is growing by 100,000 people a week…, We're also winning. Time and time again."

Confronting Income Inequality
Economics was founded by moral philosophers, and links between the two disciplines remain strong. So why won’t economists make judgments on the gap between rich and poor?

Indian Boarding School - extended trailer
You can sign a petition asking the government to apologize for boarding school abuses.

The Case for Obama
An article from the October 28, 2010 issue of Rolling Stone. For many progressives, the presidency of Barack Obama has been deeply disappointing....

What Are Schools For?
A review of In Brown’s Wake: Legacies of America’s Educational Landmark.

Takeaways From a Saturday Spent Riding to Washington With 10,000 Sane Americans
The rally was a simple reminder that certain things bring out the best in people, and certain things bring out the worst.

+++

Readers’ Comments

I am interested in what Robert Reich has to say right now -- I thought your article was quite interesting and on point.
--Bruce Schuman

I really liked this one. I am a social activist please see <www.pathofthefriend.org> to know more about me. I do most of my work internationally. But like you I believe a call for economic justice would unite the progressives and draw attention to the utter failure of the Reagan and post Reagan message. If I can help I will. I live in Boulder Co.
--Elizabeth Rabia Roberts

I liked this very much and am so sorry to be part of the cynical left at this point...I really don't think there is much left of what Democracy there was and because of living here in San Miguel and watching from afar it appears Americans are so blinded by the continual propaganda and their diets of junk food as to be unable to do anything but yell at progressives as evil doers trying to take "their" country down the road of Socialism...as if....anyway, I would very much be interested in reading what you have to say....
--Richard Keene

Yes to the tenth power.
--Jim Burke

Thank you for including me in your weekly ‘publications’. I saw that Robert Reich would be traveling around the Bay Area. Thank you for taking the time to see him in West Marin. And thanks for the *great* write-up below. I’m delighted that you already had your ticket (behind home plate, yet!) for the Giants game last night. It was quite exciting to watch – and I don’t even approve of organized (professional) sports.
--Caitlin Croughan

Great article and very informative. Let us know if you are ever out East to catch up. When I get a chance, I write on the Republic of Stories, which might be of interest from a narrative critical view.
Keep up the great work
--Paul Costello, The Washington Center for Narrative Studies

Good post. I’m trying to get off the weekly lists just because I get so swamped, but if you had something like a monthly list that would be fine. (I know it’s hard to set this stuff up for micropreferences).
--Paul Loeb

Thanks for the “thread.” You should also take some credit for the explosion of Giants’ runs last night after a couple of shaky innings.
--Michael Shaughnessy

Have to admit I intended to say no but this was pretty interesting. In terms of progressive fervor: I've helped organize several protests of American Psychiatric Association in San Francisco, where they meet every few years. It seemed to me the early ones had more fervor. The last couple we did, in last few years had less... My distinct hunch was that it was related to 'screen usage' on Internet. Yes, Internet made it more possible to reach people in Bay Area. But I felt like there was a wet blanket about actually coming out into the streets and taking action.
--David Oaks

Thanks Wade for your consistency and continual work for social justice.
--Betty Traynor

Great notes and let me know how I can get tickets that cheap currently in Indianapolis I will fly if I can get a $155.00 ticket behind home plate.
--Esteban Ortiz

Thank you for creating Wade’s Weekly. I have enjoyed reading it and will be sharing it with my other friends. What happens in US affects the whole world therefore it is important to take interest and to be involved. Thank you for doing just that. Especially done in a way that is not antagonistic but practical and informative.
--Anosha Ossdon

Great summation, Wade. Thank you. See you soon.
--Chris Price

Very interesting. Shared it with Kwazi Nkrumah.
--Jane Anne Jeffries

This is an excellent report.
--Leonard Roy Frank

Wade, this is very good and important. Thanks for taking the leadership. We will be in Iran until Nov 19, so don't expect to hear much from us before Nov 20.
--David Hartsough

Thanks this is great, I appreciate the work you are doing
-- Lani Kaahumanu

+++

NOTES:
1) Unless anonymity is requested, I may share readers’ responses and identify the author.
2) In the first two weeks, 130 individuals from several countries have subscribed to Wade’s Weekly.