Dialogue for Democracy
In my report on the Kucinich campaign appearance in Seattle, I mentioned something called Dialogue for Democracy. This will be rolled out officially in about a week or so, but the campaign is spreading advance word now.
Please follow the extended entry link to view the text of the pamphlet I picked up for Dialogue for Democracy.
Note 9/9: OK, it's a bit behind schedule, but the Kucinich campaign in Washington will be rolling out the Dialogue for Democracy in a few weeks. Contact your local campaign office to find out about the program in your area.
Introduction
Dialogue for Democracy is an ongoing national conversation to explore the values and issues that define us as a people. To reclaim democracy, we - the people - need to start talking with each other - NOW, and tomorrow morning, and next week, next month, next year. We need to talk with our neighbors, co-workers, church and community colleagues, friends and families. We need to talk about what really matters to us, and what joins us together as Americans.
As part of the Dennis Kucinich Campaign for President we are starting a nonviolent revolution of people power. Dialogue for Democracy is the basis of this revolution. Dialogue for Democracy gives every person a way to get involved in imagining a new America.
Remember the front porch, the campfire, the barn raising, the potluck social, the block party, the woodstove in the country store: let's talk and listen to each other again! Dialogue for Democracy offers us the wonderful discover that we - the people - have wisdom and we - the people - will choose leaders who support and increase our wisdom.
When we apply a simple structure to conversation it provides a social container so that we can really hear each other.
Message from Dennis Kucinich
Dear American Citizen,
My campaign is a grassroots experiment in reclaiming the basic democratic values that founded our great country. I believe that we, the ordinary people of the nation and the world, want to live in ways that celebrate life, liberty and family ties, that honor work and contribution, that respect diversity, religion, individual choice. Through this campaign, I vow to create an America where these values guide all policies.
To create such a country, its citizens must be involved. We must be living in active community, participating at every level in the social fabric. This America begins by dreaming it together, out-loud, in small groups, saying what is important to us, discovering what is important to others, listening and remaining open-minded and open-hearted in our responses. Dialogue is the real patriot's act.
Our country's founders - Washington, Jefferson, Adams, (and their wives, we later discovered!) - talked their way out of the colonial mindset and into a new vision of governance. Dialogue and democracy are inseparable. We need to do this again: talk ourselves into a new vision of governance that is really democracy.
This campaign is a run for democracy. I'm asking you to find the time and the courage and the curiousity to join a national conversation that helps us understand who we are and what unites us as a people.
Thank you,
Dennis Kucinich
Four Basic Agreements of Dialogue for Democracy
We listen with curiousity and respect.
We seek to understand rather than persuade.
We offer what we can and ask for what we need.
We speak honestly, and briefly, so all may be heard.
Four Basic Principles of Dialogue for Democracy
We need to know each other.
We can disagree on issues and still share common values.
Diverse experiences, opinions, and ideas create stronger dialogues.
Our lives and our future depend on human goodness.
Web Support
At our website:
* A downloadable manual for Dialogue with Democracy hosts.
* A dialogue map of America to register your conversation - watch the movement grow.
* A question of the week.
* Interactive cyber-dialogue so people are talking all across the country.
How to start a Dialogue for Democracy
* Volunteer to host a Dialogue at home, work, church, or community setting;
* Set up a time and place and invite a diverse group of people to attend; if you are invited to one, give it a try!
* Bring (as needed) nametags, pencils and pads (for taking brief notes), Kucinich campaign materials (print, CD, or video). Place chairs in a circle so every participant can be seen and heard; put a focusing object in the center of hte group (like a flower on a coffee table, a small flag, a map of the USA);
* Once people are settled, make sure the time commitment is clear, read the agreements and principles, and ask that dialogue start with everyone having a chance to speak. Go once around the circle inviting everyone to talk about why they accepted this invitation to dialogue. Remarks should be brief and people may pass. It is recommended that the host introduce the use of a talking piece (any hand-sized object that signals who is speaking; this encourages people to listen without interrupting, or offering feedback or response).
* After this round of checking in, offer the question or conversation starter, as appropriate: NOTE: Dialogue for Democracy is designed to foster conversations that build community, and provide a sense of citizen empowerment and participation. Sometimes these conversations will focus specifically on the campaign, and sometimes they will start with other questions and include information on Dennis and the campaign as part of the dialogue. these conversations are not campaign ads or infomercial environments; they will be as unique as the particpants involved.
* Allow 20 minutes or so before the end of the time commitment to provide another round of talking-piece so that dialogue closes with everyone having a final chance to speak: go around the circle inviting everyone to say something they will carry with them and think about from this dialogue.
* Have a good time and do it again. You may want to set up a series of 4-6 conversations with the same group of people, or host open-ended events.
Sample questions and conversation starters
Imagine the America you want to live in...
* How are you treated in this America?
* How are people who are different from you treated?
* Do you believe that people who appear very different share common human values?
* Name three values that are cornerstones of your own life.
* What kind of societal healing do you think needs to occur for all of us to live in this America?
* What would be the impact on your life if we had universal healthcare?
* What would be the impract on your life if we had universal education through college level?
* What would be the impact on your life if your social security benefits were guaranteed?
* How do you imagine the world would be different if a Department of Peace was included in the U.S. Cabinet?
* How much military strength do you think is "enough"?
* What kinds of diplomacy do you wish America modeled for the world?
* What are you doing to create optimism in your own life and for the future of this society?
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Comments
In Tucson, we have been waiting for this material and working up our own program. I think the campaign is short sighted by letting this go... it provides an opportunity to get the foot in the door of many places that will not allow fundraising or political campaigning activities AND more than anything else, it gets people thinking and talking and creating the energy needed for change. I "imagined" that along with everything else, Dennis would back this and help create a new paradigm for campaigning, by getting people talking vs just holding MLM meetings in your home. True change happens when each one of us invests themselves in the change by personally feeling involved in a way that only a program like this can do. We will be organizing something similar here in Arizona anyway. Thanks for the materials above. Namaste, Kalama
Posted by: Kalama | September 5, 2003 01:17 AM
I'm sorry to hear that things aren't going well for you. The campaign staff in Washington has been working for the last month or two on getting this program up and running and expects to begin the dialogues in a couple more weeks. I don't think that Dennis is "letting it go", I think that the campaign is understaffed and overworked and sometimes the connections aren't being made.
I am not a member of the campaign staff myself, just someone who's reporting on a flyer she received at a campaign appearance, but I'll post about your problem to the Kucinich4President Yahoo group and see if somebody can help you.
Posted by: Al-Munaqabah | September 5, 2003 08:47 AM