Yo. We’re Ready. It’s On. It’s Time.
What does that mean?
It means we’re finally truly, for-real, no take-backs, no-emergency-room-visits actually starting a year of online Zoom calls (with flexibility of course) to ramp up activity here at Shift the Country to bring the kind of pressure in politics that we haven’t seen yet on the side of the Democrats and the coalition of the majority.
The power of the people.
There are more Americans who want democracy and a bright future where we all have a better chance to thrive and flourish. Let’s get them fired up. We’re going to need it based on the chaos that keeps unfolding daily up in this country. It’s not going to get less intense.
We’re in a fight for the future of this country. We should act like it.
It’s going to take us some time to build teams and traction with this Shift the Country work, so we ought to get going.
Democracy is on the line, and this organization is in a position to help. You too. Bring your people and bring your brains. Time to think big and get wildly creative.
The Shift the Country work will involve a whole lot of us building new political, social, economic, and media pressure using the 5 Things at every level in all the zones and all the places to help hold this democracy together and to put it on a different path. We’ll re-weave the torn-up, frayed, social fabric while we’re at it.
Thus: the shift.
Because the track this country is on right now is going to crazy-town.
It’s not going to work for the majority of us. If the minority party has their way, they’ll drive this train right straight off of a cliff. They’re being driven by extremists, nihilists, insurrectionists, demagogues, anti-democracy fans, fascists, fearmongers, bigots, racists, and misogynists in a growing authoritarian movement that includes its own huge media and social media machines. All backed by big money; with dark intentions declared proudly and out in the open.
Yet all they offer is anger and abyss… and more anger and abyss. That anger, fear, hate, and intolerance drive campaign funding and media attention for the “leaders” even while it rips up families, communities, society, and democracy. They are willing to paralyze, erode, and tear apart our communities and our government for the chance to hold on to power. For the chance to stay mean. For the chance to keep the status quo.
Right now they’re louder… and they’re driving the agenda.
It’s not okay. That anti-science, anti-human, anti-education, anti-evolution, anti-family, anti-diversity crowd cannot drive our collective future. Too much is on the line.
Plus we need to do more than just to stop it.
We have to chart a different path.
We have to lead real transformation, up in this time of great disruption.
If you’re wondering what we mean by disruption, look at what’s going on in California with the weather this week. And the national bomb cyclone freeze and storms over the holidays. The disaster lists go on. The growing extremism in the US does, too. Terrorists hold power. That’s why they do what they do.
But we hold power too. We have the majority. We can champion humanity. We can advocate for this country to grow into its own potential as a functional, stable, and truly multi-racial, multi-ethnic, multi-religion superpower where we all have a better chance to survive, thrive, and flourish.
We can get there. It will work better if we lean into it and have a plan rather than hanging on by the seats of our collective pants and skirts and dresses.
Thus: this work right here. Here are the Shift the Country 5 Things: 1) connection, 2) community & coalitions, 3) business pressure, 4) vision & moral courage, and 5) raising all kinds of a ruckus and driving the narrative everywhere.
It can be done. It can be done at scale.
We start here with these Zoom calls. We get anchored and build teams. We work out from there.
Damn straight. We’re fixing to light up a million stars.
Together we can energize the majority of Americans to get fired up to chart a different future than the one we’re careening toward. We can do and be so much better.
It’s an enormous goal, and it’s reachable. Why wouldn’t it be? Is someone else handling all that? Is there some movement already underway to do all of this that’s hiding out somewhere?
An energized, well-coordinated majority fighting for shared priorities is the number one proven way to defeat authoritarianism.
We’re not (yet) there but we can be.
Let’s go. Let’s do it.
It starts by getting teams of people together to start working on ideas we can build out at scale as we bring in funding. We’re Imagining greatly.
We’re kicking that Imagining off with at least 33 days of Zoom calls to dive in… with a plan to keep going all year.
We create a through-line, and we work out from there.
Jump in on a Zoom call where it works for you. We can schedule more calls or move them around to work better as we go. We’ll add working groups too.
All 33 events are listed here. Disclaimers, addendums, etc. are here.
Here’s Where We’re Starting With This Shift:
WED, 1/11, 9 pm Central. Casual Online Zoom Get-Together & Hang-Out. Timed for West Coast support due to the “Atmospheric River” storms & damage. Informal. Join in on this call for connection, solidarity, support, & sharing for the disaster hitting the west coast. We’ll talk about whatever depending on who joins in. We can listen, we can share stories, we can talk about ways people can help (or some less helpful things), about how disaster response works (if people are interested), this weather phenomenon and climate change, the recent national-scale bomb cyclone, wildfires… or whatever. The 5 Things are set up to help us navigate increasing disasters and disruption up on this planet.
THU, 1/12, 3 pm Central. How the Social Fabric Got Jacked Up & What We Can Do About It. A look at what’s behind the Shift the Country work with the US' torn social fabric, how the 5 Things are designed to help with it all, & how this nonprofit is uniquely suited to help us face this current high-risk landscape for Americans and for the country.
FRI, 1/13, 2 pm Central. Bringing Business Pressure. First working call on this thing. Let’s talk about how we can pressure or partner with business in new ways and at scale. Ties to all the other 5 Things… connection (Thing 1), community & coalitions (Thing 2), values & vision (Thing 4), & also raising a ruckus + driving the agenda (Thing 5).
SAT, 1/14, 3:30 pm Central. Dream Day... Co-Creating A Future Worth Fighting Fiercely For. Big talk about big dreams and the art of the possible for this country. (Thing 4).
SUN, 1/15, 7 pm Central. Growing Connection & Community for this Shift. Bring yourself & bring some people or just you & let’s get connected. Part of growing this shift is growing a team of volunteers interested in getting it going. We find strength, support, & solidarity in each other — it’s a good place for getting grounded & anchored for the work we plan to do to hold this democracy together in new & big ways. (Thing 1 & Thing 2).
(NOTE on 1/16… events below have been updated since the original post).
THURS, 1/19, 2 pm Central. Cheerleading Democrats & Other Cool Things We Can Do. We can help each other lead, foster connections, grow community, build alliances, pressure businesses, find moral courage, champion vision, raise ruckusses, get attention, and drive the public narrative (those cover all 5 Things). Any of us can do it… and any of us can help, coach, cajole, beg, plead, convince, or otherwise persuade party leadership, elected officials, and other volunteers to get up and stand up and get loud and get media coverage and bring other pressure and so on. We do it together. Go Team, and all of that. We’re not even kidding. Join in, and let’s get to it. There will be a lot of this one over time. It’s a key feature.
THURS, 1/19, 7 pm Central. It’s Time for Democrats to Fight Differently — Here’s How We Can. We won’t get different results doing the same things. This Zoom call is about that. Shift the Country is likely the only nonprofit in the US with a realistic, flexible, scalable, executable operational approach set up to give Americans tools and a structure specifically created to help with the current US risk landscape. The structural approaches in the 5-Things are grounded in the social sciences and informed by systems science, homeland security, and big disaster experience. People and groups can use this work together to help revitalize the democracy, navigate instability, to operate from places of grounding and connection in the midst of chaos, & to drive transformation from within all of that. The basic 5-part approach here helps us do all of that in realistic ways.
FRI, 1/20, 2 pm Central. Conversation & Connection Afternoon. Informal, Casual Online Zoom Get-Together & Hang-Out. Join in on this call for connection, solidarity, support, & sharing for whatever's going on up in this country this week. We can listen, we can share stories, we can talk about ways people can help. We can do questions or talk about how the Shift the Country 5 Things are set up to help us navigate this time, and to foment transformation. The main point is to get connected and to meet people interested in keeping this democracy.
SUN, 1/22, 3:30 pm Central. Dream Day... Co-Creating A Future Worth Fighting Fiercely For. Big talk about big dreams and the art of the possible for this country. (Thing 4).
SUN, 1/22, 7 pm Central. Getting Better Connected with People & Community. Bring yourself & bring some people or just you & let’s get connected. Part of growing this shift is growing a team of volunteers interested in getting it going. We find strength, support, & solidarity in each other — it’s a good place for getting grounded & anchored for the work we plan to do to hold this democracy together in new & big ways. (Thing 1 & Thing 2).
No Other Group Is Set Up To Do Shift Like This.
Shift the Country is likely the only nonprofit in the US with a realistic, flexible, scalable, executable operational approach to give Americans ways to take what we’ve built so far… and leverage it to help us collectively chart a new future.
Plus at the same time we can counter domestic violent extremism (DVE), incredible hatred, an anti-science movement, anti-education and anti-history advocates, truth-deniers, and so on. More about this nonprofit is here, with more background here.
We Need Donations To Grow This Shift.
Our initial startup funding is out, so we’re launching a $10,000 campaign to bring in cash to keep us operational and to help bring in more participants through the first months of 2023.
Help us out. Donate via ActBlue or through our website. Paid subscriptions help, too.
Pass This Shift Along.
A key feature of growing a movement is for it to grow… which happens when people share stuff. It happens when people get involved, too.
Tell people what we’re up to. Get them to one of these Zoom calls. Share this post to all the groups you’re in. Have conversations about whether you think we’re onto something or not. Come to an event and let’s talk through it. Let’s get going. You gotta start somewhere.
We’re fixing to do some awesome stuff. Join us and help us create it. It’s going to be wicked cool.
Be safe and be well. Holding this democracy is way more than a marathon. We’re already in like the 347th wave just since 2016. Shift the Country is here to help take what we’ve all done so far to whole new levels. And so we will.
Let’s go.