What’s At Stake Is Huge
This is a place for big ideas and big hope. It’s not everybody’s thing. We get that.
But maybe we need big dreamers and big hope. Maybe the cynicism, frustration, overwhelm, stress, and disempowerment that’s pervasive up in this country needs a counter.
Maybe that frustration needs big belief that we can do big things. Our idea is that we can energize and motivate voters in a bunch of ways, and reinvigorate faith in democracy while we’re at it.
What’s at stake is democracy itself, in the world’s most powerful superpower. What’s at stake is our collective future on this planet. What’s at stake is the country we’re going to hopefully keep and build from here forward. Will we actively address the great challenges of our time? Or will we watch the powerful and wealthy create their own oligarchical authoritarian misery? They’re sure trying to.
When democracy falls, the most vulnerable pay the greatest price. Government is created in part to protect and serve the most vulnerable; along with every other resident. The current US challenge is bigger than just this country - because the US government helps the maintain world order in addition to protecting its own people. If the US fails, the entire world order shifts. If the US fails, our own most vulnerable become even more so. If the US fails, our already-weakened social systems crash. If the US fails, our already-challenged institutions and infrastructure crumble way more than they already have; and our communities atrophy even more rapidly. The lists go on.
What if instead we imagine greatly?
What if we decide very intentionally and collectively to do democracy right… to go all out to make sure we actually are the first, biggest, most powerful multi-racial, multi-ethnic democracy… where the majority of increasingly diverse Americans of all genders actually do run government?
We are so, so damn close. We’re stymied in serious ways by structures that protect minority party power, but if we could get an overwhelming majority into power we might be able to mitigate some of that minoritarian roadblock and better protect true democracy.
So here’s our plan. We intend to go as big as we can, and to go all out.
We have two full months. What can we do?
Here’s Our Fall Plan
Our focus to energize the majority of voters in fall 2022 will be in 4 areas:
1. HELPING PEOPLE HOLD NOTICEABLE COMMUNITY EVENTS: We are planning to help people have events that raise some kind of ruckus or attention in our local communities; to help get into the gossip networks in those places. This is a spin on relational organizing.
These community get-togethers can be anything… like a community conversation cook-out, an open-mic night with stories about what’s at stake, an art project get-together, a solidarity soiree, a karaoke night, a dance for democracy, desserts for democracy, a political prose potluck, a volunteer project, some other kind of civic engagement, or whatever you want it to be.
We’re starting with virtual webinars about how to do this, then setting up real-world events around Iowa, & then sharing scenes + stories + coverage. If you’re hosting events where you are, we can share those events on our website + social media. If we get enough fundraising going, we can also advertise those events to bring more people, & to share around what comes out of the events.
The idea is to help provide connection, community, solidarity, & strength… to help energize people to vote.
2. PRESSURING BUSINESSES: We’re getting a brainstorming team together to figure out how to bring big pressure on businesses that support politicians who are anti-democracy. We’ll also look into pressuring businesses that are pro-propaganda, pro-hate, anti-women, anti-women’s health, anti-LGBTQ, anti-DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion), and so on.
First we’ll do some teamwork sessions and figure out what’s achievable fast given the data we can pull together. Then we’ll throw a pressure campaign together to raise a ruckus & to amplify it this fall.
The more fundraising we have, the bigger this shift can get in 2022. Then we’ll iterate it & evolve.
3. HELPING PEOPLE ADVOCATE FOR FREEDOMS, RIGHTS, & VALUES: We intend to be a bit like cheerleaders for democracy - and for messaging, too.
We can help everyday people, volunteers anywhere, political candidates, and elected leaders do a way, way, way better job of speaking up, standing up, raising a fuss, and otherwise championing shared values held by the majority of Americans… for things like established rights, for our freedom, for democracy itself, for kindness, for a civil society, for equity, for diversity, for inclusivity, for investment in Americans, for investment in communities, and so on. The lists are long.
We can be way louder, we can get more coverage, we can drive more of the narrative, and we can do some of that pretty darn fast. For real.
4. HELPING WITH ELECTIONS & VOTING: We intend to help Americans collectively support elections & voting this fall as we can. We all already know these essential institutions and rights are threatened by a number of state legislatures, by Secretaries of State, and by local and county clerks. There are things we can all do to help. Shift the Country is going to get into that where we can. This is also likely to be one of the scariest elections most of us have ever encountered. We may well see people with threatening t-shirts, emotional support assault rifles, and oversized trucks hanging out at polling places. We could also have aggressive poll-watchers, or vigilante attempts to enforce absurd election laws such as the prohibition to give voters water or other aid in some places. There will also be legalized harassment and arrests of voters; such as that which is already occurring in Florida. We’ll likely need some serious courage, strength, & solidarity. So will election workers & volunteers. This whole action area is going to evolve, and Shift the Country will work with you all to help where we can. Together.
How We Do This Shift This Fall
We’ll go after these 4 action areas above using the Shift the Country approach that’s anchored in the 5 things below. All of these pieces and parts work together in synergy to help us create, expand, and amplify momentum:
Thing 1: We create a phenomenon of action, advocacy, & energy.
Thing 2: We build power by taking connecting & coalitions to new levels.
Thing 3: We involve businesses through partnerships & pressure.
Thing 4: We champion vision, values, & moral courage.
Thing 5: We spread this shift everywhere, & we drive the narrative.
Here are the next steps Shift the Country is taking to make shift happen fast this fall:
We’re setting up online virtual Zoom webinar events where we’ll talk about how to go after these 4 action areas; including how to set up events. Those webinars & team sessions will be anounced via this Substack as we create them, + also posted on the events page on the website. Webinars start first week of September.
We’re getting volunteers to sign up for the 4 action areas for fall, or to help us make this shift happen long term by helping with tech or other areas.
We’re raising money to make this shift happen! We’ve gotten our first donations in via the website and by snail mail - it’s very exciting. Paid Substack subscriptions also help with this shift.
We can finally advertise to grow this shift! It’s been a very long road (started in March), but it looks like we finally got “isssue, electoral, or political” ad approval on Facebook. This is a huge help - especially for all the amplifying we’re planning. Woohoo!
We Need All The Things
Given what’s at stake, we need all the things this year. Seriously, we need everybody do as many things as possible. We can also get all of our groups and alliances and coalitions and party volunteers doing as many things as possible… and with bigger imaginations than before. We can do bigger and better, have wilder ideas, and have more permeation and reach through our social networks both online and in-real-life (IRL).
Shift the Country is here to help add to all of this kerfuffle and fuss and ruckus where we can. The more action and attention the better.
Who knows? We might just be able to build enough momentum to make a difference in a district, or a state - or even for the whole country. We won’t know if we don’t try.
Whatever we do can certainly add to the overall shift we need to make to hold this democracy together. And that’s priceless.
Are you in?
Volunteer here. Standby here on Substack for event announcements in the next few days.
Be safe. Keep the faith - in this democracy, and in the good humans who intend to hold it together. We’re going to do amazing things.