Transpartisan Alliance Seattle

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Comment by Susan Partnow on November 24, 2009 at 8:03am

Hi Pam, I will forward your requests to our TA 'central' and talk about how we should handle this...

Comment by Franca Baroni on November 20, 2009 at 10:49pm

Just letting you know that the Chair of the Republican Party of the 36 District and another Republican party member will join us on December 10. Dori Monson, conservative radio host, is also open to join us sometime in Feb, I am grateful for the important insights they will bring. Be well!

Comment by Michael Lockhart on November 20, 2009 at 12:55pm

Andrea - I'm enjoying this as well. I think the key is to use a group of like minds to "refuel" and then go out into the field for research and experimentation. Very different experiences, although it seems easier than expected to generate empathy in discussions with ultra-conservatives. Probably best not to use "psychobabble" or "warm fuzzy talk" with them, but that's a branding issue, really. Might be useful to look into marketing tactics and military psy-ops, both have a heavy emphasis on understanding how messages are received by different audiences, as opposed to speaking from one's own frame of reference exclusively.

A core issue for conservatives is the "I'm not going to be politically correct!" thing. They feel like liberals jump on them whenver they say anything that can be framed as racist, sexist, homophobic or otherwise intolerant. The Pygmalion effect seems to take over, and they use more and more inflammatory language to test people's tolerance level. I've used two techniques in combination: expose the language as harmless attention-seeking (usually with gentle teasing) and explaining the likely response from liberals, as in, "A liberal or progressive would hear your comment as intolerant and probably shut you out in retaliation. Is that intentional?" I'm sure I'll stumble upon more ideas.

Comment by Andrea Cohen on November 20, 2009 at 10:57am

Hello -

I'm finding this dialogue so incredibly valuable. Thank you Michael (and Maggie) for helping me understand and providing me with analogies I can identify with. As often is the case, the people within our own group can provide the safety and "translation" we need to truly listen and open to others with whom we not yet have a trusting relationship. Deep gratitude to you both for taking the time and having the commitment to be of service in this way!

Comment by Michael Lockhart on November 20, 2009 at 8:53am

Maggie - growing up with guns would make a difference. My family never had a gun, and since I haven't fired one in over a decade, I would probably still have that "dangerous object" feeling. Like driving a truck for the first time, maybe. But it would be easy enough to get over it, and since I plan to interact with conservatives over the next few years, I'm sure I'll be hanging out at a firing range at some point, if only for the immersive journalism.

There are certainly conservatives who have a more emotional relationship with guns as protective (or phallic?) objects. But for most gun owners, a gun is a tool like a car. You can kill someone with a car, and more people die that way than from lawful use of guns.

Another comparison might be the feeling some conservatives have about legalizing marijuana. Anyone who smokes it or knows people who do is not going to think it's a particularly dangerous idea. Alcohol is already legal, right? But people form emotional associations to things, and I've met quite a few people who had no negative reaction to alcohol, saw it as a personal choice, but had a visceral reaction against marijuana and would hear nothing anyone said if they admitted to smoking pot. It takes a long time to desensitize oneself to those kinds of emotional responses because they come from the reptilian brain, which prefers to be wrong nine times to be right the tenth. Once upon a time, that kept us from dying. Now it keeps us from living.

Comment by Maggie Willson on November 19, 2009 at 10:04pm

Those are all great points, Michael. I particularly liked your comparison of liberals' reaction to guns to social conservatives' reaction to homosexuality. Why do you think it is that liberals/progressives feel the aversion to guns? It's something I've never had, even when I was much more conventionally "left" than I am now. I didn't learn to shoot until I was in my thirties, but I don't remember ever being bothered by other people having guns. There are definitely inanimate objects that set me off, such as jet skis and all-terrain vehicles, but guns have never done that

Comment by PamKM on November 19, 2009 at 6:55pm

Hello - Congrats to everyone on a successful and active group! I'll be happy to link to your group from left column on the CAN home page if you wish. Before you decide, a few questions:

1. Are you comfortable renaming the group "Transpartisan Alliance" so our global members from 29 nations can participate too? If this is okay, as the group creator, Susan can choose "Edit Group" and easily change the name without impacting anything else. We sometimes suggest a slight name change so all of the groups listed on the CAN home page work well together as a list. No pressure. It's your group. :)
2. Will you commit to updating the group at least a few times each month? Check out the other group home pages for ideas.
3. When you have something to announce to all of CAN, feel free to add a News post to the home page through your personal profile. For example, Utne reader had a great cover article in the Sept/Oct 2009 issue called "Post Pundit America: The End of Attack Politics" It changed my thinking a bit. Other CAN members might be interested in it too. (short headlines with initial caps and compelling headlines are recommended to attract more readers)
4. Ideally, each CAN group will have at least a super simple strategy with a goal and a few tangible outcome that we can show to potential CAN donors. If you have any "success stories" please save them and let us know!

Once again, no pressure. These are just suggestions. The Transpartisan concept is clearly VERY important to the planet on many levels so we're just happy that you're taking action. Thanks!

Warm Regards,
PamKM
CAN Communications

Comment by Janice Jaworski on November 19, 2009 at 4:01pm

Thanks Susan for making this a part of the discussion - I agree that we need to expand our work to talk outside of the choir and see how we can make a difference inspite of our differences

Comment by Michael Lockhart on November 18, 2009 at 9:50am

Now that I think of it, the feeling "liberals" get about guns may be similar to the feeling "values conservatives" get about gays. Interesting, if true.

Comment by Michael Lockhart on November 18, 2009 at 9:37am

Maggie - I think a lot of people on the Left have a visceral reaction to guns, not just an abstract belief about them, but a gut feeling. I haven't fired a gun in many years, and would probably feel a little of that if I went to a shooting range. It's hard to separate that feeling from the data on guns and crime, as far as I can tell the results don't fully support either side -- guns reduce violent crime when victims own them, but guns are also a major factor in the lethality of violence. In any case, it would be very difficult to confiscate guns (Europe and Australia are islands, that helps) and the black market would still exist. The real problem is cultural, I believe (as Michael Moore pointed out, Canadians have guns but much less violence). We need to deal with the alienation and sense of rejection and meaninglessness that's in the air.

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