Draft

 Plan for a Progressives Information,

Education and Communication System

(Revised September 28, 2011)

Readers - please provide constructive comments to info@wethepeoplenow.org

Purpose

This document provides an outline of a plan to provide an information, education and communications program that:

•   Informs and educates progressives and as many individuals as possible from the public and private sectors as to how to get our public servants to act in the best interest of the people and accomplish comprehensive and lasting change and reform.

•   Do what George Lakoff, a cognitive scientist and a linguist, who “has been arguing over the past decade and a half that progressives need to build a communication system of their own to:

(1) express the values they really believe in,

(2) to communicate the truth,

(3) to use their own values-based language to show the moral significance of those truths, and

(4) avoid communicating conservative beliefs they do not hold, especially by avoiding the language of conservatism. The article by Lakoff reflects the failure of progressives to do so.”

In addition to accomplishing the items Lakoff has outlined above, this system will:

•   Provide ways for individuals to ferret out meaningful information from the massive amounts of available information and be able to distinguish “spin” from truthful information without “censoring”.

Initially, information, education and training materials will be distributed and taught by/learned from YouTube, social websites, email, linked web sites, Wikipedia, , Facebook, Twitter, DVDs and public access TV. As soon as possible, improved ways to inform educate and train including advanced distributed learning methodologies and technologies including online learning, e-learning, virtual classrooms, etc. will be refined and employed.

Concerns and challenges: the critical need for allying, change, education, reform and pragmatic solutions.

Basic Principles

1.  Honest information

2.  If a mistake or misstatement is made, it should be corrected immediately

3.  Listen to the opinions of others

4.  Reiterative, constant feedback

Proposed Topics

I.   The urgent need for ethics, morality, change and reform.

     A.  The purpose/objectives of this part of the education program are:

          1.  To help convince ourselves and others of the urgent need for working together toward comprehensive improvements in the ethics, integrity, accountability and courage of individuals in the public and private sectors.

          2.  To help enroll everyone possible in these education and reform/change efforts.

          3.  To outline both the need for reform and the underlying reasons for these needs so that we are not attempting to deal only with the symptoms.

          4.  To provide an integrated list of needs for which solutions and cooperative efforts can be found. For example, deteriorating roads and bridges can be repaired, by an underemployed workforce using funds now being wasted on pork barrel earmarks, unneeded weapon systems and redundant government projects.

II.  The People’s Strategy to have a peaceful, prosperous and just world.

     A.  The purpose/objectives of this training is to outline what needs to be done to have a peaceful, prosperous and just world.

1.  Identify progressives individuals and organizations and build a nationwide, non-hierarchical matrix of these individuals by organization(s), issues, zip codes and ultimately by neighborhoods, communities, towns, cities and states and name of parent organization(s).

2.  Get these organizations and individuals to work together from:

     a.  A bold Vision for All Humankind

     b.  A list of Goals, which include ensuring the necessities and needs of life and society are available for all humankind.

     c.   An outline of Problems that stand in the way of insuring this Vision is obtained and these goals are met.

     d.  An outline of the Underlying Causes of These Problems. Unless the underlying causes of problems are identified and corrected the problems will likely reoccur.

     e.  A Common Agenda of proposed plans and actions to correct the problems and their underlying causes, ensure the necessities and needs of life and society are available for all humankind and that the vision is realized.

     f.   Potential Funding Sources to pay for the work in the Common Agenda.

3.  Refine and execute the draft Plan for a Progressives Information, Education and Communication System.

4.  Beginning with members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), inform and educate Congress on this strategy and approach.

5.  Demand that Public Servants at all levels of government:

     a.   Use this approach, Vision, Goals and Agenda as their own

     b.   Adhere to the spirit and intent of their oath of office, the Constitution and national and international laws

     c.    Enforce the rule of law and protect civil rights

     d.   Care for the people, environment and natural resources of the world

     e.   Make every election about issues.

     f.    Accomplish all the priority actions from the Agenda. Please note that no one should be involuntarily laid off as a result of these actions

6.  Initiate and follow through with criminal prosecutions against public servants and others who have broken the law as outlined in ProsecuteOfficials.org using constitutional, humane, private, discreet, restorative justice, reconciliation and modern psychology principles and practice outlined on HumaneJustice.org. Also, ensure public servants who will not do their jobs are immediately replaced.

III. Framing, semantics, linguistics, communications, etc.

     A.  The purpose/objectives of this training is to show how others have misled the public by the way they “frame” information and how this can be countered honestly with proper framing. The information for this training will come mainly from books such as:

          1.  “Tyranny of Words”, by Stuart Chase

          2.  “Science and Sanity”, by Alfred Korzybski

          3.  “Don’t Think of an Elephant”, by Professor George Lakoff, is the definitive handbook for understanding what happened in the 2004 election and communicating effectively about key issues facing America today. Author George Lakoff has become a key advisor to the Democratic party, helping them develop their message and frame the political debate.

In this book Lakoff explains how conservatives think, and how to counter their arguments. He outlines in detail the traditional American values that progressives hold, but are often unable to articulate. Lakoff also breaks down the ways in which conservatives have framed the issues, and provides examples of how progressives can frame the debate.

Lakoff's years of research and work with environmental and political leaders have been distilled into this essential guide, which can be used to show progressive and moderate activists how to think in terms of values instead of programs, and why people vote their values and identities, often against their best interests.

Don't Think of an Elephant! is the antidote to the last forty years of conservative strategizing and the right wing's stranglehold on political dialogue in the United States.

For a comparison of “framing” as practiced by progressives and conservatives with regard to immigration please read the article “Framing Versus Spin” at http://www.rockridgeinstitute.org/research/lakoff/luntz

IV.      Human nature, character, ethics, values, principles, integrity, reasoning, accountability, cooperation, teamwork, courage, etc.

Adapt educational and other materials developed by other organizations, in particular the Department of Leadership, Ethics and Law at the Naval Academy the other service academies and the Center for Ethical Leadership at the Naval Academy for use in this part of this education program.

In general, for someone to improve his ethics or character, he needs to better understand human nature and want to change. Human nature, as defined here, cannot be changed, but we can and need to understand it better. According to Alfred Adler:

The understanding of human nature is an enormous problem, whose solution has been the goal of our culture since time immemorial. It is not a science that should be pursued by a few specialists only. Its proper objective must be the understanding of human nature by every human being.

This program is intended to acquaint the general public with the fundamentals of Individual Psychology, demonstrate the practical application of certain principles to the conduct of our everyday relationships with the world and our fellow human beings, point out how the misguided behavior of the individual affects the harmony of our social and communal life; to teach individuals to recognize their own mistakes; and, to show them how to adjust harmoniously to their social environment. Mistakes in business and science are costly and deplorable, but mistakes in the way we live our lives may endanger life itself.

This course will illuminate humankind’s progress toward a better understanding of human nature.

V.  The Constitution, International Treaties, Civil Rights, Laws, Sovereignty of the People, Democratic Process, Legal System, etc.

Since the public has a very limited knowledge of the US Constitution, international treaties and others laws, our objective is to educate people on the following:

     A.  what "the law" means,

     B.  what "due process" is,

     C. what "null and void" means,

     D. how inviolate our rights are,

     E.  that it is illegal to arrest and hold anyone even terrorists without warrants,

     F.  that the US cannot "opt out" of the Geneva Convention, interrogate POWs, abuse prisoners, etc.

This training will help improve this situation. The Memorandum of Law, which is provided separately provides insights into and educational material on the Constitution and other Laws, International Treaties and Conventions, etc.

VI.      In addition to the above, this system will include educating and informing on various documents on WeThePeopleNow.org, HumaneJustice.org and ProsecuteOfficials.org