Change

The people of the United States are demanding change. We are frustrated with those who are taking more than their share.

Real change? It will come only when we solve the real problem.

The real problem is that we operate under a system of hierarchies whose function is to channel power and resources to the top. The people on the top expect to hoard the resources others generate because according to the rules of the hierarchy, they deserve all they have and everyone else deserves less.

We will solve the real problem when the rest of us cut our puppet strings to these outdated hierarchies and stop playing our lower role of listening to the clueless top. Only then can our anger and stress be transformed into creative instruments for change and joy.

"Don't Think of an Elephant"

George Lakoff struck a chord with millions of Americans with his book, "Don't Think of an Elephant!" (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2004). Lakoff wrote that people who want change need to develop a strategy that includes six criteria.

Lakoff’s criteria are satisfied by our focus on ending hierarchies.

Stop thinking issue by issue. Figure out what change we can enact that will have effects across many issues.

Next Step: The hierarchy model moves us beyond discussions of differences of opinion and arguments about who really promotes concepts like "freedom" and "democracy." Instead, we identify, analyze, and target specific attitudes and behaviors that either create or destroy our society whose stated mission is to function for the good of all.

Do not use their language. Practice reframing, every day, on every issue.

Next Step: The language of hierarchies allows us to consistently and unequivocally point out that people who want to conserve hierarchies are working against the ideology on which the United States was founded. Historical trends are on the side of our national ideology of fairness.

Play offense, not defense.

Next Step: Leaders want to avoid being labeled with terms such as racist or anti-Semitic. Leaders supporting any hierarchy in a land of "liberty and justice for all" will feel the same pressure.

Never answer a question framed from your opponent's point of view.

Next Step: We keep the conversation on our frame:

Conserve hierarchies (the historical status quo)
                         or
Create lasting fairness and equality for all (real change)

We avoid the political minefield of pointing fingers, making accusations of what’s morally wrong or right, or judging character. Our questions are simple: Are you building a hierarchy, or not? Are you creating a barrier to the best of American values, or not? Is what you are doing sending excessive resources to or mostly benefiting the top?

Use their weakness to your advantage.

Next Step: People at the top make rules that reflect their own desires, perspectives, and needs. They have little incentive to question the system they create. This clueless myopic vision is a weakness that can easily be used to create change. The skills needed to take advantage of that weakness are simple and straightforward to acquire, once we know how hierarchies operate.

Predict what they will say.

Next Step: The attitudes and behaviors of people who want to conserve hierarchies are consistent and predictable. Hierarchies are simple to find because they leave behind fingerprints - typical hierarchical rules and roles, or CLUES.

Games Mother Never Taught You

You can’t correct a problem until you know what’s wrong.

You can’t develop a useful strategy or capitalize on a skill until you know what you’re up against.

You can’t calculate your moves until you are knowledgeable enough to predict countermoves and
defensive tactics of rival teams.

You can’t enjoy the encounters if you dont understand the game.

— Betty Lehan Harragan, "Games Mother Never Taught You"
(New York, NY: Rawson, Associates Pub., 1977), pp. 145, 318.