Hmmmmmm……… I worked my tail off, as I think that you may have as well,  in 2020 and it worked……..as public citizens we who said no to the unworkability of the prior administration we took a bold stand that we will win nationally and in Georgia and went to work calling, writing, and giving real money ………for me that includes (still) to The Voter Participation Center that registers all voters of which about 2/3 turn out to reg as Democrat particularly the New American Majority (NAM) which are people of color, unmarried women and younger votes under 35……..VPC registered, I recall.  Around 1.6 million voters for the 2020 election. Overall, there are north of 42 million unregistered voters which, if registered, would allow our democracy to thrive. VPC is a resource for us.

Now while one can say that the Democrats themselves need m a n y truing ups, and  m a n y improvements in their approaches…………usefully in the direction of fiscal accountability, clear foreign policies that are effective, public and committed, seeing the economic and social value in l e s s regulation and easing “righteous” political correctness…………….they are at least addressing issues that are un-ignorable such as the climate crisis, the value of being informed by science and demonstrable facts, access to real economic and educational opportunities for all people,……….many Republicans, by contrast,  seem to have become more or less given to create and win ideological/philosophical/theoretical ‘tribal’ battles almost for their own sake as if courting a mythological return to the-good-ole-days at all costs….

These costs can include integrity, courage,  intellect, empathy, and vision, such as a vision that includes diverse peoples rather than excludes them. Attempting to win just to win without further or larger purpose……….including, sometimes, through violence, lying, cheating and basic ignorance of basic science……does not work in a constitutional democracy. These approaches may not be useful for anyone……………for example, choosing one’s rights over demonstrable science can be very costly ……. some people pay and have paid for these behaviors with their lives regarding Covid…unfortunately yet entirely appropriately given what the facts are…………. While defying authority definitely has a place in a vibrant democracy of competing and conflicting ideas, some people assign themselves the ‘right’ of expressing extreme, repeated ‘defiance’ as a way of life which is in fact costly to everyone, not just them…such as committing their actions to no vaccination, no climate crisis, no election integrity…. And yes, some have paid with their lives.

Granting that tacking labels, especially political labels,  on to human beings generally does not work to achieve genuine understanding of almost any kind, labels can often seem at times, in our system, almost unavoidable. So to give re-birth to a sorely missing label,  I offer that there is an almost entirely ignored undramatic Political  Center…………… Center and left-Center and right-Center………… …………such a Center that could/can deal with public policy issue by issue by issue not merely by resorting by default to party or ideology. How? Through debate, pragmatism, and balancing costs to all parties with benefits to all parties, and then, having examined the range of costs and benefits assessments, allowing the majority vote once the debate between opponents has been said….. (useful to construct this often intense competition as between opponents, not enemies…………opponents )….

The C e n t e r c a n make sense for pragmatic solutions the way Ronald Reagan and Tip O’Neil could, McCain and Kennedy could, even back to Dirksen and Johnson could….I am for that center (I am personally somewhat left of center but I am definitely pulled to the pragmatism of a political  ‘’Center )  in thought, word, and deed……………I will give time, money (money gifts definitely matter as money allows energy-in-action), action, education, legal work including supporting appropriate litigation and legislation, daily conversation, blogs, to cause, precipitate, and support a possible and emerging center of pragmatic, essential competition vs. righteous ideological battles ………

Regarding one instance of how one might take action from and for a political center: my brother in law, Bruce Patton (co-author of the best-seller, Getting to Yes, on negotiation) and his team has inspired and engaged 90 + members of Congress from all stripes of the political spectrum to work together. In a series of forums and meetings to improve the legislative processes of Congress so that it functions better for everyone,  Rebuild Congress is building a workable consensus that transcends party lines. Anyone can get involved, and to get involved see, RebuildCongress.org.  Rebuild Congress is one important activity of this unheralded, unrecognized political center.

One issue whose demonstrable facts transcend political boundaries and requires pragmatic, roll-up-your-sleeves solutions, even though it has often been cast as political, is the climate crisis. Why? Because the climate does not care if you are a Republican or a Democrat, if you see it happening or you do not, or if you find the climate crisis convenient or not. I have made, by participating on the Board of 2030orbust.org, a personal and public promise to cause the required 32% reduction in global carbon gigatons from the 60 gigatons of carbon emissions predicted for 2030 to the 41 gigatons we need to get to (in order to stay inside of 2 degrees centigrade as of 2030). A 19 gigaton reduction in global carbon emissions by 2030 allows our children a real shot at a real and workable life……………As we confronted this reality, we leaders at 2030orbust.org began to notice that constituting, constructing, relating to a real threat as a g a m e to play, in real-time with real consequences, realized through unpredictable means,  turns spectators up in the stands into players on the field ………we all know this love of games well …it is in our bones. So the game at 2030orbust is: mobilize 500,000,000 people to get to net zero carbon by 2030.

The founder of 2030orbust.org, Laughlin Artz, woke up 5 years ago and decided to interview experts at the UN, at the COP conferences, and in writings, and what he found was a consensus that, contrary to the public dialogue, we need all hands on deck …..now……or it is probable, almost certain that we will not make it. Through years of asking and studying with experts, he and 2030orbust created the game that allows us everyday people to live sustainable lives:  the game is …  reduce emissions by 19 gigatons per year by 2030 and we make it…..we stay inside the 2* centigrade which works. His task now: get the word out. Laughlin has taken on skateboarding throughout the US, conducting and being on media interviews, engaging kids in schools (they get it immediately ), and now raising money to get the word out.  2030 says that it is time for individuals to stand up, together, and take on climate crisis personally, with our own carbon footprint and with mobilizing others. Download the app: 2030orbust.org and get in The Game.

I am crystal clear that the workability/sustainability/survivability of the human species is now up for challenge/complete risk and a genuine breakthrough that would allow us to proceed is no longer optional….how we view ourselves, each other, the planet…..and thereby, act. This breakthrough begins with and finds its way into reality in and through what we human beings are: language. We both create and navigate our worlds in and through the languages/conversations we give to the world and to each other. Our power tool: conversation. Not any ole conversation but conversations that practice making a difference, that measures their impact. Mastering conversational domains…….business is a conversational domain, science is one, cooking is one, parenting is a conversational domain….. takes coaching and practice just like any excellence does. 2030orbust.org is committed to providing that platform and that community. Causing a breakthrough in human culture can be done by speaking from, listening for, and acting on what is possible and necessary, day in and day out. I say/commit that this climate crisis breakthrough of 19 gigatons reduction in carbon emissions will be in existence b e f o r e or b y 2030 a n d the odds currently are dicey……………soooo….it is all hands on deck, like it or not. For those of us prone to being pioneers, do note that saying/standing for that it is possible from start to finish, thereby creates it as actually being possible,  and gives oxygen and life to the breakthrough game.

So where are we, this nascent political Center, that now could address crucial matters like Climate Crisis? First consider:  Action and only action gives traction.  Do note that some kinds of conversations are themselves, actions, or prompts for actions. Requests, promises, offers, declarations, assertions, inquiries, acknowledgments generate new openings for action. People who are this Center, people more interested in pragmatic solutions than theoretical battles, get to now be in action. Regarding action, it is useful to realize that all people act in 2 and only 2 domains: one is physical; the other is language or conversations. Invent the conversations and the conversations will invent the actions. That is what Gandhi meant when he said, be the change you want.

Try on that a declaration of one’s stand for the future is the pivot point from spectating and opining up in the stands to playing down on the field of action, causing the game to be won.  For now and for my lifetime, I declare this next statement for whatever value it has for you and others who read this:

My Declaration: 2022 is the Time to take the full measure of what is at stake and its urgency especially regarding the climate challenge, and get into committed action WHILE LIVING A JOYOUS AND  A FULFILLED LIFE……… I am, for one. Once I got clear that taking on what is missing is what is called for, and is fundamentally what I stand for, taking on 2030orbust.org became a ‘no choice’ choice……….I will not be looking my daughter in the eye on my deathbed and say “I stayed up in the stands, I was a spectator when our world needed real, committed and pragmatic citizenship……… of real integrity, and possibility,  more than ever………….A n d, I decline to become or stay grim, resigned or “depressed” for more than a moment or 2 or 3……..I am out for just as much fun and play and laughter and love…..the game of life……… as anyone, no matter what the stakes and urgency………..

Life for me, I finally realized, is existential and creative, and inside that stand, the public domain, our public conversations, our public impact do matter………….and yet, they matter when and only when….we say so. Time to say so, time to act. At  2030orbust.org, you and I get to say what we will do and measure its impact.

This article is intended to stimulate and catalyze your own stand for what works, now, as we take on 2022……….it covers much ground that we all are thinking ‘about’ and thinking of course is itself conversation…..….but only with oneself. Getting clear on what impact one stands for does take some work and it is empowering.  You are free to share this note with anyone..