ArfinGreebly
Moderator Emeritus
The Grass Is Greener Where It's Allowed To Grow.
Part One.
Activism is the business of achieving change (or preventing change) through persuasion, embarrassment, reason, and so forth.
It requires that enough people make enough noise insisting on the matters at issue that those who claim to represent them have little choice but to comply with the wishes of their constituents.
In order for people to make any kind of noise at all, they must first feel that there's some point to it all, some need of the action, and some consequence of failing to act.
To convince or persuade people that there's something worth getting lit up about, one must have some way of communicating to them, and something to say that will a) be heard, b) get their attention, c) resonate enough that they will be inclined to act.
In order to be heard and achieve resonance the right words and mood have to be used.
To discover what those words are, one must either watch and listen to a large group for an extended time, or one must ask for the words. To discover the mood or tone, one must observe and listen, not only to what is said, but how it is said.
How do you ask for the words?
Well, what you DON'T do is construct "surveys" with loaded questions and evocative wordings that you hope will get answers that "make your point" for you.
We hear constantly about "grass roots movements" and find ourselves invited and encouraged to participate in somebody's bright idea for "grass roots" activism.
Fabulous. Someone plants some seeds, tells you to water and cut the grass, and calls it a "grass roots" event. Except that nobody asked the grass what it thought of all this. If the roots are supposed to belong to the grass, then why isn't the grass doing the growing? Why all this effort to cultivate this growth?
In order for a "grass roots" movement to mean anything, the grass has to want to grow, as opposed to having someone water and groom it to "make it grow my way."
The grass is greener where it's allowed to grow. Not where it's "made" to grow.
So, again, how do you ask for the words?
Remember the part about "resonating?"
It comes down to "what's important to you?"
And that will be the main part of the question.
The other part of the question will be "about what?"
You want to encourage a person to take some action regarding a gun control law. So, do you ask him what's important about gun control? Uh, no. In fact, yuck, no.
What's our objective? The complete restoration of the original intent of the constitution. Great. Not something that's likely to get any broad traction.
Well, what derives from the constitution? Personal liberty. Individual rights of the citizens (yes, I know, the rights precede the document, but let it be for now). Security of person and property. The ability of the common man to protect his family and his own person.
In the context of arms, the security of a free state. Further, preservation of our way of life. And, though it may not be perfect, that objective will probably work for most people, regardless of their surface politics.
Now, you know what that is for YOU.
That will resonate with some. Like, say, a large chunk of the THR membership. The choir, so to speak.
Alright, how do you ask for THEIR words?
You start by asking them what's important about . . . [some condition].
What's important to you about preserving our way of life?
What's important to you about individual liberty?
What's important to you about living the life you want?
Of course, there's the business of the laws we have to deal with, so . . .
What's important to you about legislation with regard to individual rights?
What you're trying to do is "harvest" key words and phrases, along with the mood or "tone" with which they're stated.
However.
In order for this to be of any use, the question has to be uniform. You can't ask some people "what's important about liberty" and ask another bunch "what's important about laws and rights" and get any kind of meaningful word or phrase distribution.
So, in the balance of this thread, let's craft the question that asks for the words that will resonate with the people we want to persuade.
What's important to you about . . .
Let's see what we can come up with.
Once we have that, we'll move on to part two.
Part One.
Activism is the business of achieving change (or preventing change) through persuasion, embarrassment, reason, and so forth.
It requires that enough people make enough noise insisting on the matters at issue that those who claim to represent them have little choice but to comply with the wishes of their constituents.
In order for people to make any kind of noise at all, they must first feel that there's some point to it all, some need of the action, and some consequence of failing to act.
To convince or persuade people that there's something worth getting lit up about, one must have some way of communicating to them, and something to say that will a) be heard, b) get their attention, c) resonate enough that they will be inclined to act.
In order to be heard and achieve resonance the right words and mood have to be used.
To discover what those words are, one must either watch and listen to a large group for an extended time, or one must ask for the words. To discover the mood or tone, one must observe and listen, not only to what is said, but how it is said.
How do you ask for the words?
Well, what you DON'T do is construct "surveys" with loaded questions and evocative wordings that you hope will get answers that "make your point" for you.
We hear constantly about "grass roots movements" and find ourselves invited and encouraged to participate in somebody's bright idea for "grass roots" activism.
Fabulous. Someone plants some seeds, tells you to water and cut the grass, and calls it a "grass roots" event. Except that nobody asked the grass what it thought of all this. If the roots are supposed to belong to the grass, then why isn't the grass doing the growing? Why all this effort to cultivate this growth?
In order for a "grass roots" movement to mean anything, the grass has to want to grow, as opposed to having someone water and groom it to "make it grow my way."
The grass is greener where it's allowed to grow. Not where it's "made" to grow.
So, again, how do you ask for the words?
Remember the part about "resonating?"
It comes down to "what's important to you?"
And that will be the main part of the question.
The other part of the question will be "about what?"
You want to encourage a person to take some action regarding a gun control law. So, do you ask him what's important about gun control? Uh, no. In fact, yuck, no.
What's our objective? The complete restoration of the original intent of the constitution. Great. Not something that's likely to get any broad traction.
Well, what derives from the constitution? Personal liberty. Individual rights of the citizens (yes, I know, the rights precede the document, but let it be for now). Security of person and property. The ability of the common man to protect his family and his own person.
In the context of arms, the security of a free state. Further, preservation of our way of life. And, though it may not be perfect, that objective will probably work for most people, regardless of their surface politics.
Now, you know what that is for YOU.
That will resonate with some. Like, say, a large chunk of the THR membership. The choir, so to speak.
Alright, how do you ask for THEIR words?
You start by asking them what's important about . . . [some condition].
What's important to you about preserving our way of life?
What's important to you about individual liberty?
What's important to you about living the life you want?
Of course, there's the business of the laws we have to deal with, so . . .
What's important to you about legislation with regard to individual rights?
What you're trying to do is "harvest" key words and phrases, along with the mood or "tone" with which they're stated.
However.
In order for this to be of any use, the question has to be uniform. You can't ask some people "what's important about liberty" and ask another bunch "what's important about laws and rights" and get any kind of meaningful word or phrase distribution.
So, in the balance of this thread, let's craft the question that asks for the words that will resonate with the people we want to persuade.
What's important to you about . . .
Let's see what we can come up with.
Once we have that, we'll move on to part two.
Whut? You don't agree? 
