Reply #43: "Can't win, so don't fight" is the most incidious of all the

[pat_k]

. . . rationalizations for inaction. It is perhaps the Number 1 reason that the Democratic Party is failing to capture the respect and support of a vast majority of Americans, even though the Party is committed to protecting and advancing their interests.

Members of the Democratic Party may believe they are "picking fights wisely," but to observers it appears they spend all their time predicting defeat and "saving their energy" for fights they are guaranteed to win. Outsiders looking in do not see "wise selection," they see unprincipled cowardice. When the rare "winnable fight" does materialize, it is often for some incremental step or practical end that inspires no one.

For your consideration:

The Reality-Based Community's
Top Five Losing Tendencies

1. Under the guise of being realistic and pragmatic we find . .
   Pessimism disguised as "realism" that crushes hope and blinds us to the reality of infinite possibility; Scarcity thinking disguised as "realistic assessment" that generates fear and leads us to choose paths that cut us off from the nearly infinite resources we can tap into; undermining idealism and faith with predictions of futility and "wasted energy" (then castigating the public for being apathetic); Pragmatic focus on implementation and programs rather than broad principles and goals.


2. Under the guise of being careful and deliberate we find. . .
   Suspicion of spontaneity and untested approaches that suppresses creativity and limits options; risk aversion that results in missed opportunities; analysis and strategic thinking focused on risk, often willfully ignoring potential rewards.


3. Under the guise of being detail-oriented and thorough we find. . .
   Focus on details at the expense of the broad brush strokes the public needs; unnecessary complexity and detail in contexts that don't require it; reluctance to assert absolute knowledge when we have all the facts we need; endless exploration and debate that fails to define concrete achievable goals and action plans.


4. Under the guise of being concept and process-oriented we find. . .
   Idea-centric rather than people-centric thinking; focus on systems, not the people that drive the systems; exclusive focus on "fixing" systems to prevent future failures or abuses; refusal to accuse/punish wrong-doers within the system (and by extension, the groups those individuals represent); reluctance to personalize (condemning ideas, not the people who have adopted those ideas).


5. Under the guise of being calculating and dispassionate we find. . .
   Refusal to give voice to outrage and passion; failure to inspire and energize; a view of voters as game pieces to be manipulated; pre-occupation with perception and image to the exclusion of reality and substance; decisions and actions driven by predicted results not convictions and ideals; irrational belief that we "know" the outcome invoked to excuse dereliction of duty.
   

If we are to rescue our Constitutional democracy and get back on the path to a "more perfect union" we must recognize how these tendencies immobilize us and undermine our efforts. When we understand the traps, we can strive to overcome our self-defeating tendencies by adopting new perspectives and habits.

Saving Ourselves from Ourselves
Top Five Winning Habits:

1. Instead of only going for what our pragmatism and "realism" tells us we can get (and achieving far less than that), we need to cultivate the habit of going for the whole shebang. We need to take up the good fights, even if we "know" it will just be a "charge of the light brigade" (claiming to "know" the outcome isn't "realism" -- it is not rational to believe in our own omniscience);


2. Instead of believing we must be miserly in allocating resources from a limited "pot," we must recognize that the pot is effectively infinite. We can inspire countless individuals, countless conversations, and countless actions large and small when we are passionate in fighting for BHAGS (big hairy audacious goals) and principle;


3. Instead of getting lost in "how to do it" and on "educating" the public about program details, we must back up and get clear about the broad principles and goals we are passionate about -- principles and goals that are reflected in those programs. It is principle and broad goals that inspire and drive a nation to find the means. We can keep our particular "hows" in our back pocket, but it is the "whats" that must be front and center.


4. Instead of focusing on "fixing the system" so it "doesn't happen again," when wrong-doers betray the public trust we must be willing to go after them personally. Government is a system, but it is a system driven by people. We will never "fix" the system if we don't back up words with proof that "this behavior will not be tolerated."


5. Instead of inserting unnecessary qualifications and caveats to every assertion, we need to boil things down to simple truths and moral principles; We must understand that there are in fact absolutes in life. More often than not, we know all we need to know, even if we don't think we know all there is to know.