Compassionate Politics: Pro and Con

[Wade Hudson]

By Wade Hudson

On September 12 in San Francisco, the Compassionate Politics Workshop
will consider the following question: If activist organizations
incorporated more compassion-rooted lessons from the personal growth,
spiritual development, and group dynamics fields into their political
efforts (even if it involved only minor modifications in what they
do), might they attract more compassion-minded individuals and be more
effective? If so, what methods are most likely to be helpful?

Your comments and suggestions concerning this question will be
presented to the participants prior to the workshop.

In their mission statements and other written goals, few activist
organizations explicitly encourage their members to be compassionate
in their relationships with each other, the general public, opponents,
and themselves. Many compassion-minded individuals reject all forms of
political activity. And a sizable number of progressive activists
disagree that we should be more compassionate in the way we do
politics.

Some of the arguments against affirming the intentional cultivation of
compassionate politics include:
· We need to inflame anger, rather than foster compassion. We need to
clarify who our enemies are and figure out how to defeat them.
Confrontation is essential. We must inspire people to fight. Because
our innate tendency to divide into “us vs. them” is deeply programmed
genetically and culturally, we must utilize those feelings, or our
opponents will.
· There’s no need to be explicit about an intention to be
compassionate. Activists naturally, spontaneously develop close
friendships and supportive communities among themselves at their own
pace. Stating any such intention explicitly can force the issue, scare
people away, and lead others to feel guilty if they feel they fall
short.
· We don’t need clear, formal structures that aim to foster
compassionate, internal democracy. Informal, spontaneous, flexible
approaches are more effective.
· Feelings are trouble. They slow us down and complicate our efforts.
People need to learn how to handle their feelings on their own, with
their domestic partner, and/or with very close friends whom they
trust. Sharing feelings too openly leaves us too vulnerable. We need
to concentrate on action. Impersonal work relationships, whether paid
or unpaid, are fine. Our task is to get the job done, not make more
close friends.
· We need to tap the widespread undercurrent of fear and help awaken
people to the many serious threats that we face rather than being
wishy-washy by talking about love and such.
· We need to continue on our current course, work harder to recruit
more members, tweak our tactics, improve our messaging, and learn how
to talk more effectively to those we are trying to recruit. We have
too much work to do and don’t have time to pause and reflect on
matters like how to incorporate more compassion into our efforts.
· Affirming “compassionate politics” is too vague and only addresses
process. We must focus instead on outcomes, like justice and equality.
· We need to concentrate on concrete single issues and hammer away
until we make progress. We need to specialize and develop real
expertise on our single issues rather than trying to build coalitions
or promoting fundamental personal and cultural change.
· We need to prepare for the looming catastrophe that will create an
opening for fundamental change, so we can then provide the necessary
leadership to mobilize people. All “compassionate” reforms in the
meantime merely reinforce and legitimize our current social system.
· Massive change in consciousness is necessary first. The American
people are hopelessly ignorant.
· Politics is based on false premises about how the world actually
works and is contrary to making real progress. Rather than resisting
what we don't want, we should focus on creating what we'd like to see
in ways that are completely outside of politics. Politics is an
inherently self-defeating power trip.
· Politics is a waste of time. There’s no way to help make any
significant difference. We should focus instead on self-improvement,
being a good example, spreading positive energy, creating alternative
communities that can serve as a model for the future, and helping
others one at a time or in small groups.

One or more of those arguments against a conscious, intentional
commitment to “compassionate politics” may be valid. It may well be
that the best answer to the workshop’s central question is no: We do
not need to incorporate more compassion-rooted lessons from the
personal and social spheres into political activism.

On the other hand, our society systematically seduces most people into
wanting evermore wealth and power at the expense of others, resulting
in widespread selfishness, disempowerment, low self-esteem, ruthless
competition, the urge to dominate, and a willingness to submit. Given
that these dynamics isolate and divide people, undoing this social
conditioning, or internalized oppression, may be essential in order to
build the massive popular pressure needed to effect significant social
change.

Effective political action may require widespread personal
transformation. And doing one’s fair share to effect political
progress may enhance personal transformation. Each may reinforce the
other in a positive upward spiral.

And providing individuals without enough social support valuable
opportunities to find it may help them get involved in political
action.

Countless individuals have learned how to engage skillfully in
compassionate actions that foster self-development, spiritual growth,
productive group dynamics, and community service. Perhaps political
activists could learn from these efforts and apply some of those
lessons to their political activity – without aiming to persuade all
progressive activists to intentionally incorporate more compassion
into the efforts. A more compassionate approach could be one of many
methods that some activists use.

With these thoughts in mind, some of the options that may be
considered at the Compassionate Politics Workshop, depending on the
interests of the participants, include the following:
· Begin and/or end some meetings with a period of silence for
meditation, prayer, reflection, or relaxation, as chosen each
participant.
· Begin meetings with a “check-in” during which participants report on
their feelings and recent significant events in their lives.
· Engage in informal and loosely structured fun-filled activities to
restore spirit and enrich relationships between members.
· Develop ways to intentionally cultivate compassionate communities
grounded in mutual support, including conducting regular support
groups for participants to report on their political activity, their
feelings about their work, and their efforts to be more effective, as
well as convening other gatherings with friends, relatives, and
neighbors to build community and foster activism.
· Conduct workshops and share resources for members to face and
overcome their harmful and unproductive tendencies.
· Conduct diversity training workshops and share resources to explore
how to overcome our cultural conditioning.
· Conduct democratic management workshops and share resources to
clarify and improve relations among and between board, staff, and
members, including how we can be more kind and less mean in terms of
how we treat one another.
· Develop more clarity about the nature of collaborative leadership,
in contrast to traditional top-down mobilization.
· Conduct time-management workshops and share resources so we can make
better use of our time.
· Share specific meditation and relaxation techniques.
· Conduct anger-management workshops and share resources on how to
better handle anger.
· Conduct nonviolent communication and compassionate listening
workshops and share resources on these issues.
· Conduct conflict resolution workshops and share resources about how
to best handle conflict within organizations.
· Engage in study groups and share resources concerning analysis of
our social system as a way to pinpoint responsibility and minimize
scapegoating.
· Counter divisiveness by developing a worldview that integrates
“progressive” and “conservative” viewpoints, pulling together the best
features of each.
· Develop core compassionate principles, such as “fairness for all,”
that could help overcome fragmentation and hold various forces
together in unified coalitions over the long haul.
· Learn how to awaken a sense of political responsibility without
laying a guilt trip on others or ourselves.
· Develop language, such as (perhaps) “compassionate politics,” to
articulate an alternative approach to political activity.
· Learn how to make judgments without being judgmental.
· Learn how to make distinctions that describe differences without
creating dichotomies that separate people.

These options are merely food for thought. Workshop participants will
decide what subjects related to the central theme will be discussed by
sharing any idea or question about compassionate politics – whatever
they are most passionate about. At the start of the workshop,
participants will be able to place their passion on the working
agenda. Then they’ll be able to work with others who share their
interest. And join others in working on their ideas in a small action
group focused on making decisions about how best to move forward.

The workshop will conclude with consideration of whether to convene
again in 3-6 months to consider the issues more fully.

Whether or not you can participate in the September 12 workshop (9:30
am – 4:30 pm at 555 Ellis St., San Francisco), your thoughts on these
matters will be appreciated and shared with the participants prior to
now the workshop.

And if you can come to the workshop and/or tell others about it,
please do so. To register or for more info see
http://groups.google.com/group/compassionate-politics-workshop .