After last week’s blog, “Let’s bring together the Tea Party & Occupy Wall Street,” Michel Martin, from NPR’s Tell Me More, asked me and representatives from the two groups to have an on-air conversation. All the potential peril in trying to do something productive could be heard during this conversation. But I remain undaunted, and I hope you are, too. Here’s why.

Source: D.B. King from Wikimedia Commons

First, it took a nice dose of courage for Michel to invite the three of us on. Not surprising coming from Michel, but noteworthy nonetheless. Joining me were Shelby Blake, from the Tea Party Patriots, and Kyle Christopher, from Occupy Wall Street.

From the get-go the conversation took a turn for business as usual. The two individuals saw themselves as representatives for their respective groups, and so what came forward were the well-worn talking points, name calling, bomb throwing, and insistence that “We’re Right, You’re Wrong!” No matter what Michel asked, the responses towed the party line. This is the reality of where we at the national level – we cannot deny it. Right now, these groups are talking past each other.

The key to moving the conversation forward will be to get folks around the table who do not see themselves as either “leaders” or “spokespeople.” When I talk to everyday individuals who subscribe to one of these movements, I have found among them – as I have found among most Americans – that they want to find ways to move the country forward. Like many of us, they too are anxious about where the country is headed, scared about their own jobs and keeping their homes, and lack trust in various leaders, institutions, organizations, and groups to hear their concerns.

Source: David Shankbone from Wikimedia Commons

That is why on Tell Me More I said the best place to get things moving is on the local level. On the national scene, too many groups (not just these two) are happy to indulge in gridlock, because that’s their ticket to “success.” They want to rally more members, more financial support, and more clout. Making progress on the national level will require the shifting of broader conditions in the country.

Still, there is a ripe opportunity before us: to tap into a growing groundswell in the country. This represents what I believe is the big missing story in America today. People want to come back into the public square. People want to make a difference. And people want to be a part of something larger than themselves. They feel they can no longer go it alone – it simply doesn’t work. Nor do they think that outage alone will change current conditions – they say we must note it, understand it, and then get beyond all the outrage.

Let me be clear: What I’m suggesting is no silver bullet. Nor is it about all of us “getting along” or “liking each other.” The times demand that we be more practical than that. At issue is how best to change the trajectory and dynamics of a gridlocked and mistrustful public life and politics.

Source: Tom Morris from Wikimedia Commons

One good place to start (among others) is to bring people from The Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street movements. As I’ve said, what I don’t mean is to bring representatives of the two groups together; instead, my hope is to engage everyday Americans who happen to subscribe to these two groups. If we can show even some progress, it will be an important sign to all Americans – and to the leaders and spokespeople of these movements – that people want to get to work.

At the Institute, we’re actively pursuing ways to push this effort ahead. Please, let me know your own ideas and ways for us to work together.

All this is possible. We can do this.

A dynamic public speaker, Rich Harwood is a frequent keynote for foundations and national organizations. He is an expert contributor on national and syndicated media outlets including MSNBC, NPR, The Christian Science Monitor, CNN’s Inside Politics, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Special Report with Brit Hume, C-SPAN, and many others. He is also the author of Hope Unraveled: The people\’92s retreat and our way back (2005), Make Hope Real: How we can accelerate change for the public good (2008) and numerous studies, articles and essays chronicling vital issues of our time. His most recent written work, Why We\’92re Here: The Powerful Impact of Public Broadcasters When They Turn Outward, is being published and distributed in Spring 2011. You can follow him on twitter @RichHarwood and facebook.com/richharwood.

You can read Rich’s posts every Tuesday on State of the Re:Union’s website.

State of the Re:Union contributor Rich Harwood of the Harwood Institute for Public Innovation proposes what would happen if community truly came first in the realm of political agendas. Stripped of political hyperbole and getting down to brass tax, what would two leading groups have to say about and do for we the people? After all, public and community is the bedrock of democracy, and in a perfect world, what is good for every community would come first.

Source: money.cnn.com

Like you, I have watched as the Tea Party has taken shape and now as the Occupy Wall Street movement is spreading – and my desire is to bring them both together around a single table for a real conversation. My experience tells me that they probably share some important things in common, and the nation would do well if those things could be uncovered and explored.

When I “Google” the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street what appears is the well-worn and typical frame of how to view these two groups. The stories go in for the kill: how the two groups are doing battle against one another, which one has raised more money, and how they each seek to out muscle the other.

Recently, in the Washington Post, a new survey only underscores and deepens this divide and sense of gridlock. Here is what the paper said about the poll results: “Although newly minted movements, Occupy Wall Street and the tea party have been thoroughly absorbed by the preexisting, all-too-familiar partisan divide.” In other words, the two groups are just reflections of what we already tend to believe: everything can be explained by the Red/Blue Divide. But rather than try to explain away the groups, I want to bring them together.

Now, before going on, I could understand if you said at this point, “What, Rich, are you crazy? There’s no way anything positive could come of this.” What’s more, I can hear people saying, “I just don’t trust the other side. They’re nuts!” But, please, read on, and you’ll see why I think we must take this step.

My goal is to bring people from both groups together for an extended, in-depth conversation. In this conversation, I would not focus on questions about their party affiliation, or who they plan to support in the 2012 presidential race, or ask them to raise their hands in quickie surveys to gauge which pre-existing policy positions they support on key issues. Each of these questions would be off limits, as would others like them.

Source: cchronicle.com

The point is to create a space in which we would sweep off the table all the icons and triggers and stereotypes that are often used to quickly categorize people, their beliefs, and their positions. My intention here is never dismiss or temper people’s passions – but to hold at arms’ length the all-too-familiar, knee-jerk shortcuts we use to describe people and ideas that we may revile or detest or wish to push away or, simply, fear.

I would start with a simple question about their aspirations for their community. I would then ask them what their chief concerns are. I would want to know how they experience their lives and what they hope to create in them – and for the country.

From there, the conversation would go to what kinds of actions can be taken – by citizens, political leaders, and others – to reflect these aspirations and start to address their concerns. These lines of inquiry enable people to see and hear one another – something that is in short supply these days. For when opposing groups are forced into political clusters and language that demonizes the other, the possibility to find a different path is squeezed out. It is shut down.

I hold faith in the possibility of bringing these two groups together because, over the past six months, my colleagues and I have been traveling across the country asking people from all walks of life, and across all political affiliations, these types of questions. What we’re discovering is that amid all the differences, noise and finger pointing, people actually do share enough aspirations and common concerns that there is a basis for moving forward; and they are able to articulate basic steps that could be taken to kick-start a different trajectory for the county. Taking such steps would begin a process of building greater trust, and helping to restore people’s faith in themselves and one another that it is still possible to get things done together.

Source: attackthesystem.com

Let me be clear: I am not suggesting that there aren’t deep splits between these groups on some fundamental concerns. But, the truth is, there are also emerging differences within each of these movements. Each movement is not monolithic, nor do people within them walk in lock-step. And even if they were monolithic and in lock-step, the change each wants  can only come about through action taken with others beyond their groups. This is the fundamental challenge within a democracy.

The urgent step I want to take is to bring folks from both movements to the table to see and explore what areas of commonality do exist, and what those openings might suggest for how to get the country moving forward.

Now’s the time.

No matter your political agenda, preference or lack thereof, many issues concerning our communities surface during times such as these. Were Rich able to achieve a peaceful meeting of party members, what type of positive result do you think could be achieved? What question/s would you ask concerning any issue/s in your community?  We would love to know.

A dynamic public speaker, Rich Harwood is a frequent keynote for foundations and national organizations. He is an expert contributor on national and syndicated media outlets including MSNBC, NPR, The Christian Science Monitor, CNN’s Inside Politics, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Special Report with Brit Hume, C-SPAN, and many others. He is also the author of Hope Unraveled: The people\’92s retreat and our way back (2005), Make Hope Real: How we can accelerate change for the public good (2008) and numerous studies, articles and essays chronicling vital issues of our time. His most recent written work, Why We\’92re Here: The Powerful Impact of Public Broadcasters When They Turn Outward, is being published and distributed in Spring 2011. You can follow him on twitter @RichHarwood and facebook.com/richharwood

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You can read Rich’s posts every Tuesday on State of the Re:Union’s website.