Adam Smith put a quote on his Facebook page:

Words are singularly the most powerful force available to humanity. We can choose to use this force constructively with words of encouragement, or destructively using words of despair. Words have energy and power with the ability to help, to heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate and to humble. – Yehuda Berg

And then he added a link to an article he wrote about the power of encouragement.

The article was good. But the quote above it was mistaken.

If you’re read my blog, you know I have a solution for our political problems. It came from distinguishing “political accountability” and real accountability. There’s incredible power in distinguishing. So let’s use it on words.

I don’t mean to criticize Yehuda Berg. The quote is fine. And its effect on people is good. But words aren’t powerful. There’s even more power to be gained if we find where the real power is coming from.

Words are not powerful

Words are actually powerless. Write them down. If no one sees them, they’re powerless. Yes, they sometimes seem to have a little power from the act of writing them and then seeing what you wrote. But it’s just a little.

So is it that they’re heard? No- if my dog hears them, they’re also powerless. Read the Declaration of Independence to him. There’s no power in hearing the words. Or read it to someone who knows no English. Again, the words have no power.

But if you show the written words to someone who reads English, they might have some power. And if you speak them over the phone, with intonation and expression, they could have more. And if you are face-to-face with someone, they have even more power. Why do the same words have different power not just for different people, but with different modes of delivery? It’s not the words.

It’s the listening

It’s the listening that gives them power. And most people listen better when they listen than when they read. And most people listen even better when you’re with them and expressive.

If you listen to something with the attitude “I already know this stuff”, you’ll probably get little out of it. Listen with “There’s some kind of gold here” and the words will have much more effect. People have the power.

What if the listener doesn’t make the words powerful?

Adam’s article was about words of encouragement. Have you ever encouraged someone, but your words had no effect?

• How was the person listening to you?
• Who are you to them that they listen to you like that?
• Who did you want to be?
• What happened that there’s a difference?

It’s tough to know what’s happening with someone else. How about with you?

Have you ever heard words of praise or encouragement that made little difference to you? How were you listening?

What if you determine the power of the words you hear?

What if you were the cause of how powerful other people’s words seem?

Let’s do an experiment. Read this page like there’s a wonderful new idea here. Real gold. Can you listen in a way that makes those words powerful?

Power comes from you, both the power of words and the power in politics. And if you’re silent, others’ voices will seem more powerful.

Similarly, our political system has almost no way for you to exert power. And in this system, most of us are listening like we’re powerless. We make it true. Support a small change that’ll make you, and other citizens, politically powerful.

Professor Jason Stanley wrote an interesting essay on how America’s free market ideology perverts democracy. A coarse summary of his essay might be this: Americans mistake “free market” competition for freedom. Even in politics, we’re out-competed by wealthy corporations. But we don’t complain because we think that’s freedom. He says:

Free market ideology uses democratic vocabulary as propaganda, obscuring a non-democratic reality. 

It’s an interesting article. You’re welcome to share your thoughts about it in the comment sections.

But the very last sentence is off the mark:

Voters are using the proper tool – elections – to make their concerns heard. Will anyone listen?

That’s like saying neanderthals used the proper tools, rocks, to sharpen sticks. Just because that’s the only tool they had doesn’t mean it’s a very good one, or the “proper” one.

Do you feel expressed by voting?

Do you feel like the election makes your voice heard? I don’t. There are good candidates I can’t vote for because only a Democrat or Republican can win. And a vote for a candidate certainly doesn’t express my position on ten different opinions.

Are you one of those people who thinks America should have a larger military budget? Or a much smaller one? How will you make that desire heard in the upcoming election? Of course, you won’t.

Elections don’t make our voices heard.

Voters can’t use elections to make their concerns heard. That’s like sitting down in a restaurant with a huge buffet with tons of scrumptious foods. Two waiters come over to bring you your food. You’re not allowed to say anything, just to point and choose which of the waiters will go fill a plate for you.

Except it’s worse than that. Waiter A likes to give lots of sweets. Waiter B likes you to eat healthy. What we’re going to do is have everyone at the table vote on which waiter will serve everyone. That’s how you get to express yourself in elections. That doesn’t make our concerns heard.

Elections can only work if the person elected forgets about his or her party and not only tries to represent all the people, but succeeds. Given the control of our politics by the wealthy, there’s not even a chance of that happening. Even if they try, we’re not coherently expressing ourselves, so at best they could only try.

What if we had a real way to express ourselves politically? And what if it was part of a system that delivered true accountability to citizens?

Please join us in creating this. Please add your name to our announcement list and donate a few dollars.

Second in power to those with money are the parties, with their gerrymandering and their control of the primaries and their refusal to consider a fair voting system. Third would be the media, though many would argue they’re controlled by the wealthy as well.

The people can be restored to power

Someone on Quora asked:  Is power the only thing that matters in politics?
My answer:

Different things Matter to Different People

Nothing matters in itself. Different things matter to people. And people bring those concerns to politics.

For any given person, what matters? Some want power- they want to be the representative or the president. But what really matters is, Why?

Some people REALLY want to serve, to make a difference, and they think they can do it best if they have power.

Some people REALLY want their way about something- make government smaller, take care of the poor, stop an injustice – whether they think the injustice is the imposition of taxes are they think it’s inequity.

Some people REALLY want to make someone else wrong. They want to get back at all those so-and-so’s who did such-and-such.

Some people REALLY want to feel safe, whether it’s safe from hand-guns or safe from burglars or safe from Islam.

And some people have these concerns for a few minutes as they drive home from a job. Others have them while they work in politics, on campaigns, in movements, on PR. Others have them while they campaign for office, or while they sit in office.

To many people, cooperation matters. To many, fairness and fair play matter. Often though, it seems like politicians just want to get elected. Often is seems they’ll do anything, that the ends justify the means, any means. Often it seems the ends justify immorality, such as lying or falsifying vote counts.

Different things Matter to Different People, not just Power

So lots and lots and lots of other things matter in politics. And different things matter to different people

And “power” is very ill-defined. Clinton wanted the power of the presidency. But as president, he didn’t lead us to war against the Taliban because he lacked the power of “political capital”, support from the people. “Power” is often something that’s not real, but felt, as confidence. And it’s something we say is present when someone causes people to act.

In America, the Constitution says The People have the ultimate power. But we can’t use it, so the wealthy and the parties wield it instead.

In about 3 months we, The People, will be able to start using it. Listen for it. Add your name to our announcement list.

Self-definition is key to creating political accountability. If politicians don’t buy into a rigorous, workable definition of political accountability, including defining themselves as accountable to citizens, it’s not going to happen.

Example of how Self-Definition Determines our Actions

Recently a consultant gave me a free hour of consulting. It was interesting and valuable. Plus he ended up being enthusiastic about PeopleCount and suggested we contact a particular wealthy person who lived near him. I asked if he knew this wealthy person, if he had some contact information. No, but he was connected to him on Facebook. And on Facebook, I was connected to this consultant.

So after the call I went on Facebook and found the wealthy person and sent him a message. There was no reply. On Facebook, one has to make special effort to see messages from non-friends, so people often don’t see them. So after a few days I asked the consultant if he’d send the wealthy person a message introducing me. He begged off, saying he didn’t know this person well enough. I said it was just a short message- that he liked what we’re up to. What was he committed to, a better world, or the idea that he had to know the person well to introduce me to him?

The consultant basically answered that he didn’t work for me. Sigh…

About a week later, he sent me another reply on Facebook. It was supportive and appreciative, and encouraged me to keep making requests. So I sent him a reply to please let it be a quick, little task that’s easy to do. (I haven’t received a reply yet…)

Conclusion: Our Self-Definition supports the world we know, not the world we want

My point is that however my request occurred to him, it was all due to his self definition. He felt it wasn’t appropriate to make the introduction. Why? Because of how he viewed himself and the world. And he believed the feeling instead of overcoming it. He had feelings consistent with his rules of survival as a consultant and a shy social animal. He believed those instead of creating himself in a world he’d prefer, where one can turn on strangers to great opportunities.

I get such stuff all the time from people when I explain how PeopleCount.org will work. All we need is a definition of political accountability to constituents that’s much more complete, and a structure that allows us to act in accordance with that definition. It’d help a lot if these new actions were rewarding both to us citizens as well as to politicians. And that’s what PeopleCount.org delivers.

Please join us. Put your email address on our announcement list and join us when we start our beta, in the next few months.

People have the ultimate power, in America. But with political accountability missing, we are wasting our power. It feels like we’re powerless.

We’re Wasting our Power Battling Ourselves

David Brooks’ recent column about The Anxieties of Impotence says it well:

The Republican establishment thinks the grass roots have the power but the grass roots think the reverse. The unions think the corporations have the power but the corporations think the start-ups do. Regulators think Wall Street has the power but Wall Street thinks the regulators do. The Pew Research Center asked Americans, “Would you say your side has been winning or losing more?” Sixty-four percent of Americans, with majorities of both parties, believe their side has been losing more.

The problem isn’t that others are actually powerful. The problem is that we’re wasting our power. We have plenty of power, but we squander it on petty squabbles. We dissipate it constantly by battling ourselves. We organize it on party lines  instead of issue by issue.

No One is Coming to Save Us

Brooks does what we all commonly do in a moment like this. We pray for a savior:

To address these problems we need big, responsible institutions (power centers) that can mobilize people, cobble together governing majorities and enact plans of actions. In the U.S. context that means functioning political parties and a functioning Congress.

Whether one is hoping for a religious messiah, a narcissistic demagogue trumpeting his anger, government imposing order or, as in this case, rejuvenated parties or a miraculously functional legislature, it’s a plea for a savior.

No one’s coming to save us. The president is trying. The next president will try. But putting your anger and hopes into a partisan leader rarely works. Simply stop wasting your own power. The first step is to stop supporting your party and stop opposing the other party.

We have Each Other, and that’s Enough

While no one’s coming to save us, the good news is that we’re not alone. We have each other. We have a pretty healthy and prosperous society. We have a lawful society and a pretty healthy legal system. There are no riots in the streets. No army is threatening to either run amok or seize control. We are in this together. Many of us are well educated. Most of us are well meaning. Most of us are not members of the angry right, the far left or the wild western separatist movement. And most of us have computers or cell phones or can borrow one. Much is possible.

If nothing new comes along, we’ll have an election. If nothing systemic changes, Congress will continue to muddle along. We’ll still have groups like NoLabels.org pulling for Congress and the President to be “problem solvers” rather than partisan ideologues or non-thinking “deciders.” And we have groups like Voice of the People (VOP.org) pulling Americans of all stripes together in its deliberative democracy exercises to build widely acceptable solutions.

PeopleCount will give us a New Chance to Work Together

And, with a little support from you, PeopleCount will be the new thing that changes everything. It’ll let us focus our power into political accountability. We’ll naturally organize our power around issues instead of parties. Instead of wasting our power fighting each other, it will be focused into guiding Congress. America will be able to move forward. Our impotence will disappear and our anxiety will dissipate.

Please give your support. We’ll be running a crowdfunding campaign in April or May, but please put your email address on our announcement list and consider making half of your donation now.

Take responsibility for our future and create that solution. Create a system to harness your wasted power. Support PeopleCount.

Accountability is key to enabling us to design our future.

I asked a question on FounderDating about whether the law says that my corporation needs to pay me minimum wage. After a long discussion and some conclusions, I thanked everyone and pointed to the web page that says what we’re up to – political accountability. One person showed he actually read the page and replied:

“… just a quick note to congratulate you on setting your sights on a really important topic. I had been thinking of how to address the problem of accountability once upon a time before getting distracted by other things, and I’m really glad to see this being picked up.”

Something really important:  Accountability

Wow- I’m so glad he noticed how important accountability is! To me, accountability is crucial. In fact, one of the things I want is for all of YOU to hold ME accountable for fixing democracy!

Similarly, what I’m finding is that politicians WANT us to hold them accountable. They don’t want to be accountable to wealthy donors any more. Most of them don’t want to do any fundraising at all!

They don’t even want to be accountable to parties. The parties are a necessary evil. They came together for one purpose, but they end up taking sides on everything. Most of our states are pretty close to 50/50 Democratic/Republican and progressive/conservative. If the parties were to line up on different sides of everything, we’d have constant stalemate!

Like we have. The parties should organize people to lobby their own representatives and senators. They shouldn’t own the officials.

Most of our politicians went into politics to serve us.  And most of our people want compromise. Today neither are happening.

Accountability to the people will change that. And what I love is that it’s to ALL the people.

The Foundation: We Design our Future

What is the foundation of a government that’s accountable to ALL of us? The foundation is all of us people saying what we want. All of us being in a conversation about what we want for our future. Designing our future, together.

Isn’t that what we want, to have the future we want?

And that makes it clear what government is for. Government is not the protector of the military industrial complex. It’s not the protector of the health insurance industry or the banks. It’s not to push American values on the rest of the world, unless that’s really what we want. Is it?

Government is just us working together to build the future that we want. To build the future that we design together.

Come build that future with us. Donate $2 and put your email address on our announcement list. That’s the price for powerfully moving America forward into a future of our own design.