So a checklist by Michael Moore is going viral. It’s not bad, but it doesn’t tell us how to fix things.

Our anger, our disappointment, our fear. These things are very real. They are also very useless.

So, what can we do that isn’t useless?

Well, that starts with understanding why we failed.

Fact is, Republicans were more committed.

This isn’t about us having the popular vote. The popular vote isn’t good enough, and success doesn’t look like a country divided.

People can support us on Facebook all they want. Doesn’t matter if they didn’t vote. Doesn’t matter if we don’t all agree on who we should vote for. There are many reasons for having fewer voters show-up than we anticipated. Bernie or busters, Democrats voting 3rd party, people that were uninspired by Hillary, people who refused to vote against their conscience.

None of those people are to blame.

Fact is, we didn’t get together as PEOPLE and agree on a leader we can all get behind. We let a private group do it for us, and now we’re pissed at who they selected.

It doesn’t matter if Hillary would have been an amazing President. She didn’t inspire enough people to fight for her. Mourn that if you want to, but the fact is, we need to get together as voters and find someone more than half a country can agree to support.

So, we need a leader 2/3 of the country MINIMUM can support. How do we get there?

We need to communicate more effectively.

This doesn’t mean we need to share more memes on Facebook, have more arguments, or write more articles. Slactivism isn’t communication. Likes aren’t communication. Polls aren’t communication. Arguments aren’t communication.

Effective communication is what occurs when two people rhetorically cooperate to arrive at the truth.

It is not about persuasion.

It is not about anger.

It is not about your feelings.

It is about the truth. Nobody has a monopoly on the truth. While feelings matter, the truth doesn’t care about your feelings.

But when we understand the truth, we are able to make good decisions, however unpleasant they may be.

So, we need to agree on formal rules for political discussions that allow for effective communication. Here are my rules for effective communication.

Rules for Effective Communication:

Never display contempt for any position presented in good faith. Use this flow chart: http://twentytwowords.com/a-flowchart-to-help-you-determine-if-youre-having-a-rational-discussion/ Allow people to make mistakes, and do not disrespect them if they do. Honestly communicate disagreement with respect and patience, followed by what would convince you that you are wrong regarding your reasons for disagreement. Never claim to know something you don’t. Speak of things as they are, not as we think they are. Don’t speak to people as if they were stupid. Ignorance is fundamental to human nature. NEVER attack the person. Only attack the argument, and then only do so while acknowledging the argument is reasonable to reasonable people. Do this ESPECIALLY when the other person is being unreasonable Communicate with specific intention regarding specific actions. There is no point in acquiring truth you have no use for, unless your use is to simply educate yourself. Education is it’s own reward, but if you have no goal, or will not act on the truth you are revealing, there is no point to that communication.

These are the rules I will use when talking with others about politics. I may add more later. But more important than how I talk, is who I choose to talk to.

I am not interested in preaching to the choir.

I engage in debate because I have never learned something by agreeing with people I agree with. I learn by teaching. I learn by debate. I learn by experience.

So, if I am going to effectively communicate, it must be with people that I disagree with and that discussion must be to find common ground to cooperate. That also means that if I’m going to cooperate with them, they cannot be my enemy. I cannot make them my enemy, and they must not see me as an enemy.

We need to build bridges. It’s the divides and walls which are stopping us from progress. Drumpf is just one person telling people what they want to hear, and some of that shit is downright racist, sexist, and deplorable.

But you can say the same thing about the Bible, and yet, there are plenty of good Christians.

If we can disagree, and still be good people on one topic, we should be able to do the same in another. It is the common ground which will unite us, and once we have some common ground, we should work together.

How do we work together?

Ok, so now that I know what I’m going to do, the question is how am I going to do it?

That starts with getting organized. I can’t do it alone. Neither can you. And if we work together, we can accomplish amazing things.

I mean, think about it… that’s what Republicans did. They elected a master salesman with no political or military experience to the most powerful political and military position in the world.

So imagine what we can do if we work together for the common good, with a culture of mutual respect and compassion?

I already belong to some charities, such as Earth Walk, and political organizations such as Represent.Us, but clearly that’s not enough. I need a community that I can learn from and reach out to, to act in concert with. This is the age of social media. Instant communication. Free tools to organize info, collate data, and boundryless communities.

And with all of those tools at our disposal, Donald Drumpf has given us an extra-powerful gift.

Over HALF of voters in the US and COUNTLESS people around the globe are terrified about what he’s going to do with all that power.

But all of that power is derived from the people. It comes from us. And if we are organized and committed, we can make anything happen.

And ironically, the best plan is still the oldest. Grass Roots networking.

So, my plan is as follows:

Create a list of people that agree on at least this much with me. We’ll do that via Facebook for now. I’ve created a group called Love Politics. It’s a bit cheesy, I know. But it’s a start. From there we just need to get enough people to join the group that by sheer volume, we represent a “voting block”. Locally, regionally, or nationally, it doesn’t matter. If there are enough of us in one group, we can allow other groups to join us, partner with us, and cooperate with us on specific agendas. In theory, we could just take over the Democrats like the Tea Partiers did. All we need to do to start is simply share this post, and encourage people to join the group. Within the group, we should talk about issues, and find something we can all agree that as a country we want taken care of first, that is achievable with the resources at our disposal. Nothing crazy, like impeaching Drumpf. But achievable, like getting anti-corruption laws passed, letting local representatives that we will not vote for them if they pass or don’t pass a specific initiative, etc. This will be the part that takes time. That’s why… We’ll need to figure out and agree on ways for us to stay organized. Figure out how we can all make this stuff happen without it taking up too much time. It can be as easy as Facebook, digital petitions, and scheduling five-minutes to call your congressmen and marking that as your status update. Make no mistake, this is what it takes to participate in government. But if we all work together, we can take our country back from Drumpf with just 5 minutes a day! I think 5 minutes of my time on Facebook is worth it if it can create change. We already spend more time than that bitching about Drumpf supporters, right?

That’s it. That’s the whole plan.

But, it’s got a weak-link.

You.

For this plan to work, I don’t have to trust everyone in the world to stick to their commitments. I have to trust you.

I have to trust that what you say today, you will act on 6 months from now when things “could be worse”.

I have to trust that what you find unacceptable today, you will take five minutes for 2 years from now when I ask you to call your congressman.

I have to trust that your integrity matches your passion.

And likewise, you have to trust me. Just me. You have to trust that I’ll stick to my own plan.

Right now, I’m appointing myself leader, because I decided to get things started. But I hope, that if grows larger than just myself, that someone better than me will come along.

But if they don’t, and you keep your promise, well those of you that know me know my integrity.

You know that while I don’t do much for myself, that I never break a promise to a friend.

And you are my friend. You are my loved one.

And if you support me, I will not allow myself to fail you.

If you are willing to do the same, I’ll take you at your word today, and everyday we can prove ourselves to each other with our actions.

That is the easiest way, the most reasonable way that I can think of for us to create a world we all want to live in.

So, I hope you’ll join me.

And if you won’t agree on at least these points, maybe one day you’ll at least agree to a discussion… and I’ll join you.