The fourth democratic debate took place on 10/15. I watched the previous three online while tweeting and redditing and just generally diverting my focus from the much of the tedious arguments over minutiae happening on stage. Going to see this one in person with a large group — there were maybe 30 of us in a private room at the sports bar — solidified a lot of sentiments that had been bubbling from those previous debates.

First of all, this type of event did not accentuate the core values that make our group so effective and important. Trying to focus and listen to the candidates speak means there is little time or incentive for interaction between the group. It was as bad as taking a first date to a movie — no opportunity to get to know each other. Sometimes the movie is so good you have lots to talk about with the date after, but a lot of the debate was really boring, or downright frustrating, in between waiting for Yang to speak. This was evidently a common sentiment in our group as heads regularly bowed into phones, only raising to clap and cheer when Yang spoke. The few bits of conversation I did engage in were heavily colored by the choreographed conflict on screen. Grumbles about why this or that candidate was wrong about this or that subject, how calculated, trite, and absurdly common the candidates attempt to tug at our heartstrings with anecdotal stories instead of speaking honestly about numbers or data, and how they should give Yang more talking time — all of it just had a general air of negativity.

I have no regrets about going to see the debate, and the people themselves were wonderful as ever underneath the visage of the debate. Most of us are committed to Yang because we see the potential for a better system. Whatever ideas we each have about how it could be are shaping our actions towards reformation, but we have to necessarily move from where we are today, and realize that whatever we imagine for the future will be colored by the present every step of the way. With that in mind we should view the debates as a reference point for what we need to address in order to evolve, but not let them set the precedent for how we get there.

As a country and, for many of us, as individuals we have experienced a lot of trauma in recent years. One of the most effective therapies for PTSD is Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. The idea behind EMDR is to stimulate your senses in a positive/neutral way while simultaneously surfacing the trauma in a controlled manner. When deliberately surfaced under this setting, the brain can repair the trauma response to the controlled environment (instead of the traumatic environment), and the stress or anxiety is progressively desensitized. This allows the higher functioning part of the brain to work the issues out without being consumed by debilitating emotions. Watching the debate with the only group of people I have ever felt totally comfortable being a part of felt a bit like EMDR. Overall it was uncomfortable, but it provided some interesting insight.

I’m glad the debates are infrequent enough that we can recover and reinforce all of the other great events and actions of our community. Cleaning up trash, caravaning to Iowa, feeding the homeless, etc. — all of these require active participation in fixing problems. Even if they seem to have small individual impacts, these events strengthen and reinforce the connections of positive action between us and within us. The more we feed the good, the less effect the bad can have.

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I left the debate watch a bit early and didn’t get a chance to see how people interacted/behaved once the focus was off the political reality show. The organizer had set everyone up to throw their tips into a bucket for the one waitress who basically covered the entire room, so hopefully the spirit of the Yang Gang remained a strong undercurrent for everyone and the petty muckiness from the stage (feels slimier than all the garbage we picked up in KC) was readily wiped off.

I did get a chance to connect with the organizer before leaving, and linked up for a couple events the coming weekend (10/19–10/20). Next posts will be about overpass flagging, and feeding the homeless.

Cheers!

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