Transcript from Video 3

This transcript covers Phase 2 Action and Phase 3 Codify.

Welcome and Peace, Thank you for watching. My name is Andrew and within this video we show the Way to Peacefully Force Positive Change within any organization or society. This is Video 3 of 3 and covers Phase 2 Action - and Phase 3 Codify.

The reason why you will benefit from watching this video is that you will know the first step on how you can unite with others to create meaningful positive change within people's lives and our society in order to create a world of lasting peace and happiness that everyone can enjoy. For those who are following along within The Way this is part of Step 6 Unite. Again the strategy is to first understand why violence will never lead to lasting peace and then the 3 Phases of Clarify, Action and Codify.

Before we get started a warning. As stated in the other videos - To attain our goal we all need to be sure to follow all the phases and “Nonviolent Tactics” outlined within these videos correctly and to be as open and inclusive as possible. Care is needed when applying this strategy because the use of this method is truly powerful, yet if not handled correctly, it can cause division, mass destruction, and chaos.

Ok now lets get into Phase 2: Action. What you do next is dependent upon HOW the other party reacts to your demands that were delivered in the last step. Are they willing to negotiate with you? Yes or No? A willingness to negotiate in good faith means all parties are open and willing to discuss the demands, understand them, and work toward a solution based on consensus or, if that is not possible, at the very least, a fair compromise. Each party must go into these meetings looking to work for real, positive, meaningful, and doable solutions.

Remember, people can only find real solutions if everyone is sharing the same fact base, looking for the root causes, the virtues at the heart of the issues, and be willing to be reasonable, work hard, and even change. If you negotiate and reach an agreement at this point skip to “Phase 3” where you ensure everything is codified and legal. After that, the movement can disband, or the leaders can direct the members to a similar or new cause.

However, if the negotiation yields a multi-stepped solution and/or one that is implemented over an extended period, the cause does not end, it just goes into a type of hibernation. Here all parties agree and set up an extended watch and verification system in which the leaders of the Cause are in control. The verification system serves as “checks and balances,” which allows the leaders of the Cause to inform the tribe of progress and problems.

Now if they instead say NO, or Are Not Willing to Negotiate you. Its now time to peacefully force positive change. To be clear here you have submitted the demands respectfully and the other party is NOT willing to negotiate or is not being Reasonable or is not negotiating in good faith,
The easiest way to force negotiation within any organization is to have those on the outside (consumers/citizens) and inside (workers/elected officials) working together. If that is not possible, the goal can still be achieved by one side or the other separately. In either case, the more people that participate, the easier and faster change will happen.

Ok lets talk about our power as Citizens & Consumers a little bit. To be clear Citizens are legally recognized subjects of a state or commonwealth and are subject to its jurisdiction. Consumers are all people who use that organization (services/products) or may use it.
As citizens and consumers, we have great power. As citizens through our actions with our government. As consumers, this power is wielded by consuming or by stopping the consumption of their product or service. If we don’t buy, they don’t make money. Over time without enough money, most business and other organizations will cease to exist.

Our Cause becomes more influential when we encourage others to do as we are because “Word of Mouth” is often the most powerful tool we can wield as consumers. Our growth and influence are magnified when influencers, those at the “Centers of Power” and those using the “Tools of Power,” join our cause. This is because our true power is shown when people’s positive or negative opinions are spread around (word of mouth) and are shared by “the masses.” It’s this power of unity that creates a fad, brings companies to the top, and destroys brands.
If there are enough of us in the beginning, we only use this power of non-use for short periods to show how many people are with us so that we do not hurt the company. The first time is more of a “shot over the bow” to provide a warning than something that is to cause harm. Again, our goal is to get them to negotiate, and this might be enough to get them to the table.

In some cases, a boycott like this might create a personal inconvenience if, for example, we are trying to pressure positive change from our cell phone company. In these cases, in the beginning, the key is to find ways to show dissatisfaction without creating too much hardship in everyone’s life. If you can find ways that are relatively convenient for people, especially in the beginning, the more success you will have.
Here we look for alternatives like having everyone sign a petition, text, or call a specific number at the company with the complaint, indicating they will cut off use if the company does not negotiate and come up with a solution. The key is to show our displeasure in high numbers relative to the situation to get them to take you seriously and negotiate. If they do not, as consumers, our ultimate power comes from abandoning the company altogether. The abandonment of dinosaurs unwilling to change allows us to support organizations that are willing to negotiate and work to do things correctly.

Ok now lets go into our power as Workers a little bit. Workers are those who have jobs and do the “work” within the organization that is of issue. Note that government and critical system worker strategies are covered separately. Frequently, the workers within an organization will agree with the consumer complaints and will have complaints of their own. Worker complaints often cover issues the consumers can’t see that are tied to a poor working environment, corruption, wrongful, and illegal acts.

As “Workers,” we have great power in creating positive change as we know and can do things no one else can. One way is to join a reasonable and fair workers union that covers all people in an industry. Unionizing is an excellent way to find and coordinate with a group of like-minded and highly invested people. If there is no union, you can start one or ask another similar union for help. The key is to make sure the Union is after mutually beneficial solutions and not out to take as much as possible without regard to the overall goal.

Workers can also coordinate with other workers and do a bad job, work slowly, cause bottlenecks, delays, or even make mistakes. The key is not to do such a lousy job that you get fired. If asked why you are not doing your usual, you can say that you feel bad or distracted by what is going on. If it’s taking too long, you might even look for a job at a better company, thereby depriving them of your talent. If they start losing enough good people, this will also help create more pressure.

If workers are backed up by consumers, the idea is for the workers to do enough to keep their jobs as they support a cause wherever possible. Think about it like this, if all workers show up to work, and there are no customers, it will increase the pressure on the organization to negotiate as they still need to pay the workers or start downsizing drastically. It’s essential that those protesting do not show these workers any disrespect or impede the workers in any way. Ideally, we want everyone collecting their checks and caring for their lives throughout this process.

Ok, now lets talk about a special case - of Government Basic Societal Systems Workers. First know that if we need to change a government system, our ability to change it will depend a lot on the form of government. If you have a “Government of the People,” then change will be easier. If one of tyranny or top-down control, positive change will be more difficult and may even involve a personal risk. In this case, the form of government may even need to change before other positive reforms can be implemented, especially over the long haul.

If we work for a “Government of the People” or critical societal systems like water, food, energy and the rest, it’s important when we seek positive change to still go to work and do an excellent job. You do not cause problems, bottlenecks, make intentional mistakes, and all the rest. On the other hand if you are being asked to do things that are inhuman and clearly wrong then don’t be one of those "I was just following orders" type people…so stand-up and do right - this is your test….you need blow the whistle. At that same time we also need to continue to do an excellent job to ensure we do not mess up the really important stuff, as we need our government and critical systems to run as well as possible, no matter what is happening. In these cases, it’s best to help create positive change in the other ways covered so as not harm our critical systems. For example, if these systems allow us to get our food and water, it’s best to work for positive change in other ways instead of stopping them from working. The same is true for any government, there is no acceptable reason for leaders to shut it all down over a political issue.

Ok now lets put this together and talk about what we can all do. As people, we can all join a march and protest where we hold signs, chant slogans, setup blockades, sit-ins, and publicly shame officials who are on the wrong side. Along with that we can sign petitions, donate money, and take polls. We can wear things like a designated color, pin, bracelet, shirt, scarf, or armband. We can also stop buying services and products from bad organizations and support the good. As workers, we can go on strike, walkout, stop work, slow work, sickout, testify, blow the whistle, and even leak evidence of corruption and illegal acts. We can also give a list of worker complaints to the leadership of the movement so they are included with all the rest of the issues. Competitors of the organization under fire, who are doing things correctly, can help the protesters take down the bad players. If working to change a public company, all shareholders can join the effort and vote to fix the company or sell off all the stock to destroy it.

The goal of using these tactics is to stop the company, organization, or its leaders from going on with business as usual. We are forcing people within these organizations as well as the public to consider the cause we are bringing to light. Here we are intentionally drawing attention and making things inconvenient. This strategy is useful when there is little to no media attention or support but would be if only people knew. If both customers and workers are fighting together then good coordination between the groups will amplify the effort greatly.

Ok, now that we covered the basics of the “Nonviolent Tactics,” let’s go through how to use these abilities to apply more and more pressure and force positive change. As stated, the key is to flex our power for short periods, especially in the beginning, because in most cases, we don’t want to destroy the organization outright, we want it to evolve in a positive direction more quickly. So, as we go through the process, we must be ready to lower the pressure and turn it off when we achieve the goal. In other words, don’t start something you can’t stop or do things that will not allow for fair and timely negotiations and change to take place. Simply stated basic strategy, is to apply more and more pressure by increasing the level of intensity and duration of the “Nonviolent Tactics” that I have outlined.

Intensity covers the level of power and passion we apply. Power and passion come in the form of how many tactics we use simultaneously and how much emotion we show. For example, we can create a large peaceful, yet highly charged and emotional public disturbances as we coordinate many other actions to happen in separate locations at the same time. These additional actions can include things like stopping the use of the service/product, a strike, sit-in, sickout, blockade, protests, media blitz, and more.

Intensity can build and build. For example, we can blockade that company starting on one street, then an area of town, then a city to even a country and beyond. We can begin a protest at the headquarters, then move to some stores than to all stores for a total shut down of business.
Duration indicates how long we do or don’t do things. Duration means using the “Nonviolent Tactics” for longer and longer periods. It can also mean we do it more and more frequently. For example, we can start by doing this, say every week, then two times a week, to every day. The length of time we spend can go from a few hours, days, weeks to months, years, and even forever. For example, we can all stop buying gas from a company for a few hours, a day, a week, a few months, or switch to another company permanently.

Now lets go through Why This Works. When there is enough of us combining the level of intensity over longer and longer periods, this will create more and more problems for the organization and its leadership. Most organizations, especially businesses, cannot stay in operation without customers and/or good workers and/or favorable publicity.

When the cause has control of their money and public opinion to a large enough degree, the organization will have no choice but to negotiate with us and evolve, or else they will go extinct like all the “dinosaurs” who do not adapt. The bigger the organization, the faster they will shrink or go out of business without customers and competent workers. As I said this whole process becomes easier when we, as consumers and workers, cooperate to force positive change.

If the organization chooses not to change and is destroyed, shrinks, or is taken over, we have won and made room for better-run organizations to rise and fill the need. Attrition is a crucial facet of capitalism, a fair and free market, and healthy economic systems.
Using all the tactics described within these videos is how we force organizations to improve when they will not do so on their own. We, as consumers, citizens, and workers, must demand that all our organizations strive to be their best on all levels. Uniting and use of these practices is how we become the catalyst that will spur humanity into action and end unconstructive opposition.

All real capitalists believe in good unions and consumer advocacy groups . and work hard to find, fix, and mitigate all issues. “True Businesses” work in this manner because it's through these issues that they see what will make their company and product/service even better. As leaders, we need to work proactively so that things never get so far out of hand that people need to rebel or protest. We want happy consumers, citizens and workers, after all.

In the end, it should be clear that it’s IN everyone's best interest and The best practice to understand all the issues and work to fix and mitigate them. Therefore, as leaders, to truly serve your organization and your greater purpose, you must listen and work with everyone. As consumers, citizens, and workers, we must band together to ensure all organizations provide for what we need on all levels.
There is more how to do a Complete System overhaul within The Way. For the sake of this video we are moving on.

Ok that’s it for Phase 2 Action - now lets get into the last Phase 3: Codify. At the end of a successful campaign, where there is agreement, we must always take a final step and get everything in writing and to make sure it’s legal. There can be a lot to this, including things like writing contracts, creating processes & procedures, and changing or even creating new laws. It might mean having to develop or allowing for the creation of new organizations or departments within organizations.

Do NOT take this step lightly. If everything agreed to is not in writing, formalized, signed, sealed, and legal, all the work done is meaningless. I cannot give legal advice other than to say you need to consult with an attorney on these matters. I will say this much. It’s a good practice when you feel your contacts are complete, to get a second option on them from a competing firm before submitting them. This competitors check is needed because attorneys are paid to find loopholes and alternative ways to achieve a goal. Fresh eyes from a competitor who is not part of the group think can often see things others have not. The key is to be safe, precise, and to be ready to trust but always verify. Also, make sure that if they do break the agreement, the “teeth” within the contract are large enough to allow you to make things right.
Again do not dismiss this. Make it binding and legal - if you do NOT master this step, everything else you have done is for NOTHING.

Ok to talk about what was just covered in all three videos. To peacefully force positive change we embrace a nonviolent approach as we Clarify, take action and Codify. I presented these steps in an order but in life it’s a bit messier. As marches might proceed Clarification during events of great injustice. However regardless of what order everything is done do not neglect any of these steps especially the last step or it can mean certain failure. Also do not be afraid to let your movement evolve and join with others or even broaden the scope. For example a local civil rights movement might coordinate with all the groups fighting for civil rights nationally and even internationally and then go from seeking to help one minority group to all people suffering from prejudice and discrimination.

Well this was video 3 of 3 in this series on how to peacefully force positive change in the world. If you have not done so be sure to watch the others so you know exactly how to make this all work. If you have watched them all you might find my videos on How to fix our justice system and end homelessness something to check out.