2.11 Moral credo vs. tribal label
I was talking with my friend Penn about the organizing work she does in rural Pennsylvania and she started telling me about the challenge young progressives in her community face, specifically, how they…
Get caught in the tribal trap.
Let’s take the example of Alison. She wants stay in this rural town where she grew up and she wants better for her community.
But the minute she starts organizing to make things better, the minute she starts pushing against the grain, she gets confronted with the tribal question…
Are you a Republican?
Which means…
Are you with us or against us?
Which also means…
Are you friend or foe?
That’s it, just two options. It’s not okay to say…
“No, I’m not a Republican, but I am a friend because I want better for us and for the children growing up here.”
The minute Alison admits she’s not a Republican, she gets told who she is…
So then you’re one of those Democrats who are destroying our country.
There’s the tribal trap.
Penn and I started brainstorming about a way to stay out of that trap, and we came up with the idea of using a moral credo to block the question of a tribal identity.
So I wrote up a credo for her community. The idea is that now when Alison gets that question about identity, she can say…
If you want to know who I am, I’ll tell you what I believe in and what I’m working for.
I can tell you right now in person, which I’d love to do, or you can go to the website of the community organization I’m part of and read our Credo there.
It’s not about Republicans or Democrats or any kind of ideology or loyalty tests. It’s about taking the best possible care of our community, which has been neglected by our country for years and years and urgently needs serious attention.
Here’s the Credo…
1. We believe in working together to meet the real needs of the people in our community, because they are family, friends, and neighbors and we care about them.
2. We don’t let outsiders turn us against each other because we need to be working together if we are to have any chance of solving the problems in our community.
3. We refuse to follow anybody’s ideology because no ideology has ever made one single thing better in our community.
4. We want to see our elected officials actually making a positive difference here in our community day by day, because actions speak louder than words.
5. We believe in being self-reliant, because the more we can do for ourselves, the more independent we can be.
6. We refuse to let big corporations take over our community or our lives, because we want to make our own decisions.
7. We work to make a strong locally–based economy, because people far away in big companies don’t know us and don’t care about us.
8. We want a vibrant, flourishing local economy, because we want our children to be able to find work here as they grow up instead of having to move away.
9. We want a strong local culture, filled with fun and meaningful things to do, because we want everyone to love living here.
10. We reach out to people in urban and suburban areas who have big hearts and ask them to stand with us and help our community get the kind of attention it deserves.
11. We acknowledge our differences, but we pull together because we know the very most important things in our lives are things we hold in common.
12. We’re even so bold as to imagine that if we can create a community here at home where we’re taking the best possible care of ourselves and each other, that we can become an inspiring model for our country.
If someone is willing to let Alison walk them through the Credo, she can then ask…
“Which one of these items do you agree with and which ones do you disagree with?”
It’s going to be very hard for anyone who loves the community to disagree with any of them.
Hard–core tribal fundamentalists will of course disagree vociferously with the whole idea of having a moral Credo instead of a tribal identity.
But no matter what, the conversations Alison has with people will be…
Invitational.
She’ll say…
If you agree with our Credo, and you’re willing to work with us on meeting the real needs of our community in real time, then welcome! We’d love to have you join us.
There are people who feel burdened by the demands of loyalty to Republicans. And they feel discouraged because the Republicans have no program and offer no hope of progress for rural America. These folks will be happy to get this invitation.
So not only are Alison and her fellow activists using the Credo to keep themselves outside the tribal trap, but through the Credo they’re offering the same blessing to anyone in their community who wants it.
3.1 Real fears vs. fearmongering
Note:
If your organization would like to use the Credo, feel free. You can adopt it as your own, you don’t need to give me credit.
But if you do use it, please let me know. I’d love to hear how it’s working for you in your community. And if you make changes, I’d be very interested to hear what they are. Thanks!
