Public Speaking
As a matter of fact, a fellow from Minneota named Ignatius Donnelly wrote the preamble to the Populist Platform adopted by the People's Party at its national convention in Omaha on July 4, 1892:
"The fruits of the toil of millions are boldly stolen to build up colossal fortunes, unprecedented in the history of the world, while their possessors despise the republic and endanger liberty. From the same prolific womb of governmental injustice we breed two great classes - tramps and millionaires."
One of Donnelly's friends was Mary Elizabeth Lease from Kansas who said:
"Wall Street owns the country. It is no longer a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, but a government of Wall Street, for Wall Street, and by Wall Street. The great common people of this country are slaves, and monopoly is the master."
Yes, the Populists of the late 1800's had 40,000 traveling lecturers spreading the word. And, yes, our topic is best spread person-to-person, not on a piece of paper or on a web-site. But in 1892, there were citizens willing to listen. And in 1892, rhetoric was a practiced art. The key for us may lie in planning venues.
Legislative sessions are coming to an end. And, even though the mid-term election is only six months away, candidates are keeping pretty quiet about energy - other than the usual short-term stuff such as creating a tax break here or harassing an oil company exec there.
Meanwhile, citizens are planning their road trips for Memorial Day. Right now, $70 a barrel may not mean that much. Sure, they complain about gas prices, but they aren't aware that $70 a barrel represents an increase of 170% in just four years. And they certainly aren't aware that the NYMEX oil futures prices remain above $70 all the way through the 2006 and 2008 elections.
That price, $70 a barrel, may have to cook for awhile. It may have to ripple through the economy a little. By Labor Day, we may have some citizens willing to listen. And the candidates running for election will only have that short-term stuff - the stuff that nobody bought in the first place.
We may not be able to engineer a full-blown peak oil conference like Denver or New York. But it might be interesting to have some venues ready for some public discussions of citizens' energy concerns, say, two months before the election. And, of course, it would be real handy if the folks facilitating those public discussions had a full understanding of peak oil, oil depletion, energy scarcity, and the need to transition to a new energy economy.
Brian Merchant
St. Paul, Minnesota
Look here-
In the late 1800's, the populists hosted a conference in order to fuel the populist movement. They trained 40,000 public speakers to go back home- to town meetings, and churches, street corners and civic organizations- to spread the word about banking cartels and the dangers of a centralized and centralizing government.
Look back at that number: 40,000. The population of the United States then was far less than forty million. 1% of the population were trained as public speaker to instigate change. Although the populists were later co-opted by the progressives, they started a train rolling that still has roots today that yearn to be heard.
Here we are on a blog. We write emails. Post Carbon is currently seeking an employee to, among other things, post on blogs all over the internet in order to spread the message. But the problem with all this is that we speak to the same people. We share the message with our allies. We affirm one another.
We've got to learn to speak- not just write. To speak is another form of communication that we're loosing. We must re-discover the art of chewing-the-fat in a directed way as to influence others. We've got to get bold- street corner baptist bold.
Do you know how to speak? Do you know how to get on the agenda at your civic organizations? Do you know how to tell a story...
People are not receptive to facts. Start listing statistics and the common person will think- if not say- shut up. But if you can tell them a story- even a story about how you learned a certain bit of information... then you've got them. And what's more, a story's something that your listener can turn around and tell to the next one on the street.
40,000 people trained to spread the message... in person, by voice.
The advertising market is saturated. TV is stacked. Newspapers are full with the "pressing news." Even radio is running over. We don't have the money to jump into any of these forums of mass communication. We cannot blog or advertise our way into the minds of the American people. We must speak with them and to them.
We've got to create messages that can be prefaced by the words, "It's bullshit, the way things are going. The working class are getting screwed."
Folks out there. Do you know how to gain the respect of a working grandmother. Of a tradesman. These are the force of democracy we must attempt to empower in our ranks. Without them we will forever remain a fringe group while oil shortages are blamed on Saudi's and Mexicans and the current administration.
We need to learn how to speak poetically, charasmatically, boldly... in such a way as to change the course of history. People say that speaking is a gift. In part that is true. But, it's also a skill that one can learn. And, listen hard and well, it's not a skill you learn in college or in public speaking siminars. It's a skill you learn by reading the Dr.Kings and Arundhati Roy's and listening to black ministers and that aunt of yours that has a way with words.
It's time we learned to be saints/poets/political speakers all in one synthesis. Are you ready to change the world?