Podcast 602-Political Fighting Doesn’t Make Civil Society

Fighting and Arguing

A presidential press conference that had the look of a Dino De Laurentiis movie. Angry tweets. Arguments about whether the president is a narcissist or psychotic. These days the argument is the thing. Division. Confusion. Anger. Frustration with the fact that everything is political. A friend said recently, “When civil society breaks down everything becomes political”. The more we fight about politics the less we know. Argument and rhetoric have replaced substantive discourse. This idea forms the basis of Podcast 602-Political Fighting Doesn’t Make Civil Society.

What is Civil Society

People think Civil Society these days is political action groups. Angry protests. Social media rants. Angry calls to talk radio. Everyone wants the silver bullet argument. We want to be the guy on TV that ‘takes it to them’. This is not civil society. In Podcast 602-Political Fighting Doesn’t Make Civil Society.

Stop Yelling and Start Building A Community

Civil Society is community. It is distinct from government and business. Civil Society is individuals working together to solve problems, build community and be good citizens. People who have learned from experience to build consensus to get things done. Civil Society is the core of your town, village, city, county and state.

Fighting and Arguing Does Not A Warrior Make

Do you show up to set the chairs up and make the coffee for the community meeting? Help your neighbors? Attend boring public meetings no one else cares about? Are you one of those people who responds to calls for help in the community regardless of where they come from?. Are you willing to work with people you may not agree with politically? Show genuine concern for others through your actions? You’re the real warrior. Commentators and people who imitate them are not warriors and they are not leaders. We’ll talk about it in Podcast 602-Political Fighting Doesn’t Make Civil Society

Eroding Civil Society

There are times when political action is called for. When people who have different points of view try to gather people to their cause. These can be bitter contests. Bitter feelings linger after contests that inevitably produce winners and losers. These days people won’t convene with anyone they don’t agree with. Discussions descend into bitter screaming matches on Social Media, Talk Radio, and Cable TV News. The media cultivates and encourages anti social behavior. Friendships are ended. Familial relationships are strained.

Don’t Argue

A true warrior doesn’t yell and scream. A leader is a good citizen people trust. These are people who understand people of like mind have to work to see that their ideas gain support. Protests and rallies serve a purpose but they are just a starting point. You don’t win in the rally. You win because you can work behind the scenes to build support for a concept, idea, or a solution to a problem.

It May Not Be Working Anymore

Recent studies show the stress levels of Americans increasing since the election. Not just the left. People on political right show the same kinds of intensifying stress levels. This kind of stress can’t be sustained. We might be seeing the end of the efficacy of rhetorical argument to fuel a movement. People may have just about had it with all the shouting and arguing regardless of where it is coming from. Maybe rebuilding civil society is a good first step.

Sponsored by Hydrus Performance and Brush Studio.

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Podcast 555-The Bob Davis Radio Show-46

Podcast 555-The Bob Davis Radio Show-46. An all new podcast doubling as the radio show for this week. There’s two considerations here. First, if you’re a subscriber to The Bob Davis Podcasts, repeating content in the radio show is, well, repetitive. Second, the podcasts this week, whether Podcast 554 (State by State poll run down) or Podcast 553 (Interview with AgoraFest‘s Nik Ludwig), the content doesn’t lend itself well to be excerpted. So, for Podcast 555-The Bob Davis Radio Show-46, I did a completely new segment updating the polling data for just the so called ‘Toss-Up’ States in Election 2016 with special attention paid to the Senate races in key states. I also added a segment with a little bit more of a primer about polls, and how they are used or misused in media coverage. These two benchmarks; Podcast 554 and Podcast 555-The Bob Davis Radio Show-46 are great to listen to because then when you hear or see new information on state by state polling, you’ll understand which states are important and how the polling in that state may have changed. You’ll also understand trending polls from different pollsters isn’t necessarily providing an accurate picture of what’s going to happen when people actually vote. I use the electoral map from Real Clear Politics and you can follow along if you want. Others are available. Almost all of them are interactive. Finally, some words about Individual Sovereignty. There’s a lot of back-and-forth in this election cycle and a lot of coverage of the back-and-forth; What this one said about that one, whether this is going to effect his or her poll numbers. There’s a lot of content from shills defending one candidate or attacking another. There’s been very little actual discussion about what freedom is or how these new representatives, senators and presidents are going to insure we get to keep it. We can get distracted by the shiny things in the woods, or we can stay focused on claiming our personal sovereignty. How we personally define freedom in the coming months and years is going to become very important. The current two-party system is coming to an end. That is; The Republican and Democratic parties have lost touch with the people. Something new is coming and we need to make sure whatever that is protects and defends our individual freedom. Sponsored by X Government Cars.

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Podcast 552-The Bob Davis Podcasts Radio Show-45

Podcast 552-The Bob Davis Podcasts Radio Show-45. Four segments of new content for this week’s radio show, live from AgoraFest in rural Western Wisconsin. Really, four ‘mini-podcasts’ for your weekend. We’re back in a news rich environment, which means there’s no reason to excerpt content from this week’s podcasts for the radio show. How much of a role does escapism play in our lives? What constitutes healthy escape, versus unhealthy escape. IS there unhealthy escape? How much of a role does escape play in our national political picture in the current time frame. Next, a discussion of new thinking versus old thinking. An experience at a digital marketing seminar, and networking meet up sparks a discussion about how old thinking can permeate the mind of a person who’s already worked hard to eliminate old thinking from their day to day thought processes. With revolutionary methods of marketing and communication, new tools for amplifying the individual and the very real idea that we’re on the verge of a revolution in what we make, how we make it, how we market, and how we communicate, it’s always a surprise to realize how much old thinking can still be a thought of your day to day processes. Finally, we close Podcast 552-The Bob Davis Podcasts Radio Show-45 with a discussion of the political landscape just ahead of the first presidential debate the week of September 26th. With two more presidential debates and one vice presidential candidate debate ahead in 2016, we’re nearing the end of the 2016 presidential election cycle. It’s been the express policy of this podcast not to endorse either candidate or either party, but to allow licensers to do their own work, and pick their own path. A short discussion here of what level news story provokes valid discussion in these podcasts, versus day to day news and reaction to the news that doesn’t have much of an impact. Moreover, the story lines promoted by the big news organizations, whether intentional or subconscious, don’t inform or enlighten anyone. Thus, the nomination of Donald Trump, the movement of the Trump campaign to ‘the center’, and the collapse of Hillary Clinton have been the big stories of late. The debates will have tremendous influence on the outcome of this election. What are some things to look for, and what might be ahead when we next examine the state-by-state polls in detail. Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and X Government Cars.

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