Mainstreaming Our Conversations On War

Except with close friends, most Americans used to avoid political subjects in conversation. But now that our country operates on an endless war footing, it's less likely to be true. You may not be able to avoid the subject. The more Americans start talking with each other about where our country is headed the better. But these conversations need to be genuinely helpful, not exercises in mutual misunderstanding. And since they are most likely to occur without much prior arrangement, you need to get ready.

The most important thing to do now is pick the right metaphor for the job. The classic American metaphor for heading to unknown territory is a trip. So here are a few suggestions for your journey. We'll start with reconnoitering, move onto packing (and not packing), and finish up with the best part of a trip – good surprises.

Start your trip planning by scouting the territory ahead. Ask yourself the following questions: What is real for the people I might be talking to, wherever I am? What do they think is happening? What do they feel about it? What is the public argument about now, as reported in the mainstream media? If you don't already know the answers, you can start by asking.

But before you leave home, you need to lighten up your travel kit. That means deciding to speak "American." Strip down to the simple, metaphoric Anglo Saxon from which our language sprang. Leave out long words, complex explanations, historical analysis, or arguments supported by lots of reasons, facts, statistics.

Take another thing out of your suitcase too: expressing rage about "Americans" -- American foreign policy, the American people's greed for oil, America's history of exploitation of other races or countries or the poor. Mentally reframe your message via the best "American story." That story carries core American values uniting left, center, and currently disaffected parts of the political right now. (See American Cliche Clusters and American Metaphor Sources at http://www.metaphorproject.org/ )

As you plan the rest of what to take to "mainstream land," you need to include certain realities too. The first is the fact that many people are deeply frightened of more terrorist attacks in the United States. And they may still believe that war is the answer, under the right circumstances. You will get off to a much better start if you begin by asking what people think of the Adminstration's idea that shooting first (or provoking a first shot by others) is the best way to stop terrorist aggression or defuse weapons of mass destruction.

Don't forget-even in our mythic old West, a superfast draw never runs out of challengers and ends up "unforgiven," more likely dead. As this story is deeply imbedded in every American psyche, you can go on to ask if the situation we are in now isn't really like that, underneath?

Figuring out where the heaviest stuff should go comes next. Good packers usually put the weight at the bottom, and that's where to put the idea that endless U.S. war-making is "just" about oil. Even greater than the fear of what terrorists might do comes the fear of suddenly not having oil. Think carefully about how to move from the topic of war to oil. You don't want to trigger more fear.

Right now, the best mainstream approach re oil is calling for increased energy independence. Getting free of Middle East despots, big or small, is good old American defiance, a healthier emotion than fear. As you plan this part of your trip, remember that mainstream Americans want answers to practical questions: l. what's the problem?, 2. what will work to solve it?, 3. what should we do now?, 4. what should we do next?, and 5. who is that we? Plan to ask your conversation partners what they think the answers to these questions are before plunging in yourself.

Now that you've got all your packing done, including that vital load-lightening part, what happens when you arrive? This is when the real fun begins. Your goal is to create a moment when your conversation partners start to wake up. A wonderful example of this comes from a recent speech by Granny D, who says that in the heartland, there are no liberals and conservatives, just people awake or people asleep.

She recounts hearing a truck driver attack "big government," then asking him what he thought should be done to help our children have a better future. Immediately he was full of good ideas. Granny pointed out to him that he was talking about government. Lightbulb: caring for all our children is government. A powerful leading question can come from turning a good slogan around. For example, you can ask, "But what would it mean to win without war?"

It's no accident that I'm suggesting you ask a lot of questions and do a lot of listening before you start talking yourself. You might even start your conversation by bringing up some other topic than war -- something like Michael Moore's film, Bowling for Columbine, or anything else that could give you the feeling of Granny's leading question about children. Taking an indirect route can sometimes really help. Done right, it sets up a sudden leap from one image to another, creating something totally unexpected, something transformative.

So if at first the conversation isn't going in the direction you'd like, don't panic, just keep your feet on the road, and take the curves in your stride. Listen, agree a little if you can, and keep looking for that conversational back road coming up around the next bend. It just might take us all to a brand-new place.

by SusanStrong? of the MetaphorProject

For another, similar article, see http://www.vernalproject.org/OPapers/OPapers.html

Also see this list of war dialogue resources: http://www.thataway.org/mt-dirs/iraq/