Friday, December 9, 2016

Week 1: Start Listening

Hello from the "I want to Listen" project, end of week one!

I have had a few requests to make sure that I am keeping the blog up to-date, so here goes.

Week one of 'I want to Listen', a project dedicated to listening to a wide variety of political views in the United States as well as Australia, was primarily about getting organised. Trying to communicate what on earth this project is all about. Putting out the invite and seeing if anyone responds. Working out the questions to ask. Testing the idea with people.

I am really excited to say that, for the fairly low key and modest request I've put out there, I've gotten far more of a response than I expected. I am in the process of lining up a handful of listening sessions for next week, and a brave soul went through the first session with me just this morning.

It's too early to start publishing what I'm learning (perhaps late next week). But even just the correspondence in setting up sessions as well as the 'water cooler' conversations I've been having highlight challenges of civic dialogue. While it may seem obvious to say this, but it has been pointed out in more than one conversation that "politics are volatile".

Those who have responded to my request have really positively welcomed the idea of speaking to me, but they have mentioned some initial hesitance. For instance, I could be called a "progressive" (please see my Principles page for an acknowledgement of my bias), and one person considering speaking with me said that their experience has been that progressives can be "particularly venomous and vile when anything conflicts with their world view." Linked to this concern is a concern about free speech. Another person considering speaking with me has quoted Churchill: "Some people's idea of [free speech] is that they can say whatever they like, but if anyone says anything back, that is an outrage."

These initial conversations have given me the sense that, although I may be looking to understand a wide variety of political views, one of the most important things I will find is a mirror - for anyone reading and myself included. So far, I am hearing nearly as much about our behaviours surrounding political dialogue as I am political views. And I suppose this should come as no surprise. The result, however, is that I am now even more curious what I will find.

I expect to put out 1-2 blogs next week, but my focus will primarily be on putting out the request. I have shared this via Facebook, Instagram and Twitter so far, and next week I'll start sharing via LinkedIn. Again, I'd like to put out the invite.

If you or anyone you know might be interested in speaking with me, please contact me: iwanttolisten.email@gmail.com. I would like to speak to anyone in the United States and Australia: left, right, centre, none of these!


Thank you for reading and please stay tuned.

Cheers

Michelle

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