The Frankfurter School

I have allowed HOPE to overtake cynicism during this election, and to continue to honor that possibility, I ask the following of myself and those who believe we can make real change:

• I will not feel powerless over the problems of our time that seem too big to change
• I will not dismiss people because I disagree with them on one issue but instead I will try to find our common ground
• I will not exaggerate or overstate my claims
• I will not watch the angry blowhards on TV, even to just see what they’re saying
• I will simply not discuss the dirt and scandal being peddled about the personal lives of politicians, not even to decry it
• I will not give voice to my deepest fears and cynical beliefs but for once keep them to myself
• I will not make crystal-ball predictions, but rather I will focus on saying what I want to see happen
• I will not write off whole segments of the population as hopeless or stupid or irredeemable
• I will not read polls to figure out what my fellow Americans are thinking, I will engage in meaningful conversations with the people around me, and I will really listen to what they are saying
• I will not attack anyone personally for saying something I disagree with; I will focus on debating their ideas
• I will change the conversation around me, I will question conventional assumptions, and I won’t be afraid to say something unpopular
• I will participate in our democracy by keeping myself informed; I will seek out information from new sources in order to challenge myself
• I will not trust elected officials to do the right thing: I will help them do the right thing
• I will work to understand the part I play in a giant system of consumption and waste, and I will neither over-estimate nor underestimate my individual importance within it

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