Discussion on Goal Two-Going Public with RC
Discussions on the proposed goals for RC for the next period took place at the ten conferences preceding the World Conference and at the World Conference itself. The reports from these discussions were voluminous. They have been compiled in separate volumes (one for each goal) and can be accessed and downloaded from the RC website at <http://www.rc.org/>. The whole set can also be ordered for $5.00 (U.S. dollars) from Rational Island Publishers, either in a printed version or on a 3.5" floppy disc, formatted for Macintosh or IBM/PC.
Goal Two, "Going Public with RC," aroused the greatest interest and most discussion. A committee at the World Conference prepared the following report as a summary of that discussion. (This is not "the program for how to go public with RC." Such a program will have to be worked out in detail in every situation by the people involved. This is just a sample of some of the discussion that took place looking towards a continuing discussion everywhere in the world on sharing the whole program of RC with the people of the world.)
Patterned policies and unintelligent practices have endangered the conditions on Earth to the extent that the survival of life on this planet is threatened. Humans need to replace unintelligent behaviors with intelligent functioning. It is time for RCers to share more broadly the considerable information and many tools we have and to move to have influence on a worldwide scale.
Each situation will require fresh thinking. This needs to be done by each individual RCer with attention given to the specific regional and political context. Situations in Western countries and the developing nations will be quite different.
Experimentation is encouraged and is expected to be consistent with our Guidelines.
Assuming a bold public presence has to be done with integrity.
PROPOSALS
We propose:
1. That both the International RC Community and the local RC Communities move to influence policies affecting the world. For example: what RC women did at the United Nations Women's Conference in Beijing; International Liberation Reference Persons (ILRPs) representing RC and speaking for rational viewpoints.
2. That local groups undertake projects that bring RC information into the wide world, with the goal of influencing local policies and practices.
3. That RCers be encouraged to take personal initiatives that will bring RC theory and practice to a much wider audience and that we be visible as RCers as we do this.
4. That all presentations of RC be pattern-free, particularly with regard to class, language, nationality, culture, etc. This means making the translation of RC literature a higher priority.
5. That RCers be encouraged to discharge on difficulties in going public and to use think-and-listens and Wygelian groups to develop new initiatives. We recommend adding to the policy on handling attacks that we teach that policy in all of our classes, starting with fundamentals. We also need to screen ourselves for any unaware motivations that could undermine our public presence.
6. That there be an ILRP for Public Presence or Communication. This person would work with the Community, training people to speak clearly, simply, and distinctly; to write; and to present ideas effectively.
7. That we work to completely back each other while we experiment with going public and that we help each other with correcting our mistakes; that we apply counseling resource to make all of us more effective and solid as we move more boldly into the world.
8. That we develop a policy on the use of the media.
9. That we have a policy on RC spokespersons.
10. That we use RC tools to develop a rational program for the transformation of society.
11. That we encourage the updating and rewriting of all liberation policies and programs to make them more appropriate for larger audiences.
12. When possible, that we prioritize Community support for "going-public" projects involving working people, young people, and people of color.
RECOMMENDATIONS CONCERNING WIDE-WORLD ORGANIZATIONS
With regard to wide-world organizations, we recommend:
1. That RCers build wide-world organizations for the purpose of having wide-world influence (creating institutional change) and that we experiment in these organizations with introducing RC theory and practice to a wider audience and to specific liberation groups.
2. That all the contributions from RC be visibly acknowledged in these wide-world organizations.
3. That we not use the practice of "naturalizing RC" as an excuse for watering down RC; that we instead teach RC directly.
4. That a key goal of wide-world organizations started by RCers be to give people RC theory, RC literature, and access to joining RC Communities.
5. That we make a clear distinction between these wide-world organizations and the RC Community.
6. That we have workshops on building effective wide-world organizations.
SOME EXAMPLES OF IDEAS FOR "GOING PUBLIC"
- Write RC liberation books to be distributed throughout the world.
- Run for public office on all levels, with RC policies as a platform.
- Do something similar to the Beijing project at other important world and national conferences.
- Create RC leadership training institutes.
- Have RC conferences, run by RCers for wide-world participants, on issues such as the environment, rational health care, and eliminating greed.
- Develop public forums in local communities in which RC tools are used to help many people think through and discharge about transforming public institutions, e.g., health and educational institutions.
(Present Time No. 110, January 1998)