It’s official. After months of priming and pumping on the part of the Denver area media, the Democratic National Convention officially began this two days ago. We live a few miles from the epicenter and so our life and streets remain fairly untouched by the hoopla. The skies are certainly busier, with helicopters and small plans buzzing through the clear Colorado sunshine and distracting attention from the snow on the mountain peaks. According to this morning’s newspaper, the expected protester crowds remain smaller than expected and, thus far, the protester-police interactions have been relatively restrained.
Colorado is a purple state. The spectrum of protest groups, coalitions, special interest associations and caucus groups attest to the diversity of and points of view: anti-war and pro-war groups; anti-drilling and pro-drilling; anti-abortion rights and pro-abortion rights, public prayer groups and a coalion to keep religion out of politics; Hillary supporters, Obama supporters, McCain supporters, libertarians and one lone protester whose sign says “Vote for Jesus”. On the ground, it seems like chaos and confusion. I wonder if what the helicopters see is more like a series of data dots on the map.
How can we expect those who lead to make simple decisions, put forward black and white positions in such a complex world? As Margaret Wheatley (Leadership and the New Science: Finding Order in a Chaotic World) notes, we live in a participatory universe, one in which continually shifting streams of information and experiences seem to provoke unease and fearfulness. “Participation…is a way out from the uncertainties and ghostly qualities of this nonobjective world”. Viewing the full array of data, perspectives and interpretations and constantly questioning- what else needs to be included, what other voices can help make meaning- provides a broad and solid ground for constructing meaning and order out of the chaos. To do so, however, requires participation, relationship with the information and with each other.
So here we are in Denver. The voices of those at the convention, the voices of the groups on the streets, the voices of the media, the discussions around television sets and on Internet blogs, all proffer data points for our consideration. As the Democratic and Republican parties and their respective nominees respond, I hope that they demonstrate they’ve participated with the rest of us, that they’ve listened. I hope that the party and candidate platforms recognize and honor the need for constructing complex answers to complex challenges. I hope we as citizens are open to listening to such answers, as they recognize and honor the truth of modern life. For today, that’s a leading idea.
