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To respond to the challenging times we are living through, physician, humanitarian and social justice advocate Dr. Paul Zeitz has identified “Revolutionary Optimism” as a new cure for hopelessness, despair, and cynicism. Revolutionary Optimism is itself an infectious, contagious, self-created way of living and connecting with others on the path of love. Once you commit yourself as a Revolutionary Optimist, you can bravely unleash your personal power, #unify with others, and accelerate action for our collective repair, justice, and peace, always keeping love at the center.
Announcer - 00:00:03:
Welcome to Revolutionary Optimism. Living at this time in history, we are challenged with the convergence of crises that is affecting our daily lives. Issues like economic hardship, a teetering democracy, and the worsening climate emergency have left many Americans feeling more despair than ever. To respond to the challenging times we're living through, physician, humanitarian, and social justice advocate Dr. Paul Zeitz has identified revolutionary optimism as a new cure for hopelessness, despair, and cynicism. Once you commit yourself as a revolutionary optimist, you can bravely unleash your personal power, hashtag unify with others, and accelerate action for our collective repair, justice, and peace. On this podcast, Dr. Zeitz is working to provide you with perspectives from leaders fighting for equity, justice, and peace on their strategies, insights, and tools for overcoming adversity and driving forward revolutionary transformation with unbridled optimism and real-world pragmatism. In this episode, Dr. Zeitz is talking with Sam Daley-Harris. Sam Daley-Harris is an esteemed author, activist, and the founder of Results, a renowned international advocacy organization dedicated to combating poverty and promoting social justice. With a lifelong commitment to empowering ordinary citizens to engage in grassroots lobbying and advocacy efforts, Daley Harris has been instrumental in catalyzing positive change around the world. Through his leadership and influential writings, including Reclaiming Our Democracy and The Freedom Revolution, Daley-Harris continues to inspire individuals to use their passion and voices to make a tangible difference in society. Here's your host, Dr. Paul Zeitz.
Paul - 00:01:43:
Hey, Sam, welcome. So great to have you here today. I'm so grateful.
Sam - 00:01:48:
It's wonderful to be with you.
Paul - 00:01:51:
So for my listeners, I want folks to know that I've known Sam for a long time. I consider you one of my mentors. You're a wise person who has inspired me over the years in your leadership at Results, which is an organization that I hold in highest esteem. But ongoing, the whole work that you did with the MicroCredit Summit and even your more recent work with the Foundation for Climate Restoration. So our paths have crossed on global health, on global poverty and addressing the climate emergency. And so I'm really honored and feeling really blessed today to have you join a Revolutionary Optimism podcast.
Sam - 00:02:31:
It's a thrill to be with you.
Paul - 00:02:34:
So you are a renowned author, as well as all the other things that you do. And I'm really excited to let my listeners know about your latest book, Reclaiming Our Democracy, which is actually a new edition. And I would love to ask you, I've read multiple editions over the decades that I've been working with you. And I'm really curious as to why did you update it for this time? Is there something going on now that sparked you? And what is different about this new edition compared to other editions?
Sam - 00:03:06:
Let me say a couple of things. One is there were 12 chapters removed from the previous edition and seven new chapters or segments put in. And in addition, there's an activist handbook of four chapters that are totally rewritten. But my favorite answer to why did you write this book lives in a question I was asked. I was interviewed on a number of NPR shows, and one of them was 1A. And I've been so moved by the vulnerability of these hosts. And I want to read just the question number two from Todd Zwillich, which is why I wrote the book. He said, The passive nature to our politics now. You can feel really beat down by it. I mean, this is my career and I feel beat down by it. It's much more of an effort for me. I don't participate the same way others do because I'm a political journalist. But I do have to pay attention. It's a grind. It's a grind, Sam. I mean, I know you know that. What am I feeling? What's the way out of that? I'm not an activist, but you know what I'm saying. And the answer to why I rewrote the book is because what he was so vulnerable in saying just there is what so many people feel. It's a grind. It's a grind. How do you get out of that? And so I really believe that the book and the ideas in the book. Or a powerful answer to that call.
Paul - 00:04:47:
One of the things that I have been discussing with people is a sense of betrayal. People feel betrayed by our government and by our leaders. And I wondered if you've experienced that emotion and that sense is kind of at the root of why people are having this sense of a grind and anxiety and all the despair that we know is surrounding us.
Sam - 00:05:13:
I keep going back to us. Whenever I look at any of these issues, I keep going back to how am I doing kind of thing or how are we doing? And I always used to say a member of Congress is just a successful business person or lawyer or maybe former state legislator who ran for Congress. And they know everything about these issues that we care about than any successful lawyer or business person would know, which isn't very much. And my question always is, what are we doing to address that? If I could just add this to the previous question from the guy from the host from 1A, it's a grind. It's a grind. My answer to him, number one was, well, Apollo astronaut Rusty Schweikert said. We aren't passengers on Spaceship Earth. We're the crew.
Paul - 00:06:09:
I like that.
Sam - 00:06:10:
Well, are we?
Paul - 00:06:11:
We're the crew.
Sam - 00:06:12:
Yeah. Well, are we? And if we're crew, how does crew operate? And the other thing I said to him was climate activist and futurist Alex Steffen said. In fact, these days... Cynicism is obedience. Well, yeah, if I'm cynical, I'm obedient to the way things are. I'm not going to do anything. Why would I if nothing I do makes a difference? And so, yeah, betrayed, sure. I could, you know, look at things and what they did and, wow, I feel betrayed. But Where am I in the betrayal? You know, where's my participation contributed to the betrayal?
Paul - 00:06:59:
And yeah, well said. Thank you for that response. It is a we moment, right? It's not about one person. It's about a collective we mobilizing in their leadership. And I think that's really what I wanted to segue to is I see you as an important leader. You're an acclaimed social entrepreneur helping to transform what actually happens, you know, how reality unfolds. And so I wondered if you could tell me what choices you made in your life. What decisions did you make that enabled you to see that influence that you could have? And yeah, so that would be your story of yourself. Why share your personal story a little bit.
Sam - 00:07:46:
Yeah, exactly. And this is important to everyone who's listening, because I want to stress that if you're an activist or an activist in training or in waiting or something. You really want to get in touch with your why. Why do you do what you do? What happened in your life and what decisions did you make that got you to this decision, this commitment? And the story of self was developed by Harvard professor Marshall Ganz. And this is a slightly shortened version of mine. I have a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in music. I am not medical doctor Paul Zeitz. I'm a musician. And I played percussion instruments in the Miami Philharmonic Orchestra for 12 years and taught high school music. And 44 years ago, I founded the Anti-Poverty Lobby Results. And a lot of times I'm asked, music, poverty lobby, what's the connection? And when I look back on my life, there's certain experiences that start pointing me in a different direction. The death of a friend around high school graduation in 1964. And the assassination of U.S. Senator Robert Kennedy around college graduation in 1968 got me to asking the questions of purpose. Why am I here? What am I here to do? What's my purpose? So it's a background question that's going on for me. Nine years later, it's 1977. I'm invited to a presentation on ending world hunger put on by The Hunger Project. And I go to this event thinking, well, hunger is inevitable. What do I know? I'm a musician. So I really know ordinary because that's how I walked in. Well, it's inevitable in my mind because there are no solutions. Because if there were solutions, somebody. Would have done something by now. But I go to this event and it's obvious right away, there's no mystery to growing food, clean water, basic health, literacy. I'm not hopeless about the perceived lack of solutions. I'm hopeless about human nature. People. But there's one human nature I have some control over, my own, and my questions. Why am I here? What am I here to do? So I get involved in a big way. And this is the end of the story. In 1978 and 1979, I spoke to 7,000 students, classroom by classroom. And before I went into the first classroom, I read quotes from Jimmy Carter's Commission on World Hunger and others calling for the political will. To end hunger. So I asked 7,000 high school students. What's the name of your member of Congress? I don't want to know if you wrote them. I don't want to know if you met him. Just the name. And out of 7,000 asks, 200, fewer than 3% could answer correctly. 6,800, over 97% could not tell me the name of their member of Congress. And results grew out of this gap between the calls for the political will to end hunger on the one hand and the lack of basic information on who represented us in Washington on the other. So, you know, knowing your why. And sharing it helps other people kind of get in touch with their own why. Because a lot of times in activists, it's let's do this, do this. Oh, now do this, do this. And we kind of lose the why are we up to this? Why are we doing? Why do we care? And so that story of self and sharing your why is really important.
Paul - 00:11:43:
Yeah, thank you for sharing that. Actually, I've known you, I don't know how long, 20, more than 20 years probably. And I didn't know that you were a percussionist in the Miami Philharmonic. I mean, I just did not know that piece of the puzzle. So it was really great to understand that part of you. And maybe you can get on the streets and start banging some drums as part of the peaceful revolution that we're calling for in the days and months ahead. You know, everything you said about we're regular people. And one of the messages in revolutionary optimism is that as a love-centered activist, every love-centered action counts, including self-care, including love of your family, caring for your neighbor, anything that you're doing for others, you know, any way that you choose to serve to protect the planet or whatever. All those things are love-centered actions. And, you know, Everyone's already doing it. So it's like it's already happening. And people need to take, receive the praise for all that is already happening, all they're already doing. We're on the cusp of a transformation. And people have to, like, feel and see their own power, as you're, you know, describing. So I'm so glad that you chose to go to that talk on ending hunger. There has been progress. There's still more work to do. As I'm sure you would agree. So you have coined this concept in your book, Reclaiming Our Democracy, and that beautiful flag with the puzzle pieces. I love that. Thank you.
Sam - 00:13:17:
The missing piece happens to be us.
Paul - 00:13:20:
Yeah, so I was in Selma, Alabama last week on a civil rights learning pilgrimage. With a group called the Living Legacy Project. Highly recommend folks look into that. It was a deep dive experience to Birmingham, Montgomery, and Selma. And in Selma, there was a survivor who actually walked the bridge as an 11-year-old girl on Bloody Sunday. And she basically has this whole line about, if you think something's not happening, maybe you're the missing piece of the puzzle. So and it's like on wall murals, it's all over the place. It's like a big concept. And then I saw your book again and I was like, oh, you got to meet Joanne Bland because you two would really get along. Anyway, so back to the topic at hand here. I love the idea of the words transformational advocacy. And I want to hear what are the pillars of that? And can you give us a taste of it? Don't tell us everything because I want people to go get your book. So give us a teaser, not the whole shebang.
Sam - 00:14:28:
Let me say a couple of things. The original title of the book for the previous editions was Reclaiming Our Democracy: Healing the Break Between People and Government. That was the original subtitle. And in the last decade, since the last edition, a professor at now Johns Hopkins, Hahrie Han, has coined the term transactional mobilizing and transformational organizing. And I'm going to describe my version of it. But that's my inspiration. It's kind of like we were doing it. We had just not named it. And for me, transactional mobilizing is a bit what more the staff does. And transformational organizing is a bit more what the staff does. And so I coined it as transactional advocacy, you know, like sign the petition, transaction complete.
Paul - 00:15:24:
Or make a donation.
Sam - 00:15:26:
Exactly. Transaction complete. And as compared to transformational advocacy, where volunteers are trained, encouraged, and then succeed at doing things as advocates. They never thought they could do, like meet with a member of Congress or an editorial writer. And bring them on board. And as a result of doing the things we didn't think we could do, we see ourselves differently. We see ourselves in a new light, a transformation on who we see ourselves to be occurs. And that's the transformational advocacy. And I actually have three things to look for. I don't know if you'd like to discuss them briefly right now. The three things to look for in an organization as to whether it's delivering transformational advocacy. First, Enrollment and community building. Not bringing people in to build an e-blast list only, but real people talking to real people and forming them into chapters so they're not working alone. And the community building is an all-of-organization monthly webinar, for example, with guest speakers, Q&A, inspiration. So recruitment and community building. Two, training. How do you get the meeting with a member of Congress? How do you plan for the meeting? What do you ask for in the meeting? How do you write a letter? Training. Number three, the organization encourages breakthroughs. It encourages you to move out of your comfort zone. And do things you didn't think you could do. In the book, there's a drawing, a small circle labeled your comfort zone, and a much larger circle next to it labeled where the magic happens. And you're looking for an organization that doesn't kick you out of your comfort zone, but encourages you out of your comfort zone to do those things. You thought you couldn't do. So yeah, it's exciting.
Paul - 00:17:34:
So what I'm hearing you say is there's an element of self-empowerment, self-liberation, unleashing your power, which you may not know you have, or maybe you secretly know you have it, but you've been afraid to use it. That's one of the questions that we're asking with revolutionary optimism. I think people really think they have the power and they're just afraid, big condition not to use it. And that by doing so, and you learn the skills and you're part of a community, like we're not doing this alone, we're in this together. So we have these forums and these ways of connecting that are real and authentic and meaningful on a personal level. That fulfills people's purpose as well, because we're social animals in a way. And then you're actually having an impact, on the world. So that's what you mean by transformational advocacy or transforming individually at a community level and at a macro level or a policy advocacy level. Did I get that right?
Sam - 00:18:40:
You did. And let me add this. The trick is finding an organization that will feed you power. And I want to say a couple of quick things about that. There was a survey done last year by the independent sector that found that 31% of nonprofits were doing advocacy in the last five years, which is less than half the number doing it 20 years ago. So fewer were doing advocacy. But number two, the Congressional Management Foundation asked advocacy professionals what their primary tactic was in advocacy. And 79% said a form email. You know, give me your email address and your name and we'll send it for you. Your zip code and your name and we'll send it for you. Only 3% of congressional staff said a forum email had a lot of impact on their office's decisions. So we're being fed these somewhat meaningless tasks. And so the trick is finding an organization that will really feed you power.
Paul - 00:19:55:
Yeah, that's a really important and helpful distinction as a way of when you're at a place on your journey where you're choosing how to serve and you're looking at your ecosystem, you're looking at all the options. Sam is offering a very important distinction between transactional advocacy, which may have its role, and transformational advocacy, which is what we just described as a big opportunity to pursue that. Sam, I have been talking to a lot of people at the local community level, and one of the challenges that they're facing is, well, several challenges. Burnout. People are burnt out. They feel betrayed, as we've discussed. And there's like a million options. They don't know whether to go to this one, that one, that one, or that one. That's why I've been advocating for movements, like an inter-movement of movement concept. So you have multiple organizations, multiple alliances coming together at this auspicious moment in history, how do you see that local discernment process that people might want to be going through?
Sam - 00:21:01:
Well, the thing that I would always say is I really urge people to focus, like to go get the deep water and and have a deep experience. Now, they can mouse click or sign petitions over there and over there. But here. I'm having that transformational experience. Now, it would be great if my organization partnered with others, but if I spread myself too thin, as an activist, That's, I think, part of where burnout does come. And so I think it's important for advocates to focus and go deep. For that richer experience.
Paul - 00:21:48:
Yeah, well said. I hope that you'll consider supporting unified movements in its effort to unleash transformational advocacy as part of revolutionary movements, that is, you know. But I think this is an essential building block that's totally the right pathway if we can figure out how to unleash it. I do think there is clickbaiting, but it's still, even if you're an active person, you're getting bombarded from multiple political campaigns, you're getting bombarded from multiple organizations, you're getting bombarded with, what did you call it, clickbait? Clicktivism. Clicktivism. So, I mean, like my inbox in my 10 emails is an example of all that. It's hard to like, you know, you've given a helpful pearl of how to, you know, separate the wheat from the chaff here when you want to really choose how you spend your time. So, Sam, you seem like a pretty optimistic kind of person and upbeat and hopeful and all that. So you're a human, though. So I wonder if you have ever experienced anxiety, doubt or hopelessness. I certainly have and do. You know, that's why I created Revolutionary Optimism for myself. It's totally working. It does work. It's actually contagious. You know, it spreads. There's no cure. But I do struggle sometimes with, like, the overwhelm of the super crises that we're facing. Has that ever happened to you? And how do you deal with that if it does?
Sam - 00:23:21:
Well, you know, of course I do feel moments of anxiety or even powerlessness. But I keep putting my attention on the volunteers who inspire me. And so when I kind of wonder. Where this is all going. Then I look at the volunteers who are doing these wonderful things. I was on a call a couple of weeks ago and the call was about to start. It's a longer story, but the short version was they said, oh, congratulations, you just started a chapter in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and you had your first meeting afterward. I thought, wow, that's cool. How many came to your first meeting after your launch thinking four, five, six? We had 24 at our first meeting after the launch. You know, Fayetteville, Arkansas. I mean, it's not Manhattan exactly. But, you know, that kind of stuff inspires me.
Paul - 00:24:20:
That shows that there's an appetite for this. Yes. People, there's a craving for transformational advocacy.
Sam - 00:24:26:
But you have to talk to people. Let me share this quote that that quote I'd shared earlier is embedded in by Alex Steffen. It goes, optimism is a political act. Those who benefit from the status quo are perfectly happy with a large population of people who believe nothing will get any better. In fact, these days, cynicism is obedience. What's really radical is being willing to look right at the magnitude and difficulty of the problems we face and still insist. That we can solve those problems. And it started with optimism is a political act. It's a great, great quote.
Paul - 00:25:13:
Yeah, I think that's really powerful. I really appreciate Alex. He inspires me a lot. So. And I do think that there are phases of American history also where there's an American optimism that is contagious during certain phases of American history. And that seems to have been lost as well. We're dealing with fear mongering and hatred and division being spewed by all of our leaders, actually. And so I think there's something missing from our politic on the optimism tip as well. That seems to be something that we could resurrect or bring back. But I wanted to go back to your transformational advocacy work. And can you give us an example of a person who you've encountered who went through this transformation that you described and what impact it had? I'm really interested on something for here in our own country, USA, where that happened that had an impact on people's lives here at home.
Sam - 00:26:17:
Yeah, great.
Paul - 00:26:18:
To start. And then we can go global.
Sam - 00:26:20:
Yes. And I'm going to share a story of a woman. I always say amazing woman she is, but we're all amazing if we get the right coaching. Her name is Maxine Thomas. She has a lived experience of poverty. And she joined a group called Circles that work with people to move out of poverty. And her group realized they had a story to tell. And they discovered results as a place where they could learn to tell their story better. She gets a scholarship to go to the results conference in DC, borrows luggage. And the night before the conference, she realizes that the earned income tax credit was about to expire. And she goes the next day, I'm going to read from the book, to her first ever meeting with a member of Congress. And it'll take me just a moment to read this excerpt from the book, give me one second. Sorry. She said, The first congressional meeting on Lobby Day was with Senator Dan Coats and brought new ahas. He was there for the entire meeting. I can still feel it. I was a ball of emotions. It felt like an out-of-body experience. I was processing being in D.C. And now I'm in an exclusive meeting. We're all dressed up. It was high level. The volunteers were polished and sharp. But I was scared. That's everyone at their first meeting. But I was scared, worried whether I would say the right thing. I think it was Lisa who asked me, would you like to say anything? I thanked the senator and said, I learned last night why I'm here. I didn't know I could come here from Indianapolis to talk to you, someone who represents us and can help us. I can't imagine what will happen if the earned income tax credit is taken away from families like mine. I'm able to take a deep breath and catch up on my bills because of the earned income tax credit. I like to take my kids to the mall to buy shoes without worrying if it'll take away from other bills. Senator, this is her speaking. Senator Coats straightened himself up and said, wow, this has been emotional. Results, you do a good job of training people. And at the end of her day of meetings, she said. I was euphoric. I was on this high and felt I was part of something revolutionary. That's the transformational advocacy part. And earlier in her story, in the chapter that she's written up in, she said, I had a heart for service. I just was clueless about advocacy, especially political advocacy. So start from clueless about political advocacy and get to, I was euphoric. I was on this high and felt I was part of something revolutionary. And so I have this beautiful picture maybe we'll be able to share with the video folks of her standing with her Senator Todd Young of Indiana, the Republican.
Paul - 00:29:24:
And it's it's beautiful, beautiful story. Thank you so much for sharing that. That is. A powerful example of how transformational advocacy can transform a person while they're actually having a big impact on public policy. So when I heard you telling that story, I was like. How can we get a million people like that, like doing that all the time?
Sam - 00:29:51:
Yes.
Paul - 00:29:51:
You know, in this moment of peril that we're facing in our country, we need to expand the people that are doing that.
Sam - 00:30:00:
Absolutely. And if I could just share this story, Mark Reynolds from Citizens Climate Lobby likes to share the story of someone was talking to Cesar Chavez saying, how did you do it with the union? Well, Chavez says, well, first I talked to one person and then I talked to one person. No, no, no, no. Really. How did you actually? He said, first I talked to one person and then I talked to one person. We got to talk to one person and then talk to one person. It's okay if you talk to 30 or 60, fine. But, you know, don't shy away from Cesar Chavez's talk to one person and then I talk to one person.
Paul - 00:30:42:
Yeah. It's that one that matters. Yeah, and I think the thing that I learned last week in Alabama also was that There was a vast network of black people who finally said enough is enough and were willing to go on the street. Some white people as well. But there was a huge population, like whole of population mobilization and a whole bunch of white people from locally and nationally that were behind various aspects of what occurred. It was a real movement. It was a movement of movements. It was faith people. It was civic leaders. It was business leaders in some quarters that were supporting the civil rights revolution. So we, you know, for that kind of revolutionary transformation, you need to expand the. Connectivity within folks who have that transformational advocacy capacity and power. So that's really. Kind of beautiful, all these lessons that we're learning. Yeah. So, Sam, I know that you and Results and those networks that you're part of also take on global issues and global challenges. So can you give us an example of a person that had an impact on transformational advocacy on a global issue? Through transformational advocacy on a global issue.
Sam - 00:32:04:
Yes, yes. So I'm going to tell the first of all, in 2019, President Trump called for a 29% cut to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. And that was the beginning of negotiation for a three year replenishment. And other countries would likely follow the U.S. Lead to some extent. Now, most people didn't know that President Trump called for a 29% cut. And many of those who did know would throw up their hands. What can I do? You can't fight City Hall. But the people I know roll up their sleeves and get to work. And results, volunteers and others got hundreds of members of Congress, Republicans and Democrats to co-sponsor resolutions in the House and Senate in support of the Global Fund and sign letters to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the top appropriators in support of the Global Fund. I always say, what do these revolutionary advocates look like? And there's this great photo of Margaret Smith, who's in her 70s like me, holding Senator Ted Cruz's hand with both hands. And she said, I learned in results not to let go until I finished my laser talk on the Global Fund, to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. That year was the first year ever that Ted Cruz said yes to one of the results' requests, which was he co-sponsored the Senate resolution in supporting the Global Fund. In the end, two House Republicans and two House Democrats stood on a stage in Lyon, France, and announced that the Congress would provide a 16% increase to the Global Fund instead of a President Trump's 29% cut. And over those three years, the Global Fund reached by 2022, 52 million lives saved since its inception, which you know very much about, in 2002. So, um... Yeah.
Paul - 00:34:18:
Wow, that's a great story.
Sam - 00:34:20:
Margaret is not that tall, and seeing her grabbing Ted Cruz's hands with both hands as she's telling her laser talk on the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria is what inspiration looks like for me.
Paul - 00:34:34:
Yeah, beautiful story. Thank you. And yes, the Global Fund is something that I was very involved in back in the day with many other people, including people living with AIDS, TB, and malaria from affected countries and allies all over the world. And those kind of interactions, that touching hand-to-hand and reaching out to people with your hand and your heart. When you're for a cause. Is, uh, Effective. It works. Look what that movement created. That was a revolution in global health.
Sam - 00:35:07:
Yes.
Paul - 00:35:07:
To be able to mobilize that level of investment and partnerships around the world that is still ongoing to this day, as you said. So, Sam, last question. I want to make it a little bit of a tough one, which is that, as you know, we're living in 2024. There is a political election this year. There's a high level of political discord and breakdown of social cohesion, hostility. It's this way or that way. So can you give me your personal sense, how you're feeling about things, and how does your vision of reclaiming our democracy and transformational advocacy fit into the story that we're going to tell a year from now about what happened over the next year? Because I think we're, you know, some people don't even think we have a democracy. Some people think we have a collapsing democracy or a teetering democracy. At best, no one thinks it's working. So your call for reclaiming our democracy is... Resident, what does this year look like for you?
Sam - 00:36:20:
Well, I mean, it really looks like a kind of a what can I do year. I mean, that's every year. And frankly, much of the book is about between elections. Elections are critically important, not to mention the one coming up, vitally important. And people need to see where their place is. Is it registering young people? The statistic from the 2022 midterms is that it was the second largest youth turnout and 23% of youth voted.
Paul - 00:36:55:
Only 23%.
Sam - 00:36:56:
Only 23%. But I heard this other statistic. 80% of young people who are registered actually end up voting. So maybe your gig is registering young people, for example, or registering people. Maybe your gig is more related to getting the people from your party to the polls, not just registered, but voting kind of thing. Maybe it's some other aspect of the election directly. I know one of the groups I work with, Citizens Climate Lobby, they work with another group that takes a list of millions of, they'll call it, environmental voters. Who didn't vote? I mean, they're members of Friends of the Earth and Sierra Club and whatever, but it's clear they didn't vote. So they call them and work to get, write them postcards or whatever to get them to the polls. So what is your piece? Is it those? Maybe it's the ongoing advocacy that goes on between elections. Well, you know, getting involved in somewhere or another. The bottom line is, you know, coming off the sidelines and onto the playing field in whatever way lights you up and bringing some folks with you so that you're, again, not doing it alone because you're not the only one in your circle. You know, who knows that we need to get engaged. Just find the best method for yourselves.
Paul - 00:38:33:
Beautiful and activating curiosity. Creating space for as you say, assignments. Since we're the crew on Spaceship Earth. So thank you, Sam. I appreciate your wisdom every time. I'm always learning from you. And your smile is infectious. And I appreciate your leadership and. All that you do to serve the world and for those, uh, activating so many people into transformational advocacy. What a legacy you're living.
Sam - 00:39:04:
It's an honor to be with you. Thank you.
Paul - 00:39:12:
Sam Daley-Harris is a mentor friend of mine for many decades now, and he is undoubtedly a optimal revolutionary optimist. He has dedicated his life to transformational advocacy, which awakens the spark within each person and for them to see their own leadership and their own power and their own influence and how they can actually affect change within themselves as a group. They bring groups together in this approach, and then they go on and work with policymakers from both sides of the aisle, an interpartisan approach to transformational advocacy. This is what the United States and countries around the world need to explore as a way forward. Rising into our power and helping to shape the way our government operates and the policies and the laws that get passed and implemented. We are the ones that have the power to transform these institutions to do what we want them to do. We can't do that alone. We can only do that together as a big we. And Sam had a great quote from Alex Steffen, and he shared it about, we are not passengers on planet Earth, we're the crew. We're the ones that have to work our life. To make the world a better place for ourselves and for all future generations. So thank you, Sam, for your leadership. Go, let's go, transformational advocacy. Let's reclaim our democracy now. Thank you, peace.
Announcer - 00:40:58:
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