How the Women’s Marches Set the Stage for Bringing about Justice throughout the World: A Critical So
- Jose H. Vargas, Ph.D.
- Feb 20, 2017
- 7 min read
A Golden Opportunity…or, Better Yet, a “Golden Circle” Opportunity!
I certainly will not forget where I was on January 21, 2017, in part because I never believed so many people could tolerate each other in an unusually crowded Downtown Los Angeles without incident, but primarily because of the intensity of the sociological and psychological forces driving the day’s events. You see, social psychological and sociological phenomena are both professional and personal interests dear to my heart, so much so that my life (I must admit) is perceived through this social scientific lens. The events of January 21, 2017, reaffirm the undeniable fact that we, The People, hold the true nation’s power and best interests. Therefore, we must not stop with this march! It is this last point that I wish to rally us around.
Whether or not it was intentional, the flagship Women’s March on Washington, along with its sister marches around the world, successfully executed a near-perfect application of the Golden Circle framework within the context of a burgeoning 21st century social justice movement. What do I mean exactly, you ask? In September 2009, motivational speaker and marketing consultant Simon Sinek delivered an inspiring TED Talk in which he discussed a philosophical framework known as the “Golden Circle” (I suggest viewing the extended video on YouTube). According to Sinek, organizations grow and thrive when they implement the simple principles of this framework. The framework holds that organizations survive when they are able to “sell” their why (that is, their purpose for existing). Using the example of the Apple corporation, Sinek argues that Apple’s success—organizationally—stems not from what they “sell” (i.e., products) or even how they “sell it” (i.e., marketing), but rather from why they “sell it” (i.e., values).
If the Golden Circle framework holds some truth, then, from this standpoint, it is understandable why most social movements fail to take off the ground and generate actual behavioral and sociological change; the framework also explains why the events of January 21, 2017, were so successful and (potentially) long-lasting—and very replicable. Most social movements erroneously begin by attempting to identify what actions must be taken to produce a desired outcome. These attempts are often made without careful consideration of why a given movement should exist in the first place. This is problematic because if members of a movement focus solely on “actions” without acknowledging their explicit “values,” then how members should solve a problem in order to achieve a desired outcome remains undefinable. Arguably, this was likely the major weakness of the short-lived Occupy Wall Street (OWS) Movement. Here, the method and actions (the “how” and “whats”) were identified from the onset: namely, an occupation-style protest. What remained unclear throughout the protests were the values being fought for and, from that, the desired outcomes demanded. This specific observation about OWS is not new. Notably, this was a critical mistake that the Women’s marches successfully avoided!
From the onset, the reasons for doing some “something” (in this case, a march) were made explicit: to bravely promote a progressive, complex, and highly-inclusive feminist agenda founded in peace, human dignity, self-determination, and unconditional love; a “force” I would term, authentic universal love. This force runs counter to the Trump Administration’s agenda! In effect, the march organizers successfully outlined a set of shared values which were self-evident, readily defensible, and morally untouchable (I mean, what reasonable person is going to say that human dignity, unconditional love, and peace are up for debate or pointless principles, right?). Once the masses were sold on the “why” driving the movement, the requisite “how” and “what” (tactics which have been in our activist arsenal all along) were no longer perceived as undefinable, equivocal, exclusionist, and daunting; they flowed naturally from the values themselves.
This is the power of the Golden Circle framework, and it is a power that this social movement can harness and apply at any given moment (especially thanks to social media platforms). This fact was demonstrated on January 21, 2017! So, bringing us back to our rallying point, I argue that the Golden Circle framework can be implemented once again to: (1) hold anyone who behaves against our interests accountable, and (2) provide another tangible issue around which the movement can sustain itself. Sustainability is key from here on forward!
Below I offer one problem—a test case, if you will—that all authentic allies-in-solidarity, or “Golden Circles,” can begin addressing immediately.
One Problem (of many) at Hand
It is undeniable that three prominent themes—of many coherent ones—of the movement are the right to bodily autonomy, the right to peace, and the right to self-liberation (or the right to “being woke”). Unsurprisingly, these essential humanist principles are now in extreme jeopardy. Equally true is the undeniable set of facts that certain social institutions exist that continue to unjustly distort the sociological imaginations of the American populace—and all humanity—with respect to these humanist values. Such distortions carry serious sociological and existential consequences and threaten our right to control our own bodies and our right to determine our own path in life in peace. Thus, these social institutions stand in stark contrast to virtually all the humanist ideals driving the movement. This must stop now!!! But how, exactly? Well, I offer the Golden Circle framework.
Fortunately, the movement has already cohered many of our values (the hardest part is over). Still, it would be lofty to expect an entire system to change its culture overnight, and I am not suggesting that that be our immediate goal. To the contrary, I suggest adopting a strategic (if not surgical) piecemeal approach to enacting behavioral and sociological change. Remember, we are seeking behavioral change from those who act against our interests and values, as well as structural changes in unjust social institutions that empower those who perpetuate, and benefit from, injustice! In this spirit, I offer the following test case to our membership and to all budding “Golden Circles” at large: a long-term and multi-prong “strategic resistance” campaign whose aim is to liberate ourselves from money-driven self-destruction. What am I talking about, you ask?
I propose that we exercise our economic will; a power we rarely recognize within ourselves. For our first major strategic resistance campaign, I propose that we refuse to do business with any entities who directly or indirectly threaten Planned Parenthood’s right to exist. The success indicator of this plan is an impact to actual stock market share prices (if only temporarily). That is, we want to leverage the power of the membership, and all “Golden Circles” at large, and purposefully create market volatility. However, to be “strategic,” the membership cannot exercise its economic will against all identified entities at the same time; behaviorally, this would not be feasible. Instead, the strategy requires randomly selecting one or two entities at a given time. The element of randomness is critical, as it adds “uncertainty” to the equation, because no one entity will know who will be the recipient of our strategic resistance. We will carry out this sustained campaign, not out of malice, but rather out of the dire need for self-preservation and in the service of authentic universal love. As it concerns Planned Parenthood, a strategically-derived list of these “entities” will soon be disseminated to the membership!
A note of encouragement: if we choose not to relent, strategic resistance will work!
1 + Seven Reasons Why Strategic Resistance Will Work in This (and Any) Case
By this point in this first liberation piece, assuming you are still with me, you are probably convinced that I am delusional, idealistic, stupid, and completely out-of-touch with how the real world actually operates. Well, maybe all of those things are true. Who cares? Strategic resistance will work! I present Exhibit A: January 21, 2017. If this single fact is not enough to convince you about the power of the movement with respect to the suggested test case, then please consider the following seven realities:
Money markets are influenced by both major and minor global factors, 24/7/365. Thus, businesses must be constantly vigilant with respect to social trends which may threaten their monetary goals, for their profits are dependent on the market’s ability to provide stability and avoid volatility.
Businesses, unlike politicians, are not motivated by the aim to champion explicit political agendas. Bottom line: they want your money, regardless of your politics!
In the case of our movement, there is no need to spend time and money in coordinating actual people, values, and behaviors; we already have our coherent global network established, which allowed Saturday to happen with relative (if not, surprising) ease. This third point is important, because it highlights the fact that our network can be rallied at the literal click-of-a-button. The ability to rally quickly has the potential to put businesses on the defensive in ways the industry has never experienced before, for, much like the rest of the United States, they too are moving through uncharted terrain in our nation’s history. After The People’s Saturday, businesses will feel obligated to seriously listen to our membership, if only to play it safe, and not just once! Moreover, the membership can leverage their economic will and turn key business competitors against each other; all we need is a handful of major businesses to side with us on this specific issue alone, and an explicit set of plans to divest from those organizations that act against this particular issue (this, too, is very simple to accomplish thanks to social media and collective expertise).
Strategic resistance can operate successfully without the need for total secrecy, rendering counterattacks moot or predictable, while simultaneously allowing for open and quick rallying among the membership.
Long-term strategic resistance provides sufficient and sustainable motivational energy to resist purposeful attempts by the Trump Administration and propagandists to trigger the emotional sensibilities of the membership. In other words, they may engage in all the injustices they want for now, but our values and membership are organized and coherent! We will not be gaslighted and we will not be emotionally distracted, plain and simple.
The power of strategic resistance is asymmetrically in favor of our movement; we are literally the quantitative majority, so comparable retaliation by the minority is less effective and over-retaliation on their part more socially, economically, politically, morally, and legally risky.
Strategic resistance provides deterrence and sends the message to others in the global business industry that our values must be validated, which may encourage institutional-level and cultural change in the long-term.
Nothing that has been discussed here is behaviorally and sociologically impossible. The reality is quite the opposite, in fact. The Women’s marches are ushering in a new era of the human condition; a much-needed and long-overdue Second Enlightenment is within arm’s reach. Through strategic resistance, not only can we defend Planned Parenthood, but we can also overcome any adversity that may come our way. The power of the Golden Circle has always resided inside each of us, The People! ∞