December 12, 2018 • 55 mins
Aired Tuesday, 11 December 2018, 5:00 PM EST
The Backbone Campaign Combines the Art of War and the Art of Play
An Interview with Bill Moyer, Founder of the Backbone Campaign
“We have one political party with not enough backbone and another with way too much front-bone.” — Swami Beyondananda
Today’s show is about activism — in a time of reactivism.
With so much of the political discourse these days either “pro-Trump” or “anti-Trump” the one common denominator in either conversation is … Trump. As someone who feeds on media attention, he is paradoxically empowered by all the resistance and anti-Trump rhetoric.
Which leads to the question … how DOES the body politic express itself when both electoral politics and the mainstream media seems so shut down to non-corporate views? How do we assert our political will in a way that gets noticed? And how do we influence our elected officials to follow when they are unable to lead?
Our guest this week Bill Moyer, co-founder of the Backbone Campaign is a master of what he calls “artful activism”designed not just to help the Democratic Party “get some backbone”,but to empower citizens to act strategically and change the “politicalcalculus” — i.e., to change the game from reactive to proactive. When we get ourselves off of the battlefield our opponents have already “fixed” and on to a new playing field,breakthrough can occur.
BILL MOYER is a fourth generation Washingtonian who lives with his wife and daughter in the woods of Vashon Island near Seattle. He co-founded the Backbone Campaign and has served as executive director since 2004. A leader in the theory and practice of artful activism, Backbone combines lessons of the performing arts with grand strategic principles from the Art of War to invigorate nonviolent social change movements. Bill and his Backbone colleagues have designed and produced hundreds of creative protests and trained thousands of change agents. They have helped transform mundane demonstrations into cultural happenings with innovative tactics like spotlights to project messages onto buildings, and helped introduce the world to kayaktivism during the sHellNo! campaign to stop Arctic drilling.
Bill also directs the Solutionary Rail project to plot a path for the US to transform a broken and dangerous railroad business model into a catalyst for social and environmental solutions that can act as an integral component of a just transition to sustainable society. Bill is proud to provide this strategic tool to bring together unlikely allies in otherwise divisive times.
Not only does the “backbone” represent steadfast courage, it also represents the nervous system that potentially unites the body politic to become “upstanding citizens.”
If your curious as to how ordinary citizens can act locally — playfully and effectively — to create change at the national level,tune in this Tuesday, December 11th at 2 pm PT / 5 pm ET http://omtimes.com/iom/shows/wiki-politiki-radio-show/ to find out.
Or, find us on the Wiki archives on Wednesday: http://wikipolitiki.com/archives/
To find out more about The Backbone Campaign, please go here. https://www.backbonecampaign.org/
Support Wiki Politiki — A Clear Voice In The “Bewilderness”
If you LOVE what you hear, and appreciate the mission of Wiki Politiki, “put your money where your mouse is” … Join the “upwising” — join the conversation, and become a Wiki Politiki supporter: http://wikipolitiki.com/join-the-upwising/
Make a contribution in any amount via PayPal (https://tinyurl.com/y8fe9dks)
Go ahead, PATRONIZE me! Support Wiki Politiki monthly through Patreon!
The Backbone Campaign Combines the Art of War and the Art of Play
An Interview with Bill Moyer, Founder of the Backbone Campaign
“We have one political party with not enough backbone and another with way too much front-bone.” — Swami Beyondananda
Today’s show is about activism — in a time of reactivism.
With so much of the political discourse these days either “pro-Trump” or “anti-Trump” the one common denominator in either conversation is … Trump. As someone who feeds on media attention, he is paradoxically empowered by all the resistance and anti-Trump rhetoric.
Which leads to the question … how DOES the body politic express itself when both electoral politics and the mainstream media seems so shut down to non-corporate views? How do we assert our political will in a way that gets noticed? And how do we influence our elected officials to follow when they are unable to lead?
Our guest this week Bill Moyer, co-founder of the Backbone Campaign is a master of what he calls “artful activism”designed not just to help the Democratic Party “get some backbone”,but to empower citizens to act strategically and change the “politicalcalculus” — i.e., to change the game from reactive to proactive. When we get ourselves off of the battlefield our opponents have already “fixed” and on to a new playing field,breakthrough can occur.
BILL MOYER is a fourth generation Washingtonian who lives with his wife and daughter in the woods of Vashon Island near Seattle. He co-founded the Backbone Campaign and has served as executive director since 2004. A leader in the theory and practice of artful activism, Backbone combines lessons of the performing arts with grand strategic principles from the Art of War to invigorate nonviolent social change movements. Bill and his Backbone colleagues have designed and produced hundreds of creative protests and trained thousands of change agents. They have helped transform mundane demonstrations into cultural happenings with innovative tactics like spotlights to project messages onto buildings, and helped introduce the world to kayaktivism during the sHellNo! campaign to stop Arctic drilling.
Bill also directs the Solutionary Rail project to plot a path for the US to transform a broken and dangerous railroad business model into a catalyst for social and environmental solutions that can act as an integral component of a just transition to sustainable society. Bill is proud to provide this strategic tool to bring together unlikely allies in otherwise divisive times.
Not only does the “backbone” represent steadfast courage, it also represents the nervous system that potentially unites the body politic to become “upstanding citizens.”
If your curious as to how ordinary citizens can act locally — playfully and effectively — to create change at the national level,tune in this Tuesday, December 11th at 2 pm PT / 5 pm ET http://omtimes.com/iom/shows/wiki-politiki-radio-show/ to find out.
Or, find us on the Wiki archives on Wednesday: http://wikipolitiki.com/archives/
To find out more about The Backbone Campaign, please go here. https://www.backbonecampaign.org/
Support Wiki Politiki — A Clear Voice In The “Bewilderness”
If you LOVE what you hear, and appreciate the mission of Wiki Politiki, “put your money where your mouse is” … Join the “upwising” — join the conversation, and become a Wiki Politiki supporter: http://wikipolitiki.com/join-the-upwising/
Make a contribution in any amount via PayPal (https://tinyurl.com/y8fe9dks)
Go ahead, PATRONIZE me! Support Wiki Politiki monthly through Patreon!
Mark as Played
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
Death, Sex & Money
Anna Sale explores the big questions and hard choices that are often left out of polite conversation.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.