by Seth T. Jensen
This election season, I experienced a community organizing deep dive. It involved many trips out of my super blue city and into the very purple suburbs for the purpose of Getting Out the Vote. It was also my first time going door-to-door as a volunteer. Fortunately, the script I was given helped with opening not only doors but dialogue as well.
Instead of launching into a dramatic promotional pitch, I began each conversation with a simple question: What is Your Top Issue?
The opening proved itself useful yet still sounds artificial to my ears. Maybe that is why I never considered the answer for myself until weeks after November 5th. Nevertheless, consider I did, and the answer surprised me: Renewable Energy.
Under that umbrella there are solar panels and wind farms as well as Green Collar Jobs in all sectors: agriculture, manufacturing, service, etc, etc. But there is so much more. There is the Renewal we do for each other, the Energy we build in community.
It appears that Third Act and I share this focus and not only where the concrete objectives are concerned but also the spirit in which we agitate for desired changes. Indeed, I have long admired how the organization maintains equilibrium between their top issues and their top values.
As impressive as this balancing act may be, I’m convinced that walking the tightrope from climate crisis to climate recovery will require us to carry more than dedication to our goals. Science fiction writer Joanna Russ spoke of this decades ago.
“All the issues are related. Now nobody can deal with all the issues – there isn’t energy or time. But we can deal with ‘our’ issues (the ones that affect us immediately) in a way that relates them to all the others.
I think we had better start; otherwise we are bound to fail. And that’s fine if what you really want is to be right, but not if you want to change things.”
Some of us have already started, and if you are one who has, then you know that such relationship building is always a work in progress. This year I feel the urgency to progress further and faster, because when we connect our issues we lay groundwork for connection between the organizations working on those issues. When such organizations coalesce, previously unthinkable victories are suddenly put within reach.
I hope that 2025 be remembered as the year that we reached for our most progressive visions, Together!
Seth T. Jensen is the co-lead to Third Act Wisconsin’s Advancing Fossil Free Finance campaign team.