What The US Mid-Terms Teach Us About Creating Copiosis

United States Mid-Term elections this fall presented us a gift. They showed who we must really influence to make Copiosis a reality. Failing to influence this group will mean general failure, possibly world-wide failure for Copiosis.

So our implementation plan must influence this group in a way that causes them to pick up what we’re putting down.

Let’s look at what happened last week. For sure it taught us that however vocal one group may be, if they don’t inspire this other group, the vocal party will fail.

Former President Trump’s faction hoped this fall represented the beginning of a new American era. So initially successful was Trump and his team, the entire Republican Establishment supported the former president and his endorsed candidates.

This group seemed so influential. Nearly everyone claimed a “red wave” would overtake nearly every feature of American democracy. It helped, folks believed, that Biden’s approval ratings languished in the gutter. Even the media bet the dems were in for a beating.

But that’s not what happened. What did happen?

Momentum is everything

The silent majority exerted its influence, that’s what happened. That group watched as Trump hatched his plans. They watched the democratic response. The silent majority believed the right threatened American democracy. And so they turned out.

As a result, hardly any of Trump’s endorsed candidates won their electoral competitions. Especially in important Secretary of State elections. In those races hardly any Trump-election-denying candidates won.

Many of those voting turned out because they believed democracy was at stake. Others because Women’s right to abortion was at stake. Even with a US supreme court supermajority, or maybe in spite of that, the right couldn’t sway mainstream voters. The point: fundamental change requires enticing the mainstream. And when it come to the mainstream, momentum is everything.

So let’s talk about momentum.

When it comes to creating change, without it, or enough of it, it’s very difficult to do. That’s especially true when trying to change something entrenched for hundreds of years. Things like capitalism, democracy and the US Constitution enjoy extreme levels of legacy momentum.

So if we want to improve or even replace any of these things, we must contend with momentum. When it comes to capitalism, democracy and the constitution, there’s a lot to contend with. That’s what the right discovered this last week. The majority of We The People still believe in democracy.

All heat and no substance

And this is why we at Copiosis are taking our time. We’re letting momentum build. The momentum we’re letting build must get significant enough such that the silent majority understands – in their own way – what we understand. There’s no way around this. We can’t force them to get there. The Republicans tried forcing them.

The extreme right hoped that a lot of hue and cry, demonstrations, an attack on the capital and even controlling SCOTUS would be enough. None of that worked. It backfired instead. Typically durning mid-term elections, the party of the sitting president takes a shellacking. But that historical trend didn’t hold.

We don’t want to be all heat and no substance. And that’s why I’ve been so deliberate about creating the fundamental elements needed for Copiosis first. Rather than focusing on drumming up attention, followers, supporters and such.

Aspirational evidence moves

Because when it’s time to move the silent majority, they first must be willing to be moved. The universe is working on that. Climate disasters, increasing hostility within society, nationalism and capitalism paralyzing pandemics are preparing the majority to look for something better.

Not only must an idea inspire movement on the silent majority’s behalf, it also must offer them something compelling to move to.

Republicans offered comparatively little compelling enough to get the majority on board. The Republican agenda didn’t inspire movement. Instead the Universe, through Black Lives Matter, people like Anthony Fauci, and stories about transgender people, moved the mainstream towards a future inclusive of diversity, progress and tolerance. Not violent fascism.

Even with a quarter of the US population being evangelical Christians, the conservative platform couldn’t budge the majority. There was NO evidence that they had an aspirational future vision to move towards. Just more of the past.

At Copiosis, we’re building a case for an inspiring, aspirational future. A case built on tangible evidence that it can work. Our transition strategy describes what that tangible evidence looks like and how we’re building it.

Succeeding with our transition requires deliberate, paced, measured progress. Progress that generates significant momentum. Momentum within Copiosis, yes, but also momentum among the silent majority. That momentum looks like real-world evidence of an aspirational idea working across many sectors. Our transition plan offers all that and more.

If Copiosis is to be regarded as anything other than a fringe idea, we must learn from this year’s mid-term elections. Otherwise, we’ll end up just like The Zeitgeist Movement and the Venus project: decent ideas with a lot of believers but no momentum.