I know conversion is possible because I have gone through it personally. No, this isn’t one of those Saul getting knocked off the horse moments. I didn’t have a burning bush talk to me or have a near death experience. I don’t want to make light of those events because I am sure some people experience those things and they seem very real for them. Who am I to say different?

What I do know is that most of us don’t experience those things. So, conversion has to come from within. We need some kind of realization (or a ha moment) and then the courage and fortitude to actually make a lasting change.  Most people associate conversion with organized religion. Certainly, there are opportunities there, but it doesn’t have to be that way and while religion can be a catalyst for change, the change itself is graded and evaluated independent of that. After all, what good is going to church, praying, and studying if it doesn’t actually lead to tangible change in our lives?

What I have talked about before is a change of mindset from grievance to gratitude. I have been in a grievance state. When I was younger I completed my masters in counseling and wanted to be a school counselor. I did it for three years at the elementary level, but it wasn’t a good fit for me. I lost that job and had difficulty getting back into education. I spent an inordinate amount of time angry.

Why were other people getting opportunities that I wasn’t. I felt that I was a victim of reverse discrimination. I am a white male in a field dominated by women. When I was an elementary counselor I was the only male counselor in the entire school district. I had sunk into a mindset of grievance. That anger was also sifting out into my personal life as well as my attitudes towards other groups that seemingly got advantages. I was on the train to conservatism.

Part of the conversion happened because I got an opportunity to do what I am doing now. Part of it came because I had time to process all of the things that had happened and realized I had a huge role in my own fate. Part of it came in the wisdom of realizing that I had had opportunities given to me all while I seemingly was prevented from doing things.

Going from grievance to gratitude is hard. It takes a long time because wisdom absolutely never happens in the moment. It comes after reflection and some perspective none of us have as things are happening. This is why I can’t give up on people trapped in a grievance mindset.

The honest to God truth is that all of us have the capacity and justification for choosing either. We can point to crap that happens in our lives and shout, “it’s just not fair.” In many cases it isn’t. In many cases there are people less talented and proficient than us that somehow stumble their way into positions above us. As such, there are many of us that have earned that grievance and can wear it without any tinge of irony.

At the very same time, we all have something to be grateful for. If nothing else, we get the opportunity to wake up every day and make a new start. I probably get the opportunity to impact many more students than I would as a counselor. Whatever life force we choose to believe in, that force is wiser and smarter than we are. It knows where we fit best in this universe. Whether that is God, Yahweh, Allah, Krishna, fate, Buddha, or anything else we can name, we can choose to believe we are in the very best place. Obviously, truth is a four letter word, but perspective is not. Moving folks from grievance to gratitude sounds like moving mountains, but I am here to tell you it’s not only possible, but a necessity.

Messaging is about repeating the same message in a number of ways until something sticks. So, I’ve said many of these things before. So, let’s consider this a public service announcement. If you are tired of reading this message I invite you to move onto the next piece. One of the struggles that those left of center have is in the arena of issue framing, The right just does a better job.

I have mentioned this before, but a lot of this comes down to a grievance vs. gratitutde mindset. Keep in mind that I haven’t even taken a single stand or offered any judgement on whether people should be in a grievance state. Some have every right to be. Someone or something has screwed them over. The job of the populist is to find someone or something to pin it on.

People who are happy don’t respond to scapegoating. People who are unhappy do. Part of the problem with scapegoating is that some people have no right to be in a grievance state. Populists don’t care. They are willing to stoke anger even if it is dangerous. The other part of the problem is that no matter what direction people are coming from, the target of the populists is never the only geniune target. That’s true whether they are billionaires, undocumented immigrants, women, African-Americans, LGTBQ+, or whoever else they could possibly blame.

This is why anti-woke exists. This is why Antifa is so vilified. This is why CRT has been stretched and expanded beyond any recognition. It is why all of these things seem like they are speaking in code. It’s because they are. Woke can mean whatever we want it to mean. It obviously sounds better than hating African-Americans, ethnic minorities, women, or people with alternative identifies and lifestyles.

The difference in populists is that some honestly believe they have foubd the bogeyman. Bernie Sanders certainly did but his tune hasn’t changed in over 40 years in politics. Others obviously do not. They know they are pointing the finger at the wrong folks and they don’t care. They are all too willing at taking people’s anger and frustration and pointing it at a direction away from where it might otherwise logically go.

People in a grievance state are governed by anger. People governed by anger don’t listen to facts or reason. They just want a direction to aim their anger. So, your choice is either to give them one or find a way to transform them from grievance to gratitude. It’s obviously easier said and done. Yet, when arguing in logic, reason, or facts is like screaming into the void. It doesn’t accomplish anything.

Populism isn’t tethered to ideology on either side. Gratitude allows people to consider others. It allows them to buy into a cogent ideology that forms a worldview that makes sense. The world would be a better place if we adopt THESE individual strategies that are all connected and all are consistent with that world view. Progressives, leftists, and liberals are treating the national debate like an ideological one. It isn’t. The right has been taken over by a populist. Populism is never tethered completely to ideology. So, continuing an ideological debate is like screaming into the void. No one will be there to hear the message unless they already believe.

It seems to me that I’ve written about this before. I write so much for myself and others in other places that I often forget where these things are floating around. Admittedly, this is a huge idea that is difficult to break down into something easily consumable. However, I know we have some of the smartest readers on the block, so perhaps someone can convert this into something actionable.

Trumpism specifically and populism in general depends on a grievance state. It’s easy enough. All you need to tell people is that they aren’t achieving as much as they should be and that someone else is to blame for their failure. Obviously, there are two key points here. First, you need to convince people that they are failures. This is a lot easier said than done. You don’t want to overdo it. If you lean on that too much then they think you are insulting them. Of course, the next step is just too easy. You aren’t getting ahead because of this other group of people. The only thing that matters is finding the right scapegoat.

If I use myself as an example, I could say that I did not become a high school counselor like I had planned earlier in my career. I got the masters degree and applied for a lot of openings, but it just never happened. I could point out that sometimes I didn’t fit the demographic they were looking for. There are just not many male counselors in schools. If I were susceptible to grievance then I might start blaming women since they are the ones that hold the position. I might blame other ethnic minorities that seem to get more opportunities than I do. As you might suspect, this would be a mind trick to excuse myself of any culpability.

These are the two incontrovertible facts I come to. First, I am not currently in that position because of the choices I have made. There were times where I could have stayed on a campus and worked my way up to that level. There are other times when there are certain things I could have done outside of my job to prepare myself for that opportunity. I did not do those things. The second fact, is that I am better off where I am and actually am able to do more good performing the job I currently have. Naturally, this is not all about me, but our stories are common. Come across just about anyone and they could tell you that they could have gotten further and made more money if things had turned out differently.

Gratitude is easy enough and yet so elusive at the same time. I got opportunities others did not get. Many of us could say the same. Acknowledging that is the hard part. Acknowledging that we are where we should be is hard. Acknowledging that we are where we are because of choices we have made is even harder. So, finding a way to convince people that they should be thankful for what they do have sounds like a near impossible task. Furthermore, convincing them that they don’t have that dream job because of themselves is also hard. It’s so much easier to pick out a group to blame. Being happy in our skin seems so simple and yet so complicated. Maybe someone out there can find a way to make this actionable and not philosophical.