Engaging a true Finn into Direct Democracy
Yesterday night a Perussuomalainen (True Finns Party) voter changed his vote to ours after 5 minutes. How?
He was very skeptical of our proposition, as he predicted our path to go the same way as the MoVimento 5 Stelle in Italy. He was convinced we would do the same mistakes by using everyday e-voting.
Instead of promising a solution, we assured him our campaign is about engagement, to promote diversity, not about finding a miracle cure for everything. We do so by translating everything into English, posting it, then engaging citizens via e-voting. All at a local level of Helsinki. And remember, scale is essential in #Democracy.
The knowledgeable man with a firm look and unshakable speech, listened to us, because we listened patiently back. At the end, he did handshake us firmly while whispering:
“you have my vote!”
There are several conditions at play why this happened: the ability to discuss contrasting ideas in a constructive manner, patience and attention in listening, transparency in the speech, fact based arguments, etc. These are not given qualities, these come from a long personal path of education from both sides.
The main reason he changed his vote, is the same main feature we wish to promote, and the same quality of our backgrounds: DIVERSITY.
more info at: http://www.pedroaibeo.com/
Signed: Amari Kaura aka The Campaign Wizard and Pedro Aibeo aka as The Professional Non-Politician :-)