Political violence is rising in America, but I see an even crazier problem: too many people seem open to it.
Attacks have been rising for years, and there have been high-profile assassinations and attempts. Charlie Kirk, Rep. Melissa Hortman, Paul Pelosi, even Donald Trump on the campaign trail… do we deserve to live this way? I would do anything to protect the ones I love from people who’d rather shoot it out than talk it out. To do that nonviolently, we need a way to show everyday people an alternative.
What better way than a role-playing game?
I laid out my game in a recent livestream: a simple, fun way to take on any topic you wish, serious or silly, international or in your neighborhood. It’s playable online or in-person, with participants acting as Contestants, Judges, Moderators and the Audience. Everyone (except the Contestants, of course) votes on the quality of the arguments and the presentations. The side with the most points wins.
Check out this excerpt from Monday’s livestream about my new game and why it has so much potential to reduce political violence. The statistics are both encouraging and worrisome, including from this recent study by the Chicago Project on Security & Threats at the University of Chicago.
In one survey, Chicagoans were asked about their views on protest, political violence and America’s political challenges. Support was very mixed when asked about attending protests against Pres. Trump’s deployment of the National Guard. But when the prospect of violence at those protests was factored in, a worrisome thing happened: the percentage of respondents in the “neither agree nor disagree” group increased.
To me, that suggests that there would be enough people in “the middle” that those fomenting violence could recruit enough support to overtake the nonviolent. I consider this too large a missed opportunity to ignore. This is one of the main targets of my debate project: to engage those among us who are not fully committed to nonviolence, show them how much more effective and honorable debate can be, and get the off the sidelines in the fight against violence.
Take a look at the video excerpt above from the livestream, and consider signing up to playtest my new game at this link.
You can also watch the full livestream on YouTube at this link.
