Since the Connecticut school shooting, we’ve heard many people call for a national dialogue around mental health treatment in the U.S.  (We’ve also heard calls to action about gun control reform, but I haven’t heard the word dialogue in that one).  I also remember with the Arizona Giffords shooting there was a call for national dialogue on civil discourse and a return to civility in public and political discourse.

My question is, is it possible to have these national dialogues?  Are we in fact having them?  If we are, is it happening in our lifeworlds and is that transferring to the public sphere?  Have there been examples in the past where there have been true national dialogues around important matters facing us?  What facilitated these occurring or made them possible?  It is possible for our society to have conversations about issues dealing with power, privilege, and/or oppression without tragedies facilitating these events?

I’ve been working for the past two months as a community organizer around tax equity and the fiscal cliff.  I’ve been having house meetings, organized a town hall forum, and have been talking with community members one-on-one across my state about the fiscal cliff.  Some might say there has been a national conversation going on about the fiscal cliff, though I think the term dialogue may be a stretch to use.  I guess it depends who needs to be part of the dialogue for it to be one that is meaningful in creating policy or civic change.