Several blind men describe an elephant: "An elephant is like a rope" says the man holding the tail. "No, no," says the man holding a leg. "An elephant is like a tree." One man touches the trunk and says, "You're both wrong. An elephant is just like a hose."
And each stakes out a clear and confident position while understanding only a small part of the one big complicated elephant.
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Mission
The One Big Elephant mission is to gather information on all sides of important issues in order to take effective action and make our community stronger.
It's time to get serious. We need to figure out a way to get full and factual information. Our country faces great challenges. So--enough snarky comments and fact free discussions. We need education and participation to make our democracy work.
We need a national conversation about various situations that need solutions. But what would the format look like? Our aim is to:
Respectfully gather information.
Understand it deeply from as many perspectives as possible.
Take effective action.
OBE is looking for new ideas about, or clear explanations of, five core issues:
Health Care - How are we doing at providing physical and mental health care, both preventive and curative, to everyone? Topics include public health problems like guns, addiction, prevention and any issue that detracts from our enjoyment of life.
Economy - What new ideas are out there to close the wealth gap and create a more fair system? How can we move forward on these ideas?
Immigration - What is the most useful approach to welcoming immigrants? Are there multicultural centers in all states to facilitate this work?
Education - How can we most effectively teach our children to be knowledgeable, committed, strong and kind citizens of the USA? Are there programs in use that emphasize respect for differences?
“The only way in which a human being can make some approach to knowing the whole of a subject, is by hearing what can be said about it by persons of every variety of opinion, and studying all modes in which it can be looked at by every character of mind. No wise man ever acquired his wisdom in any mode but this; nor is it in the nature of human intellect to become wise in any other manner.” ― John Stuart Mill, On Liberty