While most people grouse and complain about corrupt Massachusetts politics, one friend of mine is doing something to change the world--or at least our part of it.

Westwood resident Chris McKeown explained his non-partisan group's plan to fix Beacon Hill in an Op-Ed piece in the Boston Globe last month. Their website, fixbeaconhill.com, explains a series of proposed changes fundamental to how things operate in the administration of power in the legislature. I'm trying to help and running full-on into the challenge of modern rational communication.

It is complex. The changes are not sound-bites and their explanations will not fit on billboards or be suitable for chanting by crowds of impassioned lawyers. The amendment reaches deep into the internal governance--the rules by which our legislature conducts business--to unlock the corrupt system of power that, regardless of the individual integrity and best intentions of those we do elect to "make a difference," thwarts them at every turn and contributes to a culture of cynicism, powerlessness, and defeat.

I can't "tweet" in 140 characters a magical phrase that will make a rational argument. I could write, as Chris did, a long, reasoned piece and supporting website explaining what the amendment will do. But who is going to read that? When I consider the steps between finding, reading, and acting--it is a challenging proposition to move readers to action. But right now, the question is not whether you believe this amendment can solve all our problems, but whether you can be persuaded to sign a petition so that this amendment can be placed on the ballot for debate. The deadline for petitions to be received by Town Clerks is November 18.

We've been looking at the political blogs in Massachusetts and trying to figure out how to appropriately get this message out there. We posted to Blue Mass Group and Red Mass Group, but I understand, the best I can hope for there is discussion. We cannot cause a viral storm of petition signing to materialize, and we run the risk of appearing to be unsavvy spammers if we blast this message out to communities where we have no authentic presence.

It would be great if online petitions were valid. But they are not. The closest thing we can come up with is a downloadable petition kit which contains detailed instructions on how to print out a double-sided form (you have to print page 1, then re-feed the paper in the printer; otherwise the petition is invalid!). It's a lot easier to measure "conversion" when all you want is for a user to click on a link! But, amazingly, many people are downloading these kits and using them to gather signatures. A small but motivated number of people are always the lever that moves the world.

I am asking myself, what is the social media equivalent of Paul Revere rousing the populace to muster troops at Lexington and Concord? In his book The Tipping Point, Malcom Gladwell compares "connector" Paul Revere to "ordinary" William Dawes and illustrates how a "word of mouth epidemic" broke out because Revere "knew EVERYBODY." Imagine the difficulty of the argument: "Hey, wake up! I want you to grab a gun, leave your family in bed, and ride up to Concord to take potshots at the British. You didn't have anything better to do, now did you??" It's a great illustative tale, but it merely observes the magic at work; it does not give clues for the social media alchemist catching sight of those lanterns in the Old North Church.

I'm no Paul Revere. But what we must ask ourselves is what CAN we do and then just do it. We can suspend cynicism and doubt and stop asking pointless questions based on irrelevant what-ifs. We can stop thinking about how to control events and let the ideas channel though our actions. The task in this case is to print a document carefully, sign it, and mail it. If enough people do that, we can have a more substantive debate about whether the specific proposals will WORK. But for now...how hard is it to print a couple of pages and sign them? Bonus points if you can get a few other people to sign the form too. I'll post this and go to the printer now. Share and repeat.