CALM: Alignment in Disagreement

The CALM Formula

One option to resolve disagreements it to follow CALM, per below.

  1. Care & complexity:
    • Care: It is reasonable to care deeply about xyz because this issue directly impacts our ability to live in the way that we all desire; in peace, freedom and prosperity.
    • Complexity:
      • We should expect that good and reasonable people will disagree about the facts, causes and solutions regarding this issue.
      • Treating each other excellently, by maintaining civility, honesty and assuming the best intentions in our disagreements, is the best way to persuade others and advance the dialogue towards truth.
  2. Articulate perspectives:
    • Elucidate the valid arguments on both sides.
    • Reminders relating to war:
      • Do not conflate governments with the innocent people who live under them.
      • We cannot right all the wrongs of history.
      • Peaceful cooperation is always preferable to war.
      • Defensive force, if necessary, must be the least necessary, proportional, and target only aggressors when the threat is imminent.
  3. Live and Let Live:
    • Can we first find common ground in agreeing with the Legal Principle that no-one may aggress and the Moral Principle that we should treat each other excellently?
  4. Movement towards peaceful solutions:
    • There are two practical steps we can take:
      1. Adhere to the Legal Principle in our own communities/nations:
        • Abolish all laws against victimless crimes
        • Uphold strong protections against real aggression.
        • Eliminating coercion improves our own resiliency, prosperity and creative abilities to deal with all challenges. By first anchoring our laws, and how they are adjudicated and enforced, with the Legal Principle, we will have a much clearer lens through which to answer the difficult questions of:
          • how we determine who the aggressor is,
          • whether the threat is imminent enough to justify defensive force,
          • what the least necessary (most peaceful) resolution might be.
      2. Treat each other excellently: voluntary kindness, open-mindedness, cooperation, etc.
        • Perfect solutions don’t exist, but consistently applying non-aggression and excellence improve all disputes.
        • Governance should be a service, not coercive.

In one sentence

When disagreements arise, we follow the CALM approach: acknowledge the concern and complexity, articulate the perspectives, return to the Live and Let Live principles, and offer solutions that move us toward peace.

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