21 is only half the truth

Imperative manifestos

Hugh McLeod started a "manifesto madness" last year (easy saying that on the 2nd of Jan) and I regularly check back to read some of the manifestos posted. Many of them I like, some parts I found brilliant, others didn't exactly waste my time but won't be the inscripition of my grave either.

After a while, it occurred to me that pretty much all of them are written in imperative form, as a set of rules. That didn't bother me at all, until I came to read one that I didn't agree with, and it was telling me what to do, think and it wasn't being nice doing so.

So now I'm wondering - is the only difference between a brilliant manifesto and a bossy, arrogant text you immediately feel attacked by, whether you agree with the idea or not? Right now I tend to agree.

I'm also wondering why these manifestos are written that way.
Don't pretend this. Think that. If you don't have this, then forget it. Stop doing that.

I wasn't sure what exactly a manifesto is by definition, anyway, so I looked it up and here's what Wikipedia says at the moment:

A manifesto is a public declaration of principles and intentions, often political in nature.

In my opinion, declaring principles and intentions does not require postulating rules like orders. I think it is easy to inspire and motivate people using imperatives when they at least have a basic agreement on what you feel. They feel you, can't word it as nicely as you, but yeah, they know what you're talking about.

When you try to convince someone who feels differently, though, I think manifestos like most of the ones posted won't do anything but inspire the reader to close the tab or window as quickly as possible. Especially since many manifestos simply declare rules without giving valid reasons. I could go on for hours about manifestos that say "Don't do ... , that's just the way ... works". Right.

So all in all I think manifestos are a way for people to share common values through a brilliantly worded summary, but they won't make an impression on someone who isn't on this track anyway, unless he or she has a whole lot of faith in the author's competence on the subject.
Can manifestos work if they are worded differently? If I find one that politely asks me to reconsider my opinions, I'll tell you. :) I wonder how many are out there.

My (probably all-time) favorite manifesto, with imperatives, rules and all? The Desiderata.