Blog
-
State of the Union: What Next?
After last night’s State of the Union message and the Republican response, where to now? While the House Chamber was more civil last night during the president’s speech, civility alone will not generate the progress Americans yearn for. Instead, specific actions are now needed. Here are five key steps for us to focus on.
The context for last night’s speeches is essential to keep front and center. Politics has become too acrimonious and divisive. And too many people in the country feel left behind, while others struggle to keep going. We know these things; but there’s more. Underlying these and other elements is a thirst for the restoration of people’s belief in themselves and in one another; in our ability to come together to get things done. Even amid people’s hunkering down these days, they want to step back into the public square and be a part of something larger than themselves. They want to work not only for their own good, but the common good.
With this context in mind, here are five key steps we should take:1. Hope still matters, maybe even more than change. The 2008 presidential race was all about “hope and change.” Of course, people want jobs, health care, safe streets, swifter movement toward energy independence. But the extent and manner of the change people want is still unclear. And we must not confuse a call for change with people’s hunger for hope. Americans know the challenges before us cannot be solved over night; they recognize there is much work to be done. As we work through questions of change, it is hope that people need right now: a belief that we can make progress amid our differences and that the progress is believable and real. We must not lose sight of this.2. Focus on doable steps moving forward. Much of the president’s first year or more was a debate about “comprehensive” change. Now, even with new signs of civility, it remains clear from last night’s speeches and commentary that large differences remain between Democrats and Republicans, and even within the two parties. Our response must not be to turn to small, marginal actions merely to say we did something – there is too much at stake. Rather, what is required is real progress – clear signs that we are moving in the right direction. The most important thing for us to do is to get the country moving on the right trajectory and to create a renewed sense of momentum. That will come by taking doable, relevant steps and demonstrating that progress is still possible.3. Mobilize everyday people for the common good. Most of what was said last night was about what government needs to do or shouldn’t do. And yet nowhere was there a call to mobilize Americans to join together and take action in their communities. The one exception was when the president talked about education. Education may, in fact, be the best place to engage and mobilize people. Much of what needs to be done must occur outside the school-house doors, in communities, where people and their neighbors need to take greater ownership of raising and educating all kids. We can do this, but there must be leadership. It’s why the Harwood Institute is working with United Way Worldwide to mobilize people in communities on education. But much more can be done, and now is the time.
4. Beat the drum on “innovation.” The president for sometime has been talking about “innovation.” And yet, in my work throughout the country, I see a clear competition between impulses for “planning” and “innovation.” Too often, when confronted by a challenge, we reach to do more endless planning. It’s true, planning is required for all good, sound actions. But at the very heart of the challenge facing communities and the nation as a whole, is the need for us to embrace a mindset and practice of innovation. We must not look for perfect or certain answers, but give ourselves permission to go down a different path, engage in more trial and error, and be open to new solutions, so that we can place ourselves on the right trajectory. To create new answers, innovation must take root in communities across the country.
5. We must turn outward. So much of what is happening these days is driven by an inward pull among individuals, within organizations and communities, and across our nation. But the challenges we face – and our deep desire to act on our aspirations – cannot be met by people going it alone. Nor can they be solved through retreat or reaction in attempts to protect our narrow interests. Rather, so many of the challenges we confront can only be effectively addressed by people taking action together. For that to occur, we must change our very orientation, our posture, our stance and turn outward toward our communities and one another. This won’t cost us a dime, but it will pay huge dividends. We must reengage and reconnect.
Of course, there is much more to be said the day after the State of Union, but this where I would put money. We must place ourselves on a new course. We must engage in new ways. It can be done. To do so, I urge us to take these five steps. -
Tucson aftermath and mental illness
There’s been much debate
since the Tucson shootings about the mental
health of Jared Loughner. Many people want to
know, who is to blame for his state of mind –
the community or only himself? Also, what new
laws governing mental illness and the
involuntary detention of individuals should be
on the books to prevent this kind of tragedy
in the future? But here’s another question:
what is our role in people’s mental health?
When I was growing up, I remember my parents being part of the Saratoga County Mental Health Committee, a group that sought to address mental health issues in the community. This was back in the early 1970s, when such issues were taboo even to mention in public. It took courage for them to step forward. Since then, as a society, we’ve come a long way on these matters. But the recent Tucson shootings offer a kind of up-to-the-minute Rorschach test for each of us on mental health issues.
I’ve listened as some people have said that only Jared Loughner himself is responsible for his actions. It is the individual alone, they say, who must burden the blame. There are others who argue that the very nature of society played some role, if only to create a larger context in which such incidents take place. Indeed, there is the belief among some that our society is only as healthy as the least among us.
Beyond this debate loom various legal questions. Why didn’t Pima County Community College, which had to confront Loughner’s disruptive and threatening classroom behavior, do more than simply kick him out of school; why didn’t they stay connected to him and track his well-being? And why didn’t anyone else who could see Loughner descending into the abyss approach authorities? Debates over appropriate mental health laws will no doubt continue – and they should.
But, in the meantime, I keep wondering about our own roles in people’s mental health. Here, I am not raising this as some abstract “public issue,” but as something that is woven into the fabric of our daily lives. When debates get framed, as this one has, mostly in terms of “who is to blame” or about “legal actions,” something essential gets lost. A sense of humanity is lost. We get lost.
Such framings immediately entangle us in determining what someone else should have done, or how a particular institution might have failed. And yet through these frames, if we are not careful, we are able to put distance between ourselves and others. We are permitted to keep ourselves at arm’s length from various events – never letting them touch us, perhaps never to involve us.
I have vivid memories as a college student of working for over a year at the county’s mental health crisis center. It was not something I sought to do, but the psychiatrist who ran the facility met me while I attended Skidmore College, and asked if I wanted to work there. I accepted his offer. What I remember most is how close each of us can get to the edge of where life becomes too much to handle. This very challenge is happening daily to children and to people who have lost their jobs, their homes, or a relative; where people need some additional support from one of us, a nudge to seek out professional help, a shoulder to lean on, a guiding hand and a loving voice. Sometimes this is in the spur of the moment, in other cases over time.
As the debate continues over how the Tucson event came about, and what our institutions and leaders need to do in response, I want to keep front and center the role each of us must play in each others’ lives. This is something I hope we always keep in our sights. -
Arizona: When our words matter
This
weekend’s Arizona shootings should be taken
as a shot across our nation’s bow – and
nothing less. The country has reached a new
boiling point when it comes to over-heated
political rhetoric. At issue: how will we
react? Will different sides in our politics
use this as another excuse to assess more blame
to the other side, or will we rise to the
occasion? You and I can make this
choice.
No sooner had the news alert about the shootings hit television and the web, than jockeying for political position over whom to blame began. Some left-leaning groups sought to pin blame on Tea Partyers and on Sarah Palin and her (reprehensible) use of cross-hairs in targeting certain congressional districts. Various right-leaning groups replied in kind. The reality is that we’ve let things go so far that there’s no shortage of willing participants on both the left and right who are engaged in this utter craziness.
Too many people of all political stripes have adopted and spread words that incite anger, fear and a deep restlessness within the country. Rather than offer any hope, these individuals reflect the insecure, coward-filled taunts of playground bullies. Their goal seems more to corner their “opponents” and raise a ruckus, than to ensure the country moves ahead. Their rhetoric inflames people’s fears rather than illuminate a path forward. One wonders what these individuals and groups care about beyond their own positioning. Is it worth it?
It’s impossible to know if the Arizona shootings were directly linked to this over-heated politics. But this weekend’s tragedy definitely fits an unmistakable trend line: such mean-spiritedness makes the public square toxic, leaves too little room to get real work done, and allows those who remain to believe their only option is to join in the madness.
But what happens when our very own response to the situation further deepens this dilemma? When all we add as individuals (and the groups we lead) is more fuel to the fire? When our own knee-jerk reactions only perpetuate the situation? Take a moment and think about your own responses to the shootings. Did you seek to lash out, apportion blame, or find a way for this to be “their” fault?
On the other hand, simply being polite to one another is not the antidote to these current events either. Significant issues are at stake, and they require real discussion and debate. This won’t be easy. Many of us are angry. We hear all the political rhetoric from “the other side” (whichever side the “other” is) and we find ourselves incredulous and exasperated. At times, we want to strike back. We want our side to win. Sometimes we even feel the desire within ourselves to pummel the other side. But is it true that people from different camps share nothing in common?
They do – we do. As I travel the country, it’s clear to me that people from all sides share common aspirations. In fact, people in communities each and every day are finding ways to come together around their challenges. None of this is particularly easy, but it’s not impossible. We know this is the case, but are we willing to listen to ourselves?
At the crux of this matter is an urgent need to restore our confidence in our collective ability to make public life and politics work. The most important thing we can do, then, is to demonstrate that we can change our ways. To set a different trajectory – which is what I am talking about here – will require that we check our own heated rhetoric when talking about “the other side.” We must highlight those places where strange bedfellows have come together to get good things done. We must stand next to leaders – especially those with whom we disagree – when they act with integrity.
But let’s not fool ourselves; this will require each of us to stop blaming the other side for the Arizona shooting, and for the larger negative conditions in the country. I’m not suggesting that any of us should give up our values, or what we care deeply about. Strong and passionate arguments have always been part of the American tradition. Let’s keep it that way.
But using Arizona as fodder for more political posturing and complaints is a sure-fire way to land us in deeper trouble. There’s more than enough blame to go around for the current situation. Those people who want to change the trajectory of the country must be brave – even if others do not join you, you must step forward and show that there is a different path we can take. For durable, lasting change will come only from the country itself – that’s you and me, and why don’t we each grab some others on the way.
-
Five Keys for Mobilizing America
The past few years have brought
an increasingly divisive and acrimonious
political atmosphere. But, it’s still clear
that people want to come together, people want
to be a part of something larger than
themselves, people want to act. The good news
is people are ready to roll up their sleeves
and get to work. We must tap into this energy
and spirit as it can launch us forward.
Last February, I wrote about how we can get started in mobilizing people to act. As we start this new year, I wanted to return to those 5 keys:
1. Turn outward toward the community – the very first step for anyone interested in mobilizing America is to turn outward toward our communities. Too many volunteer, civic engagement and other well-intentioned community efforts are done with an organization-first approach – a narrow view that often starts and ends with fulfilling one’s own programmatic goals, strategic plans, and metrics for community involvement. To have a fighting chance for success, we must make the community the reference point, not our individual programs.
2. Focus on people’s shared aspirations – not the community’s problems – people feel the full weight of their individual and community “problems.”And yet, when asked about their aspirations, they are quick to offer an alternate view of what can be. These aspirations don’t arise through “visioning” exercises and happy talk. People must come together to define their shared aspirations, for only then can we find points of common action. Our shared aspirations are the starting point for mobilizing America.
3. Get people doing actual work together – people don’t simply want to volunteer for an hour here and there. Instead, they’re yearning for the opportunity to build deep and lasting relationships and be part of something larger – indeed, to address the sense of connection and caring that has been weakened or severed as they’ve hunkered down to ride out the storm. Thus, more “plug-and-play” volunteer programs won’t do the trick this time; people want to roll-up their sleeves and work together – and over time. They want to do something real.
4. Move in a common direction – too often volunteer and community efforts are based on episodic, ad hoc activities where the emphasis is on making the individual volunteer “feel good.” The focus is often scattered, all too often not directed at the public good, and as a result yield limited impact. Simply calling on people to volunteer will not help people rebuild their communities. We must create, together, in individual communities and across the country, a common sense of direction to guide what we do, and to make sure what we’re doing add up to something real.
5. Tell stories of self-trust and hope – in many communities, the common narrative is one of decline, diminished hopes, even defeat. And yet, as positive actions occur, we can combat this ingrained narrative. But we must be careful. More business-as-usual storytelling – hyped public relations and cutesy vignettes – will only dampen people’s spirits. While those stories “seem” real – people know better – and feel their reality is being manipulated. Instead, we must tell authentic stories of change, ones that reflect our trials and errors, successes and failures, and lessons learned. Let’s call them civic parables. These stories, when real, help us restore our faith in one another and in our individual and collective ability to build stronger communities.
There is enormous potential to mobilize Americans today to rebuild our communities. The truth is people don’t need to wait for Washington to get going. In fact, the real energy and spirit lives in our communities. So, let’s start now. Let’s mobilize people. Let’s rebuild America.