By Mary Lauran Hall, AmericaSpeaks
Bought and sold elections. Partisan gridlock. Nonstop negative attacks from both sides of the aisle. Given the current dysfunction of our electoral politics, it’s no wonder that Americans from diverse political perspectives have been voicing discontent with politics as of late. Peering into the fog of news stories about political divisiveness, it’s difficult to see that we have more in common than a shared sense of frustration at political immobility. If we all tend to feel our blood temperature hitting a boiling point while we consume the morning paper or evening news, at least we share the belief that political coverage can be a total downer.
But the truth is, we have more in common than shared consensus about the general badness of political gridlock. We share much more common ground than our elected officials or the news media would have us think.
In a recent op-ed in the Portland Press Herald, Ron Bancroft focuses on this idea. The simple truth that we have the capacity to come together as citizens to identify shared priorities, he suggests, is key to regaining the strength of our nation and moving our country forward. Invoking the memory of John Gardner, Republican secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare under President Johnson, Bancroft writes:
It was Gardner who first coined this phrase, in surveying the challenges that the nation faced in 1965: “What we have before us are some breathtaking opportunities disguised as insoluble problems.”
Does that sentiment ever ring true today.
Unfortunately, we have a set of leaders of both parties for whom the phrase “breathtaking opportunities” is associated more with political gain than with what is best for the country.
What would Gardner think of the country today?
He would certainly be appalled by the corruption of money in the political system and by the partisan unwillingness to collaborate, however great the urgency of the problem.
The current state of U.S. politics takes its toll on the American public:
“We are treading the edge of a precipice here.” There is a disconnection between the people and their leaders. Citizens do not trust their government and a variety of polls indicate this mistrust extends to corporations and the media.
Civilizations die of disenchantment. If enough people doubt their society, the whole venture falls apart. We must never let anger, fashionable cynicism, or political partisanship blur our vision of this point.
Bancroft’s point here is an important one: the problem and its symptoms stretch far beyond Washington. The most significant point of concern isn’t just that our elected officials are misbehaving; it’s that the American people have lost their faith in our country’s process of governance.
As such, the solution starts with We The People.
How to start? I suggest taking one issue that divides us and building a national coalition to find common ground.
I recommend that we commission a national policy facilitator, such as AmericaSpeaks, to hold a simultaneous national debate with the goal of achieving a national consensus on this one issue.
AmericaSpeaks led a similar approach earlier this year on the entire deficit problem, and had modest success in building consensus on that complex set of issues.
Gardner said, “everything comes back to the talent and energy and sense of purpose of human beings.”
Let’s prove him right.
At last summer’s Our Budget, Our Economy meeting on the federal deficit, Americans from many backgrounds were able to come together and find agreement–a remarkable achievement that many politicians had dismissed as impossible. This does not have to be a unique phenomenon. When given the opportunity, we Americans can find commonalities and work together to solve our country’s toughest problems.
Divisiveness breeds divisiveness. Widely publicized ideological clashes on the Senate floor or among everyday citizens tend to make peoples’ worldviews more firmly rooted in opposition and discontent. But where is the focus on cooperation and dialogue? We won’t achieve progress in our country with any one political agenda. Rather, making progress in this country will mean identifying those areas of common ground and working together to actualize shared visions of our future.
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