We need a civic path forward this election season | Guestview
Today, over two-thirds of Americans are exhausted by politics and dissatisfied with our presidential candidates. A lack of trust has turned into mistrust. Hope is in short supply. It’s clear that our current politics do not hold the solution to the challenges we face. But there’s a way out of this mess.
This election season, I’m not running for office, but I am on a nationwide campaign to show our country a better path forward − a civic path.
It starts with us saying, “Enough!” Enough hate, division, and fear. Enough hopelessness. Enough retreating. It’s time to build together.
Why we need a civic path
The civic path I’m advocating for is not some utopian vision, a set of grandiose promises, or yet another unrealistic, comprehensive plan. Instead, our task is to restore our belief that we can get things done together and reground ourselves in the fact that real change starts in our local communities.
Just look at congress these days. Do we really think the change we need is going to come from Capitol Hill? Or even our state capitols, bogged down as they are in endless debate over hot button issues? If we wait for our national leaders to create change, I fear we’ll be waiting for quite some time.
Meanwhile, it’s in our local communities where we can see and hear one another. Where we can discover one another’s shared aspirations. Where we can reforge trust. Where we can uphold one another’s innate dignity, take action together, and restore a sense of possibility and hope.
From the Revolutionary War to the abolishment of slavery to the Women’s Suffrage Movement to the Civil Rights Movement, the history of our country proves that starting locally is the best way to demonstrate progress and spread change across the nation. If we take this approach, our national leaders will take notice and follow. It’s time to lead our leaders.
Less talk, more action
I see a lot of voices right now arguing that the solution to America’s problems is more talk. They often claim that our problems will be solved if we get liberals and conservatives in the same room with a set of fine-tuned discussion questions.
There’s a place for discussion. But let’s be clear. At some point, we have to take action. In fact, we must cultivate a bias toward action. That’s how we can renew our sense that our voices matter, that we can get things moving in a better direction, and that we can make a difference.
My work at The Harwood Institute is guided by a set of four key mantras. One of them is “Start small to go big.” When it comes to a civic path, small is exactly how we need to start so that we can grow our efforts over time. As someone told me at a recent campaign event in Alamance County, NC, “What I loved about your message was start small, but it’s action. It’s about doing something. It’s about achieving something.”
Moving our communities forward is going to be hard work. But it’s doable. If we ground ourselves in being builders and doers, we can create ever-expanding civic confidence and growing momentum.
Talk alone isn’t going to get us where we need to go. It’s time to take shared action.
Americans are hungry
I’ve been crisscrossing the country for this campaign in recent months, going everywhere from Jim Jordan’s district in Ohio to Stamford, Connecticut. Fresno, California to Burlington, North Carolina. Flint, Michigan to where I just was in Pensacola, Florida, which is Matt Gaetz’s district, for an event hosted by CivicCon.
Most campaigns play to their base, only visiting red or blue strongholds. So why is it that this campaign is being invited to communities that represent every part of the political spectrum?
I believe it’s because Americans of all backgrounds − no matter who you vote for these days − are tired of our divisive politics. They are hungry for an alternative.
When I took this message to Jim Jordan’s district in Ohio, I led a discussion with community leaders who were interested in forging this new civic path. Reflecting on our time together, one man said, “This space that we’ve created together is refreshing because we’re not mired in discussions about culture wars. We’re talking about the future of our community.”
That’s the power of engaging in a civic path. It’s grounded in the reality of our communities. In our lived experiences. In what it actually takes to create communities that work for all of us, not just some of us.
Enough politics. It’s time for a civic path.
Richard C. Harwood is the President and Founder of The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization located in Bethesda, MD.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Richard Harwood: We need a civic path forward this election season
