Five Thrills

Dear Neighbor,

We sometimes speak of politics, economics, and social changes as storms that catch us by surprise, as if they happen to us from nowhere or everywhere at once, from on high, from history’s black maw, the void of chance. Or maybe from the absence of grit, the absence of luck, of strong leaders, of some other thing.

Perhaps the truth here matters less than this pretense: if we act as though we are in control, that control might become real.

When we believe in democracy, we commit to the work of building a community where everyone participates actively in shaping their own future. Our arrangement comes with responsibilities. Many of us are now realizing what it means to neglect these responsibilities or to allow them to become ill-defined. If we want a certain sort of life or certain kinds of rights, we must actively maintain the democratic design that secures these for us.

As technologies, industries, governments, and cultural practices tumble and heave around us, communities are empowered to— no, beholden to— step in when neighbors are left behind. In a democratic republic, this response can be loud, and it can feel chaotic. You can’t have a choir unless you convene many different, bold voices and sing.

American civic life has always meant showing up. You must as often drag your neighbor to the public meeting as you do yourself. “Man is by nature a political animal,” and while the business of life pulls us in so many dozens of directions, we must guard against it pulling us too far away from the democratic center, the conversations and processes and institutions whereby we forge and maintain all of our rights and freedoms.

A challange for you.

Now take a moment to think big. Forget what has come before, what has occupied your mind of late. Look to the future of your community and find five thrills there. Five excitements. Write them down. Write only what you are for, not what you are against. Imagine what’s beyond “good enough” or “lesser of two evils.” Imagine what would make the biggest positive difference to your life right now, and to the lives of the people you love most. I’ll go first:

• The elevation of civic life, community spaces, participatory democratic processes, community trusts, public data, social and educational organizations, the arts, and (in general) coming together to solve our problems, to celebrate our identities, improve ourselves, and to have fun.
• A thriving network of small businesses and local entrepreneurship rooted in and accountable to our community, and a cost of living that allows families to thrive.
• Political leaders who meet questions with curiosity (not defensiveness); who build authority not by tightening their grip but by empowering others to help solve the challenges of tomorrow.
• An information, media, and journalism environment in which we can find truth and build the trust that keeps communities together.
• Policies and technologies that prioritize the health and flourishing of the commons over consumption.

You know what is good for you. Start small; act now. What’s one conversation you could have tomorrow with someone in your community to get a single step closer to one of these thrills? You don’t have to have all the answers, you just have to bring your curiosity and care to a neighbor who might know a way forward. Go to that meet-up. Join that book club. Show up at that public hearing or council meeting. Go to learn. Go because it’s existential. Go because it’s always easier to make change happen when a friend is there.