The Better Angels Workshop
On Saturday, I had the pleasure of co-organizing a Better Angels workshop with my friend, Joe LoParo. Six conservatives sat around a table with six liberals for a conversation that was facilitated by two non-partisan moderators. Among other things, participants got the chance to talk about how they feel they’re stereo-typed by the other side. They were also asked to self-evaluate how the way that they present their views might contribute to that stereo-typing. There were some amazing moments as everyone had a chance to be heard:
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One of the conservative men identified himself a conservative because of his passion for capitalism. As much as he believed in capitalism, he drew the line at what he called “crony capitalism,” where large corporations get inappropriate help from the government. He felt that liberals misunderstood conservatives when they characterize them as racist or sexist. He expressed love for his wife and daughter, wants the best for all women, and believes that with capitalism, opportunity is open to all regardless of race or gender.
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A female liberal, also identified herself as a capitalist, with the understanding that there were some areas such as healthcare and the environment that required some government oversite. As an environmentalist, she believes that working to have a clean environment is good for business. At the end of the day when asked what stood out for her, she said that she was struck by the sincerity of the conservative who was truly hurt by being considered a racist/sexist.
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That led to a conservative woman who identified herself as a libertarian expressing her hurt when other women are shocked that she voted for Trump.
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A libertarian who wanted to be considered a liberal, lamented the fact that while republicans say they want small government, the programs they like such as the military tend to grow. He said that “democrats love the government that they want, republicans love the government that they want.”
The common theme was nuances in the beliefs. Four capitalists—two called themselves, two called themselves liberals. Two libertarians—one called herself a conservative, one called himself a liberal. Although they all agree on capitalism, they all come at it from a different angle. They can choose to dwell on where they differ or celebrate what they have in common. Today they agreed to celebrate what they have in common. All 12 agreed, that we identify the same problems but attack them with different solutions.
How do we build the common ground? It has to start with the citizens. Sunday on 60 Minutes, Scott Pelley interviewed Senators Flake and Coons. Pelley noting that Flake was not running for re-election in November asked if he would have been able to ask for the FBI investigation if he was. He said he would not have been able to. “Flake added that “there’s no value in reaching across the aisle.”
Friends, since that’s what the culture is in Washington, we have no choice but to take this on ourselves. As we take it on ourselves we have the freedom of critically thinking through our views without the burden of adhering to the party we’ve aligned with. We can reach across our own aisles in our own communities to build alliances with our neighbors. We can continue to meet one small group at a time as we realize there is more we have in common than what separates us.
Let’s keep looking for that common ground!!!
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