When The Fiscal Times asked an array of public figures, "What’s your biggest hope for our country this year, and how would you achieve it?" we were struck by the responses that quickly resembled a drumbeat.
People weighed in on the economy, the debt, the environment. They were passionate about illiteracy, education and even food. But mostly they want to stop the contemptuous, high volume political howling and start a civil dialogue. They see too much hate across the aisle, too much heated debate, too much offensive partisanship.
As Tom Brokaw told us, "We’ve got a lot of work to do" to fix our problems. Clearly, a first step is listening to each other.
Tom Brokaw, Emmy-winning journalist, commentator and author:
My hope is that we can have a provocative and productive dialogue about where we’ve been in this country and where we want to go, without letting the conversation degenerate into an unending stream of taunts and ad hominem attacks.
In my travels across America last year on Highway 50 for NBC News and the USA Network, I found most people on Main Street and in other parts of the heartland much more interested in common effort and solutions than in name-calling.
We’ve got a lot of work to do. And it will mean that we have to be more than the sum of our parts.
Rick Bragg , Pulitzer-winning author, educator:
The most distressing thing that happened this year, in the wake of health care reform, was not the nitwits who screamed racism from the sidewalks or the hate mongers who promoted it. They’ll always be with us. What was distressing was that good men and women, statesmen, people we used to call gentlemen and ladies, did not have the good manners and common decency to condemn it. There was a time when it didn't matter what party you were in: dangerous was dangerous, and tacky was just tacky. That, apparently, no longer is the case.
I do not hope for political reconciliation; I do not believe this fractured society will pull together in my lifetime, let alone this year. We cannot make wealthy Americans care about the working poor any more than we can make them care about others who do not dress, speak, act like them or belong to the same country club.
But this year, I would like the people in power to at least try to show some civility, or just good manners, as the divide widens.
We dismiss racism and condone dangerous rhetoric. Do our statesmen, as the year rolls on, next endorse criminality? It seems to me that would be the next stop on the slide down.
Stephen Covey , author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People:
Unfortunately, it seems that in our country right now, we are not producing third-alternative solutions to the many problems we face. We are not practicing empathic listening.
One of the deepest needs of the human soul is to be understood. Once that need is met, a person’s focus can shift to problem solving. But if the intense need for understanding is not met, ego battles take place. Turf issues arise. Defensive and protective communication is the order of the day. Sometimes, contention, even violence, erupts.
Our lungs need air. Feeling understood is the equivalent of psychological air.
People with differences need to understand one another through mutual respect. Then an amazing thing usually happens. Negative energy dissipates, contention evaporates, and people become creative. New ideas emerge. Solutions are found.
Gail Blanke , entrepreneur, author of In My Wildest Dreams, Living the Life You Long For:
We need to let go of being right about how wrong things are in this country — the politics, the people, the programs — and focus on the good we can create. We’ve gotten stuck in the critic’s mindset.
Teddy Roosevelt was right: "It’s not the critic who counts." We know that. But our vitriol, our obsession with worst-case scenarios, our negative assumptions about others’ abilities and motivations — this has temporarily buried the best in us.
Let’s seize this defining moment and not sink deeper into self-righteousness. Let’s remember who we are, what we stand for, how good we can make things. Our country was founded on hope; it has endured because of hope. Hope breeds positive energy — and positive energy drives heroic effort.
Burton Richter , Nobel laureate, scientist, author of Beyond Smoke and Mirrors:
Since I have been focusing on climate change and energy issues for the last few years, I hope that some signs of responsibility will be displayed by our Congress and that we will make a start on reducing emissions, thereby displaying the leadership we keep saying we have. Climate change legislation has become a partisan issue in Washington, though it is not in the country where red and blue states work well together. Perhaps the Kerry-Graham-Lieberman (Democrat-Republican-Independent) bill being worked on in the Senate shows that there is hope.
Scott Patterson , journalist, author of The Quants:
Books are the key to discovering how the rest of the world lives. They’re the key to knowing the history of our world and the future of our world.
Yet according to a recent survey, half of all Americans can’t read an eighth-grade level book. Another survey found that a third of high school graduates never read another book after leaving school. Even if these statistics are off by half, they're still disturbing. Getting people to read more isn't easy, and it probably involves spending more money on English teachers, an oft-neglected group today, (I taught composition for a year in college and it was a depressing and eye-opening experience.)
Parents can help solve the problem. They should put a book in their children's hands when they’re young, turn off the TVs—and smash the video games.
Salome Thomas-EL , educator, author, The Immortality of Influence:
The Clintons said that "it takes a village" to raise a child. To an extent, that’s true. But where’s the village when it’s two in the morning and your child has a 105-degree fever? Where’s the village when your child is being bullied at school, or is struggling to get a good education, or learning how to be a leader?
We, as parents, need to understand that we have enormous influence over our children. We have to be there physically, emotionally, mentally. We cannot relinquish our responsibility to television, Hollywood, the media, the music, the community, the streets. Sure, we’re taking care of elderly parents, working two jobs, going to school, watching over children who aren’t even our own, taking care of ourselves. But first we have to take care of our children. That means staying in touch. Talking. Listening. Communicating.
Sometimes we struggle over how best to communicate our messages. As a nation, we have not been very good about that lately. But to do our jobs as parents, we must inspire our children to reach their fullest potential. That means strong, positive, real communication.
Suzan Colón , journalist, author of Cherries in Winter:
My biggest hopes seem insurmountable — that we could get back on our feet economically, get healthier, go greener. Our national debt, our collective cholesterol levels, and our greenhouse gas emissions are all duking it out to see which can be highest.
So I dial my hopes down to something a little more conceivable — that Americans will cook more at home. One good thing to come out of this recession is that people have been preparing and sometimes even growing more of their own food. It’s a small change with a big payoff. By making our own meals, we save money, we eat better, our health improves, our health care costs go down, and we waste less energy.
When looked at this way, a humble homemade bowl of spaghetti could just save this nation.
