In February 2021, David Brooks, a highly respected Canadian-born American author, political analyst, cultural commentator, and founder of Weave: The Social Fabric Project, addressed hundreds of participants as a part of The Community Foundation Serving Southwest Colorado’s Making a Difference series.
The in-person event, originally scheduled for the spring of 2020, at the height of COVID, was rescheduled via Zoom for “a conversation that can no longer wait” said Briggen Wrinkle, Foundation Executive Director, in the event announcement.
COVID, government restrictions put in place to contain it and protect public health, was fracturing communities across the country. It was a time marked by fear and isolation, loss in lives and faith in government for some, and restored faith for others.
Our public health system was delivering. President Trump helped speed up vaccine development. Our country was on the offense, if only momentarily.
Trust in our institutions, the fabric of our communities and society, had been fraying for a long time. A splintered media and political landscape, in Brooks’ words, spawned “two truths, and a different set of facts.’” COVID just accelerated it.
The Mar. 15 Make America Healthy Again ‘MAHA hat incident’ at the Durango Community Recreation Center (Herald, Mar. 19) brought to mind Brooks’ talk, which was billed as a conversation about re-building trust during a politically and socially tumultuous time, the urban/rural divide, and the importance of commitment to community.
Brooks responded to a question posed during the Q & A. We don’t remember the question but will never forget the answer.
He called conspiracy theorists “stupid.” The man who was preaching trust in one fell swoop insulted and ‘othered’ a group of people, presumably those with the ‘different set of facts.’
Because the packed house was on Zoom and not in person, it was impossible to get a read on how others’ reacted to that comment. It really hit home, demonstrating how little he really knew about building trust, especially in small communities like ours. Did others have the same adverse reaction? We’ll likely never know.
It was egregious to hear from a revered figure like Brooks, ‘a liberal’s favorite conservative,’ that he did not understand the golden rule of treating others as you wish to be treated. With respect. You cannot with any credibility on the subject of trust-building call someone stupid.
Do we really value diversity of thought and opinion or just color and gender? Do we know how to have a conversation with someone with ‘a different set of facts?’
Apparently not.
Bernadette Lake, working out in her MAHA hat, her first post-breast cancer surgery workout, didn’t deserve the in-her-face outburst from Donald Ratcliff. No one, regardless of (and really despite) what our president, or our former Congresswoman (for whom Lake worked for a short time), says or does, should talk and act like that.
Of course, a big part of the problem is that the left and right don’t see the behavior. Rep. Hurd and other Republicans are labeling, without evidence, peaceful demonstrators as paid protesters or participating in political theater. The First Amendment of our constitution codifies the right to peaceful assembly, and speech, including demonstrating outside of Capitol buildings and Tesla dealerships -- and wearing MAGA, MAHA, and Pink Pussy Hats.
Trump, Boebert, Taylor-Greene, and others have all normalized lying, denigrating and disparaging one’s enemy. Even having political enemies in the first place. Our politics have been broken for some time.
There are organizations working to repair this, both nationally and locally.
“Power to the Middle” says No Labels, Braver Angels wants to “Build a House United,” Restore the Balance (with a Durango Chapter) wishes to “Reject Political Extremism,” and Fort Lewis College hosts a “student-led movement for civic engagement” via its Political Engagement Project. (Herald, Mar. 29, 2024), La Plata Civil Dialogue and Listen and Learn also flourished locally for a time.
What we do locally in our everyday interactions matters most. As journalists, we know there is only one truth and one set of facts, but values differ as do world views, beliefs and opinions.
Start your next conversation with curiosity, active listening and respect. It will take the best in each of us to make the best world for all of us.
