We had an amazing, empowering, and hopeful (!) discussion this week about how we can each make a difference in our own corner of the earth in revitalizing our democracy. Thank you to everyone who joined and participated! It was a great way to start off 2024 and I am very much looking forward to more discussions like that moving forward.
Here are a few references/resources which were mentioned:
The Upswing: How American Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again by Robert Putnam (looking at the parallels between our current political moment and the Gilded Age and how we can learn from the long upward arc from the “me” to the “we” that followed)
Combatting Cult Mind Control by Steve Hassan (this was mentioned by a participant in the office hours — I haven’t read this book but I do follow Hassan on Twitter and find him to have a lot of great insights into the MAGA movement)
This study showing a link between exposure to conspiracy theories and a decrease in civic engagement (I elaborate more in this piece for CAFE Insider)
I referenced the “emotional bank account” model created by psychologist John Gottman. I had planned to assign this piece I wrote for The Atlantic for my next lesson in a couple of weeks, but I apply Gottman to the concepts of social capital we have been discussing and how they relate to social media. (NOTE: I wrote this in 2017, when I was still naively hopeful about Facebook’s ability to do good. I deleted my account two years later.)
Thanks again for all of your great thoughts and ideas — please keep ‘em coming!
For some time I’ve been mulling over your emphasis on “social capital” and “emotional bank account.” Conceptually i agree with you. I’ve also been wondering what happens when “social capital” becomes counterfeit? Just as a counterfeit currency can undermine a nations economy, counterfeit social capital can wipeout the emotional bank account of a nations citizens. Lies, half truths, mis/dis information etc, floods the national psyche. Rarely a week passes that I don’t hear someone say, “I don’t believe anything anymore.” This transcends politics, it involves every aspect of our existence. The once firm footing of a reasonably factually based world has been upended to an extent never before seen in history. If “nothing is real, and anything is possible” embeds itself in a nations psyche, we will have entered uncharted waters.
Thanks for hosting the great discussion!
Couple links I referred to:
https://www.astartingpoint.com/about
https://www.educatingforamericandemocracy.org/take-action/
https://ncoc.org/about/