How to Take Back the Public Square
I wanted to personally write to you at this critical moment in our country: our public square is being hijacked by the loudest, noisiest, and most divisive voices and groups. I believe deeply we must take intentional action to counter these negative forces taking over our public square.
Sadly, amid all the fear and uncertainty, too many people and organizations of goodwill are retreating to the edges of the public square. Each day, we all hear about such stories. Let’s face it: It is easier to operate at the edges where people can focus on safer agendas, meet narrower metrics, and fundraise.
But as people retreat, the noise enveloping us only gets louder and more divisive.
To push back, some groups fight harder—they feel compelled to jump into the battle, at times make use of fear themselves to gin up support and donations, and seek to win at any cost.
There are so many important debates that we need to have—let’s have them. Yet so many issues are being cynically framed to demonize others, distract us, and dominate public discourse.
We risk surrendering the public square to these competing and often corrosive forces. What results undermines the very health of our society. Kids continue to go without good schools. Our mental health crisis only grows. Loneliness spreads. Crime and safety get used as political props. The list goes on.
We cannot—we must not—surrender.
Making a difference requires getting real. This is no time for wishful thinking, or nostalgia about some bygone era. None of us alone can take on these forces. They are too big, too powerful, too insidious. We will get run over. But together, we can act. There is safety and cover and impact to be had by joining with one another. Based on 35 years of experience, there are proven key actions we can take. In short, we must:
Step forward to counter the negativity and noise. Commit to being part of helping a larger counterforce take root, and then grow and spread it like a positive contagion. What’s the alternative—just waiting? Things will only get worse.
Root our stand in people’s shared aspirations. Please, don’t make the mistake of taking on spurious arguments tit for tat, or trying to out-shout others; that will only add more fuel to the fire. Instead, reframe the public discussion to focus on what actually matters to people.
Build networks of people of goodwill who—amid their real differences—are still willing to discover those things that we do share in common and can get moving on them. We need to start where we can, and we need to start with others.
Generate small actions that unleash a larger chain reaction of actions and ripples that grow and spread. This doesn’t mean all actions must be new; let’s bring people in who are already doing good work and offer them a home with others.
Spread a can-do narrative that creates a new trajectory of hope for people. Communication is pivotal here—but it must be real, practical and authentic. Don’t hire a public relations firm to create yet another campaign that merely offers people more false hope.
Taking effective action will take time. There are no quick fixes. Holding endless public forums alone will not work. Just adding more noise into the public square will only make things worse.
Recently, I have been saying to people that we must run back into the middle of the public square and reclaim it. But this doesn’t mean rushing headlong back in without a strategy. That would be a huge mistake.
What I am outlining here is not some theory of change; I am more interested in how change actually happens. I have seen this approach work in community after community, over many years.
Like you, I want to be effective. Let’s join together with others of goodwill in our communities to take back the public square. It’s time to get moving. I want to hear from you: please write back to me to let me know your thoughts.