President Biden Must Address the Real State of Our Disunion
It’s early in the evening. Your workday is done and you turn on the news. Ukraine has been invaded. The pandemic is abating. The Build Back Better legislation is stalled. The first African-American woman is soon to be nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court. Political leaders are in an endless partisan battle. You’re on a roller coaster of hope and defeat. As the drumbeat of polarization and negativity inevitably rises through the broadcast, you turn the news off.
Who can I trust? Who can I believe? Is our country falling apart at the seams?
You’re not alone. Americans across the country feel this same sense of disorientation: like we are trapped in a house of mirrors with no way out. Research from our groundbreaking report, Civic Virus: Why Polarization Is a Misdiagnosis, tells us that people from all walks of life, from every corner of this country, are caught in a perilous fight or flight response. Our anxiety is so extreme that our basic human instinct prompts us to segregate and separate—retreating to like-minded tribes or disengaging completely.
So, how can President Biden address our real concerns as this civic virus spreads?
Here’s how.
According to our study, people are experiencing a profound sense of loss of reality and control, leaving them dizzy, disoriented, and feeling helpless. Will the president speak plainly about what people are experiencing in their lives? Will he level with us that policy achievements or proposals alone cannot remedy what ails the country? Will he cut through the noise or add more to it?
Many political leaders and news media are manufacturing polarization to stoke division and advance their own self-interest, with social media helping to create and amplify these divisions. Will the president commit to lowering the temperature of rhetoric in Washington, DC, and seek common ground where possible? And will he directly challenge Congress to do the same?
The study found that people saw vivid examples of community action throughout the pandemic, but are uncertain whether these responses will last. Still, most people believe that change must start in local communities. Will the president make a direct ask for people to step forward, turn outward toward one another, and build on the positive community actions that emerged during the pandemic? Will he draw upon our innate capabilities to support one another?
People said while being an American is an important part of who they are, being part of America is complicated and strained for many. Will the president talk openly about how people with different lived experiences see America differently? Will he call on the American people to shape a future together based on what we share in common, rather than descending further into what separates us?
The research we did through 16 focus groups with Americans shows that divisions in the country are intrinsically about social and psychological conditions, such as fear, anxiety, and a lack of empathy and belonging. We are not polarized. Will the president speak to these deeper, underlying conditions? Or will he simply use this speech to tout his political achievements?
During the State of the Union, the president must call us forward. He must challenge us to stop the obsession with focusing on our differences, and discover anew what we hold in common. He must urge us to build on our shared humanity so we can productively deal with the real challenges that exist in our society.
We can no longer afford to wait for our political leaders to begin rebuilding this nation; this must start in our local communities. But we can hold them to a standard set by the needs of the American people.
You’re sitting at home listening to the news or reading something online. You start to succumb to the feeling that we cannot move forward as a society or nation. Conventional wisdom says we’re polarized. That’s both a misdiagnosis and an excuse for why we seem unable to address fundamental issues facing the country.
We have a choice here. Are we going to surrender to false notions of polarization and give up? Or will we commit ourselves to rebuilding this country? Mr. President, what will you choose?