Terry Newell is currently director of his own firm, Leadership for a Responsible Society. His work focuses on values-based leadership, ethics, and decision making. A former Air Force officer, Terry also previously served as Director of the Horace Mann Learning Center, the training arm of the U.S. Department of Education, and as Dean of Faculty at the Federal Executive Institute. Terry is co-editor and author of The Trusted Leader: Building the Relationships That Make Government Work (CQ Press, 2011). He also wrote Statesmanship, Character and Leadership in America (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013) and To Serve with Honor: Doing the Right Thing in Government (Loftlands Press 2015).
All in Civic Virtue
If we used logic alone to decide our views on public policy issues, we should expect much less extreme partisanship. So there must be something going on below the level of reason and conscious awareness. There is.
The seesaw between personal freedom and social obligations has waxed and waned. The last fifty years, however, has seen an imbalance: the demand for more rights without a corresponding balance of social responsibility.
We can choose to live a life of gratitude, for both the gifts of love, beauty, and life we receive and for those we are privileged to be able to offer others.
It is easy to forget what is good in America. Negativity seems to sell much better, and the virtual world makes it so much easier to spread. But if we allow ourselves to believe that America is coming apart at the seams, we bring that reality closer.
When we twist morality to serve politics, we damage even more than individuals; we threaten the society upon which all our hopes for human betterment depend.
When disrespect flourishes on the national stage it trickles down into daily life. Our leaders in politics, the media, business, associations, and religion should be exemplars of the behavior we need to foster in civic life. Disrespect teaches, and its lessons are hard to unlearn. Respect is the only antidote.
The state of the "free press" is not the greatest cause for concern. Our ability to think about what it offers, without emotional and logical blinders, is what should worry us more.
Perfect institutions cannot be expected from inherently imperfect people. But our major, national institutions can be better. Strengthening them must begin with action to restore the primacy of moral values and ethical behavior in institutional life.
Those tempted to send nasty tweets or hurl hate at others, should think not just about how good it feels but about what good it does. Tearing us apart to save us is irresponsible. Freedom demands more.
A sense of humor today is essential for leaders, yet no one seems to think that politics and public life have a place for healing humor. By itself, it won't cure our ills, but it could be useful medicine.
Religion and politics share a joint interest - fostering healthy people, families, and communities. Yet religious values are often ignored in fostering or opposing political views.
Anger seems plentiful in America. While it has uses, it can be easily overdone, degrading our personal and civic lives.
Government workers, business leaders, financial titans and everyday citizens increasingly shout to politicians to "get off my back." Yet those politicians are often there because responsibility is not.
People divide across police lines, air waves and cyberspace. In so many ways we separate ourselves from each other, often loudly, sometimes violently. If this is not the America we want, we need to change.
Today, most Americans associate honor with military service but tend to view those who enter civil service as "feds" and "bureaucrats." They think "the best and the brightest" are or should be in the private sector. This is healthy neither for the nation nor the public service.
In society today, every group seems angry at some other group. Instead of collaboration we get condemnation. Welcome to tribal America.
In many other cases, the world is blurry before it comes into focus. By giving our opinion too soon, we harden our thinking and hearts when we would be better served by pausing to learn more.
It is worth asking if we are meeting the test of civic virtue George Washington set in his Farewell Address. Do we have sufficient centripetal forces in our public life to maintain what he called “union and brotherly affection.”
Americans hold many of their public officials in low esteem. Could the reasons include that they detect a lack of honor in those who serve them?
Market values, exemplified by the use of money as a key measure and medium of political efficacy, have gained increasing impact on how campaigns are run and on how those who are elected govern. Civic values need to play a larger role.
