Hope, Kindness, Action: A Review of “Beyond the Politics of Contempt”

One of the first things that struck me when reading “Beyond the Politics of Contempt” (due out in September) was the authors’ fervent urging that Americans return to kindness. That if we can accomplish the feat of reminding ourselves that we’re good people, and those who have a different political perspective, are good people, a lot of the political polarization we’re experiencing will diminish and everything else will fall into place. Namely, we’ll build relationships, find common ground and take action to solve the problems our country faces, whether at the local, state or federal level.

The authors then give us the actual steps toward achieving those goals.

“We need to find a way to turn the politics of fear and contempt into the politics of hope… America is not as fragile as it seems. We believe that, but it is up to us to live it and embrace it. If we don’t like what we see, it is our responsibility to act with a hopeful spirit.”

The authors are former Rep. Doug Teschner, R-NH, Dr. Beth Malow and Becky Robinson. All three are members of Braver Angels, a national nonprofit dedicated to depolarization through civil discussion. (You can view transcripts of my previous interviews with Doug and Beth, or watch the videos on the Vigilant Positivity YouTube channel.)

The authors don’t make any claims that it’ll be easy to return to a country where kindness is more routinely practiced, especially between people of differing political view. They go on to explain the many reasons why, such as the decline of community involvement overall, which used to provide people with a strong sense of purpose and importance in their communities. And because people no longer get together as often to problem solve issues in their areas, there’s a growing isolation among citizens, an emptiness people are filling by more strongly identifying with one political party over another. The authors address the success and prevalence of conflict entrepreneurs — politicians, political parties, journalists, media companies, countries like Russia and China — who purposely sow discontent and misinformation for their own benefit. They talk about a cultural shift in which bad behavior is not only accepted, but lauded, in a time of hyper-individualism.

“We are witness a deteriorating social dynamic with declines in basic manners and interpersonal skills. Adults increasingly model rude behaviors, which get passed down to children as normal. Bullying is severely impacting children’s mental health. Attitudes of entitlement, arrogance and narcissism also contribute.”

Yet after outlining the serious ills of our era, the authors get down to business by showing us what actions we can take to decrease societal ugliness and reinstitute kindness, which will help us pull together as citizens to insist that our political leaders act on our behalf, rather than their own.

“You have a lot more power than you think. Yes, there are conflict entrepreneurs and tech giants who play division to the max, but that only works if we let them. Change and moral awakening can start with us.”

To challenge us, the authors provide questions at the end of each chapter that are meant to help us examine our own thinking.

For example, the authors ask us to identify our values and think about how they apply to others with differing viewpoints. If we value relationships and family, why do we allow politics to interfere with both? How can we change our behavior so that our actions align with our values?

After laying out the obstacles, the authors offer a slew of tools we can use to shift our thinking from one of confrontation to that of cooperation.

Ultimately, the authors encourage all of us to change ourselves rather than try to change others. They tell us we already have the power to influence others, which we exhibit in our various life roles as spouses, employees, bosses, volunteers, parents, etc. By opening ourselves to new ideas, we can use that influence to engage others in order to learn where they’re coming from. By establishing those connections, we can build trust and teamwork with the goal of uniting the over 75% of Americans defined as “the exhausted majority” who have the power to drive change through action such as joining citizen-led bridge building initiatives that tackle issues at our local, state, federal or global level.

That means changing ourselves and learning to have respectful, but hard conversations:

“Sometimes you don’t have the time or energy for this hard work. You especially need to walk away if you feel physically or emotionally threatened. But if we always choose to walk away from hard conversations, we limit our potential for change and growth.”

In terms of information, the book is a treasure trove of resources for further reading; statistics regarding education, income inequality, peoples’ perspectives and other issues; anecdotes from the authors’ own lives that demonstrate various concepts; and lots of encouragement.

I thoroughly enjoy reading this book. More importantly, the authors did what they set out to do by providing hope and guidance for uniting Americans, despite our political differences, with the goal of taking positive action to exact change.

You can read a chapter for free.

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Definition of Common Ground Movement: placing your loyalty with other Americans, rather than any political party, and embracing the fact we have more in common than not.

Book Review: “A New Civic Path: Restoring Our Belief in One Another and Our Nation”

website: https://theharwoodinstitute.org/newcivicpath
amazon: (May 2, 2025) https://www.amazon.com/New-Civic-Path-Restoring-Another/dp/B0F7CHH1VX

Do you believe America can be saved from partisan divisiveness and policies that swing wildly in both directions, depending on who’s president?

Richard Harwood does, and as he states in “A New Civic Path,” he believes the answer lies in building the kind of belief and trust in our communities that can help lead to the concrete change necessary to draw us together and make our lives better.

Rather than be a step-by-step manual, the book adheres to its stated claim of being a manifesto, meaning “a public declaration of policy and aims.”

Richard is the founder of The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation over 30 years ago and has been working with communities across the US, especially those hardest hit by strife, including the tumult that followed the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. He’s written three other books in the same realm of civic rejuvenation and writes the Redeeming Hope Blog. The institute is a member of the Braver Network organized by Braver Angels, a nonprofit organization dedicated to depolarization through civil discussion.

What does “a new civic path” mean?

At first I wasn’t sure what Richard meant by “a new civic path.” I read on, hoping for a concrete definition, and I found myself highlighting one passage after about information and thought relevant to our times and with which I agree:

“Science tells us that we humans are wired to go together. We are social beings. It’s part of our DNA. We go together in all aspect of our lives—as partners, spouses, family members, and friends. We also do it as teams, collaborators, and organizations. Importantly, we are also meant to go together as communities. When we fail to do so, we remain divided and fragmented. Loneliness becomes more likely. Challenges mount and begin to look intractable… Combatting the whirlwind of negative forces in society required that we face them—and combat them—together.”

“Right now, people are looking up and seeing where we are in our communities and this nation, recognizing that this is not where we want to be.”

I came to understand that forging “a new civic path” means that we citizens need to reach out — to our local governments, as well as nonprofit organizations geared toward improving our communities — to start, and join, effective problem-solving efforts meant to cure whatever ills our communities.

Richard repeatedly emphasizes that we citizens are the solution; if, that is, we work together across partisan divides and take action, rather than just talk.

Through his work with communities across the US (see Current Community Initiatives) via his institute, Richard has developed various tools communities use to start the problem-solving process known collectively as the Harwood approach.

In the book, Richard writes that the first step is for us citizens to create faith that we can actually change our communities. The second is to build environments that encourage trust and civil discussion. Then we citizens can work together with the goal of solving problems such as homelessness, lack of affordable housing and childcare, etc.

Not an easy road

Richard admits that creating belief, trust and change isn’t easy and involves taking action, which in turn involves a lot of messy discussions that require us to listen and open ourselves to changing our opinions, outlook and new information.

Grief and patriotism

What I appreciated most were the section in which Richard addresses how communal grief and disappointment within our communities can suppress change. This about those of us who’ve experienced terrible tragedy, like a mass shooting, deadly flood or extensive wildfire. Or maybe our grief is in seeing the economic decline of our communities or a slow takeover of drug addiction and crime.

“When grief and grieving are not adequately addressed, they can turn into grievances… What’s more, when we are unable or unwilling to deal with our grief, when it morphs into grievances, we can easily seek to ascribe the source of our grief onto someone else. We can end up seeking to place blame or cast aspersions on others for things that live within ourselves. Others—sometimes even whole groups of people—become scapegoats, even enemies; often, we do not even know them… But productively navigating the grieving process is essential to being human and being in community with others.”

Similarly, Richard writes about the need to seek common ground toward a definition of patriotism that draws us together instead of tearing us apart. He writes more about the topic in a July 2, 2025, blog post, “What is Your Relationship to Patriotism?”

Conclusion: lean in

I enjoyed reading this book, not only to hear the kind of positivity I believe in, but also to get the pep talk necessary to get me searching in my own community for initiatives that emphasize working together. I’ve got my eye on a citizens committee that will be created to oversee the introduction of a new facility for homeless families.

My question for you

What projects have you worked on in your community? If none yet, what kind of issues would you like to help your community solve?

Ending quote

“I want you to step forward, lean in, and pursue a new civic path. this is how we can begin to reverse the negative conditions now tearing us apart and holding us back. We can do this. We have the power to make it happen.”

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