From their first days on this continent, European settlers set aside land for common use – for grazing livestock, drilling militias or burying the dead. But as more newcomers arrived, historians tell us, so did tensions over whose cattle and sheep might get priority. So communities converted their commons into parks. Boston Common is the prime example; it’s often called America’s first city park.
These days “common ground,” as a term for the space where we can find shared footing, remains something we consider desirable. But instead of arguing over whose cows get the sweet grass, Americans seem unable to find common ground on issues like gun ownership, abortion and immigration. We are a divided people, we’re often reminded.
Yet a Georgetown University poll last year found that while U.S. voters want politicians to stand up for their ideals, more than two-thirds of us prefer leaders who are willing to compromise to get things done. That’s surely good news for Joe Biden, who argued from the start of his White House campaign that he could move the country forward by choosing compromise over confrontation. And by getting a divided Congress this spring to agree to raise the debt limit, Biden might have won some grudging appreciation from a cantankerous electorate.
But where can we find common ground going forward? Only a quarter of us think there’s common ground between the parties on abortion, according to Pew Research studies this year; less than a third see any common ground on gun control and immigration, and only 44 percent say there’s inter-party understanding at any level on climate change.
And we hardly ever see politicians even dealing with those issues, because they’re too busy attacking the other side about less relevant stuff. Yet the resolution of the debt crisis offered a glimmer of hope that America can rebound from the nearly catastrophic reign of Donald Trump – and that the federal government might function effectively again, as it did pretty well for the first two centuries after our Constitution was adopted. Can we yet save our democracy?
Two key factors may determine the answer to that question: First, whether each side even talks to the other side regularly; and second, whether there’s a way to handle the disputes that seem unlikely to be resolved, which loom large when you listen to the likes of Marjorie Taylor Greene and Elise Stefanik in Congress, who posture as purveyors of incessant anger and negativity.
How do we change that scenario? Here’s a clue: Recent research from University of Texas communications scholars found that people who frequently discussed politics with those on the other side developed views of their opponents that were less negative. That’s even through some tough conversations with sharp differences. Familiarity, in this case, seemed to breed respect more than contempt. We need to talk to each other more.
But let’s not be Pollyanna-ish here. There are some situations involving some players where conversation and negotiation are all but impossible. That’s where it’s important to understand a different kind of ground: namely, the sort that directs excess electricity to the ground in any electrical system. Grounding limits the voltage of any electrical surge by redirecting the charge; it is essential to ground electricity in your home, for example, to protect anybody using electricity from a shock caused by a surge – a lightning strike, say, or a power plant accident.
In the political realm, we likewise need to be able to turn the most potent charges to the ground. Extremists’ views have coursed through our political system in recent years, charged by Donald Trump’s negative energy. That sort of extremism must be redirected – and defeated, one campaign at a time – so that its power is dissipated. When voters get fed up with the willful antagonists and instead support those who want to make government work again, we might begin to see more of the sort of compromises like the debt limit agreement, which averted a global financial crisis.
Please, don’t imagine that’s not possible. We can’t give up on that sensibility, because we only venture forward if we’re armed with hope. So we must search for common ground.
One of America’s most prolific 19th century writers, William Alcott, writing in 1838 about the evolution of the colonies’ common lands, noted that a community’s shared space could improve what he called “the moral tone and tendency” of the citizenry. Alcott wrote of common ground as, in his words, “a means of promoting the public cheerfulness, the public taste, and of consequence, the public happiness.”
That’s no less true of the figurative common ground that we have to hope Americans can find with one another – and that we must work to acquire.
Rex Smith, the co-host of The Media Project on WAMC, is the former editor of the Times Union of Albany and The Record in Troy. His weekly digital report, The Upstate American, is published by Substack.
The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.