Resilience and the Political Process

Having the words resilience and political process in the same title seems a contradiction. The political process in this country in the last year has been anything but resilient. The unwillingness of many politicians to be flexible and to seek compromise around such issues as the deficit has shaken the confidence in this country of the American people and the world. Our position of leadership and respect has been shaken. Political opponents have been unable to come together for the good of the American people. Plans for restarting the economy and solving the myriad problems that are facing this country have apparently not been realistic, and actions to carry them out have failed.

This is a time when we need to be reminding those who serve us in Congress that flexibility and compromise, key components of resilience, should be primary factors in the political process. We desperately need team effort at this point in time and effective communication between those who may have differing points of view and may have strong feelings about them. We desperately need problem solving and communication, both individually and with others. Team effort.

Our country has weathered many storms, and the political process set up by the founders has worked. If we look with clear eyes at the past and our present, we can see what works and what doesn't. We need to value and reassert these skills and attitudes from the past. We need to remember and we need to remind the politicians representing us that connecting with others is better than isolation, that flexibility works better in most situations than rigidity. Communicating with others is almost always better than not talking, and acting on our values works better than acting on our fears.