Welcome to the Civic Way journal, our quick take on the relevance of breaking news to America’s future governance. The author, Bob Melville, is the founder of Civic Way, a nonprofit dedicated to good government, and a management consultant with over 45 years of experience improving public agencies.
If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author... – Abraham Lincoln
On June 1st, the actor Johnny Depp won a defamation suit against his former wife, the actress Amber Heard. The jury, after finding Heard defamed Depp in a 2018 op-ed, awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages (judicially trimmed to the $350,000 statutory limit). The jury also awarded Heard $2 million in compensatory damages.
Depp reportedly spent over $60,000 on a celebratory dinner, but, in reality, Depp won little more than Heard won at the earlier trial in England. Sure, some lawyers won fame, some reaped bragging rights and all of them earned hefty fees. What did Depp or Heard really win?
The latest trial may have vindicated Depp and wounded Heard, but it did nothing for their reputations. Rather, it spawned weeks of salacious headlines. Excessive booze and drugs, erratic behavior, infidelity, domestic abuse allegations, a severed finger, bruises, human feces in bed. Their riches may last, but their careers may never recover.
What can the rest of us learn from this story of ego, decadence and rage?
When Depp and Heard looked at each other in court, they thought they saw the enemy. And, when they unleashed their lawyers, they hoped to destroy their enemy. They clearly detest one another, but their worst enemy never set foot in court.
After incurring millions of dollars in fees, the trial did not solve a single problem confronting America. We may have been mesmerized by the trial, but it did not improve our lives. And Depp and Heard may have thought they were acting on principle, but they were merely destroying each other. Their real enemy escaped unscathed.
Watching the trial, the parallels between the Depp/Heard brawl and the decline of American politics could not have been clearer.
Like Depp and Heard, Democrats and Republicans increasingly see one another as the enemy. In our highly polarized—and increasingly bitter—political climate, it is easy to lose ourselves in the day-to-day combat, moral grandstanding and name-calling.
In doing so, we forget two vital lessons: 1) the need to recognize the real enemy and 2) the best way to solve tough problems.
Who (or what) is the real enemy? You wouldn’t know it from cable news or social media, but our true enemy is not Democrats or Republicans, liberals or conservatives, left- or right-wingers, Biden or Trump, Warren or Cruz, AOC or Greene, Newsome or DeSantis.
Politicians come and go, and they aren’t as dissimilar as we often think. They tell us we’re doomed if we don’t fund or reelect them. They claim that only they can solve the problems. They stoke our fears and exploit our biases. They stir up culture wars and other tempting distractions. They convince us that our political adversaries are radical, evil and worse.
Many politicians, in their endless quest to seize or hold power, convince us to hate others for views they don’t even harbor. For example, many GOP politicians tell their base voters that all liberals want to abolish or defund the police. Similarly, many Democratic politicians tell their base voters that all conservatives are racists or fascists. The truth is that many liberals and conservatives want a measured approach to reforming law enforcement. On a whole range of issues, in fact, liberals and conservatives may be more closely aligned than they realize.
When we are distracted, we lose sight of the real enemy. It is not because of our cultural differences that our resources are depleted, our schools failing, our infrastructure decaying or our finances mismanaged. It is because (at least in part) that we have allowed our politics to distract us from solving those problems.
No matter who wins the lawsuit or election, the problems—our true enemy—remain. Climate change, inequity, racism, injustice, healthcare costs, failing schools, housing shortages, polluted water, power outages, broken government and rising public debt, to name a few. These are the real enemy, regardless of which politician wins or loses. These enemies lurk long after politicians and commentators leave the stage.
Knowing the real enemy is only the first step. We also have to know how to solve problems.
We certainly should know the best ways to neglect problems. Mudslinging—like calling liberals snowflakes or conservatives deplorables—is counterproductive. Chasing distractions may be entertaining, but a fool’s errand. Listening to a single voice confirms our biases, but rarely solves anything. Anger is an incredibly efficient emotion, but of little use for building consensus.
When our nation has achieved anything of consequence, it has done so most often through civil debate and measured compromise. Showing humility, listening to other views, respectfully debating differences and building consensus. Coming together to confront the issues, exploring and testing different ideas and then forging the best of those ideas into enduring solutions.
It is time to start expecting more—much more—from our elected representatives. Stop allowing them to manipulate our anxieties. Stop swallowing empty slogans like “Build Back Better,” “Put America First” or “Don’t Tread on Me,” at least without asking what they really mean. Stop letting them tell us what we want to hear. And stop giving them a pass every time they kick problems down the road.
Instead, let’s start electing politicians who are willing to confront the real problems facing our country. Who, by trying to unite us, put our nation first. Who, by abandoning tactics of distraction and fear-mongering, challenge us to think for ourselves. Who, by working across the aisle, show us all how to solve problems.
Let’s start electing leaders who are serious about fighting the real enemy.
Your Civic Way articles are right on. I'm pretty disenchanted with Washington these days and the elected officials who only seem interested in attacks , pointing fingers and pushing their own agendas. We need term limits and politicians who will work towards a common goal and find a way to compromise on key issues.
One of Bob’s very best! Keep challenging us, Bob.