Ultra Maga Co-Worker

[summer_in_TX]

64. So much of the practices necessary for democracy has been lost over the last 30 years.

Key habits and values are essential to democracy. If we are ever to have a democracy again, we need to find a way to regain them: the willingness to give others the benefit of the doubt, to be curious about the person and be willing to look for what has shaped their lives, and to find connections where we can. Another one that used to be relatively widespread and is now on the ropes is tolerance of differences.

My husband shared a quote from a NYT opinion piece by Ezra Klein that he wrote recently:

“Conversation is not a reward to be bestowed on those with whom we agree; it’s a necessary habit in a democracy. The point is not to find agreement so much as to deepen understanding. To talk with others is to believe in the possibility of change — theirs and your own. Whether you like everything that someone has said should be severed from the question of whether that person is worth talking to.”

What are some of the other necessary habits in a democracy?