Recommended Reading for Lovers of Democracy- “Save Your City” by Diane Kalen-Sukra
“How Toxic Culture Kills Community & What to do About It”
Democraticus- the Democratist Special Edition!!!
Democraticus is an eNewsletter is devoted to identifying what we Americans must do to improve our civic literacy in order to protect and sustain our democracy against the looming threat of authoritarianism, the greatest threat it has faced since the Civil War. From time to time, we will have special editions of Democraticus like this one to highlight an author’s works that I believe helps illuminate how to improve, preserve and protect democracy, inspires one’s love for it, as well as can improve our nation’s civic education.
It has been wisely said, that “all politics are local”.[1] So it makes sense that if one wishes to improve on our contentious political environment, a good place to start would be our cities, towns, and villages.
And, it has also been wisely said that “As a man thinks, so he is.”[2] These are time tested words that form the basis of Diane Kalen-Sukra’s book “Save Your City”. It is a book that is sounding an alarm. But more than just grabbing our attention, “Save Your City” provides us with viable thought-provoking alternatives to the toxic thinking that has enveloped much of our culture. Kalen-Sukra argues that these alternatives lead to a better way for all of us to live. At the same time, these alternative ways of thinking point us to a hopeful way forward for democratic societies to not only survive in the twenty first century, but to thrive.
For just as our thoughts form the core of who we are as individuals, so do our collective thoughts form our culture and in turn, make us who we are as a city, county, state, and nation. In “Save Your City”, Kalen-Sukra lays out in clear terms the self-focused thinking at the core of “toxic culture”. Further, she shows convincingly how we have allowed this defective thinking to infect societal culture both in the United States and Canada in ways that undermine our quality of life, our ability to live together peacefully, as well as erodes trust between each of us, and threatens our democracies.
However, the author does not stop there. She clearly articulates that the culture we have now is a choice. A variety of forces has created these toxic choices which we have selected in how we think individually. This toxic individual thinking in turn has changed our collective behavior, resulting in the current dysfunctional culture ravaging our communities and nation. But there is a better way. A better way that results in better choices. We simply have to recognize what those better choices are, where to look for them, and understand the enormous potential they have to transform both our individual and collective lives.
A Better Way to Live- Learning from Ancient Wisdom
Fortunately, we do not have to go far to identify what those choices are. Kalen-Sukra points out in Saving Your City that these choices been around for centuries in the form of civic values. These civic values came from Socrates and other ancient philosophers who influenced Western thinking on the value of democracy and the values that underpin it. Values such as justice, practical wisdom for making sound decisions, self-control, and social courage.
Kalen-Sukra goes on to provide a road map as to how to bring these civic values back into the public square in a way that provides demonstrable results by improving community governance and our public officials’ decision making. But most importantly, the author shows how these civic values, which rest on the foundation of seeking the common good over individual interests, provide us hope for a better present and future. Further, she shows how these ancient civic values create a real pathway for us to emerge from and eliminate the morass and despair that the trappings of toxic culture have created; trappings such as fear, competition, scapegoating, demonizing others, jealousy, and malicious gossip.
It does come down to our thinking, just as King Solomon wrote in Proverbs. Kalen-Sukra shows how we can harness compassion-based thinking by practicing civic values that put others and our communities first, thus transforming how we live. And this renaissance in civic values and civic education that Kalen calls us to can happen right now, if we choose to change our thinking and put that thinking into action. Saving Your City is a book that chooses hope, something we all thirst for.
The First Step: Change Requires Your Dissatisfaction with the Status Quo
Saving Your City by Diane Kalen-Sukra is a must read for all democratists. If you sense that there is something fundamentally dysfunctional with your community’s civic culture, this book can give you a tool and a way to go about changing it.
In addition to being an author, Diane leads Kalen Academy, an effort to reach out through on-site learning as well as e-learning for local officials to develop a civic culture that promotes values that underpin democracy. You can learn more about that here at: Kalen Academy | Renewing Civic Culture : A Guide to Human Flourishing | Charter for Compassion | Save Your City (dianekalensukra.com) And, you can learn more about obtaining Diane’s books at: Save Your City: How Toxic Culture Kills Community & What to Do About It: Kalen-Sukra, Diane: 9780228810872: Amazon.com: Books
[1] All politics is local - Wikipedia, a quote most often attributed to the late Tip O’Neill, U.S. House Speaker, although it did not originate with him.
[2] Proverbs 23:7