By Paul Roberts / For The Herald
The midterm elections are finally over and the results have been certified. In a close race democracy won and chaos lost, but it was too close for comfort. Democracy is not out of the woods. Some election deniers and conspiracy theorists continue spreading misinformation, sowing doubts and claiming voter fraud without evidence.
Thankfully, a majority of voters said, “Stop!” Stop the misinformation and stop open hostility to facts and reality. The promoters of the big lie lost in almost every election across the nation. In Washington state examples include the 39th District Legislative race, and the 3rd and 5th Congressional Districts.
The midterms may be over, but the nation and our communities remain deeply divided. Bridges are needed to bring our communities together, and building them requires character, ethical standards and reliance on fact-based information.
Character is the cornerstone for building the kinds of bridges that strengthen communities, rebuild trust and bring people together. Its attributes include honesty, respectfulness, responsibility, kindness and caring. These are values we teach our children. To paraphrase Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., judge people not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. If someone is honest, respectful, responsible, kind and caring, we are more willing to engage with them and can more easily extend our hand across the political divide.
There are great examples of organizations dedicated to building character and bridges in Snohomish County including: Leadership Snohomish County, the Volunteers of America’s Dispute Resolution Center, the YMCA, the YWCA, churches, Scouting — both boys and girls — and service organizations.
Ethical standards are exemplified by Rotary International’s Four-Way Test. Rotary International is a service organization comprised of business and community leaders whose mission includes promoting integrity and understanding. They are apolitical by design. Their test provides a useful framework for ethical standards and building trust.
There are a number of Rotary clubs in Snohomish County, all of which subscribe to “The Four-Way Test of the things we think, say or do:
• Is it the truth?
• Is it fair to all concerned?
• Will it build goodwill and better friendships?
• Will it be beneficial to all concerned?”
Healing a divided nation requires character and the ethical and fair process expressed in Rotary’s Four-Way Test.
Most importantly, we must rely on fact-based information. Timothy Snyder, professor of history at Yale University, writes in his book “On Tyranny,” “To abandon facts is to abandon freedom. If nothing is true, then no one can criticize power, because there is no basis to do so. If nothing is true, then all is spectacle.”
We see this in expressions of open hostility to verifiable facts such as certified election results. Misinformation is repeated again and again, often through social media, sowing seeds of doubt and mistrust.
Verifiable facts are the foundation of building understanding and trust. The institutions of science, law and journalism all incorporate procedures to document and verify facts. These institutions are not perfect, but they all have procedures to test and verify assumptions and information with a bias toward facts.
Scientific methods have been developed over centuries to observe, measure, test and modify assumptions, including peer review for publications. Law incorporates standards of evidence and documentation of proof and facts. Journalism incorporates standards and procedures to find and report facts accurately and independently with ethical standards practiced by all legitimate news organizations.
The internet and social media have no such standards or practices. The social media business model is driven by clicks and advertising. They are rightly criticized for supporting, and in some cases promoting, misinformation and hateful content.
Mending a divided nation requires the courage to reach out to others with whom we disagree and develop human relationships. It requires active listening. When we get to know someone, it’s harder to demonize them. With the tools of character, ethical standards and fact-based information, building bridges is possible. If we value relationships and community more than we value ideology, we will be successful.
Paul Roberts is retired and lives in Everett. His career spans over 50 years in city planning, public works, transportation and environmental protection in both the public and private sectors. He served on the Everett City Council from 2005 to 2021.
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