Can US political network Braver Angels cool America’s divide and bring the left and right together?
We spend an evening with the non-profit debate programme, where red and blue Americans gather to talk through their differences and learn to ‘get curious, not furious’.
On a balmy evening in Long Beach, California, Monocle grabs a spot in a beer garden, as a big TV screens an American football game and patrons enjoy happy hour. At one table, 10 people are deep in conversation. The topic moves to migration. “People on the right love immigrants,” says one woman. “They just want a process.” A man nods in apparent agreement. With the US midterm elections looming, it’s a civic-minded discussion.
These debaters are members of Braver Angels, which David Blankenhorn, Bill Doherty and David Lapp founded shortly after the 2016 US presidential election. Originally named Better Angels (after Abraham Lincoln’s plea to the “better angels of our nature”), it has since grown into a network of more than 100 local alliances that are active in almost every US state. The tenets are simple: red (conservative) and blue (liberal) participants are represented in equal numbers at every level of leadership, with the aim of challenging what researchers have labelled “affective polarisation” – the tendency to sort people into hostile camps. Conversations cover divisive issues from abortion to election integrity and taxation.
Susan Rico, who is 63 years old, organised tonight’s event. She became involved in Braver Angels after realising that she was having trouble connecting with friends and family members. When another of tonight’s conversations turns to the future of energy, she makes her case for nuclear; two guests insist that renewables alone can wean the country off fossil fuels. They eventually agree that change is needed – the left seeking solutions for the sake of the climate and the right for energy independence. “Conversations are watched by a trained moderator,” Rico tells Monocle. “It’s not often that things get sticky because members have agreed to our code.” Braver Angels encourages participants to “get curious, not furious”.
Tonight’s crowd is mostly aged 40 and above, and are from across the political spectrum. Michael Maxsenti is 76 years old and from Orange County; he recently rejoined the Republican Party after years away. He has attended Braver Angels events on and off for the past decade and says that it has helped him to mend some bridges, though not all – his godson stopped speaking to him on the day that he reaffirmed his GOP allegiances.
Nearby sits 46-year-old liberal Chris Cantrell. Fresh from watching the NFL game, he offers an analogy. “Imagine you’re watching the end of a close football game,” he says. “Fans in red are certain that the referee made the wrong call but fans in blue are certain that he got it right. You have the same replay but opposite verdicts. If your facts start changing based on your team, that’s a problem.”
It’s why Braver Angels exists: to turn down the political temperature in the US. As happy hour comes to an end, Cantrell reminds the group of the end of Lincoln’s speech. “I think it goes, ‘We are not enemies but friends,’” he says. “‘We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.’” Lincoln’s plea was not heeded at the time: civil war broke out shortly afterwards. Despite this, it’s impossible not to feel a little lighter as members shake hands and trade hugs – Americans of different political persuasions, determined to work together on solutions.
braverangels.org
Comment
In his 2011 book The Better Angels of Our Nature, Harvard professor Steven Pinker argued that global violence is in decline. Political polarisation, though, is certainly not. According to the Pew Research Center, eight out of 10 adults in the US cannot agree on basic facts, let alone conduct constructive policy debates. Let’s hope that Braver Angels can turn the tide.
