James T. Brett: A plea for ‘civilizing speech’ in 2024

Regions of New England 1. Northwest Vermont 2. Northeast Kingdom 3. Central Vermont 4. Southern Vermont 5. Great North Woods Region 6. White Mountains 7. Lakes Region 8. Dartmouth/Lake Sunapee Region 9. Seacoast Region 10. Merrimack River Valley 11. Monadnock Region 12. North Woods 13. Maine Highlands 14. Acadia/Down East 15. Mid-Coast/Penobscot Bay 16. South Coast 17. Mountain and Lakes Region 18. Kennebec Valley 19. North Shore 20. Metro Boston 21. South Shore 22. Cape Cod and Islands 23. South Coast 24. Southeastern Massachusetts 25. Blackstone River Valley 26. Metrowest/Greater Boston 27. Central Massachusetts 28. Pioneer Valley 29. The Berkshires 30. South Country 31. East Bay and Newport 32. Quiet Corner 33. Greater Hartford 34. Central Naugatuck Valley 35. Northwest Hills 36. Southeastern Connecticut/Greater New London 37. Western Connecticut 38. Connecticut Shoreline

At the close of 2023, a pollster quipped that the state of our union resembled “mourning in America”… a sober sentiment about a turbulent year filled with relentless challenges and grievous perils as close as debates and disputes in our local communities… and as far away and yet as inextricably linked as the ongoing tragic upheavals in distant lands.

I would never turn my back on the past -- as we turn the pages of the calendar year -- for our past will always define, inform, and determine our future … the future that we will to need to face and address with renewed conviction, but also with a resolve that seeks to both break down walls and unwind the dispiriting display of uncivil discourse.

But the present moment – this new year – offers us an opportunity to start anew, to amend, to actually “look with eyes that see”.  To soften the heart…to sharpen both the mind and the pencil, and to fix what is broken.  To work to deepen the dialogue, to dial back the divisive rhetoric, to break down the walls of “us” and “them”.

What “we the people” need is civilizing speech for that is what makes us most human. What makes us most civil begins with respectful, open-minded listening – in our places of both labor and leisure.  Offering our better selves… our “better angels” … in thoughtful and thought-filled communities where attentive deliberations can help us clarify what is important to us as moral beings as we renavigate our very differences.  I know the tasks at-hand are many…and complex, often difficult, but vitally important.  I know too that my and our efforts won’t always succeed, but I also know we cannot stand aside.

For all my years invested in such fine company kept at the New England Council, within the charitable organizations of our states, with our legislative bodies, and powerfully and poignantly for me in my faith community, I have received such bountiful blessings, made such special friends, and have had my belief that we are “stronger together” affirmed many times over.   The work of the spirit and the will of good citizens can come together to produce revelatory miracles and great surprises.

On into the new year with renewed hope and optimism. 

James T. Brett is president and chief executive of The New England Council, based in Boston.

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