TRANSCRIPT:
When we think of the First Amendment, we think freedom of speech. Religion. Press. The right to peacefully assemble. But there’s a fifth right, buried at the end, that only 12 percent of us can name.
‘Petition’, or ‘petitioning the government for a redress of grievances,’, means complaining about the government to the government without fear of punishment, and with the hope that, as a result, things will change. This includes actions like writing and calling your reps. Attending town halls to speak to them face to face. Basic civic engagement built into our founding document.
It’s what the suffragists did, petitioning Congress and marching in the streets before winning the right to vote in 1920. Or the organizers of the March on Washington in 1963, who petitioned lawmakers into passing the Civil Rights Act the following year. Petition isn’t just nice, it’s how change has actually happened here. It is dissent that is not a threat to the country but a way to improve it. A feature, not a bug.
You may not feel very patriotic this Fourth of July. Pride in America has fallen to a 25-year low. Maybe it’s because we spend so much time arguing politics online with strangers, which is kind of pointless because no one changes their mind after getting dragged in the comments by someone they don’t know. If anything, they double down.
At the same time, technology has decreased our capacity for friction. Everything’s automated. If we want a burrito, shampoo, a ride to the airport, we tap our phone and it appears. We are spoiled, and social media makes this worse because now we’re being served things we agree with all the time. Reducing friction only serves to keep us on platforms longer, so we can see more ads, so we can buy more shampoo.
But the less friction we encounter, the more we can’t handle it. And that’s a problem since friction isn’t just part of our lives, it’s the core of democracy. The dissent before the change. Democracy is a government by majority consensus, and building that consensus requires engaging with those who see things differently. If we can’t handle friction, we can’t convince people to share our views and then…nothing changes.
But there’s an opportunity here. I don’t mean conceding points to those whose views are genuinely violent, or that we should minimize real threats. But it is easier to convince someone of something if they know and like you. A shared history is an opening. You’re not a stranger online, you’re a familiar face IRL.
I’m politically left-of-center, though I’ve voted for both Democrats and Republicans in my life. But if we take into account my family - aunts, uncles, cousins - most of them vote the opposite way from me, as do many of my college friends.
These people follow me on social media. They see my posts, but because I know them and they know me, it’s different. And if I don’t engage with them, where will they get a different POV? And the same holds true for them, with me. It’s more productive to understand why my uncle or former roommate feels the way they do than to attempt to pry it from a stranger on the Internet via text, from an account that may not even be a real person.
Today, we live in a dangerous world for many reasons. But one is that we don’t just have different opinions, which is normal, but different facts. That’s especially a problem on social media. When the business model is attention, and only that, accuracy takes a back seat to whatever gets you to stop scrolling. As a result, the other side is often reduced to a caricature.
I’ve had many people tell me that they’ve strained relationships with their family and friends over politics. And I get it. If someone doesn’t support your lifestyle or your identity, what do you do? I’m not saying people who are targets of bigotry themselves have to bear the responsibility of changing hearts and minds. But for those of us who do have the energy, and the patience, and the luxury of knowing people who like us, trust us, but think differently, it’s a moment to seize. Shared interests, experiences, memories - they’re a gift. We are leaving something on the table if we ignore those bonds. And if those people in your life don’t get counterpoints from you, where will they get them, if at all? If they do get them, will that dissent be accurately presented?
That is the real exercise of petition. Not just yelling into the void, but doing the hard work, closer to home, with the people in your life. So that dissent and pressure on our leaders is both real and growing. Just ask the suffragists. The Civil Rights Marchers. Friction, and dialogue, matter.
So on the 250th Anniversary of our founding let’s make a resolution: To listen more, be more open-minded, and be more curious.
Because if history has taught us anything, it’s that change for the better depends on it.
Happy 4th.
