Dear Friend,
Recent political events have a lot of us asking big questions.
“What is truly essential to democracy?”
“What fault lines do we see, and which should worry us most?”
Political scientist Robert Putnam reflected in an interview last week on the 25 years since the publication of his nationally acclaimed book, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. He sounded more concerned than ever about what he identified as the most urgent problems at the root of today’s civic and political crises — crises whose symptoms we see in a loss of trust in each other and in public institutions, and even in acts of violence.
Americans’ vanishing social connections to our neighbors, and the dire consequences for American society of individuals’ isolation, were new observations when Putnam first made them. Today, loneliness is recognized as a vast mental health crisis. The consequences of social isolation for our democracy are numerous, including peoples’ declining participation in civic life and the devastating rise of organized hate groups as dark alternatives to healthy connections.
But in the problem also lies the solution — and more than a kernel of hope. Connecting with others – especially with other Wisconsinites who have different life experiences, beliefs, or identities — can and does happen. And when it does, it paves the way for us to become more openhearted and trusting of all the different people with whom we share our roads and schools, our state and nation.
When we connect, we get happier! Through the happy social trust that human connection and understanding foster, our belief and our participation in democracy can grow stronger.
We just need to make healthy human connections happen.
And that is what Wisconsin Humanities has always done and is doing in new ways right now. In the next few weeks we will unveil two special programs as we focus even more resources on WH’s mission to strengthen democracy:
➞ Stand Up To Hate is a new WH program for youth and adults who want to make their communities great places to live for everyone. The program uses a WH-produced collection of stories about incidents of hate in Wisconsin communities to support thoughtful discussion.
➞ Our Wisconsin Humanities Fellows Community Powered program trains grassroots community leaders in humanities-based community-building. In September we will invite applications from people anywhere in Wisconsin who want to use our Community Powered training and resources to design local projects that strengthen democracy.
None of this would be possible without you. As we navigate this election year, please remember that supporting Wisconsin Humanities is an investment in our communities’ future and the future of democracy in our nation. Your contribution to Wisconsin Humanities ensures that we continue to bring people together and build a stronger, more connected Wisconsin.
Sincerely,
Let's build a stronger, more connected Wisconsin together.
