A more flexible society?

Regardless of how you view the mid-term elections, one thing is clear: at the very moment we need a thoughtful and responsive government, we are going to get at least another two years of gridlock. Only this time around it will likely be far more intractable than the merely contentious previous two years. Just as the House failed to extend unemployment benefits last Thursday, the Federal Reserve downgrades their earlier, more optimistic view of the economic recovery in 2011. So, it looks like we're in for long sputtering haul with high unemployment and a government that probably will not be able to make the bold moves necessary to alleviate socioeconomic conditions for the poor (1 in 7 Americans).

With the government incapacitated, it is up to Americans to do what needs to be done. And we can do it. Many already are doing it. So here is my suggestion, polyanna-ish though it is:

Folks on the right, as mistrustful of government competency as you are, now is the time to get involved in the kinds of community efforts that will help lift people out of poverty. Your best public philosopher, Francis Fukuyama, wrote an entire book on the subject!

Folks on the left, bent as you are on social equality, this is an opportunity to put your lefty activist cred where your mouth is. Get out there and start an NGO to connect people with jobs, training, or food!

Seriously, the time for rallies and placards and partisanship is over. We are far from out of the woods and we need to work together to pull through this rough patch--or else it may turn out far nastier than any of us can envision.

Things you can do...

1) Volunteer at a food pantry

2) Volunteer at a soup kitchen

3) Donate to charitable causes that help alleviate poverty... anywhere

4) If you are a business owner, create a new job

5) Start or join a community garden

6) Volunteer to teach job skills (computer applications, welding, car repair, horticulture... anything)

7) Start an NGO to... secure low cost or no cost housing; find/create jobs for the jobless; teach skills; increase community involvement...

8) Buy stuff! Not on credit, not irresponsibly, not at the expense of your own savings, but stimulate demand for goods and services in your community - preferably from locally owned merchants (more of the money you spend will likely recirculate back into your own area, rather than getting siphoned off to Arkansas - apologies to Arkansan readers)

9) If you have a friend, acquaintance, ex-coworker, who is unemployed (and who doesn't these days?), then be a job-hunting buddy. Help them meet their own goals for application placement, acquiring new marketable skills, etc. And then take them out for a beer/cosmo at the end of a long week of job-hunting.

10) If you can't do anything - too busy, can't easily get around, etc., then go online and donate cash, clothes (often they'll pick up), or optimism.

11) If you don't do anything, then, at the very least, ease off the vitriol you hurl toward your imagined political rivals. It's not about politics anymore.

People on the left and the right have deep traditions of helping others. Whether through your church or your commune, get involved, and not just through the holiday season. We're not nearly through with the fallout from fall 2008 - the outcome depends on us.

"Helping Hands" illustration by Chris Kasch