A recent brainstorming exercise by more than 260 area residents, for just minutes a day, suggested we can in fact agree on ways to improve life in the community.
Local newsrooms, including the Akron Beacon Journal, are participating in the We Can Disagree! project, aimed at helping area residents tell politicians what really matters as this election approaches. Journalists hope to use input from this dialogue to hold candidates and officials accountable on the issues most pertinent to the community.
Participants were given an initial question to answer on the app Polis: “What is needed to help people have a better life?”
They offered more than 270 ideas and voted on each other’s, casting more than 17,000 votes. They were able to watch in real time as ideas and votes were collected.
The computer application grouped people by common beliefs, then identified which of the ideas were most popular across the groupings.
Key Agreements
Here are four statements with which at least 90% of all participants agreed:
- “We need leaders who we can trust to address complicated issues for all of us rather than divide us.”
- “We are concerned about jobs for the future.”
- “We need mental health care for police for their tension, PTSD, ability to engage constructively.”
- “We need to work for peace in our homes … and the world.”
Here are four others that at least 70% of all participants agreed with:
- “More people talking to one another, face to face.”
- “Healthy food within easy traveling distance.”
- “Police and community to work together.”
- “Affordable and safe housing.”
Understanding Differences
The computer application picked up on a main difference between groups, defined by two main beliefs:
- The belief that we have assured reasonable equal opportunity − people just need to work hard to achieve their goals. This is often referred to as “meritocracy.”
- The belief that some people face hardships that impede on their attempts at hard work. “Equity” is often used to describe this belief that the community ought to level the playing field.
Admittedly, the current survey results do have limitations. People under the age of 40 are grossly underrepresented, and to a lesser degree, so are people of color. We continue seeking diverse participation that more accurately reflects the population in our community.
What is encouraging: Polis illustrated significant agreement among the two emergent groups.
The Next Steps
Now that we have landed on some shared values, let’s not stop here. We pushed people’s responses into artificial intelligence and asked it to make categories our brain can handle. We added our own insights to arrive at these eight categories needed to help people have a better life:
- Economic security and opportunity
- Health and wellness
- Housing and community infrastructure
- Education and lifelong learning
- Social cohesion and diversity
- Public safety and justice reform
- Civic engagement and responsible governance
- Environmental sustainability and energy innovation
Does this sound right to you?
All eight are important and work together for a better life. But let’s pick one and go deeper.
We’ll begin with “economic opportunity and security,” which involves so many of the ideas submitted by participants.
Can we explore deeper to find even more agreement? The kind of agreement that results in peace in our families and world? The kind of agreement that tells politicians how they can address complex issues for us instead of divide us?
Join the next conversation by visiting pol.is/9bvrbxpb4m and answering the question: “What can leaders, organizations or individuals do – or what are they already doing – to create more fulfilling jobs in Northeast Ohio that allow more of us to get ahead in life?”
We’ll compile results, share them and dig deeper still. Yes, we CAN disagree, and we can still create meaningful change!
More About We Can Disagree!
Partners in the We Can Disagree! project are the Akron Beacon Journal, Signal Akron and Ideastream Public Media and Fighting to Understand, a Northeast Ohio nonprofit with experience designing and holding difficult conversations.
The Akron Bar Foundation and Akron Community Foundation are funders of this project.
The project uses Polis to regularly pose thought-provoking questions that foster community conversation and help find common ground.
Questions can be emailed to Ted Wetzel, ted.wetzel@fighting-to-understand.us, or Doug Oplinger, oplingerdoug@gmail.com.
We want to hear from you: What do you need to have a better life? | Cheryl Powell
Ted Wetzel is founder and executive director of Fighting To Understand, a nonprofit organized in 2019 for civic education. Doug Oplinger is a retired Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist with the Akron Beacon Journal.
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