Minnesota Can Change the Incentives

Over the last few decades, America’s tone has changed.

 

Starting in the 1990’s, polarization in Congress began seeping into the national discourse.

 

Many politicians found that demonizing the other side, casting their political opponents as enemies – not just rivals – was a winning political strategy. Fear and anger could be harnessed to motivate voters.

 

Changes in our media environment, from the rise of partisan radio and cable TV to the algorithms that now curate our social media echo chambers, drove and reinforced these trends.

 

The modern history of genocides and civil war underscores the grisly relationship between the demonization of swaths of humanity and mass violence. But one need not look to Rwanda or the former Yugoslavia. The throughline between violent rhetoric and real-world harm has been clear in our country, where political violence his risen in recent years.

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The June 14 assassination of Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, the shooting of Senator John Hoffman his wife Yvette, the terror aimed at and felt by their families and others in the legislature and community made clear that things have changed. No longer can we say, "that kind of thing doesn't happen here."

 

But while our state is not immune, we the citizens of Minnesota may yet hold the cure.

 

The vast majority of Minnesotans – like the vast majority of our fellow Americans – reject political violence.  

 

The challenge before us then is to turn that rejection into a vocal majority that calls upon leaders and elites across the political spectrum to reject incitement to violence, to reject the dehumanizing rhetoric that time and again motivates individuals to commit unspeakable acts.

 

Americans keep telling pollsters that we want our leaders to restore civility and find common ground. But, a fragmented media landscape that rewards outrage, a rigid two-party system, national elections decided by razor thin margins – all these and more incentivize the vitriol in our politics that is driving violence.

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Minnesota can change those incentives – and the change starts with the signing of the Civic Pledge for a Stronger Minnesota.

 

The Pledge obligates our political, civic and community leaders to abide by the higher standard of behavior that we all want to see. It commits them to place state and country over party and ideology, to seek compromise over combat. 

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And signing isn't limited to people with election certificates or who hold traditional positions of power. Every one of us can commit to working, shoulder to shoulder, to make our civic culture better. 

 

Signing the pledge will mark the beginning of a new phase of public accountability.

 

We, the people of Minnesota, will be watching. We will be there to lift up those who take the high road, and we will not hesitate to call out those who slide back into partisan vilification. This does not mean that everyone will get along. Our leaders, our political parties should reflect the positions and the passions of our people.

 

But we can engage in politics without casting each other as enemies.

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If we do our part, this broad civic movement – promoting the values held by the vast majority of Minnesotans – could turn “Minnesota Nice” into an ethos that protects our beloved state.

 

There are examples from conflicts around the world where specific communities promoted values,
where they upheld an identity, that saw them rise above the fray. The city of Tuzla, in the former Yugoslavia, resisted the pull of sectarian violence during their civil war. Residents of the city asserted an identity emphasizing that to be from Tuzla meant putting aside their ethnic and religious differences, it meant uniting to keep violence out of their community.

 

While the U.S. is not engulfed in civil war, Minnesotans can still leverage such examples to keep our state safe. We can assert that to be a Minnesotan in this moment means resisting the pull to demonize. It means not replying to the latest hot take on X. It means not supporting candidates for office who give in to their base instincts and tear down others to rise themselves. 

 

Nothing can erase the tragedy that befell our state last month. But over time, Minnesota has the potential to model a new standard of civic behavior, giving voters the kind of politics we say we want, while showing our nation a path forward.