To the Editor:
The United States is experiencing a crisis of political polarization, lack of civil discourse and confusion about our national identity that many people fear is tearing our country apart. In our community, where yard signs say ” Hate Has No Home Here”, there have been swastikas drawn on school property, profane stickers about elected officials on public signs in Hopewell Borough and posts on Facebook that call fellow citizens a Nazi. This complex problem is driven by political, psychological and technological forces and the crisis impacts individuals, our community and our nation. It is dividing Americans in ways that fosters dysfunctional governance and threatens the future of our constitutional republic.
Mercer Me reported on April 24, 2026 (After 52 Weeks, ‘Democracy on the Corner’ Continues in Hopewell Borough) about residents who have faithfully gathered in visible demonstrations of resistance as a means to draw awareness to their cause and concerns about our federal government. The article stated that these gatherings offer “comfort, connection and solidarity among like-minded neighbors”.
For the same number of weeks that Democracy on the Corner has been protesting the Hopewell Valley Republican Association chose a different pathway to secure a better future for our country and our children. While it is less visible than Democracy On the Corner it is a pathway committed to promoting civic friendships and connecting across differences to work together with all neighbors to achieve shared goals. This effort hopes to unite members of our community (liberal, progressive, conservative or unaffiliated) who want to reduce toxic polarization, develop skills to change the way we engage with disagreements and differences and restore civil discourse and bipartisan politics.
We need both activism and meaningful dialogue to move our nation from unhealthy conflict to constructive change. Together we can work for a better future where American political institutions operate in the spirit of citizenship and common purpose, with vigorous policy debates and people treating each other with dignity and respect – even if we disagree on how to solve the complex problems we face as a nation.
Many Americans, sometimes called the exhausted majority, believe that there is far more common ground than what we see from observing our politics, our news, and social media posts from conflict entrepreneurs. Most of our genuine controversies do not pit a good argument against a bad one but instead they pit two legitimate values against each other. For example, one person’s safety versus another person’s freedom or community welfare versus individual rights. The question becomes how do we navigate the genuine tension between things we both care about? How can we shift from the need to win to a desire to understand? How can we forge a path forward where we engage in conversation and share viewpoints freely instead of name-calling, shutting people out, “us versus them” demonization, hate and even violence?
All movements for change start local. Hopewell Valley needs as many of us as possible to join together to help diminish the politics of contempt and division including elected officials, PTO members, religious leaders, faculty and staff at our schools and candidates in our Primary election. Author Jonathan Haidt calls this approach a “collective action response”.
To facilitate this positive change, the Hopewell Valley Republican Association sponsors a Courageous Conversations Book Discussion Group. Four high-quality books were selected that are intentionally bipartisan and written by reasonable authors. The conversational model provides a welcoming environment where everyone can respectfully discuss the concepts and ideas presented in these books. The first selection, Beyond the Politics of Contempt: Practical Steps to Build Positive Relationships in Divided Times (https://beyondthepoliticsofcontempt.com/) provides a roadmap to bring us out of the chaos and back to a civic culture built on kindness, dignity, respect, hope and gratitude.
The book discussion group follows a clear code of conduct (respectful dialogue, active listening, evidence-based discussion, inclusivity and safety, shared time, constructive disagreement) and operational norms (come prepared having read the material, stay on topic). The Hopewell Branch of the Mercer County Library has multiple copies of the book selections available for checkout. The next meeting is Thursday, May 21 (Chapters 7,8,9,10) at 7:00 pm at 7 Weidel Drive in Pennington. All are welcome. Future dates are Thursday, June 4th and Sunday, June 14th at 7:00pm.
A book discussion group won’t be highly visible on a street corner or have cars honking horns or people waving signs and dressing up as frogs in demonstrations of resistance. But it is happening here and the Hopewell Valley Republican Association believes it is important for the community to know.
Sylvia Kocses
Pennington resident and member of the Hopewell Valley Republican Association
