CityView Magazine

48 | April 2020 Find a Little Kindness in Your Neighborhood BY DIANE PARFITT | PHOTOGRAPHY BY MATTHEW WONDERLY G O O D R E A D S I used to love a lively political discussion. Now I completely steer away from it unless I know the person with whom I am speaking is of a similar political persuasion. ere are so many topics we just can't talk about with family and friends anymore. What a shame this is! Politics is defined as "a set of activities related to the governing of a country, state or community." How can this be done without dialogue and debate? e lack of civility in this discourse has caused many to shy away from not only talking about it but stepping into the political arena. Civility is in jeopardy these days. Good manners in dialogue and debate about political issues have been jettisoned and are now reduced to yelling matches or the throwing out of petty one-liners by pundits or comedians. Politicians think nothing of denigrating their political opponents or fellow candidates and sometimes even the people who attend their rallies. Unfortunately, this seems to give permission to many people to emulate that kind of behavior. So, I started looking at books that address the problem of civility in our society today and also some that offer solutions to the problem. It was a comfort to read real ways we can move away from toxic dialogue to a more civil approach to the issues that affect our lives today. "110 Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation," by George Washington When George Washington was 16, he copied these rules by hand as an exercise for his tutor. Originally composed by French Jesuits in 1595, these rules may seem outdated today, but they still remind us to focus on other people rather than the narrow focus of our own self-interest. ese are manners that we all could well learn from and should be willing to practice for the sake of a civil society and living together in harmony. Many can benefit from reminders like "Reproach none for the Infirmities of Nature…" or "Show not yourself glad at the Misfortune of another though he were your enemy."

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