Madison is not D.C.

Being ‘in’ community will get us through these bleak times

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On the last day of 2012, after nearly 30 years as a career U.S. civil servant, I left government service. I was the executive director of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, responsible for managing the FTC’s operations. I retired when, instead of working to protect consumers from unfair and deceptive business practices, I spent most of my time preparing for a government shutdown. As one fiscal year ended and the next began, then-Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked the passage of bills to fund the government. Regularly, minutes before funding was due to lapse at midnight, Congress would pass short-term spending bills, but not before every agency had wasted enormous amounts of time, as required by law, preparing to shut down. Then, within weeks, the whole cycle would repeat.

Although the impasse ultimately gave way to passage of a longer-term funding bill, D.C.’s win-at-all-costs partisan political climate took its toll on me. In search of a simpler and saner life, I retired from U.S. government service and moved back to Madison, my hometown. Although Scott Walker — a politician who, in my view, was Trump-before-Trump because of his successful exploitation of the politics of resentment — was still governor, I almost immediately felt Madison’s warm embrace.

Today, D.C.’s political culture is worse than ever; the winds blowing from Washington are toxic, and buffeting everything. The federal government is in the midst of a prolonged shutdown, and the nation is deeply polarized. Although the polarization is felt here in Madison, there are stronger and more real currents here that give me hope.

Why do I feel this way? Madison has real, enduring community, and it is in community that we will find our way out of this most difficult time. I grew up in community on the west side’s Hillcrest Drive. I learned that neighbors watch out for neighbors, elders give out candy at the front door not just on Halloween but every day, and that, as my social worker mom often said, “Behind every door there are problems, and we should not judge.” Yes, this was in the 1950s and 1960s, but today, in my neighborhood on the north side’s Veith Avenue, it’s the same (except these neighbors are more inclined to give out dog treats than candy). We pick raspberries from our neighbors’ raspberry patch, throw a frisbee to our dog in our neighbors’ really big back yard, take soup to ailing neighbors, get together for happy hours, and everyone greets everyone. Our block is by no means politically homogeneous, but political differences don’t strain the bonds of community.

The sense of community in Madison isn’t just a block-by-block thing. I recently went out knocking on doors with the Northside Action Team, our local grassroots group that works to elect Democrats to state and national office, does nonpartisan voter registration, and organizes community-building gatherings like potlucks and happy hours. We weren’t promoting any candidates, but rather were out checking on our neighbors and asking them what’s on their minds.

Here is some of what I heard: One woman has taken a man into her home who cannot afford housing because of the cost of his medication. But for her generosity, he would not have a home. Several people expressed concern about neighbors who might lose health care because of Medicaid cuts. Other people talked about the high cost of food and are sharing the harvest from their back yard gardens with neighbors who are out of work. Everyone expressed some degree of dismay and concern about the state of our nation, but most also said they feel connected with their neighbors.

We had a community potluck recently, and invited Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway and County Executive Melissa Agard, also north-siders, to join us. We gathered at the Lakeview Lutheran Church, a church that welcomes everyone and runs a food pantry. When the mayor expressed concern about the impact of the government shutdown on WIC and SNAP funding, the conversation turned to organizing infant formula and food drives for affected families.

I am no Pollyanna, but from my life experience I know that when we stay grounded where we are and remain connected to our neighbors, when we invest in real community, our better angels prevail. It’s important to raise our voices in opposition to the harms emanating from Washington, D.C. But remember, as you read the news and feel your heart breaking, that it is more important than ever to deepen your investment in your local communities. That’s who we are here in Madison, and right now, it is more important than ever that we be Madison, and not Washington, D.C. This is how we will get through and get out of this bleak time.

Eileen Harrington, a lawyer, is a Madison native and resident who spent 30 years as a senior federal career civil servant in Washington, D.C.