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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

Building trust in communities...one person at a time

Betty Firth
Posted 1/23/25

There is a LOT going on in this human space between heaven and Earth as Donald Trump becomes our 47th president. Emotions are rampant, whether despair or jubilation, anticipation, or angst. I imagine …

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Building trust in communities...one person at a time

Posted
There is a LOT going on in this human space between heaven and Earth as Donald Trump becomes our 47th president. Emotions are rampant, whether despair or jubilation, anticipation, or angst. I imagine social media posts are exploding, but I choose not to venture in that direction. You can almost feel this week’s sub-zero atmosphere filled with human static, even without any electronic gadgets: “What’s he gonna’ do? What’s happening? How do I/we prepare for what’s happening next?”
A variety of somewhat random resources have come to my attention that are interwoven in their focus on our current social milieu, converging into similar conclusions about the importance of our connections to each other in what are called “healthy communities,” where people can feel protected, respected, and connected to others in an environment of collaboration and trust.
“Thank You for Being Late, An Optimist’s Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations” is a book written by Thomas L. Friedman, a three-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his work at the New York Times. He takes on the task of examining and explaining the causes and effects of the major forces affecting our lives in the 21st century, which have resulted in changes happening at a dizzying speed, often leaving us feeling disoriented, overwhelmed, and off-balance. Some people are exhilarated by the pace, many react with stressed-out exhaustion, and some with despair and hopelessness, but I don’t think there are many who don’t notice. He points out that the three planet-wide forces of technology, globalization, and climate change with biodiversity loss are all accelerating exponentially and transforming the workplace, politics, geopolitics, ethics, and community, which he takes over 300 pages to explain, so you’ll have to look that up on your own. For now, just know that we’re in the middle of that, trying to stay grounded and keep our balance.
Friedman grew up in St. Louis Park, and the last hundred pages of his book take us to Minnesota to examine a phenomenon that he was part of, which he believes gives us clues for the present. His grandparents and many other Jewish immigrants along with a large Black population settled in North Minneapolis around the turn of the century, one of the few places they could find housing. Blatant discrimination in the Minneapolis area at the time, more so than in St. Paul, denied them housing, jobs, and access to social, recreational, and service clubs.
After World War II, with improved finances, his parents’ generation was able to move out of the urban core, which they did en masse, to the newly developed township of St. Louis Park, where starter homes on smaller lots were readily available to Jewish buyers. So, Friedman grew up in this small town with many relatives and friends who were part of a well-connected network, attending the public and Hebrew schools together through twelfth grade. Not welcome in gentile country clubs, they built their own golf club, Brookview, a community nestled within the broader community, where the members put on plays they wrote and had family talent nights, summer Sunday dinners and bingo games, a swim team, a bowling league, and a poker club, which accumulated all the winnings to go on vacation together.
From the late 50s to the early 70s, a surprising number of very accomplished individuals who became famous in their chosen fields grew up in the St. Louis Park area, approximately 10 square miles, with only 45,000 residents. They included: movie directors Joel and Ethan Coen; political scientist Norm Ornstein; senator and former comedian Al Franken; classical guitarist Sharon Isbin; drummer for Prince, Bobby Z (Riven); Chicago Bears head football coach, Marc Trestman; feminist historian Margaret Strobel; Grammy winner songwriter Dan Wilson; best-selling author Peggy Orenstein; environmental journalist Alan Weisman; author Pete Hartman; Harvard professor and philosopher Michael Sandel; Oprah’s favorite interior designer Nate Berkus; and the author, Thomas L. Friedman. All either grew up in St. Louis Park or went through its public schools and/or the St. Louis Park Hebrew school in that fifteen-year span. 
Friedman does not claim to understand everything about the dynamic that unleashed all this human energy in one place and time, but he thought it had something to do with the spontaneous combustion that happened when a new generation of American Jews was thrown together with a bunch of progressive Scandinavians in one little suburb. He said, “If Israel and Finland had had a baby, it would have been St. Louis Park,” which from the beginning had a pluralistic, welcoming attitude and developed a unique liberal and collaborative culture, different from the surrounding towns.
St. Louis Park had the ingredients of a healthy community, where people felt protected, respected, and connected. He describes the town as a microcosm of the ordinary miracles that make America what it is at its best, and which we are going to need more than ever to build communities that can both ground and invigorate their citizens in the age of accelerations. Friedman says he is “always looking for Minnesota, looking for ways to recreate that spirit of inclusion and civic idealism.” Not coincidentally, the Minnesota political environment at the time of this demographic blip of human excellence was shaped by the likes of John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Orville Freeman, Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale, and Donald Fraser, who worked to promote education, labor, civil rights, and economic measures through their many years of public service. 
The movie “Join or Die” describes Robert Putnam, author of “Bowling Alone” compiling acres of data about community dynamics when Italy revamped its governmental structure, creating new regional states, providing an opportunity to compare the various states’ successes and failures. He saw a marked difference in successful regions: the people had trust in their government and they participated. His research in the U.S. showed that decreased trust and participation in government and political activities mirrored the decreased membership in organizations of all kinds: churches, service clubs like the Elks and Kiwanis, social clubs like the VFW., and recreational clubs like bowling leagues with a parallel increase in polarization and distrust of other people, particularly those with differences in culture, race, and beliefs. He concluded that a major factor in the social dynamics is that people are doing more activities individually and in look-alike groups, participating less in activities that allow them to get to know and trust people with different experiences, perspectives, and cultures.
Friedman contends that we don’t need to complicate it; that we need to adhere to the Golden Rule, which is found in some form in every major religion. Beyond that, he urges that we not only do unto others, but do with others by joining hearts, souls, and hands to build the trust and values essential for healthy communities. President Jimmy Carter’s creation of and work with Habitat for Humanity is a perfect example of this in action.
Dov Seidman, CEO of LRN, advises global businesses on ethics and leadership and emphasizes the need to take the time to build trust. He states, “Our ability to forge deep relationships––to love, to care, to hope, to trust, and to build voluntary communities based on shared values––is one of the most uniquely human capacities we have, the single most important thing that differentiates us from nature and machines.” 
How healthy are our Range communities? We’ll take a look in future columns.