Twelve years ago, before the rise of the MAGA movement on the right and progressive protests on the left erupted in the streets, we found ourselves on the receiving end of a problem in Congress. The anger of our colleagues and constituents was growing.
We saw it in the red faces of our members at town halls. We heard it on the expletive-filled phone calls against Obamacare. We watched and felt the impact as burned-out, battle-weary campaign workers left their jobs. And most of all, we felt it in the change in the behavior of our members of Congress, as they turned away from one another and toward their own moral high ground.
Political anger is not a new phenomenon: the marble steps leading up to the House of Representatives chamber are still spattered with the blood of former Congressman William Preston Taulby, who was shot by journalist Charles Kincaid in 1890. The Old Senate chamber is where abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner was beaten with a cane by pro-slavery Representative Preston Brooks.
But recent events suggest otherwise: America’s slow-burning simmering simmer is threatening to explode if the heat isn’t turned down.
We were both in Congress when our colleague, Rep. Gabby Giffords, was shot at a constituent outreach event in 2011. One of us (Tim Ryan) was still in Congress when Rep. Steve Scalise was shot during a congressional baseball game practice in 2017. And now our politics have been hit by another violent incident, as former President Donald Trump was shot by an assassin, leaving one rallygoer dead and two critically injured.
In Congress, we came together to confront this rising tide of anger. Tim Ryan studied meditation and wrote a practical book about how mindfulness can reduce personal stress and provide a solution to many intractable social problems. His work showed us how to literally change our brains to be more resistant to anxiety by getting out of fight-or-flight mode. Steve Israel served as chairman of the Democratic House Campaign Committee and explored new ways to make canvassers and political activists more resistant.
We went to the Pentagon and learned that General Joseph Dunford, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had approved a study to introduce mindfulness training to two battalions. One battalion commander prioritized the practice, while the other didn’t. By comparison, the battalion that trained its minds as much as its bodies produced better-performing Marines.
If it worked in a life-and-death military environment, why wouldn’t it work in politics?
We both left Capitol Hill, but our collaboration continued. Last spring, we lectured together at Cornell University. One day, we offered students an elective on “Leadership Resilience.” They were guided through meditation and learned the fundamentals of Stoicism. We bought pizza and booked a small room on campus, hoping to attract 12 students.
To our surprise, nearly 30 people showed up, revealing a voracious appetite not only for pizza but also for new strategies for dealing with political unrest. The next day, we tried again: midway through the session, we gave the 70 students the choice to take a 20-minute break or participate in a guided meditation. We expected many to leave the room, but in fact, most students abandoned the break to calm their minds. These impromptu sessions were so well-received that we plan to organize an expanded series next year.
In the coming months, political outrage may reach levels reminiscent of the ’60s (the 1960s or the 1860s, take your pick). The American amygdala will be ignited and fired up, the fight-or-flight response will flare up. We’ll clench our fists and raise our middle fingers.
But there’s a better model: instead of fixating ever further on the left or the right, we go ever deeper within ourselves and explore the mind-body training that helps us transcend moments of anger.
We have also embraced the teachings of classical Stoicism, which helped the Roman Emperor, George Washington, and Nelson Mandela to navigate existential challenges with greater calm, and which can help you too.
No matter who wins this election, we must equip the next generation of leaders with the skills to make America peaceful again. There will always be differences among our people. Fortunately, our system is structured to allow for a deliberative process to find a path forward for America, not a Democratic path or a Republican path.
For our system to work, we must teach Americans to open their hearts and minds and handle conflict with civility. With so much junk bombarding our brains from the media we consume on our smartphones, we must remember that we control how we respond to it all. We must relearn the patience and deep listening that social media has taught us.
At Cornell, we are building a model for teaching young people the foundational skills of quality leadership. The path to a prosperous future begins with reconnecting young people to the wisdom and practices of the past.
Steve Israel Tim Ryan served eight terms in the U.S. House of Representatives representing New York and was Chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee from 2011 to 2015. Tim Ryan has served more than 10 terms in the U.S. House of Representatives representing Ohio and runs the democracy promotion organization We the People.
