Sunday, May 16, 2021

Healing the Heart of Democracy: The Courage to Create a Politics Worthy of the Human Spirit - Parker Palmer ----------------- 3 Stars


I've had Healing the Heart of Democracy: The Courage to Create a Politics Worthy of the Human Spirit, on my "to read" list for about 5 years. For some reason, I felt like now was the time to take it on; honestly, I regret it a bit but will try to keep that faith.

A bit of background, Parker Palmer's The Courage to Teach , is one of my favorite books about teaching and education. In it, Palmer makes such a strong argument about the importance to teaching from a place of passion and understanding yourself fully before you enter the classroom. Knowing this book would be similar, with an expressed purpose to focus on politics, I thought I might enjoy. Also importantly, this book was written in 2014, pre-Trump (I'll come back to this later).

What I had forgotten about Parker Palmer is just how passionate and motivational his writing is. Unfortunately, what I also forgot about is how naive it sometimes comes across. This book, even more so than his past. While I love the arguments and suggestions he espouses throughout his writing, after spending the last four years with Trump, they seem more unrealistic than ever. While I do recommend people read this book (because. honestly, if the whole world followed what he suggests, the world would be a much better place), it's important to realize just how unlikely people will follow him. Much of it is based on being more open to listening to others, rejoining community and religious gatherings, and putting more emphasis on democracy in our individual lives.

Like many of Palmer's writings, it can be slow to read at times and repetitive. While I absolutely LOVE what he shares and wish everyone would read this book, I do admit that's it hard to stay engaged throughout the whole book and, as I mentioned above, hard to take some of his thoughts seriously. Sadly, that's the current state of democracy in our country. We can only hope that we are able to heal the heart of our democracy and country, and reading this book is a great way to start!


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