Eleven Principles for Our Times

By Jon Nowick

The last round of elections and recent polls suggest challenges for Republicans this November.  Growing political rancor also raises questions about our country’s direction and the future of our democracy.  As a lifelong registered Republican and independent-minded voter, I offer a few thoughts for our leaders about how to make America great and keep it great: 

1. Show Respect. Restore civility to public life by treating friend and foe with decency.  Refrain from labeling, name-calling, belittling.  Set an example for our children. 

2. Promote Unity. Seek solutions that bridge the political divide—or at least are palatable to the various sides.  Downplay culture wars.  We’re all Americans and all in this together. We need our elected officials to broker deals, starting with lasting budget agreements. 

3. Uphold Legal Norms. Our forefathers signed on to a Constitution, independent institutions, and separation of powers and of church and state.  Maintain them. Avoid retribution, redistricting, and attempts to curb free speech.

4. Manage the Immigration Issue. Secure our borders while creating a citizenship path for immigrants who obey laws and contribute to our economy.

5. Reconcile With Our History. Acknowledge past injustices—against Blacks, Native Americans, women, etc.—and then help us move on together to a better future.

6. Limit Federal Power. Follow conservative Republican principles of respecting state and local prerogatives.  Curb Federal intervention in local law enforcement and election processes and the imposition of educational and cultural norms.

7. Restore Economic Life. Offer financial incentives to revive growth in disadvantaged economic sectors and zip codes, whether in rural areas or inner cities, rather than tariffs that can hurt consumers, farmers, and businesses.

8. Keep Our Cutting Edge. Restore research funding that has put us in the vanguard of scientific, medical, economic, and military progress and been the world’s envy.

9. Protect Us and Our Environment. Come to an understanding about protecting our environment and managing climate change.  Mitigate the adverse weather increasingly hurting us and our economy, especially in such red states as Florida, Texas, and the Carolinas.  Reclaim the mantle of conservationism worn by President Theodore Roosevelt and other Republicans.  Cherish our sacred American land.

10. Keep Our Global Reach. Hold close our friends and allies, who give us a buffer and enlarged footprint. Earn their trust by showing respect and consistency, and by placing common strategic interests over transactional deals.  Restore funding to USAID, Voice of America, and other agencies that enable us to do good and compete for hearts and minds.

11. Be Humble. Recognize that no person or party has a monopoly on truth and that to govern well we need to learn from one another. 

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Jon Nowick is a resident of Bethesda, MD