One of my favorite interviewers, Marc Maron, would ask at the end of frequently intense conversations on his long-running, now-retired podcast, “Are we good?”
The question was asked so often that it sometimes hung in the air less like an invitation to mutual closure and more like a moral and philosophical dare: Are we, deep down, good? And the corollary: Is it possible to be better?
You might hear elected officials like the governors interviewed in this Governor’s Cups issue refer to “the good people of this state.” Some individuals may earn the compliment “He’s good people,” which can vary in meaning from a respected member of the community to wink-wink, nudge-nudge code for religious or ideological alignment.
In one of three gubernatorial panel discussions themed around civility and mutual respect held on February 18 in the nation’s capital, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said the decline of community groups and the rise of social media are giving us fewer opportunities to find the good in others and more algorithmically determined, lonely pathways toward bad ends and bad behavior. “If America ceases to be good,” he said, “she ceases to be great.”
He, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and many others are part of a growing movement promoted by the National Governors Association called “Disagree Better.” I first encountered it a few years ago when covering the eternal rivalry between neighbors Kansas and Missouri. The goal is civility and openness to other points of view — perspectives that are allowed to exist side by side in an elysian space some used to call the common good. It’s a civic space capacious enough to welcome multiple perspectives coexisting side by side, in the same way that Mardi Gras, the Year of the Fire Horse and the beginning of Ramadan converged on the same day this year.
Good people are on my mind because in early March I’ll be visiting two Midwestern metro areas I happen to be fond of, one small and one large, to celebrate their economic development achievements recognized in the Top Metros stories in this issue. My colleague Ron Starner will be in yet another part of the country saluting a top-performing state, not long after delivering remarks to an East Coast state celebrating a high workforce development ranking.
There’s a good chance we will hear at least one reference to the good people of the territory uttered in every one of these places, even if they might be broadly characterized as miles apart on the political spectrum. But broad characterization is too broad from the get-go and too short on actual character. Ergo, it must be true that good people are everywhere.
But how do we find them? The only path I’ve found is to get to know one good person at a time. Doing so might even make us feel a whole lot better. So I’m giving it a go. Care to join me?
Here’s to more conversations ending with “Don’t worry. We’re good.”
