Author Archives: Peter Levine

on giving solicited advice

I think many people deeply want to be asked for advice. This is a way to influence the world, to put one?s own stamp on things, to express oneself, to gain standing and self-respect– all without coercing or bribing people.

Hannah Arendt argued that ?politics?–debating policies with other people–was not just necessary; it was a positive good. ?In acting and speaking, men show who they are, reveal actively their unique personal identities and thus make their appearance in the human world.? To have beliefs is to be fully human. Yet unless we argue publicly for our positions, Arendt said, we can possess only shadowy, inarticulate views. For Arendt, the paradigm of ?politics? was a competitive struggle to get one?s opinions endorsed by the community. I think that answering a request for advice is an even better way to express oneself and find oneself.

I realize that we sometimes ask people for advice for dubious reasons. For example, we might ask a potential funder in order to glean information about how to win a grant, or we might ask a professor in order to flatter him and get a better grade. These are more or less corrupted forms of dialogue. But there are also many occasions in which both the soliciting and the giving of advice is genuine.

At the risk of sounding like a self-help book, I think there are ways to encourage people to ask you for advice:

  • When asked, give thoughtful advice.
  • Do not oversell what you know. Be very quick to admit ignorance.
  • Rarely give unsolicited advice. Indeed, don?t talk much at all when there?s limited time for other people to speak.
  • Show up and listen. That way, you will know what?s going on, and also you will be there to be asked.

    • The Jane Addams School for Democracy

    The Jane Addams School in St. Paul, MN is important to me. In the summer of 2001 (when it was 102 degrees in the Twin Cities), I visited the school. As on most nights, there were scores if not hundreds of people present: mostly college students and neighborhood residents. The majority of people who live in St. Paul’s West Side are new immigrants and refugees (Somalis, Hmong, and Latin Americans). I observed a staff meeting and then participated in a project, the “Hmong Circle.” We tutored Hmong immigrants to take the Federal citizenship test, and in return they told us about Hmong culture. I was so impressed with the buoyant, democratic, creative spirit of the place that I decided I wanted to start something similar in Maryland. When I found partners with similar motivations, we created the Prince George’s Information Commons.

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    what does it mean to be “civic”?

    I spend most of my time in and around groups and institutions that have explicitly ?civic? goals: CIRCLE, the Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools, the National Commission for Civic Renewal, the Kettering Foundation, and the National Alliance for Civic Education?to name just five. Civic rhetoric seems to be spreading and deepening. But what does it mean to be ?civic? today?

    Good citizens care about issues and debates?often passionately. They want to save unborn children or to defend women?s reproductive freedom, to rescue the environment or to promote growth, to achieve world peace or to punish America?s enemies. These are matters of life and death, so naturally we want our positions to win, and we are entitled to fight for public support.

    But a civic attitude begins when we notice that a great democracy is always engaged in such debates. It matters not only which side wins each round, but also what happens to the nation?s public life over the long term. Are most people inclined to participate in discussions and decisions (at least within their neighborhoods and schools), or are many citizens completely alienated or excluded? Do young people grow up with the necessary skills and knowledge to allow them to participate, if they so choose?

    Do we seriously consider a broad range of positions? Do good arguments and reasons count, or has politics become just a clash of money and power? Can we achieve progress on the goals that we happen to share, or have our disagreements become so sharp and personal that we cannot ever cooperate?

    Being civic means asking these questions. It is compatible with fighting hard for a position?even a radical one?but it requires avoiding collateral damage to the civic infrastructure. It asks us to worry about long-term civic health, not just immediate tactical victory. And it obliges us to care about our public institutions, not just particular policies.

    More specifically, being civic means keeping the following principles in mind:

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