An election reprieve in Washington

It’s time to unplug, to withdraw — not for long, just until the vile spectacle that is this election ends. The national political discourse is no longer defined by exchanges of ideas. It is besotted by hateful tribalism. At this point many people will call for a national dialogue and unity. Good for them; I mean that genuinely. Those people are resilient. But this election has sapped me of my willingness to engage because engaging has inevitably meant fighting.

I’ll fulfill my civic duty in November and vote. But until then I’ll be far away from the presidential race’s toxic daily churn. What I’m advocating isn’t brave. Some will call it cowardly. People can call it what they like. I call it self-preservation, self-care, recuperation.

{mosads}The presidential candidates and the discourse they’ve engendered are repellant, so I decided to shut it all off. As a native Washingtonian, this wasn’t easy. But the benefits of the move materialized immediately. Animosity and tension that I hadn’t even known I’d harbored melted away. Banishing political reading from my routine made room for topics about which I knew virtually nothing (physics, astronomy). I dove into all-consuming novels (A Little Life, Fates and Furies) that I never would have pored over otherwise.

Retreating from the melee’s front lines has the potential to be more than just restorative. This election season pushed me to make a break with politics, which provided the solace away from the cacophony that I needed in order to reorder my values. It has allowed me—incompletely and imperfectly, I’m sure—to become a better man. 

As a virtue ethicist, Aristotle theorized that there were practices that individuals could engage in to make themselves the best possible versions of who they could be. To be clear, becoming your best self is not the same as achieving perfection. No one is perfect, and no one ever will be. Rather, we never stop engaging in the practices that make us better because there’s always room to improve. The core principle underlying Aristotle’s philosophy remains relevant today. It posits that we enrich ourselves—and, in doing so, cultivate vibrant communities—by engaging in and collectively valuing a wide array of pursuits. 

Communal institutions, like religious and civic organizations, serve as crucibles for individuals to engage in these practices. Social networks emerge from widespread participation in community groups. These webs of relationships aggregate individual pursuits of excellence, collectively producing a more virtuous culture. The inverse of this vision can also come to pass. A population made up of amoral, disengaged individuals will yield a venal society. This sort of moral shortfall grips the nation’s capital. 

In Washington, politics — with the power and access that it confers—is the singular social currency of value. This obsession with influence produces a synthetic, shallow culture. It crowds out other sources of fulfillment and conceptions of the good life that together compose the rich mosaic of a dynamic society.

Politics permeates Washington’s professional and social milieus. DC residents either bemoan or relish in that reality. Everyone agrees that politics saturates the city —  for some reason, that this will never change. But why must it persist? A culture is a nexus, the evolving product of the people in a community. This election provides an opportunity for us Washingtonians to improve ourselves as individuals and, in doing so, our shared culture.

Many elected officials arrive in Washington intending to serve their constituents admirably. Too often, however, the capital’s glitzy trappings prove too seductive. That’s where us Washingtonians bear some responsibility. Some of government’s corrupting appeal will always persist. But DC residents too often prize politics above all else, exacerbating the temptation for politicians to forsake their constituents in pursuit of power.

The problem emanates from the disconnect between DC and the rest of the nation. Ethical leaders dispatched to Washington will not stay venerable if the city’s culture is corrupt. Politics can and should be a noble pursuit, one that occupies an important sphere in the nation’s capital. Yet it should never displace other worthy endeavors.

With fewer than 100 days until the election, this political cycle is unsalvageable. The project of reforming Washington’s culture demands a longer-term perspective. I love my hometown, but widespread political disengagement may be the only way to remedy its endemic cultural maladies and the country’s civic health. Retreating from the public square in the near-term may be the only way to sustainably rehabilitate the dialogue that transpires within it.

David Will is a graduate of Princeton University and a student at the University of Virginia School of Law

The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the views of The Hill.