If you’re new to the local community space as it relates to learning about budgets, property taxes, or just unpacking the question of “what is local government,” then I’m writing this post with you in mind.
I want to share a frame on civic advocacy around “response vs reaction.” This is not my frame; I owe the articulation of this to two others in community who I’ve learned from over the years: Dr. Anna Brown, a political science professor at Saint Peter’s University and Frank McMillan, a community organizer with Metro IAF (and the former lead organizer with Jersey City Together, an affiliate of Metro IAF).
“Response” vs “Reaction” is an important distinction that I’ve found useful over the years and I thought it might be helpful as I create new ways for readers to engage my content to articulate why I find this important and how it can be useful for demystifying local finance including budgets, property taxes, and more.
We react to pain
There are countless issues facing us at the local level as it pertains to local finance; often times, pain points are what cause us to react to those issues. For years I’ve encountered individuals on Civic Parent (face to face, by phone, over email, via comments, and more), often because of a hurtful pain point related to local community issues, like:
- Teachers are laid off due to school state aid cuts; parents want to keep cuts from happening
- A local library is cutting back its hours due to city budget cuts; community members want to preserve the hours
- Property tax bills are escalating (for some homeowners) due to a long-stalled property revaluation; homeowners want to keep tax bills stable
- Property tax bills are doubling (for other homeowners) due to the property revaluation finally happening; homeowners want to keep tax bills stable
- And more
Some of these problems are heart-wrenching and involve searing pain. Some of these problems are in tension with each other (e.g. property revaluation).
I’ve experienced some of this pain myself. What I see, repeatedly on this site, is: community members in the midst of a reaction, but yearning for a way to respond. They are seeking clarity about the local finance so they now how to react.
What I want to encourage is: think less about the reaction, and more about the response.
Articulating the difference: Reaction vs. Response
So what is “reaction” vs “response”? In this piece from Psychology Today, Dr. Jim Taylor threads the needle well. First, Dr. Taylor lifts up the importance of why this parsing of words is important:
“Words act as a powerful lens through which we perceive, interpret, and analyze our world. Words also label and define our experiences; what we think, the emotions we feel, the actions we take, and the interactions we have with others. As a result, when speaking or writing, it’s essential to use highly descriptive words of what we want to communicate.”
Then he writes (bold added by me for emphasis):
“Two essential words in our lexicon are react and respond. At first blush, they seem to have the same meaning, and my thesaurus indicates that each is a synonym for the other. Yet, through my work, I have come to see a profound difference in the meaning of these two words, particularly when faced with difficult situations. Each of these words produces different reactions/responses to life experiences, particularly stressful ones.”
Dr. Taylor then explains how “reaction” is rooted in the amygdala and tied to our fight or flight response (imagine a lion chasing you on the Serengeti, he writes) while “response” is associated more with our frontal cortex and things like executive functioning, planning, and strategizing. He makes other insights that are really interesting, including how sensitive we all are to modern day “lions” that threaten us to run away from a situation, including perfectionism, fear of failure, need for control, need to please.”
Reacting can leave you feeling helpless
I have observed a pattern over the years as I watch others in community react to act in a moment of civic-related pain. However, modern-day “lions” litter the civic landscape threatening us to “take flight” from engaging more deeply in civics, including:
- Shame in not knowing more about budgets or property tax (you’re not alone, I’ve been there)
- Fear at saying the wrong thing at a public meeting (you’re not alone, I’ve been there)
- Fear about causing tension around an issue you care deeply about because a close friend or neighbor feels differently about it (once again…you’re not alone, I’ve been there)
- These reactions can lead to apathy, a sense of helplessness, a sense of hopelessness.
I have also observed a pattern of the opposite reaction — the “fight” — and modern-day lions exist here too; this can take the form of: assuming you understand the landscape, when in fact you’re ignorant (I use that term descriptively here, not pejoratively); so you may lurch head-long into an advocacy effort but not have a proper reading of the issue simply from a lack of context or nuance. This reaction can lead to a quick flaming-out of a legitimate desire to engage and help.
I’m sharing this in part because of lived this all and learned along the way. But I’ve also learned how to respond; and this blog has given me unique insight into others responding, too, so I want to share why it’s important to focus less on the reaction, and more on the response.
Responding can empower
When you respond, it can be empowering. So what does a “response” look like in this
In my view, it requires digging into some of what I write about on this site so that you have an objective read on the public data, the policy, and the context that we can glean from experts (be it for property tax, school funding, etc). The road to understanding the local budget, or how property taxes work, or why there are so many PILOT agreements in a city, requires a response rooted in commitment and persistence. One reason I write this blog is to help you on that journey.
But, just as importantly, there are things my website (and other resources like it) will not provide you, which include:
- Learning from community.
- Learning in community
- Learning with community.
So how do we do this? Learn from, in, and with community? We connect and learn, in real life, with and from others:
- In a civic group anchored around common interests (e.g. local Moms/Dads meetup group, neighborhood association, PTA, etc.)
- In a local faith-based group where you can meet others who may be outside your “interest” zone but who share deeply held values
- At a local public meeting. On this point I want to suggest: just go and observe at first, and get a lay of the land to desensitize yourself to the patterned drama that unfolds. Because it is a patterned drama. You can decode it, and learn, and then feel more comfortable engaging that drama on your own terms (even better if you can do it with others by your side).
I’ll share a small example of how I recently learned from, in, and with community. This past Saturday, I attended a Jersey City Together meeting at Old Bergen Church. It was centered around affordable housing. These Jersey City Together meetings are intentionally informal and centered around small group discussion and then larger group learning. Experienced organizers (including Rev. Brown of Old Bergen Church) helped those who are new to acclimate. There is little pressure and lots of opportunity to learn and connect. I enjoyed learning from, in, and with community.
In Closing
I want to encourage anyone on my site to:
1– Take your time learning about local finance. We aren’t taught this stuff in school (typically). Know that you’re in a similar boat as literally thousands of other people feeling a little lost, a little confused, a little dazed about how confusing this can be.
2– Learn from, in, and with community. Systems we live in (property tax, schools, budgets that serve an entire city) come into greater view only when we get outside our comfort zones. Case in point: in Jersey City, we have six zip codes and they are all different reflections of the same “Jersey City.” What zip code you live in may be your “comfort zone” — venture outside of it to learn from, in, and with community. What you learn may surprise you.
3– Try to connect in real life. Social media is built around – Meta and others name it – reactions. And hey, if social media can lead to deeper connections in real life, then that’s fantastic (and I’ve had that experience, which is one reason why I still maintain a Facebook page). But…it’s all rooted in reaction, not response.
