In these cataclysmic times, as a lot of us feel we’re watching our democracy and our way of life being flushed down the toilet, we try to communicate with one another to keep abreast of what’s “going down,” what it all means and how we need to fight back.

That’s all well and good, as we need to stay informed, engaged and active to fight a brutal assault on programs, values and protections we care about. Yet we’re too often preaching to the choir, ranting among ourselves. We’ve too often disengaged from friends and family we fundamentally disagree with.

Frustrated, we lash out, directly or indirectly, and either bash Trump supporters as fools or try to rub their noses in what even they are starting to admit was a tremendous blunder. After all, how could any thinking person continue to support a tyrant who disregards his oath to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution” and works to upend the health, safety and stability of the entire nation while promoting patronage and illegal profiteering? How can anyone support legislators who knowingly abrogate their responsibilities?

Much too slowly, we see Trump supporters realize they’re being lied to and, along with their loved ones, are hurt by a reckless attack on all we hold dear. Yet many also balk at progressives as being a sneering, condescending “other” deserving whatever the MAGA gang dishes out.

As a reporter for this newspaper for more than four decades, I was fortunate enough to accompany the Leverett-based Hands Across the Hills effort in the years just after the 2016 election, reporting on that contingent traveling to Letcher County, Kentucky and in-depth conversations with Kentuckians to find common ground despite starkly different voting preferences.

Over five years, the late Paula Green led the difficult work of listening carefully to one another with curiosity and respect rather than judgment and sniping. The aim of the project, which drew international media attention before it ended in 2023, never sought to change minds or voting patterns, but rather to seek common bonds at a time when social cohesion and mutual respect has been vanishing.

My reporting also led me to workshops organized by Better Angels, the national network of alliances that became known as Braver Angels as they’ve worked to bridge the divide between factions. As we looked closely at stereotyping and at trying to understand each other’s values, we found again our rich array of hidden commonalities. Deep down, people seem to want the same things, despite the motivations of manipulators.

Chief among those common desires is to be respected and treated fairly.

Last week, taking a cue from a Greenfield billboard that asked, “Can’t We Just Talk for a Change?” I reached out to One Small Step, a project of StoryCorps, the nonprofit organization I also wrote about years ago that works to get everyone talking to one another.

After filling out a brief questionnaire, I was paired with several people across the country and had my first one-on-one online chat. It was with a Utah physician who described himself as “socially fairly liberal and economically fairly conservative,” yet “very skeptical, even cynical, about governments, big organizations, companies … I’ve become also more skeptical about government taking more taxes and believing they can spend it well.”

For nearly an hour, we found ourselves agreeing more than disagreeing and — more importantly — sharing our life stories that inform our decisions.

I came away feeling more hopeful after that talk and am following up with plans for more. Because the more we can show one another respect, curiosity and a willingness to understand, the greater the possibility for fulfilling the trust that’s the underpinning of what truly is a United States of America.

Richie Davis lives in Montague.