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Doug and I were recently interviewed by Richard Davies, the host of the How Do We Fix It podcast. You can listen to the 30-minute podcast here: https://www.howdowefixit.me/new-blog-3/malow-teschner
Richard asked us to imagine a country where people of opposing political beliefs and different social, geographical and educational backgrounds get along pretty well, and manage to make progress together on vital issues that they care about.
I talked with Richard about how most Americans want to get along, but that there are forces out there tearing us apart because that's what they see their profit and power in. We need to stand up and say enough is enough. We're better than this!
If you are a visual learner, picture these forces embodied by the conflict entrepreneur featured in last week’s Substack post, represented by a sly crocodile ready to chomp on our flag.
Now, imagine Americans rising up as the energized majority to let the conflict entrepreneurs know who’s in charge.
I got to see the energized majority in action this week, when I chaired a Braver Angels debate at St. Andrews’ Episcopal Church in New London, New Hampshire on funding public education. More than 100 engaged citizens, including state legislators and a NH executive councilor, spoke fully, freely, and without fear. They laid the important groundwork to help move forward this challenging issue. You can read more about citizen-led solutions on an earlier Substack post.
The hero of our forthcoming book, Beyond the Politics of Contempt, Practical Steps to Build Positive Relationships in Divided Times is you, the energized majority. In our book, we explain how those in the exhausted majority can take on the conflict entrepreneurs and rise up to work constructively together on vital issues affecting our country. Our disagreements power our solutions, rather than feeding the conflict entrepreneurs.
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