In this age of deep and growing civic divisions, perhaps it's time to revise the comic strip Pogo's iteration of U.S. Navy Master Commandant Oliver Perry's quote from the War of 1812: "We have met the enemy and it is us."
From our special Dinner at the Square guest Stephen Kiernan's masterpiece book Authentic Patriotism:
“The problems America faces are not going to be solved by either political party, nor are they exclusively the fault of any political party. I am reminded of the line in William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet: “A plague on both your houses.” In a democracy politics are merely the manifestation of the people’s will; if Congress is weak, it is because the public’s leadership of politicians has been insufficient.”
This throwback episode is part of The Village Square's return to some of the most basic, inspiring and effective ideas we've heard through our years about how to actually fix what ails us, leading up to the launch of our Flying Pig Academy, where we'll teach our model of returning to civic health. Stay tuned.
We think it will inspire you. (You can also watch this program here.)
The Village Square is a proud member of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what's broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.
Funding for this podcast was provided through a grant from Florida Humanities with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of Florida Humanities or the National Endowment for the Humanities.
This program is part of a larger project "Healing Starts Here" funded by New Pluralists. Learn more about our project, and other inspiring grantees here.
Jonathan Haidt: The Anxious Generation
UNUM Series: The Soul of Civility
Fragile Neighborhoods with Dr. Seth Kaplan
God Squad: Everyone is Canceled!
Dr. Jonathan Haidt | After Babel: "The Fragmentation of Everything"
The Big Sort with Bill Bishop
Being Human in Divided Times: A fireside chat with Village Square founder Liz Joyner
Rachel Brown: The Roots of Belonging & The Risks of Othering
God Squad: Ending the Cycle of Mean
God Squad: Shut Up and (Don't) Sing
Dr. Todd Rose | Collective Illusions: Conformity, Complicity and the Science of Why We Make Bad Decisions
Robert Putnam & Shaylyn Romney Garrett | Join or Die: Why you should join a club — and why the fate of America depends on it
The Way Out: Overcoming Toxic Polarization, with Dr. Peter T. Coleman
TP&R Feed Drop | Tim Keller and Michael Gerson, A Tribute with Pete Wehner and Jonathan Rauch
When the People Decide Feed Drop | Libraries as civic spaces
How Do We Fix It Feed Drop | The Middle 70%. In This Together: Bill Shireman
Let's Find Common Ground Feed Drop | Patriotism: Pride, Race and Reckoning
Democracy Works Feed Drop: Separating News From Noise
TP&R Feed Drop: Bob Cusack, Editor in Chief at THE HILL
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