Newsletter #247 — July 14, 2024
Highlighted Links
For busy people, a few highlighted links that we found to be especially interesting.
- Violence
Rachel Kleinfeld on the Attempted Assassination of Donald Trump and the Rise of Political Violence in America — In this emergency podcast, Yascha Mounk and Rachel Kleinfeld discuss how to prevent a spiral of violence. - US Election
What J.D. Vance Believes — An interview with Republican Senator J.D. Vance that tries to get beyond simple, left-wing demonization and understand his point of view. - Class Inequity
This Is What Elite Failure Looks Like — An essay that helps us understand why there is such a widespread revolt against the elites at the top of so many democratic societies. - US Election
My Unsettling Interview With Steve Bannon — From David Brooks, an interview with Steve Bannon that reveals much about the anti-elite, revolutionary pressures that are simmering beneath the surface of US society. - Psychological Complexity
Giving Up is Good for You — A provocative essay exploring an important and much neglected topic -- the importance of recognizing when a goal is out of reach and should be abandoned. - Constructive Communication
Fighting is Easy. Persuading is Harder. — An important exploration of the difference between persuasive efforts and efforts to simply defend one's point of view. - Theories of Change
The Protest Trap — From Amanda Ripley, three research-based lessons about how to respond constructively to fear, rage, and grief.
Reader Suggested Links
Highlighting links suggested by our readers. Please send us links to things that you find useful.
- Israel / Hamas War
How Hamas Is Fighting in Gaza: Tunnels, Traps and Ambushes — For those trying to help protect Gaza's civilian population, important information about how, exactly, Hamas fighters are embedding themselves in that population. - Left / Right Conflict
When Progressive Ideals Become a Luxury — A video explaining Rob Henderson's notion of "luxury beliefs" -- things that the relatively wealthy can believe because they are insulated from the downsides of those beliefs. - Political Dysfunction
How America Got Into This Omnishambles — An analysis of the factors underlying the ongoing collapse of Democratic prospects with important lessons for the future. - Israel / Hamas War
It's Time to Start Using the Term 'Palestinian Civilian' Correctly — The protection of Gaza's innocent civilians depends upon clearly distinguishing them from combatants posing as civilians. - Civil Society
American by the Grace of God — Reflections on the complex issues surrounding immigration from two grateful immigrants to the United States. - Israel / Hamas War
The Brutal Syllogism of this War is a Deathtrap for Israel — An honest look at the extraordinarily difficult strategic challenge posed to Israel by Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran. - US Election
The Biden-Replacement Operation — A perceptive look at the delicate mechanics of replacing Biden as the Democratic Presidential nominee.
Colleague Activities
Highlighting things that our conflict and peacebuilding colleagues are doing that contribute to efforts to address the hyper-polarization problem.
- Civil Society
The Inter-Movement Impact Project — IMIP is connecting pro-democracy leaders, reformers, & change agents, who are working to strengthen American democracy, ethical government, civic health, social cohesion, and social justice at the national, state, and local levels. - Civil Society
Democracy's Good News: The Role of Business in Democracy from The Democracy Group — Host Jenna Spinelle explores the intersection between business and democracy, highlighting the crucial role of business in supporting democracy through consumer trust and solving problems. - Reliable Problem Assessments
Detect Fakes — Detect Fakes is research project hosted at Northwestern University by researchers at the Kellogg School of Management to examine how people distinguish truth from fiction in online media, especially as synthetic media becomes more and more realistic. - Civil Society
Imagining the Robust Deliberative City: Elevating the Conversations We Need to Support Democracy — How do we elevate the conversations we need to support a healthy democracy? This is best done at the local level, where people already have relationships, local knowledge of issues, and stakes in the outcome. - Civil Society
Bridge USA — BridgeUSA is a multi-partisan student movement that champions viewpoint diversity, responsible discourse, and a solution-oriented political culture. - Constructive Communication
The Village Square — Building the town hall of the 21st century across the partisan divide. A nervy bunch of liberals and conservatives who believe that disagreement and dialogue make for a good conversation, a good country, and a good time. - Saving Democracy
Democracy is US — A nonpartisan nonprofit, dedicated to transforming democracy into a system that genuinely serves all citizens by fostering enlivening conversations, actions, and events that empower and inspire citizens to preserve and vitalize democracy. - Developing a Unifying Vision
Faith Over Division Tour — Bringing together people of faith to find hope and a shared future in the midst of toxic divisiveness. - Constructive Communication
Mismatch by AllSides — With Mismatch, students talk to other students across the country, inspiring them to connect beyond their immediate world and build a healthy democracy - without leaving the classroom. - Civil Society
Sam Daley Harris on NPR’s 1A, January 22, 2024 — Sam Daley-Harris is a leader and innovator in the field of citizen advocacy. This is his talk on NPR's 1A on how ordinary citizens can get re-engaged and effective in our democratic processes. - Developing a Unifying Vision
Grand Bargain Project — Together, We Are Addressing Six Challenges Critical For Our Democracy And The American People To Thrive: Economic Mobility, Education, Health Care, Climate Change, National Debt and the Tax Code. - Theories of Change
More Perfect Union — More Perfect Union is a nonprofit education, advocacy, and journalism organization with a mission to build power for the working class.We pair reporting with activism to win policy fights that support families and the working class. - Violence
Violent campus protests are not about freedom — An opinion piece in the Fulcrum asking where the adults are on college campuses pointing out the errors in student protester's beliefs and behavior. "Clearly," they say, "the kids are not alright. But neither are the adults." - US Election
Local Election Officials Survey — May 2024 — Since 2020, 92 percent of local election officials have taken steps to increase election security for voters, election workers, and election infrastructure.
News and Opinion
From around the web, more insight into the nature of our conflict problems, limits of business-as-usual thinking, and things people are doing to try to make things better. (Formerly, Beyond Intractability in Context.)
- US Election
A Political Base Is Only a Base — A reminder that winning elections requires strong support from moderate "swing" voters. A fired-up base of true believers will never be enough. - US Election
The ‘MAGA Supreme Court’ Doesn’t Exist — A reassuring analysis of recent Supreme Court decisions that argues that, while conservative in its legal orientation, the Court is upholding the rule of law and not merely rubberstamping the MAGA agenda. - Freedom of Speech
Mind the Gap — An essay exploring the chasm between what we know is true -- and what we feel comfortable saying out loud. - Political Dysfunction
We’re All Soviets Now — A thought-provoking comparison between the contemporary United States and the Soviet Union just before its collapse. - Suppressing Opponents
The Great Democratic Lawfare Bust — A retrospective and critical look at the failure of the Democratic "lawfare" strategy which sought to use criminal prosecutions to deny President Trump a second chance at the Presidency. - Violence
Small drones will soon lose combat advantage, French Army chief says — With respect to drones, an important reminder that, in war, military technology advances very rapidly -- often in ways that can quickly alter the balance of power. - Saving Democracy
A Coalition of All Democratic Forces, Part I: A Political Focus on What's Truly Important — The first of a three-part series exploring strategies for strengthening solidarity within democratic societies, despite the inherent tensions and competitiveness of the electoral process. - Disinformation
Elite misinformation is an underrated problem — An insightful article exploring a different, and very important, source of inaccurate worldview images -- the shortcomings of elite, expert opinion. - Saving Democracy
Will the Center Hold? — A review and summary of an important new book exploring the philosophical foundations and political viability of centrism around the globe. - US Election
About Biden’s Pledge to Unify the Nation — A retrospective look at the mismatch between President Biden's pledge to unify America and his actual policies. - Inflammatory Media
Troubling News From the Shit-Stirring Department — A tongue-in-cheek article with an important message -- we are not as divided as inflammatory media sources would lead us to believe. - US Election
James Carville: Biden Won’t Win. Democrats Need a Plan. Here’s One. — An intriguing set of ideas about how Democrats might successfully rebound from a Biden decision to abandon his quest for a second term. - US Election
The Coming ‘Summer of Resistance’ — A description of the "Behind Enemy Lines" -- a mysterious coalition of groups with a disruptive strategy focused on advancing its goals by promoting civil unrest and violence. - Developing a Unifying Vision
From the Washington Consensus to the Berlin Declaration — A report on a new effort to craft a consensus on a new economic strategy that will do a better job of wisely and equitably serving all sectors of society. - Intersectional Left
The Roots of Progressive Radicalism: Nellie Bowles vs. Musa al-Gharbi — A review and summary of two new books which try to help us understand the evolution (and radicalization) of the progressive movement. - Social Complexity
No One Really Knows How Interest Rates Work — An important reminder about the complexity of the global economic system and the limitations of our ability to understand and manipulate that system. - Superpower Conflict
The World Is Realigning — While we have been talking about the hyper-polarization that has emerged within so many countries, a different kind of polarization between those countries. - Communication Complexity
It's the Internet, Dummy! — More thoughts on how, exactly, the Internet has transformed our collective consciousness. - Social Complexity
Francis Fukuyama on Global Chaos (and Why You Don't Need to Despair About It) — Nutritious food for thought for anyone trying to make sense of our turbulent time. - Climate / Environment
A New Age of Materials Is Dawning, for Everything From Smartphones to Missiles — A description of the new, and largely unrecognized, technology that may turn out to be hugely consequential -- hopefully, in a genuinely positive way. - Problem Assessment
It Takes Too Many Studies for the Government to Do the Right Thing — An article about the "analysis paralysis" trap that explains much of why our government has so much trouble for solving problems.
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About the MBI Newsletters
Two or three times a week, Guy and Heidi Burgess, the BI Directors, share some of our thoughts on political hyper-polarization and related topics. We also share essays from our colleagues and other contributors, and every week or so, we devote one newsletter to annotated links to outside readings that we found particularly useful relating to U.S. hyper-polarization, threats to peace (and actual violence) in other countries, and related topics of interest. Each Newsletter is posted on BI, and sent out by email through Substack to subscribers. You can sign up to receive your copy here and find the latest newsletter here or on our BI Newsletter page, which also provides access to all the past newsletters, going back to 2017.
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