Here’s a Thought

Actually, it’s more appropriate to call it a thought experiment. It explores the notion of a pro-active initiative against the tragically bifurcated character of the American body politic. Its quest would be to create a progressive counter weight to the culture (and public policy) war being waged by the political right. It would be rooted in the spirit of a  ‘do-something’ impulse. This vision aims to renew momentum for the kind of intellectual sense of wonder that was so elemental to the social, cultural, political, and ethical progress that notably marked American self-ideation in the post WWII era. It’s not a magic bullet for ridding us of the malign neo-fascistic forces that have turned our country away from that more enlightened period of our history. It does, though, address a commonly held notion about where anger and resentment in our country tends to aggregate, that is in our smaller cities and more rural zones (communities largely set apart from our watery margins). Even if it’s not a panacea, it seems possible that it could bring about a decisive inflection point in the trend of our national attitude. Its most impactful outcome could be fostering and sustaining a widespread coalescing towards reason, comity and a reawakening of the value of diversity of thought.