Thread by @1JoshGreenberg

THREAD

HOW WE GOT HERE: PART IV—HUMANISTIC APPROACHES AND THE LOST OPPORTUNITY FOR NATIONAL ECONOMIC JUSTICE

This thread contains excerpts from Part IV. This part explores the key role of love-based approaches in addressing our political problems.

1/15

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“The imposition of systems and values is rarely effective by itself and can even be counterproductive. While our society needs rules to govern human behavior, communities also must come to moral values on their own.”

2/15

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“How would we instead pursue an approach based on love? First and foremost, we would never denigrate those who disagree with us, especially those from disparate backgrounds.”

3/15

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“Second, and related, we would devote time toward engaging in persuasive, civil discourse with those who disagree with us. We would speak face-to-face, we would ensure that everyone feels heard, and we would engage with one another humanistically.”

4/15

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“Truly, following the 2016 election, programs to bridge the divides within our country by facilitating cross-cultural conversation and exchange should have been prioritized.”

5/15

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“Martin Luther King Jr. said it best: ‘People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don't know each other; they don't know each other because they have not communicated with each other.’”

6/15

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“Third, and perhaps most importantly, if we are truly angered that rural Americans do not view the world in the same fashion as urban Americans, then we would advocate for policies that bring higher quality education to rural areas.”

7/15

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“The loss from the failure to implement an agenda based on love has been most disappointing and monumental.”

8/15

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“Most of all, if the progressive movement had pursued love, we could have created a coalition between rural and urban America, based on critical matters of injustice that are common to both of them, such as access to education and healthcare.”

9/15

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“Specifically, an agenda for national economic justice could have been a profoundly powerful, unifying force in America, bringing together people of all races, geographies, religions, and ethnicities.”

10/15

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“It is worth noting that King always situated the cause of racial justice within a broader, universal struggle for national redemption and for the freedom of all peoples throughout the world.”

11/15

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“For King, his efforts began with racial justice but were never about race alone; they were about fundamentally transforming our society—both locally and globally—and overcoming all of the oppressive injustices embedded in its foundations.”

12/15

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“By and large, however, the progressive movement has not galvanized a major national effort toward this end. Nor has it made the relevance of its stances on economic justice known to many rural Americans.”

13/15

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“Instead, this group of citizens has perceived progressives as enemies and has been misguided into other ideologies that harm both themselves and the rest of the country.”

14/15

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15/15

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