Thread by @Yascha_Mounk

"We need healing, yes, but not just from Trump and his direct actions. We must heal from what he has brought out in all of us."

What does Trump's defeat tell us about America? Read answers by some of the country's leading thinkers @JoinPersuasion.

Thread.persuasion.community/p/what-bidens-…

"To cultivate a more perfect union, let’s dispense with proving our perfection and humbly focus on building our union.

I’ll contribute by teaching young Americans a brave new leadership skill—public listening. I’d love to hear how you’ll help to build the union."

@IrshadManji

"The real lesson is that progressive elites have become increasingly out of touch with the sensibilities of working-class Americans of all backgrounds.

This blindspot opened a vacuum for an authoritarian populist with no regard for the norms of liberal democracy."

@coldxman

"I get the feeling that many Europeans feared the outcome of the American elections the way you fear heart surgery. Biden’s victory was greeted like a doctor’s smile.

But should we expect that the next American election will once again feel like heart surgery?"

Ivan Krastev

"Democrats failed to sweep because many voters were alienated by the more radical policy ideas espoused by the left wing of the party, e.g. democratic socialism and the Green New Deal, as well as by slogans such as 'Defund the Police' and 'Pack the Court.'"

@nfergus.

"A measure of the success of a Biden administration will be if the president and what he’s up to recede from our daily consciousness."

@EmilyYoffe.

"In the safety of Biden's victory, we can revisit the opportunity to look inward.

The first step forward must be to abandon the identity politics which have proved to be bankrupt both in providing a useful frame to view our country and in uniting the people."

@SarahTheHaider.

"This election has taught us three optimistic lessons:

1) American institutions proved comparatively resilient.

2) Most Americans weren't seduced by Trump’s racism.

3) Popular support for philosophically liberal values remains broader than it sometimes seemed."

@Yascha_Mounk.

And that's it.

Please share the article widely—and subscribe to @JoinPersuasion!

persuasion.community/subscribe