Pre-election fears and reflections
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How do you handle political insults?
Being insulted for your political views can really get the blood pumping. We can have an understandable urge to fight fire with fire. In those stressful moments, we have a choice, and an opportunity.?
A note before the election?
A message from our CEO Tom Fishman:?
No matter who wins this election, many people are likely to feel anger and fear. At least for a time, it may be harder than ever for our fellow citizens to hear our message.?
As we often emphasize, our work equips us to address conflict constructively in every arena, from culture to policy — but this movement transcends political beliefs. After the election, it will be our shared calling as Builders to step out of our comfort zones, being more active and vocal than usual. Besides advocating passionately for our views, we must maintain that treating each other with contempt and holding a binary, zero-sum, us-versus-them mindset is lose-lose for all of us.
Here’s our ask to you: send our newsletter to five people you know, ideally with mixed political beliefs, as your group of election "spotters", and get ready to exercise the Builders muscle you've built as one of our subscribers.
News and views
Some content, old and new, that you might find useful and important at this moment in time:?
Make It A Habit: Question instincts to cut off contact with “them”
Our divides lead to many people wishing to express their political views — even in non-political spaces. And that leads to many people being offended when their opponents express those views.?
An anti-Trump person asked an advice columnist, “Can I patronize a place run by a Trump supporter?” The columnist wrote that we can “remember that we have identities other than our political ones.” We can see the benefits of not writing each other off, even as we’re politically passionate — even as we’re angry.?
This has been the Builders newsletter from Starts With Us.
Executive Director, Prohuman Foundation
3 周Tom, Thank you for this timely advice! Now more than ever, we need flexible thinkers and a commitment to the 3Cs.