Will you distrust the election if “your side” loses?

Welcome to the Builders newsletter from Starts With Us. To get this newsletter and more delivered via email, sign up at startswith.us/join.

How does dislike lead to election distrust?

When we have hostility for the “other side,” it’s easy to arrive at overly pessimistic views of everything associated with “them.” For example, when “our side” loses an election, we might find ourselves drawn to “it was rigged” views in ways we wouldn’t in less polarized times.

When we claim an election is illegitimate without strong reasons, that’s destructive to America. Are we brave enough to self-examine how our emotions can distort our views?

Read more...

News and views

Why did fans of this “Midwest Princess” turn on her?

Chappell Roan’s meteoric rise to fame hit a major bump this week when her statements about politics on TikTok led to outrage among her fans. What did she say? And what does all this tell us about our divides??Watch now...

How do we get younger political leaders?

Many Americans express concern about the age of our political leaders. So where are the younger leaders? In this 12 Geniuses episode, Steven Olikara shares insights from his experience as a Millenial who ran for the Senate.?Watch now...

Middle East movies

Here’s a list of movies related to the Middle East conflict with themes of peace and reconciliation. (We don’t vouch for all perspectives found in these movies, but the overall compilation seems thought-provoking.)

Movement updates

• Calling all content creators! James Coan, Executive Director of More Like US, has a video about political misperceptions that helps content creators reduce toxic polarization. If you’re a writer or other content creator we recommend watching his video!
• How’d the detox go? FixUS wrote about the results of Peter Coleman’s Polarization Detox Challenge: see what people said. (We had our own iteration of the Challenge, which you can take here.)

Make It A Habit: Tread carefully when in conflict?

In March, Fareed Zakaria wrote a piece titled “Liberals should tread carefully when confronting Trumpism.” It contains two important points:?

• Consider how our instincts to cast out and punish the “other side” can widen our divides?
• Be willing to see how your political peers contribute to the toxicity of our divides

We share this piece not to promote Zakaria’s political views but to draw attention to the points above, which transcend politics. Put another way: a pro-Trump pundit could write a piece emphasizing those same points even as they held very different political stances.

Read more...

This has been the Builders newsletter from Starts With Us.

If you appreciate the work we’re doing, follow us on your favorite social media platform: Instagram | TikTok | Facebook | Twitter/X | YouTube | LinkedIn | Threads