| Hard as it may be to envision a world beyond Trump’s impeachment trial and the 2020 presidential election, we can and we must try. Why? Because when November 4, 2020 arrives, we will have little choice but to find a path forward.Luckily, after devoting an entire series to the issue of political division, we have a set of solutions — several of which we must credit to our devoted readers. Danny Fulton of Bremerton, Washington, told us that “political ideologies may shape us and drive our passion but they do not define us,” and we must instead turn our attention to what unites us.
In his case, he often feels like the lone conservative in the greater Seattle area, but he loves the Seahawks and “Star Wars.” And Fulton has used those mutual points of fandom to form friendships with Washingtonians across the political spectrum. In fact, he recently had dinner with a liberal friend — they both made sure to bring their lightsaber chopsticks with them.
Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns advocated we take our shared interests one step further and dare to share stories of our lives and experiences with each other. “We all have stories. And sometimes they lead us back to emotions and feelings we have in common,” he wrote.
Of course, to succeed, we must conscript all of our friends and family in this storytelling experiment. Because, as Burns explains, “it is the diversity of our experiences that creates something new and better, something even more American.”
Happy 2020! |
