ABOUT THIS EPISODE
"America is rigidly divided between red and blue." That's what we're constantly being told by pundits, politicians and media outlets, both left and right.
But what if that wasn't quite true?
On a surprisingly large number of issues, Americans agree on the broad outlines of public policy. Author, conflict mediator, and social entrepreneur, Bill Shireman makes the case that the middle 70% of the public should have a much greater say in who gets elected to make laws and decide policy.
"All it takes is a small number of folks who are aware of how we're being gamed to build a bridge between the political left and right, Bill says. "We need a relatively small percentage of voters who will not divide the way we are triggered to divide," Bill argues that the media and political industry make money and gain power by dividing Americans and making us mad at the other side.
"The middle 70%" does not necessarily mean moderates. Bill calls them "the silenced majority of us who are common-sense, reality-based voters who can work out our differences." Some are conservatives or progressives, while others have a mix of opinions on social and economic issues.
The House of Representatives vote for the debt ceiling bill is an example of what Bill is talking about. Despite furious denunciations by legislators on the progressive left and Freedom Caucus right, the compromise bill passed by an overwhelming margin. President Biden and House Republican leaders quietly worked together.
More about Bill Shireman:
Host of the podcast series "A Moment of BS Bill Shireman Disrupts the Dividers".
President of Future 500, where he invites Greenpeace, ExxonMobil, Rainforest Action Network, Mitsubishi and other corporate and environmental leaders to work together.
Bill co-chairs the Donor Roundtable and its citizen recruitment initiative, In This Together.
He's the author of seven books. The most recent is "In This Together: How Republicans, Democrats, Capitalists and Activists are Uniting to Tackle Climate Change and More.
Bill teaches leadership and negotiations at the Berkeley Haas School of Business, University of California Berkeley.
Recommendation: Richard listened to and was moved by the documentary podcast series "The Witch Trials of JK Rowling", hosted by Megan Phelps-Roper.
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