Special interests a plus or minus?
Wednesday, June 6th, 2007
For some time now we have felt the Institute is part of a larger synergy as more and more people join in on civility concerns. One recent example is Lou Dobbs, who appears on CNN, and who is a columnist for Money magazine and U.S. News and World Report. He also has a news radio report.
Dobbs sights special interest groups as one of the polarizing factors within the political landscape today, and calls on national leaders to play a strong rule in countering that polarization. In a recent article, Dobbs wrote, “American society is increasingly polarized, our politics ever more fractious, and I believe most of us are figuring out that we spend far too much time and energy dwelling on our differences rather than embracing the similarities and commonalities that unite us as Americans.”
Differences are real, and need to be recognized. They enrich and inform and shape our lives as we live in community. But if we don’t also celebrate and build on our commonalities, our differences may literally tear us apart.