Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Reform in 2023: A season of public rituals offers hope more than fear

Opinion

Black Friday

The return to brick-and-mortar shopping on Black Friday was a communal event.

Kena Betancur/Getty Images

As 2022 draws to a close, The Fulcrum has invited leaders of democracy reform organizations to share their hopes and plans for the coming year. This is the fourth in the series.

Davies is a podcast consultant, host and solutions journalist at daviescontent.com. He co-hosts the podcasts “How Do We Fix It?” and “Let’s Find Common Ground."

We are right in the middle of America’s season of biennial public rituals. First there was the election, then Thanksgiving and, still to come, Christmas and the new year. All of them bring people together and remind us that despite our differences there is much that we share in common with one another.

The result of the midterm election was a surprise to almost everyone. And isn’t it good when the smart people — pundits, pollsters, and political professionals armed with all their data and research — get it wrong? While science and technology continue to make stunning advances, human behavior remains a tricky thing to track.

Leading up to the vote last month, Republicans expected to score a blowout victory. Democrats issued dire warnings that democracy was hanging by a thread. Many of us were anxious and fearful, but both of these forecasts turned out wrong.


Leading up to the election, right-wing populists promoted the absurd theory that the 2020 election had been stolen. But that year Republicans made gains in Congress and state races. If that election was a sham how could this be? The populist claim was as crazy as seeing the former president dressed up as a superhero with laser beams shooting out of his eyes. Hardcore Donald Trump supporters eat it up, but last month common-sense, independent-minded voters made it clear they'd had enough. While many conservative, mainstream Republicans did well, many of the most controversial and extreme Trump backers went down to defeat.

The second great public American ritual was Thanksgiving, a holiday when more people travel to be with their loved ones than at any other time of year. Many friends and families were together in the same room for the first time in three years, since before the pandemic.

As with the election, this Thanksgiving had more than its share of doubters. Leading up to the long holiday weekend we were deluged by media warnings that the turkey might be hard to swallow if you had the bad luck to be seated next to a family member with different political views than your own. We were fed the theory that with such deep political divides Thanksgiving could be a time of great tension. No doubt it was for some, but where is the evidence that this year was much more fraught than usual?

The day after Thanksgiving was Black Friday, Our local mall opened at 6 a.m. Stores were packed. Driving along I-95 in southeast Connecticut that morning, I spotted an astounding queue of cars waiting to go to Clinton Crossing Outlets. It must have taken some shoppers well over an hour just to get to the lot.

According to the business press, many people want to visit brick-and-mortar stores because they’d had enough of Amazon and other forms of online buying that boomed during the pandemic. We might have difficulty admitting it, but for many people physical in-person shopping is fun. There is still something thrilling when you think you’re coming home with a bargain, especially at a time of high inflation and a shaky economy.

Here’s to a happy holiday season for all: A time when we celebrate light, hope, and even the occasional miracle.

Read More

Trump’s Rhetoric and Policies Spark National Crisis of Character

Mark Esper sitting next to Donald Trump

Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Trump’s Rhetoric and Policies Spark National Crisis of Character

America is in the midst of a crisis of character with an assault on our shared values. Our nation’s leader is attacking our very Constitution as well as encouraging each of us to view each other as enemies.

America’s Founding Fathers recognized the trouble this could be for the success of our national experiment.

Keep ReadingShow less
The Roots of America’s Violence:
White Supremacy, Power, and the Struggle for Dignity
Ragiv:Charlie Kirk in Tampa July 2025 (cropped).jpg - Vükiped

The Roots of America’s Violence: White Supremacy, Power, and the Struggle for Dignity

In September 2025, activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated while speaking at a Utah campus event. His death was shocking — not only for its brutality, but because it showed that political violence is not just a relic of the past or a threat on the horizon. It is part of our national identity. Today’s surge in violence follows patterns we’ve seen before. Let’s take a look at that history.

When Pope Alexander VI issued the Doctrine of Discovery in 1493, he gave theological and legal cover for European conquest of lands already inhabited by indigenous people. These papal bulls declared non-Christian peoples “less than” and their lands open for seizure. This was more than a geopolitical maneuver — it embedded into the Western imagination a belief in the inherent supremacy of some over others.

Keep ReadingShow less
The Noosphere Is Here–and the Struggle for Its Soul Now Runs Through Musk, Putin, and Trump

The noosphere is here—and it’s under siege. This essay explores how Musk, Trump, and Putin are shaping the global mind through Starlink, X, and cognitive warfare.

Getty Images, Yuichiro Chino

The Noosphere Is Here–and the Struggle for Its Soul Now Runs Through Musk, Putin, and Trump

In the early 20th century, two thinkers—Russian geochemist Vladimir Vernadsky and French Jesuit philosopher Pierre Teilhard de Chardin—imagined a moment when humanity’s collective consciousness would crystallize into a new planetary layer: the noosphere, from the Greek nous, meaning “mind.” A web of thought enveloping the globe, driven by shared knowledge, science, and a spiritual awakening.

Today, the noosphere is no longer speculation. It is orbiting above us, pulsing through the algorithms of our digital platforms. And it is being weaponized in real time. Its arrival has not ushered in global unity but cognitive warfare. Its architecture is not governed by democracies or international institutions but by a handful of unaccountable actors.

Keep ReadingShow less
2025 Democracy Awards Ceremony Celebrates Bipartisan Excellence in Public Service

The Democracy Awards Ceremony hosted by the Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) on Thursday, September 18, 2025

Credit: CMF

2025 Democracy Awards Ceremony Celebrates Bipartisan Excellence in Public Service

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) hosted its annual Democracy Awards Ceremony on Thursday, September 18, recognizing exceptional Members of Congress and staff who exemplify outstanding public service, operational excellence, and innovation in their work on Capitol Hill.

In the stately House Ways & Means Committee Hearing Room, the 8th annual Democracy Awards ceremony unfolded as a heartfelt tribute to the congressional offices honored earlier this summer. The event marked more than just a formal recognition—it was a celebration of integrity, dedication, and the enduring spirit of public service.

Keep ReadingShow less