The redrawing of legislative district boundaries. A 1967 federal law requires House members be elected from single-member districts that (within each state) have nearly identical populations. House maps must be redrawn after reapportionment but before the first congressional election of each decade, based on population changes in each state revealed by the census.
Two sides stand rigidly opposed, divided by a chasm of hardened positions and non-relationship.
Political polarization is only one symptom of the national disease that afflicts us. From obesity to heart disease to chronic stress, we live with the consequences of the failure to relate to each other authentically, even to perceive and understand what an authentic encounter might be. Can we see the organic causes of the physiological ailments as arising from a single organ system – the organ of relationship?
Without actual evidence of a relationship between the physiological ailments and the failure of personal encounter, this writer (myself in 2012) is lunging, like a fencer with his sword, to puncture a delusion. He wants to interrupt a conversation running in the background like an almost-silent electric motor, asking us to notice the hum, to question it. He wants to open to our inspection the matter of what it is to credit evidence. For believing—especially with the coming of artificial intelligence, which can manufacture apparently flawless pictures of the real, and with the seething of the mob crying havoc online and then out in the streets—even believing in evidence may not ground us in truth.
Medical trials could produce no double-blind evidence that the failure to relate to each other causes obesity or heart disease, even if the latter is taken as a metaphor for a non-physiological ailment. The recent declaration by the Surgeon General of a link between heart disease and loneliness, though, is telling. The inability to listen and be heard is causing personal harm and, ipso facto, societal harm. Our perception of the other based solely on party, on race, on class – on abstractions – is preventing us from addressing national problems and affecting our physical health. Has our addiction to an abstraction like “individual freedom” produced vaccine hesitancy and the refusal of masks?
What else has happened in America since those opening sentences were written in May 2012?
Of course, all these events may exemplify correlation, not causation. The causes of civil violence, complex and interrelated, depend on factors seemingly remote from personal grievance, like geography and demographics. But though some of them involve masses of people acting in concert, their grievance stoked by social media’s monetization of outrage, what the opponents of gun control trumpet relentlessly is true: guns don’t kill people; people kill people. We must recognize individual responsibility and choice. Even with suicide, though, private agony grows from the failure of relationship. We make choices in a context, a milieu inexorably social. What is conditioning our social milieu, the air we’re all breathing? Call it a hypothesis, then, that the national “organ of relationship” has atrophied to the point of failure, at least among a substantial portion of the populace.
How are we to restore the sane common ground we may walk on with our fellows? Can we avoid the fate of the dinosaurs? As their immense size worked against them after a meteor impact reduced sunlight, our reliance on perception instead of relationship now threatens our survival. Under perception’s sway, certain of our truth, we manipulate one another as instruments—whence “cancel culture,” “debate” with hardened positions unheard by the other side, and violence seen as virtue. We get all pissy if an academic dismisses our most fervently held positions as dependent on a context for their truth..
It has been incontrovertibly demonstrated that what you are certain you see in front of you depends on assumptions you bring to the hermeneutic act of seeing. That is, the nature of an act, the meaning of a speech, as Claudine Gay so confidently asserted, depends on the context. This is not an academic matter. The mechanism of perception is poisoning our planet and our polity.
To expose that mechanism for what it is, and to steer ourselves consciously and conscientiously toward a way of being together different than the one perception enables and enforces, we need the milieu of Buber’s “meeting,” between a present and particular I and You—a force field where each of the participants turns to the other with the intention of establishing “a living mutual relation between himself and them.” We need a milieu where opposites may encounter each other in a context unconditioned by perception’s absolutism, outside the narratives that perception spins out of assumptions.
Braver Angels has the best-developed infrastructure to support such a milieu. And there are now several hundred kindred processes, like https://www.wisedemocracy.org/3-wisdom-council-pro... (See the growing list at ListenFirst.org.)
But we need to share in actual physical being together as well as intellectual (verbal) inquiry and debate. If not bowling leagues, then shooting ranges, fitness centers. (Shared sweat counts.) Hunt clubs. Chess clubs. Hotel lobbies. Elevators. Have you ever encountered a person coming down the opposite escalator as you ascend? The opposite of visual perception is eye contact.
The Meetings of Opposites curriculum is designed to bring into presence, among people with irreconcilable opinions, the actual experience of common ground. In several sessions, we expose the mechanism of perception for what it is, we catch ourselves if we fall under its domination, and we consciously and conscientiously steer ourselves toward being together differently than perception enables and enforces.
In each session of a meeting of opposites, we:
(The optical illusion we live in now is Us-Against-Them.)
These workshops replace positionality with relationship, dialogue not between positions but between persons. https://meetingsofopposites.org
It is late for America. We've been working as opposites — canceling each other — for so long that the American Idea is in jeopardy. We must here and now be confronted bodily, physiologically, in living, real-time instances of the true meeting Buber intended, so that we have not position-taking but moral sustenance, not an abstraction but an actual country to live in. There’s a big difference between the emptiness of a slogan — “The American People” — and the actuality of living as an American person among others. Common ground is a matter of living together, not of agreement in opinions. Narrative-driven solidarity will kill us.
Henry McHenry Jr., Founder of Meetings of Opposites and former Outward Bound instructor, grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, in the 1950s, went to Yale, holds a PhD in English Pedagogy from UVa, and teaches Shakespeare for OLLI in Charlottesville.
Anika Dugal is the Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Gender Equitable AI
When OpenAI launched ChatGPT, it sparked Anika Dugal’s interest in tech policy and safety. As a junior in high school, Anika became aware of the harms of AI – from deepfakes to algorithmic bias – and she was inspired to take action. Grounded in a passion for women’s rights work, Anika was alarmed to learn about the manifold gender-based inequities around AI. Still, she could find no organizations focusing on it. It was then that Anika started the Center for Gender Equitable AI (CGEAI), then known as Girls for Algorithmic Justice, a nonprofit, youth-led organization working to address the gendered harms emerging from artificial intelligence and other technologies.
Since its founding in 2022, CGEAI has launched more than 20 chapters at schools worldwide, engaged almost 200 volunteers globally, created over 50 educational resources, and reached over 4,000 young people. CGEAI has sent youth representatives to convenings such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals Action Weekend, the Prudential Emerging Visionaries Summit, the Intercollegiate Bay Area AI Safety Retreat, and the Women in Engineering Conference.
In 2024, the organization launched its first campaign, #StopExplicitDeepfakes, to raise awareness of the harms of deepfakes and share information and tools to mitigate them.
The worldwide effort to confront the rise of AI-generated, nonconsensual explicit imagery garnered over 43,000 views, produced a 20+ page paper on guidance for school policies to address explicit deepfakes, submitted input to the UN AI Advisory Body, and even involved youth meeting one-on-one with Congressional representatives to share their perspectives on deepfakes and to inform meaningful change at the federal level. The campaign included the publication of an op-ed in The San Francisco Chronicle by CGEAI leaders Emma Le and Stephanie Choi, which was read and recognized by the San Francisco City Attorney. #StopExplicitDeepfakes also included an art competition that encouraged students around the world to convey their experiences through poetry, literature, and visual art.
Anika is deeply proud of the #StopExplicitDeepfakes campaign, sharing, “I first came across the issue about a year ago in a powerful op-ed in the New York Times by Nicholas Kristof. The op-ed described the innumerable girls and women victimized by explicit deepfakes and an utter lack of action around the issue. I was a senior in high school at the time, and procrastinating doing my homework by skimming the news. I remember sitting numb at my computer after reading the op-ed, then turning to my mom to tell her about it, outraged.
“The number of victims of explicit deepfakes is quite literally in the millions. That op-ed first inspired sadness, then outrage, and then a resolve that powered me through working on #StopExplicitDeepfakes last semester,” Anika said.
This semester, CGEAI is focused on developing resources to help high schools support their impacted students and thinking about how they can fill the critical knowledge gaps around explicit deepfakes.
“It’s hard to balance nonprofit work with the all-consuming nature of college life, but I know that this issue is important, awful, and underaddressed. It’s tangible harm like this that compels me to keep working on CGEAI,” Anika said.
According to Anika, one of the most rewarding moments of the #StopExplicitDeepfakes campaign was their art competition.
“I remember opening the Google Form and being incredibly moved by the submissions to our competition,” she said.
“The students who submitted pieces were vulnerable about their experiences or fears around AI-driven online harassment, and conveyed it so powerfully. Also, I’m glad to be seeing more attention paid to the issue–this year, explicit deepfakes were a key focus of the UN’s ‘16 Days Against Gender-Based Violence’ campaign.”
In a world in which AI continues to evolve rapidly, the organization, too, responds to new developments in this technology.
“CGEAI plans to expand in what we call a ‘star-shape’ to address issues in the nexus of gender equity and emerging technology through research, education, advocacy, and more,” Anika said.
“Our goal is to work where it’s most needed, and to fill the vital gaps that leave victims unsupported and decision-makers without key information. This semester, we’ve been focused on expanding our team through recruitment, establishing partnerships and finding mentors, and prepping some exciting initiatives for launch next semester. CGEAI is the furthest thing from an individual effort; my work would not be possible without the help of so many volunteers and mentors. Working alongside profoundly hardworking and kind people has been one of my favorite parts of this organization.”
Anika is now a sophomore Angier B. Duke Scholar, Duke Technology Scholar, and Laidlaw Scholar at Duke University studying computer science and public policy, and there’s no sign of her or the Center slowing down as they work to reach more people across the world through their research, education, and awareness programs, and community listening projects.
This is the second in an ongoing monthly series highlighting the inspiring work of high school-aged civic innovators. Through the mentorship and guidance provided by Civics Unplugged, young people are provided the skills, mentorship, and community needed to create impactful solutions to the problems that matter most. Since Civic Unplugged’s founding in 2020, they have graduated more than 5,000 Fellows worldwide from our tuition-free programs and provided $1.5 million in direct funding to Fellows’ initiatives. To learn more, please visit civicsunplugged.org.
The Fulcrum is committed to nurturing the next generation of journalists. To learn about the many NextGen initiatives we are leading, click HERE.
Prop 50 is redrawing California’s political battlefield, sparking new fears of gerrymandering, backroom mapmaking, and voters losing their voice. We cut through the spin to explain what’s really changing, who benefits, and what it could mean for competitive elections, election reform, and independent voters. Plus, Independent CA-40 candidate Nina Linh joins us to spell out how Prop 50’s map shifts are already reshaping her district - and her race.
Listen to this episode and more from Independent Voter Project on Spotify and Apple Music.
How Gavin Newsom’s Prop 50 is Reshaping California - For Better or For Worse was originally published by Independent Voter News and is republished with permission.
A scene of the United States Capitol Building, symbolizing the legislative success of the "Post-Disaster Mental Health Response Act."
The following article is excerpted from "Citizen’s Handbook for Influencing Elected Officials."
Most Americans don’t know where legislative ideas originate. They should be comforted to see the source: often, it’s them! Many bills introduced in legislatures are prompted by a problem, need, or desire articulated by a legislator’s constituent. The person will reach out to their lawmaker, explain the issue, and propose a solution. And sometimes, just like in the cartoon I’m Just a Bill, the legislation becomes the law of the land.
“The best ideas I get for legislation come from town hall meetings,” said one House Democratic subcommittee chairman. Building legislation based on constituents’ real-life experiences not only ensures the lawmaker is fulfilling a genuine community need, but it also provides the legislator with a story behind the bill. Storytelling in advocacy is a powerful tool for both constituents and lawmakers.
It was just such a story that led to the passage of new legislation related to helping victims of disasters and tragedies in the U.S. Such a scenario played out after the tragedy of the Boston Marathon bombing. On April 15, 2014, Manya Chylinski was perched at the finish line of the iconic race. In a split second her life changed when two bombs exploded, killing three people and injuring hundreds more. Manya counted herself lucky, as she was not physically harmed. However, in the days and weeks that followed, she was plagued with a variety of mental health issues. She experienced fear and anxiety and was finally diagnosed with PTSD.
Unfortunately, she discovered that while the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provided services for those physically harmed because of the bombing, individuals with mental health issues resulting from the disaster were not assisted. She told this to her congresswoman, Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Massachusetts), who introduced bipartisan legislation to correct the problem. “When disaster strikes—whether it be a natural disaster or mass violence—survivors are often left grappling with lasting trauma that has devastating impacts on their mental health,” Rep. Pressley said.
Yet Manya’s advocacy for her cause went beyond just suggesting a bill idea to her member of Congress. She did podcast interviews and wrote op-ed pieces for her local papers. She teamed up with other national mental health advocates, urging them to add the Pressley bill to their legislative agenda. And she sought allies in the Massachusetts statehouse and state government executive branch, adding more voices to the cause.
And on December 22, 2022, the “Post-Disaster Mental Health Response Act” was signed into law by President Joe Biden. The law expands eligibility for FEMA’s crisis counseling assistance, ensuring that people can access free crisis counseling and community care following traumatic events. “If we’re talking about these things from day one, more people are going to know that help is available if they need it,” Manya Chylinski said.
The legislation and subsequent grants have had a profound impact on the mental wellness of recent victims of disaster or tragedies. Communities have benefited from the new mental health grants, such as East Palestine, Ohio – which saw a train derailment in 2023 that released hazardous materials into their environment, or Lewiston, Maine – which in 2024 was victimized by a mass shooting resulting in 18 deaths.
Constituents telling their story and inspiring legislative solutions is especially important when interacting with new or freshman members of Congress. “A lot of our initial legislative ideas came from constituents, and it resulted in some of the most successful bills,” said a House communications director working for a first-term member of Congress. New lawmakers are desperate to make a name for themselves, and advocating a constituent’s cause through legislation is a perfect way to do so.
At a time when many Americans don’t see their government working for them, Manya’s efforts prove that citizen engagement can be a practical force for good in our democracy. Sometimes the government works just like you learned from I’m Just A Bill!
Bradford Fitch is the former CEO of the Congressional Management Foundation, a former congressional staffer, and author of “The Citizen’s Handbook for Influencing Elected Officials.”
