Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Mindfulness and elected leaders

Mindfulness and elected leaders

SEAN GLADWELL/Getty Images

It has been suggested by some that there is a little-visited intersection of mindfulness and healthy self-governance. While a seemingly new thought for those who feel we must be pragmatic, let's explore the concept with a "risk and reward" lens.

Mindfulness is a mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while acknowledging and accepting (but not being captured by) one's feelings, thoughts and bodily sensations. Through various techniques such as meditation, or just regular exercise one can learn to be more present in the moment, i.e. more mindful.


With the seemingly endless new problems that the world faces at an accelerating rate, perhaps contemplation can meet action in a positive way.

Is it possible that through deep reflection — stepping back from the rhetoric, from the "I'm right, you're wrong" mentality — our leaders might legislate and govern more effectively?

Albert Einstein famously said we cannot solve problems with the mindset that created them.

"We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if humanity is to survive." He went on to say that freeing ourselves from the "optical delusion" can "widen our circle of compassion."

As stated by the Garrison Institute, which is dedicated to inspired thinking and thoughtful action, "Contemplation — the practice of reflecting deeply — opens fresh possibilities for new thinking, and can be an indispensable part of the solution to today's real-world, human-created problems, from an epidemic of psychological trauma to global climate change."

The risk is negligible — a little time and ego invested in contemplation and reflection. The reward is quite substantial. Better thinking, innovative ideas and real-world solutions.

In the coming months The Fulcrum will explore spirituality and mindfulness within our Pop Culture section. Pop culture is not just trendy music, theatre or art. Pop culture is everything that impacts the culture of our society, and certainly religion, spirituality and mindfulness are immensely important to millions of Americans and thus critically important in determining how our society functions.

Enjoy this short, humorous video about mindfulness as former British Prime Minister Theresa May answers questions — and good-natured heckling — regarding the use of mindfulness as a tool for solving social issues. It is revealed that several members of Parliament and their staff attended a mindfulness workshop to increase their effectiveness.

https://vimeo.com/333330057

As always we encourage your engagement so please offer any ideas you may have as to the connection between spirituality and mindfulness on healthy self-governance and our democracy. You may email us at pop-culture@fulcrum.us.

Read More

Connecticut: Democracy, Innovation, and Economic Resilience

The 50: Connecticut

Credit: Hugo Balta

Connecticut: Democracy, Innovation, and Economic Resilience

The 50 is a four-year multimedia project in which the Fulcrum visits different communities across all 50 states to learn what motivated them to vote in the 2024 presidential election and see how the Donald Trump administration is meeting those concerns and hopes.

Hartford, Connecticut, stands as a living testament to American democracy, ingenuity, and resilience. As the state’s capital, it’s home to cultural landmarks like the Mark Twain House & Museum, where Twain penned The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, embodying the spirit of self-governance and creative daring that defines the region.

Keep ReadingShow less
Hand blocking someone speaking

The Third Way has recently released a memo stating that the “stampede away from the Democratic Party” is partly a result of the language and rhetoric it uses.

Westend61/Getty Images

To Protect Democracy, Democrats Should Pay Attention to the Third Way’s List of ‘Offensive’ Words

More than fifty years ago, comedian George Carlin delivered a monologue entitled Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television.” It was a tribute to the legendary Lenny Bruce, whose “nine dirty words” performance led to his arrest and his banning from many places.

His seven words were “p—, f—, c—, c———, m———–, and t—.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Fox News’ Selective Silence: How Trump’s Worst Moments Vanish From Coverage
Why Fox News’ settlement with Dominion Voting Systems is good news for all media outlets
Getty Images

Fox News’ Selective Silence: How Trump’s Worst Moments Vanish From Coverage

Last week, the ultraconservative news outlet, NewsMax, reached a $73 million settlement with the voting machine company, Dominion, in essence, admitting that they lied in their reporting about the use of their voting machines to “rig” or distort the 2020 presidential election. Not exactly shocking news, since five years later, there is no credible evidence to suggest any malfeasance regarding the 2020 election. To viewers of conservative media, such as Fox News, this might have shaken a fully embraced conspiracy theory. Except it didn’t, because those viewers haven’t seen it.

Many people have a hard time understanding why Trump enjoys so much support, given his outrageous statements and damaging public policy pursuits. Part of the answer is due to Fox News’ apparent censoring of stories that might be deemed negative to Trump. During the past five years, I’ve tracked dozens of examples of news stories that cast Donald Trump in a negative light, including statements by Trump himself, which would make a rational person cringe. Yet, Fox News has methodically censored these stories, only conveying rosy news that draws its top ratings.

Keep ReadingShow less
U.S. Flag / artificial intelligence / technology / congress / ai

The age of AI warrants asking if the means still further the ends—specifically, individual liberty and collective prosperity.

Getty Images, Douglas Rissing

Liberty and the General Welfare in the Age of AI

If the means justify the ends, we’d still be operating under the Articles of Confederation. The Founders understood that the means—the governmental structure itself—must always serve the ends of liberty and prosperity. When the means no longer served those ends, they experimented with yet another design for their government—they did expect it to be the last.

The age of AI warrants asking if the means still further the ends—specifically, individual liberty and collective prosperity. Both of those goals were top of mind for early Americans. They demanded the Bill of Rights to protect the former, and they identified the latter—namely, the general welfare—as the animating purpose for the government. Both of those goals are being challenged by constitutional doctrines that do not align with AI development or even undermine it. A full review of those doctrines could fill a book (and perhaps one day it will). For now, however, I’m just going to raise two.

Keep ReadingShow less