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Polarization yields a celebration of civil society’s behavioral baseline

Polarization yields a celebration of civil society’s behavioral baseline

Tuesday is the first-ever National Decency Day. Congress, where political polarization means basic decency sometimes seems in very short supply, plans to formally take notice. Local governments in half the states have already done so.

The burst of activity is the handiwork of a New York graphic designer, Lisa Cholnoky. She began a campaign to elevate "the basic standard of civility that every American deserves" two years ago, with the distribution of several thousand strikingly simple, old-fashioned lapel buttons proclaiming a disarming conversation starter: "decency." Last fall she launched an ad hoc civic engagement bid to persuade high schools and colleges to petition city councils or school boards to proclaim May 14 as a Day of Decency – which has so far happened in 28 communities in 25 states.

She then registered with the National Day Calendar, which permits nonprofit groups and businesses to lay perpetual claim to an honorific sliver of what's become an overstuffed annual almanac. (Tuesday is also Buttermilk Biscuit Day and Underground America Day.)


And Cholnoky has arranged for a bipartisan series of endorsements on the floor of the House for what she terms "a moment in the midst of the polarized atmosphere in which we find ourselves for all people to reclaim the tradition, practices and skills for civil discussion of our differences of opinion."

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"During my time on the campaign trail last year I was inspired by the number of doors I knocked and how many residents asked for one thing: decency," freshman Democratic Rep. Madeleine Dean of suburban Philadelphia said.

"As Americans, we cherish our freedom to dissent, but we must always bear in mind that these debates should be productive and substantive," said GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin of Long Island, Cholnoky's congressman.

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Elderly woman on a train

A woman evacuating from Pokrovsk, Ukraine, in August looks out from a train car to say goodbye.

Oleksandr Magula/Suspilne Ukraine/JSC "UA:PBC"/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images

On Ageism Awareness Day, consider the impact of war on older people.

Kilaberia is an assistant professor at New York University’s Silver School of Social Work and a public voices fellow with The OpEd Project.

We know the toll that war has on youth, but older adults are suffering displacement, too.

We have talked about age-friendly cities, age-friendly health care systems, age-friendly universities, age-friendly workplaces dementia-friendly communities. We are not talking about age-friendly or dementia-friendly humanitarian responses.

Tomorrow is Ageism Awareness Day and it offers us the opportunity to draw attention to the impact of ageism, particularly in the many war zones around the world.

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Latino couple

"Women's rights are super important to me because women raised me. Women brought me into this world,” said Rico Cortez, with his mother, Rebececca Guerrero.

Courtesy Rico Cortez

Latino families in Nevada are a deciding factor this election cycle

Couraud is a bilingual multimedia journalist.

The Fulcrum presents We the People, a series elevating the voices and visibility of the persons most affected by the decisions of elected officials. In this installment, we explore the motivations of over 36 million eligible Latino voters as they prepare to make their voices heard in November.

According to the NALEO Education Fund,Latinos make up 28 percent of Nevada's population, and one in every five registered voters in the state is Latino. With Nevada being a crucial swing state in November's election, the Latino vote has become increasingly important.

Although Nevada has a sitting U.S. senator who is Latina (Catherine Cortez-Masto), Latino political representation still lags. This could explain why some Latino voters feel discouraged or why — despite such high population numbers — Latino voter turnout is lower than that of other demographics in the state.

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Where young voters can have the greatest impact in 2024

Liz Michalkiewicz was 29 when she voted in Milwaukee in 2022. Wisconsin is among the states where voters under age 30 can have the biggest impact this year.

Sara Stathas for The Washington Post via Getty Images

Where young voters can have the greatest impact in 2024

Meyers is executive editor of The Fulcrum.

It’s common knowledge among the politically engaged that the presidential election is going to come down to a handful of states. The same goes for control of the Senate, while just a couple dozen districts will determine which party wins a majority in the House of Representatives.

But which voters will decide the winner in each of those states and districts? While there may not be one, across-the-board answer, researchers at Tufts University have identified the places where young voters (ages 18-29) can have the most influence on electoral outcomes this year.

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Mark Zuckerberg, who is now worth more than $200 billion, shows off new wearabel tech at the Meta Connect developer conference in September.

Andrej Sokolow/picture alliance via Getty Images

We have extreme inequality in America, and it’s getting worse

Cooper is the author of “How America Works … and Why it Doesn’t.

Bloomberg recently reported that Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg is now worth over $200 billion. He’s not alone. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Tesla founder Elon Musk, and LVMH founder Bernard Arnault are also worth north of $200 billion.

The news is a searing reminder of the uneven distribution of wealth in America. In the same country as Zuckerberg, Bezos, and Musk reside millions of people without a reliable source of food. (Arnault lives in France.) Redistributing just a small portion of the richest Americans’ wealth could alleviate tremendous human suffering.

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A roll of stickers that read "I registered to vote today!"
Bloomberg Creative/Getty Images

Become an informed voter – it’s the best way to fight voter suppression

Harris is director of media engagement at Stand Up America.

This is National Voter Education Week, when activists and organizations across the country mobilize to educate voters on how to make their voices heard in November. This year, that mission is more important than ever. While voting rights advocates are hard at work helping voters find their polling location and voting options, learn what’s on their ballot, and make a plan for voting, MAGA politicians are ramping up efforts to make it more difficult to vote and even purging voter rolls in battleground states.

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