Skip to content
Project 2025
Search

Latest Stories

Follow Us:
Top Stories
Some MAGA loyalists have turned on Trump. Why the rest haven’t

Some MAGA loyalists have turned on Trump. Why the rest haven’t

Osha Vaccination

Investigations Committee Releases COVID Vaccine Adverse Effects Report, Research Debated across Party Lines

Independents and Republicans May Hold the Power in Los Angeles – If They Actually Vote

Independents and Republicans May Hold the Power in Los Angeles – If They Actually Vote

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth stands in front of a group of National Guard troops.

Trump's and Hegseth’s Officer Firings Put Pentagon Stability at Risk

Recalibrating our national moral compass

Recalibrating our national moral compass
Getty Images
Debilyn Molineaux
By Debilyn MolineauxMay 24, 2023
Debilyn Molineaux

Debilyn Molineaux is the catalyst of JEDIfutures.org , a global initiative that helps people imagine and create just, equitable, dignified, and inclusive futures. She is best known for her pioneering work in civic innovation, having co-founded Bridge Alliance, Living Room Conversations, and National Week of Conversation. She formerly acted as co-publisher for The Fulcrum. Across these efforts, Debilyn has brought together unlikely allies to co-create solutions for democracy, governance, and social transformation.

Her work lives at the intersection of strategy, systems change, and spirit. A long-time practitioner of personal and collective growth, she brings a deep commitment to the inner dimensions of change that are often overlooked but essential to transformation. Debilyn speaks of the “interstitial spaces” — the connective tissue between people, institutions, and movements — where new possibilities take root.

She also hosts the podcast Terrified Nation, which helps audiences move from fear and despair into courage and action. Her voice is sought by impact investors, changemakers, and visionary leaders who want to align resources, imagination, and human growth toward a thriving future for all.

See More Writings by author

Molineaux is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and president/CEO of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.

Each of us has a moral compass. This internal sense of right and wrong guides our behavioral choices throughout our lives. A navigational compass always points true north unless a magnet is nearby. Then it will point to the magnet.

Our moral compass can also be magnetized. Instead of pointing to our values of integrity, loyalty, compassion and so on, it points to those who are polarizing us, telling us that only THEY hold the moral high ground and we should give them our attention, money and power. Our moral compass needs to be recalibrated on a national scale. Can we even step out of the toxic polarized conditioning to assess what our individual moral compasses are today?

What is the north star for you? What are the values and ethics by which you guide your life? I imagine yours will be a similar to mine:

  • Be honest with self and others.
  • Honor family and friends before other commitments.
  • Contribute to the betterment of the community.
  • Stand up for what is right and good; i.e. the dignity of others.
  • Be myself and allow others to be themselves. “You do you.”

In my personal life, these are the results of alignment with my moral compass:

  • Relationships with family and friends are strong.
  • I apologize when I make mistakes or harm others.
  • I work every day to evolve myself and those around me to be better citizens.
  • I have pledged “dignity first” for all interactions.
  • I am mostly non-judgmental about other’s choices.

What about our national moral compass? A national moral compass is the weaving of all of us together that results in a national ethos. Here are the results of our national moral compass:

  • Name calling and public demonization of any person as bad, evil, ugly, etc., is OK.
  • Doxxing is part of serving the public; where people are unsafe in their homes and jobs when called out.
  • Rigid belief systems keep us from liking each other based on labels and assumptions.
  • It’s OK to strip voting rights and bodily autonomy away from people via the courts and legislation.
  • Threats of violence will be used to enforce one belief system on all of us.

What are the values that lead to these results?

  • Winning is everything.
  • Money is power.
  • Time is money.
  • Fame is priceless.

Just reading this list of values, I am angry. Angry that We the People have allowed The Politics Industry and Conflict Profiteers to magnetize the good hearts of Americans, turning them against one another. What we need is for millions of Americans to:

How might we bring better alignment between our personal and national moral compasses? This is the work of our lifetime.


Latest news

Calling Wealthy Benefactors!
Governance & Legislation

Calling Wealthy Benefactors!

Iran’s Exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi Believes in Iranian Regime Change — Experts Contradict Him
Governance & Legislation

Iran’s Exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi Believes in Iranian Regime Change — Experts Contradict Him

Read More

The Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Decision Could Reshape Local Government Across Texas

A landmark Supreme Court ruling on the Voting Rights Act could reshape Latino and Black political representation in Texas. Guillermo Ramos and other leaders warn the decision may weaken protections against discriminatory election systems in school boards and city councils.

The Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Decision Could Reshape Local Government Across Texas

Guillermo Ramos remembers seeing few elected leaders who looked like him while he was growing up in the 1980s in Farmers Branch, a fast-growing affluent suburb northwest of Dallas.

Over the years, Latino representation continued to lag, he said. In 2015, after he had become a lawyer, he decided to do something about it.

Keep ReadingShow less
The Paradox of Young Voters: Disillusioned and Divided
person in blue denim jeans and white sneakers standing on gray concrete floor
Photo by Phil Scroggs on Unsplash

The Paradox of Young Voters: Disillusioned and Divided

In 2024, young Americans were expected to be the stabilizing force in U.S. politics. But instead, they emerged as one of its most paradoxical constituencies: increasingly disillusioned, economically anxious, and sharply divided. Millennials and Gen Z are rapidly becoming the demographic center of political power: by 2028, they may account for nearly half of the electorate. Yet, according to the Spring 2025 Harvard Youth Poll conducted by the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics, only 19% of young Americans trust the federal government to do the right thing most or all of the time. Just 13% believe the country is headed in the right direction. The question arises: will this generation accelerate democratic fragmentation, or help rebuild a more resilient civic culture?

This growing pessimism is not confined to one party. Young Americans rate both major political parties poorly, displaying chronically low approval of national leadership, and increasingly question whether democratic institutions are responsive to their needs. The result is not apathy–it is polarization.

Keep ReadingShow less
stethoscope and us dollar bills on blue-colored background.

As debate over universal health care intensifies in the United States, rising medical costs, insurance complexity, and international comparisons are fueling renewed calls for a transparent, accountable system that guarantees basic care for all Americans.

Getty Images, aaaaimages

The United States May Be the Best Place to Build Universal Health Care

The debate over health insurance in the United States has returned to the forefront as the Affordable Care Act faces political pressure, insurance premiums continue to climb, and physicians experience increasing restrictions from insurance companies. A recent poll shows that roughly 62 to 68 percent of Americans believe the government has a responsibility to ensure health care coverage for all. Yet after more than a century of debate, the federal government has taken only small steps toward universal coverage. Today, the United States spends a relatively high amount per person on health care, but Americans die younger and are less healthy than residents in other high-income countries.

Having experienced different health care systems firsthand, I am deeply aware of how universal health care can impact life. Surprisingly, I have also realized that the United States may actually have one of the systems best suited to making it work.

Keep ReadingShow less
A café owner hangs an “Open” sign on the front door at the start of the business day. Concept of entrepreneurship and readiness.
Getty Images, Willie B. Thomas

Cassidy’s Latest Chance To Boost The Small Businesses He Has Long Championed

When election season rolls around, voters are accustomed to hearing politicians proclaim their support for small businesses–institutions that routinely top Gallup’s list of America’s most trusted by a country mile.

It’s easy to talk the talk during campaign season. It’s much harder to do the work when the cameras are off, and the spotlight fades.

Keep ReadingShow less
© Copyright 2026