The Speech Environment is the Linchpin
The past three decades have seen debilitating changes to public discourse, thanks to media silos, social media, disappearing newsrooms, and an attention economy dominated by partisan propaganda. The resultant polarization prevents Congress from taking on any real problem-solving.
Political commentators bewail the polarization, but offer no solutions. Private corporations aren't meaningfully regulated, and there is no turning back the technology clock. The age of cheap speech has arrived. The speech environment today is new and different, and cannot be wished away.
What’s lacking is a vision. The solution must match the scale of the problem. The entire national speech environment must be reformed.
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Seven national initiatives and reforms. Each is aggressive, imaginative, scalable, constitutional, and attainable.
The public must also be part of the solution. Citizens need help learning about political argumentation, about actual national problems, and about the media itself.
From the Introduction:
“It is time to actually do something to solve the polarization problem. Something bold, decisive, and commensurate with the scale of the problem. No more talking about it, no more analyzing or handwringing, no toy projects. No pleas to citizens for civility or truly listening or looking inward. Let’s draft and pass some bills, let’s allocate real money.”
Here is an infomercial video for the book (2:40)
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