Join us as we innovate American democracy right here in our hometown. Your tax-deductible donation of $76 or more makes you a member, gets you some perks, and supports free events across our community all year.
More
Village SquareCast is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it. Find The Democracy Group (and listen to all their fabulous podcasts) HERE and subscribe to Village SquareCast HERE or wherever you get your podcasts.
Throughout those battles, antidotes to our civic poisons have always run through the American bloodstream too. Americans have continually found ways to neutralize their discord and catalyze diversity, turning them into sources of strength.
Early legislators came to work “in the spirit of avowed misunderstanding, without the smallest wish to agree.” Jefferson’s solution? He invited diverse lawmakers to dinner and was widely credited with saving democracy. Maybe we can too?
This entire year The Village Square will look for, talk about – and honor – people who stand up and make things happen where we live right here in Tallahassee. Nominate a local patriot you know — we’ll honor their work and if we choose your nominee, you get two tickets to dinner April 28.
In 1798 James Madison wrote of the press: “To the press alone, checkered as it is with abuses, the world is indebted for all the triumphs which have been gained by reason and humanity over error and oppression.” In 2020, if Madison was correct then reason and humanity could be in for an even rougher ride.
A Divided Union delves into ten pressing political challenges that our two favorite former US Representatives Patrick Murphy and David Jolly (who served on opposite sides of the aisle) have identified over their multiple terms in Congress and that continue to plague the American electorate today.
Say what you rightfully will about what’s wrong with America, there isn’t a country on earth nervy enough to hold as a central ideal the pursuit of happiness. Yet we spend precious little time contemplating this founding charge to American citizens. Are we succeeding at it?
What if defenders of truth are missing the most fundamental conceptual revolution at the core of this American experiment, the western world and — heck — even the enlightenment itself? Join us for an important conversation with public intellectual Jonathan Rauch that you won’t soon forget. Offered in partnership with Florida Humanities.
Utter clarity in the face of vast complexity? Check. Haughty condescension and/or venal anger when confronted with diversity of opinion? Got that by the metric ton. Intellectual humility? Notsomuch. It’s possible that isn’t exactly healthy.
In divided times like ours and through history, brave and unlikely friendships have endured, inspired and redeemed. You’ll meet a pair of friends who not only manage their disagreements, they embrace them—as they tell tales of their teaming up to share their unique take on why all friendships should be more like theirs.
Our current divisions—one American from another—are deep and wide. But what if we are profoundly, completely and tragically wrong about each other? What if it’s our own mistaken assumptions about the true beliefs of people on our “side” that is driving the escalating tensions? We’d best figure that out. Fast.
