Introduction
We will be better served by spending 80% of our attention and effort on the 80% of what we all agree on and make that happen. This will be the most efficient and most effective application of our attention and effort. We can hold our politicians accountable to that as well. Sometimes it feels like we spend 80% of our attention and effort on the 20% or less of things that we don’t agree about. We can have better! Having said all that about elected officials, I don’t want to give the impression that they are responsible for most of the work to build up Good Places or that most of our duty is discharged by voting for the right people. Not at all! Elected and appointed government officials have their roles, but “we the people” bear a much greater responsibility for our places. Of course we do! There are so many more of us than there are of them. We the people employ our government officials to do some of the work for us, but the vast majority of the work to be done must be done by people not employed by the government. We will do well to focus first on the 80% (or s0) on which we agree.
Discussion Questions
1. How and how much are our perceptions of our community shaped in any way by people who benefit (financially or politically) from highlighting areas of disagreement?
2. Who is known for attracting attention to areas of broad agreement and motivating collective action that accomplishes shared goals?
*People ask where I got this statistic. I totally made it up! Well, not totally. I base it on experience and observation.
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