Nearly Everything I Know About How to Improve Democracy

Former President Jimmy Carter working on a Habitat for Humanity house in Philly. Source ***Hello friends! I’ve been on travel this week, so here’s a favorite from the archives for you. Wishing you a wonderful weekend of it! Let’s say I give you a toolbox with a

Are Your Politicians Show Ponies or Work Horses?

There is an old Sufi teaching story that goes like this: "You think that because you understand ‘one' that you must therefore understand ‘two' because one and one make two. But you forget that you must also understand ‘and.'" The ancient Sufis really presaged how

A Key Democracy Secret Hiding in Political Ads

One evening during the Olympics, a fascinating political ad came on that I want you to know all about. Because this ad, like so many, banks on people knowing diddly squat about policymaking. Clearly, this ad did not account for Policy is for Lovers readers! Who the ad is about

A Two-Minute Solution to a Serious Democracy Problem

Every so often, I like to check in on the U.S House Press Gallery’s casualty list. It tracks the number of U.S. Representatives who aren’t running for reelection. So far, that’s 54 members. The AP cut right to the heart of it: that’s 10%

On Making Change When We Feel Powerless

The first trick of the powerful is to make others feel powerless. But let’s linger on that word trick for a moment. Because it’s got a telling ancestry. It comes from the old French meaning to cheat or deceive. So if the first deception, the first cheat, of

How to Shape a Politician’s Thinking

Hello Dear Reader! I’ve had a good old-fashioned February head cold, so here’s a favorite from the archives that feels useful for this moment. Wishing you all good things + many unexpected miracles ahead, Caitie It is true that things are pretty grim out there. It's also

How We Can Work From Love

The other afternoon, I drove slowly home in thick snow, listening to an interview with a reporter who covers conflict. How are you doing right now? the host asked. Leaning hard into spiritual resilience, the reporter said. Making sure I’m doing the things that I love, that fill me

Three Unexpected Ways to Meet the Moment

These days, when I’m making dinner or doing the dishes, I’ve been bellowing, “This Little Light of Mine” at the top of my lungs. Or I'll crank the Bruce Springsteen live version up good and loud. It’s an antidote to fear; it gets me out

How We Reply to Violence

I once heard a wildly successful tennis player say that we can be motivated by one of two things: fear or love. Fear is a familiar face these days. Fear for beloveds, ourselves. Fear about who we are to each other. Fear that our country can’t find a path

Who Has the Power to Do What You Want

It’s a snowy January day up here in Maine. I recently learned that my state’s 100-Mile Wilderness stretch of the Appalachian Trail can be so brutal, hikers say, “No Maine, no gain.” Soon, I’ll go walk the dog on the beach (we’ll save the 100-Mile Wilderness