Why Create A Culture of Unity
Why Create A Culture of Unity
As President Kennedy said about going to the moon, we choose to create a culture of American unity through a biannual illustrated journal not because it is easy but because it is hard, and because doing so will serve to organize the best of our efforts as we serve our fellow Americans and develop leaders.
Here are ten more reasons why we do the work to create a culture of unity.
Congress can’t solve dysfunction on its own because the culture doesn’t yet exist to support it.
Stories influence how we think, what we believe about ourselves, and what we imagine is possible. We need stories that embrace universal human reality in light of what life is like in the kingdom of God.
New leaders want to know how to govern wisely in a divisive climate while staying true to their values.
Americans are looking for a new approach to politics and are waiting for someone to show them the future we can create.
There are leaders and staffers in politics who are navigating the path forward and their voices need to be amplified.
There are nonprofit leaders creating a culture of unity and their voices (and budgets) need to be amplified even more.
Americans—particularly those who have historically been marginalized—shouldn’t feel like they have to resort to protests or violence for their voices to be heard.
If we’re going to ask our military to defend us abroad, we have to create a culture, not just a democratic structure, worth defending at home, for the US and the world.
Creating a culture of American unity by producing content, experiences, and leaders that inspire it today will be more effective at creating good governance for the next generation than operating exclusively within the “container” of American government.
In governance, wisdom is the bottom line. We need a culture of unity not because policy doesn’t matter—it does, and a culture of unity is necessary to create sound policies and keep the US Constitution in place for generations to come.
A final note on motive
But why do we create a culture of unity, really? The answers above are genuine motives. I honestly believe, based on firsthand professional experience in American politics, that our generation’s calling is, in the words of Abraham Lincoln, to bind up the nation’s wounds. And I believe that we can be more effective working to do so as a nonprofit.
But motive can be tricky to pin down; as humans we have internal, external, and philosophical motives that drive our life choices. For me, American politics became unworkable and unlivable because we often choose division. That reality clashed with what I believed was possible based on the goodness of God. And having friends and family members who have served in the military, I did not think that life on Capitol Hill lived up to the sacrifices they were making for us—or that it would be possible to make the culture better in my situation at the time.
Then when my grandfather passed away in 2015, I knew I couldn’t live with myself knowing that the day-to-day of life on the Hill didn’t live up to what he believed in or valued. So I had to do something to focus exclusively on making it better. I also share my colleague Pete Obermueller’s view of my own motives: I left the Hill because I was angry.
To share a Walter White level of honesty about my motives, I also wanted to take a risk and do work that was not tied to an office cubicle, to do work that is creative, free from the constraints of electoral politics, where I could be my own boss, write my own words, pursue photography, focus on fitness, and do this with others who want to live the same lifestyle.
If you’re going this same direction too, and if you want to see the mission and goal of Liberatus succeed and would like to connect, write to me by using the form at the bottom of this page.
-Caleb Paxton
WEEKLY ACTION POINT:
What would you add to the list? Comment below or apply to join the Liberatus Leadership Council.
Mission: Inspire American Unity
Create a culture of American unity for the next generation by producing content, experiences, and leaders that inspire it today.
Journal Entry #130
ISSUE 019: THE TRAILHEAD—LEADERSHIP FOR AMERICAN UNITY, PART 7