Is America Broken?

Is America Broken?

11 Secrets for Getting Back on Our Feet

Ted Wetzel

Is America Broken?

11 Secrets for Getting Back on Our Feet

© March 2020 by Ted Wetzel

Published by Fighting to Understand at Smashwords

Illustrations and cover by Sean Carver

This work was completed in February 2020 and on the runway for release. Instead we made Covid-19 additions and then accelerated the eBook release. You may find an error here and there, and you will find some of the graphics to be a work in process.

Feedback is needed. Leave a review where you purchased, please.

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501(c)(3) non-profit promoting civic education

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Acknowledgement

The 11 Secrets started with one conversation that dared to wonder, what would we (average Americans) find if we studied this topic full time? Well, came the answer, you should talk to so-and-so and have you read this thing-a-ma-job? and I’ll send you some links that I think fit the puzzle and are you aware of the conference over there? After a while, puzzle pieces were falling into place from multiple directions.

A list can be made of now approaching 400 regular people, or authors, or researchers, or conferences, or web links who are woven into the 11 Secrets. To those 400, and on behalf of We the People 2.0, thank you!

To every American who would like to be hopeful again.

Please share your agreements, your disagreements, your questions, and your ideas.

Many views are needed to form the whole!

Regarding Covid-19

These are dark clouds. We may all suffer loss of health, loved ones, wealth, or opportunity. And yet, we sense an opportunity to make the most of this time, don’t we? Hope will emerge. First, that our health professionals will again innovate. Second, the world is compassionately putting the health of the vulnerable ahead of economic wealth – a hugely significant behavioral trade-off, and full of hope. Third, it is almost impossible to blame, and then hate, any country, a race, an ethnicity, or a sex for the pandemic. It knows no boundaries. WE are truly in-this-together.

But, during times of change, wealth and opportunity will shift! Which is why the 11 Secrets are more, not less relevant. If you thought that our divided America could suddenly be healed by this crisis from heaven, then please also ponder that this will only be true if We The People [2.0] actually do get-in-this-together. The 11 Secrets are more relevant!

Opportunity knocks in the form of a time-out. Right now, with potentially more time at home, ask yourself if this is your time-out to read the 11 Secrets, to reflect and to recall our roots? And is this your time to then act: to rebuild trust, redefine goals, re-assemble WE to be the government of the people, by the people, for the people?

Regarding 2020 politics

We hope that President Trump will be remembered in history for motivating We the People to take the American experiment a leap forward, to We the People 2.0. We hope whoever is our next president will inspire governance of, by, and for the people.

Dedication

Christopher

Self-Published Because...

The proceeds from this book go to a non-profit 501(c)(3) which is organized to educate about civics: www.Fighting-To-Understand.us

As you will soon see in Secret #4, it is important that the voice of We the People 2.0 be distinct from the combination of business + media + 2-party politics.

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The ebook is available at most ebook websites.

The paperback version is available at www.Fighting-To-Understand.us

New Terms Introduced in This Book

Civics 1.0, Government 1.0, Media 1.0: these are the old methods and systems that need an upgrade. Even the most innovative system needs to be upgraded to keep it fresh. We can keep the best of version 1.0 and bring in the voice and experience of subsequent generations.

Big, Green Fog: Citizens shifted largely to consuming, and away civic engagement. At the same time, moneyed interests shifted toward government involvement.

Civics 2.0: the upgraded methods for citizens (We the People) to be involved with governing America. You know: the government be of, by, and for the people. The upgrade keeps the best of our foundation and adds modern techniques, including conflict transformation skills.

We the People 2.0: from the Preamble of our US Constitution, the phrase We the People continues to inspire Americans. 2.0 recognizes that the American Experiment has also been a struggle of belonging.

New Patriots: it seemed to us that old patriotism had become a shell or façade of rigidly defending a position. New Patriotism is giving of the self by fighting our inner demons and exploring something bigger than ourselves. Namely, the fulfillment of Life, Liberty, and pursuit of Happiness.

Confident Conflict Transformation (CCT): a skill for effective citizens. Skills that can be taught. Once taught / practiced, the skills can become confident skills. Once confident, then we can trust that conflict is like rocket fuel to grow relationships. Once trusted it can become cultural.

Re-Member: playful word encouraging us to recall our roots, rebuild trust, redefine goals, re-assemble. In the book we frequently call for the Re-Membering of We the People, 2.0.

Citizen Cabinet, or Patriot Platoon: A cross-section of volunteers who agree to study, deliberate, and look for creative solutions to an issue. Findings from Citizen Cabinets are then shared with others.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Is America Broken?

Problem Space – Yes, We can Understand

Secret #1: Don’t Freak Out (we’ve been divided before)

Secret #2: Don’t Check Out (you are needed)

Secret #3: We Dwell on the Differences

Secret #4: Government 1.0 Has Been Brain-Dead

Solution Space – Hope for the American Experiment

Secret #5: The Paradox of Going-it-Alone.

Secret #6: Freedom Was Never Free. Getting warmed up

Secret #7: Grand-pa-ma Was Right About Good and Bad

Secret #8: They Work for Us. Are We Good Bosses?

Secret #9: The S-word. Spiritually Rooted in We

Invitation – You Belong – Many Hands Make Light Work.

Secret #10: Yes, You! There are EZ Ways to Get Started

Summary: From We the People of 1776 to We the People 2.0

Secret #11: How to be We. The Emerging Grassroots

Appendix A: Says Who? From 19 Regular Americans

Appendix B: More on Happiness

Appendix C: Are we Good or Bad at Our Roots?

Appendix D: Double Check Your MATH

Appendix E: More on Pain & Division Related to Religion

Introduction: Is America Broken?

We love this place! Truly, our United States continue to grow from ideals that cut-to-the-heart of our human nature: Life, Liberty, and pursuit of Happiness. Ideals worth living for and worth dying for.

In this small book, in plain language, we make sense of the growing American political divide. It seems so complicated but, regular Americans get it, once they see the pieces. It is not rocket-science. Americans have been through these cycles of divide before, and we will get through this one. It sounds odd but, we want to convince you to think of our 2020 divided politics as an opportunity to strengthen Life, Liberty, and our pursuit of Happiness. Much of our American foundation still works! Yes, we need some renovation, some innovation (and some pieces here or there may be obsolete). Best of all, we discovered hundreds of New Patriots, forward-thinking and hard at work to improve Civics 2.0 (some for as long as 20-years). If you are hungry for a quick summary, jump to the back of the book for a peak.

We GUARANTEE that you will find something you don’t like in this book. For those who lean academic, the book will be far too short and with not nearly enough citations. For those with their boots closer to the ground, the book may be too long. The book concepts needed to work in theory and in practice. And they are of course evolving. To write a book that speaks smoothly to people of 5 different generations, to 50 different states, to rural and urban, to those digging a first-home foundation and to those funding charitable foundations, to different ethnicities and personalities, is a tall order. If the 11 Secrets of Civics 2.0 were a piece of clothing, please expect it to fit like a loose flannel sweatshirt. And expect to roll-up your sleeves.

Yes, there are quite a few moving parts to make sense of, and it can get quite confusing. We believe we have distilled the confusion to make it simply complicated. We intend to show you the Secrets that we discovered. Of course, these are not secrets in the sense that people are maliciously trying to keep the truth from you. But rather that they are hidden below the surface. So, we, just 19 regular Americans, did the digging to uncover them. Not only is divided politics not rocket-science, it is understandable. We the People 2.0 can do this!

Here’s the thing – a grandchild was born to our family [Ted’s] last year. Which begs the question: am I leaving America broken for that grandchild?

When something you love is in danger, who among us does not search heaven and earth for ways to help? Is America in danger? Naturally, we turn to experts or those who have been through similar troubles to allay our fears. But even with these experts, the fears get worse! When the morning news is the same story, a different day and the same polarized politics, we get frustrated, we get sad, we get angry, and sometimes we may shut down, or totally isolate ourselves, or (God help us) lash out.

Twenty-first century life is pretty darn busy. So busy that there is little time (really there is none) for trying to make sense of our now constant national bickering. And we watch issue after issue pile up as unresolved. So, we the authors called a time out. What if we asked, Is America Broken? And what if we devoted a reasonable amount of time (let’s say collectively 2 years of fulltime effort) to really dive in? Alone, we each had a limited view of this gem we call America. But collectively maybe we could see a path. And maybe we 19 regular Americans could show that path to you, average-Joe, -Juanita, -Jamal, and -Julia. Maybe we could give just