I felt some grief when Justin came in and told me of the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday. Grief for her and her family and for our country.

Why are we so closely divided? As a people, American’s want the same thing. A safe place to raise our family. A neighborhood we can call home. Friends to do things with. Opportunity to improve our lot and life and the future of our children.

The “people on the other side” are not monsters to condemn. They want the same as you, but they have been sold the idea that there is only one way to get there and that the other side is wrong. This is not the “Enlightened Centrism” of reddit. This is a reminder that we are a people of shared ideals and destination. We make mistakes and we fix mistakes. We grow together or not at all.

Reducing our democracy to only those items that divide (taxes, abortion, guns, religion, etc.) is to do a disservice to all of the things that can make us better. Uniting in a common purpose to solve our internal problem (racism, freedom, responsibility) to external problems (coronavirus, war,

Our country must first and foremost have a moral center. Things that we do not forsake for temporary gain. People remain innocent until proven guilty. The rights afforded to people are afforded to all and not just the privileged. Opportunity is there for those that want it. The government remains of the people and for the people.

Also, people remember that the government is of the people. It will make mistakes. It can be corrupted. It takes dedication to help uncover these and bring them to light. It does not mean that government as a whole is corrupt and incompetent. It means that the government is run by people who need to be held accountable.

This can only start when the American people come together to disagree and discuss and find common solutions that move us forward as a people, united in our cause to fulfill the statements of our founding fathers. “All men are created equal” and “We the people”. America is truly a “We” from those of us who can trace ancestry back hundreds of years to those who earned citizenship as an immigrant. All of us are American.