Our government works to help Americans every day, even if we don’t realize it.
Every time you drink water and it's safe, or drive on a road, or go to a public library, that's because government was there to provide for the common good and protect the public. When we use our weather apps and GPS on our phones, it's because our government launched those satellites.
And too many people don't get it. They see as government as something separate from themselves, that doesn't have that direct, day-to-day impact on their lives. They want to shrink it, or point to its failings. They don't want to improve it, or see it as a part of themselves. Of all of us.
And that needs to change.
That's why I was thrilled a few months ago to be asked to join the board of Indivisible, a new nonprofit which launches today. Our goal is to change the conversation, by engaging Americans online, through the media and in the streets to help them better understand government’s potential, and by enlisting them to imagine and create the government we need.
We will find, engage, recruit, train and support thousands of other voices who will tell the story of our potential together through government. We're particularly focused in engaging rising generations, and will work with tv writers, standup comedians, cartoonists, actors, artists, musicians and other creatives to employ satire, humor and the arts to bring our message to the broader culture.
We'll have regular features like I Love My so the public understands government's role in everyday life. We want to bring forward first-person stories about the importance of government (including mine).
And there will be video:
And so much more. USA Today:
American politics often seems divided between those who say government is doing too much, and those who say it is not doing enough.
“We are so caught up in the idea that government is too big or too small,” [Indivisible president Dianne] Stewart said. “It’s almost impossible to see government for what it is — a tool for coming together to solve problems.”
One example of the little-known success of government, she said: the cellphone. Many of the things that phones can do — from GPS to weather reports — flow from some kind of government program.
Indivisible is sending out emails to activists, urging them to contact others and build up what amounts to a pro-government community. “We are putting a real big focus on young people,” Stewart said....
“From the GI Bill to the Affordable Card Act, from Small Business Loans to basic infrastructure, there are as many stories as there are successful entrepreneurs in America,” the website says. “Let’s tell them.”
For now, do this:
Sign up on our website for email updates.
Follow us on Twitter or Facebook.
(Rec this diary!)
And spread the word. We're all in this together. One nation, indivisible.