SGI Newsletter Volume 2 | The Weight of What Was Given

Hi,

Some ideas are worth more than the occasions that carry them.

Memorial Day just passed and, like most public occasions, it moves quickly from moment to ceremony to afterthought. But the ideas underneath it don't expire when June arrives.

So this month we're pausing on that. Not to perform patriotism, but to genuinely reckon with something most of us benefit from without thinking much about. And to carry that reckoning into how we think, act, and live the rest of the year.

"Older men declare war. But it is the youth that must fight and die."
- Herbert Hoover

"War is a racket. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives."
- Smedley Butler

"We must dare to be great; and we must realize that greatness is the fruit of toil and sacrifice and high courage."
- Theodore Roosevelt

They fought to defend a free society, and civil disagreement is part of what that society is worth protecting. That inheritance shows up in how we treat opposing views, how we argue, and whether we still believe persuasion is worth attempting. This essay examines what happens when we stop.

Read the full article

Suffrage vs. Turnout
The right to vote and the act of voting are two different things. Most reform energy goes to the wrong one.

Zero-Sum vs. Positive-Sum Thinking
The assumption you make about how the world works determines almost every decision you make.

Rule of Law vs. Rule by Law
Two letters separate freedom from control. Most people never notice the difference.

"No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare."
- James Madison