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As we approach the 2024 presidential election, the electorate is highly polarized. This is driven in large part by social media and high-profile individuals espousing misinformation and distorting or ignoring factual data. Each side accuses the other of causing this divisiveness. Such polarization disrupts the civil discourse necessary to address and solve our common problems such as climate change and housing. Is there no solution to this?
Perhaps requiring citizens over age 18 to spend two years in either military or civilian service would help achieve this by taking people out of their comfort zone and exposing them to the rich diversity of our society. Such a domestic program could bring together people who would put aside their partisan leanings and work together to restore civil discourse and address society’s problems. Perhaps then we will realize a United States of America.
Michael Bornemann
Hawaii Kai
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