Daily Resource Highlight - 8/30/2021

Posted by on August 30, 2021 at 3:18 PM

Below are the highlights and featured resources of this past week’s Daily* Resource.

August 24, 2021 - High School or College? Both, Say BridgeUSA and National Civic League

There are a lot of student-oriented organizations in the healthy self-governance movement. In the Students Learn, Students Vote coalition, there are easily over 200 partner organizations alone. And in the Bridge Alliance, nearly 15% of members are focused on youth empowerment, including national networks like Junior State of America and Civics Unplugged.

As you may have noticed, though, the vast majority of these organizations work with either high school students or college students. BridgeUSA is seeking to buck that trend with “Bridge High School.” 

For years, Manu Meel and his team have been encouraging constructive political discussion on college campuses throughout the nation. With Bridge High School -- which already has 13 chapters in 3 states -- they are looking to start those conversations earlier and create a high school-to-college pipeline.

National Civic League, meanwhile, has teamed up with fellow Bridge Alliance member Campus Election Engagement Project as well as a public school district in California for a Promising Practices Webinar tomorrow at 2 PM ET. This webinar will showcase the incredible impact that young men and women can make when they are empowered.

The webinar will cover successful efforts to make voting more accessible for college students, promote racial justice, and help young men and women through difficulties with substance abuse and mental health. Show your support by signing up for this excellent display of youth excellence.

 

August 26, 2021 - Civil Squared: Landlords Are People, Too

I have encountered quite a few landlords in my life. Some of them are “slumlords,” who turn a profit by renting out numerous low-quality apartments and doing the bare minimum (or less) to comply with the law. Others are quick to respond, kind, and are using their rental property to earn some supplemental income during challenging times.

The current eviction moratorium doesn’t distinguish between these situations. As Jennifer Thompson of Civil Squared writes, it’s an example of a policy with good intentions that is leading to bad outcomes. Making the situation worse is that the debate surrounding the moratorium has been pulled into the “High Conflict” fights that define our current political climate. It has become a “good vs. evil” clash that demonizes -- rather than invites -- good faith disagreement.

Amanda Ripley, author of High Conflict, is joining Liz Joyner of the Village Square tonight at 7 PM ET to discuss her book and the concept of High Conflict and how we escape this unhealthy dynamic. To do so, we will need to let go of the desire to feel morally superior and push back against black and white thinking -- both of which supporters of the Village Square know something about.

It also helps to expose ourselves to different perspectives through tools like AllSides and The FlipSide. The AllSides team recently stress-tested their media bias ratings by asking 1,734 people with various political leanings to blindly rate five publications. The survey results -- which you can read here -- largely confirmed AllSides’ prior ratings. Importantly, these ratings are regularly updated to reflect shifts in media coverage. In fact, the latest update was just last month!

 

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