NEW YORK — Adam Luke remembers walking into the first meeting of what would become the Citizen Solutions pilot project thinking, “Oh my God, this is going to suck.”
A self-described “educated redneck,” Luke was one of 11 Tennesseans with widely differing opinions on gun rights selected by the project to discuss possible recommendations for reducing gun violence. He has fond memories of his father taking him out of school when he was in the first grade to go deer hunting and has long considered himself a supporter of gun rights, saying, “Firearms have always had a positive influence on my life.”
Luke, a licensed marriage and family therapist, says he wanted to represent that point of view as well as meet the needs of those seeking to curb gun violence.
“The reason I came to the table was because I’m so tired of the idea that we can’t do anything, that there’s no way forward…that the citizens of America are incapable of communicating with each other,” Lucas said. “That’s what I wanted to be hostile toward.”
This desire to work together, to solve a problem and to combat polarization led the Tennessee 11, as they called themselves, to develop a series of laws that could reduce gun violence in their state. It also led the coalition of artistic, political and philanthropic leaders behind the pilot project to believe it had enough merit to be expanded.
That coalition — which includes businessman and philanthropist Daniel Lubetzky, actor Liev Schreiber, journalist Katie Couric, Muhammad Ali Center director Lonnie Ali and others — announced on Tuesday that it would launch Builders, a global nonprofit initiative that aims to reduce polarization while encouraging people to work together to find solutions that everyone can support.
“The problem is the way social media and cable news are turning everything into ‘us versus them’ situations,” said Lubetzky, founder of Kind Snacks and recurring shark on ABC’s “Shark Tank.” “Builders will counteract this by providing help to people on how to strengthen their thinking, how to process information and how they can actually solve problems instead of creating animosity.”
Builders was launched with the release of Lubetzky’s recent TED talk on combating polarization. He said the initiative will have four main components – Builders Media to produce digital content that challenges stereotypes and divisive narratives; Builders Toolkit to help educational institutions encourage critical thinking in their students; Builders Network to amplify the voices of those speaking out against extremism; and the Citizen Solutions project.
“Both Democrats and Republicans don’t think they have anything in common,” said Ashley Phillips, chief programs officer at Builders’ Citizens Solutions. “But, in fact, there is a whole set of shared values that unite these very different parties.”
Identifying and mobilizing these shared values became fundamental to the creation of Citizen Solutions, which Lubetzky had previously supported for two decades with his nonprofit Starts With Us. Tennessee’s gun law program was the group’s pilot project and has expanded to Wisconsin, where it is currently working to find common ground in the abortion debate.
The idea of citizens’ assemblies dates back to ancient Athens, where men met to vote on proposed laws. But, in recent years, the practice has returned in some countries to study what should be done in relation to climate change.
“It always amazes me how citizens want to roll up their sleeves and do this work,” Phillips said.
Schreiber, who was recently nominated for a Tony for best leading actor for his work in “Doubt,” said he was eager to work with Builders in any way that could help combat polarization.
“What I liked most about ‘Doubt’ as a play was that it presented the notion that if we can all just slow down the algorithm a little – the algorithm that prepares us for conflict and tribalization – and admit that we know less than we think we do we know and we try to educate ourselves, I think it can help,” Schreiber told the Associated Press.
That idea fits with what his nonprofit BlueCheck Ukraine has been doing, informing potential donors about the work of Ukrainian nonprofits, as well as bringing war conditions to light, especially for children.
“Part of the illness we all suffer from right now is caused by social media and the digital age,” Schreiber said. “It seems that we are now programmed to make hasty decisions, to take positions before we are sufficiently informed or understand the positions we are taking.”
Lonnie Ali said she and her late husband, Muhammad, had admired Lubetzky’s work against polarization for years. She said she hopes Builders can energize people seeking solutions and forming alliances.
“Extremists get up every morning with the intention of advancing their cause and are driven to divide and destroy,” she said. “We need to channel that same energy, but come together and build.”
Given the currently polarized climate on campuses across the country, Lubetzky said Builders will make its Builders Toolkit available to universities so they can use the strategies to help prevent or defuse extremist confrontations.
Luke from Tennessee 11 says the strategies work and he’s looking forward to seeing the Builders expand. “If we can start this social push for citizens to recognize, we can talk about abortion rights, we can talk about immigration, we can talk about difficult things,” he said. “How about we come to the table and we both find ourselves saying, ‘The government currently sucks.’”
Agreeing on that, he says, can start the process of figuring out what else they agree on.
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