Quick note about a theme that has been pervading almost all of my political and social thoughts lately. Pragmatism. As much as I may hunger for fundamental change in many areas of our society, the last eight years has shown that it just isn’t effective to always go for the jugular. Reading a post reviewing a new book about Obama’s economic strategies, I came across this line. The post is here, and I really didn’t get into it until the book review part was over.

But one could also make the case that nuance, not revolution, is exactly what the country, and the United States, really need. One problem with totalizing us-vs.-them narratives is that they get the other side’s back up, and the ensuing gridlock ensures no progress whatsoever. When what is required, first and foremost, for us to move forward is a renewed sense that we’re all in this together.