Newsletter #460 — June 7, 2026

by Guy Burgess and Heidi Burgess

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Highlighted Links

A few suggestions about links that we think are especially interesting.

• Authoritarianism
  The Fire of Stupidity Cannot Be Contained — A must-read article that helped me better understand the ways in which our society's vanishing memory of the horrors of fascism, communism, and global war have placed everything that we care about at risk.
• Artificial Intelligence
  Tyler Cowen: Seven Ways to Avoid Losing Your Job to AI — Especially good and practical advice as we all worry about the ways in which AI might threaten our livelihoods.
• Interstate War
  All non-drone militaries are obsolete — An especially clear and comprehensive explanation of why drones are so dramatically changing the nature of war, the balance of military power, and prospects for peace.
• Social / Economic Complexity
  The National Debt’s Unforgiving Math — It is said that "things that can't go on like this, don't." This article applies this concept to the global trend toward the deficit financing of current consumption.
• Communication Complexity
  How Facebook and Google fund global misinformation — A detailed look at the way in which major social media platforms have structured incentives in ways that encourage inflammatory and misleading content.
• Saving Democracy
  American Democracy Wasn’t Designed for This — An important reminder about just how much things have changed since the US Constitution was written and how important it is that we continue to thoughtfully adapt to these changes.
• Social / Economic Complexity
  The $375,000 Drinking Fountains — For those who wondered why our society can't seem to do the most basic things, an explanation of the real problem -- the interaction of too many well-meaning projects with one another.

Reader Suggested Links

Highlighting links suggested by our readers. Please send us links to things that you find useful.

• Corruption
  Can America Escape the Cycle of Vicemaxxing? — An illuminating article that coins a new term to describe our increasing tolerance for boundless corruption — in many ways the opposite of virtue signaling.
• US Politics
  Is There a Door No. 3 for Democrats? — For a United States in which overwhelming majorities distrust both political parties, speculation about some more attractive third way.
• Psychological Complexity
  The "Learned Helplessness" Of 2026 — An exploration of an important and destructive psychological dynamic -- our tendency, after we repeatedly encounter difficulties, to give up and quit trying.
• Theories of Change
  A Sweeping Theory of Everything Is Revolutionizing the Democratic Party — An exploration of a new theory of change that is gaining support within the Democratic party -- the idea that all of our problems can be solved by just cracking down on corporate consolidation.
• Education
  A Way to Challenge the Groupthink of Scholarly Journals — The key to solving a great many of our problems is listening to the reformers -- those insiders who understand an institution, want it to succeed, and have realistic ideas for overcoming its current difficulties.
• US Politics
  Americans don’t like either political party. We asked them why. — A report on a different and more promising strategy for understanding the public's disillusionment with US political parties and rebuilding the public's trust.
• Progressive Left
  Tyler Cowen: Wokeness Has Peaked. What Followed Is Worse. — A disturbing argument that the relatively benign "woke" cancel culture is being replaced by a new more militant type of activism -- one more tolerant of violence.

Colleague Activities

Highlighting things that our conflict and peacebuilding colleagues are doing that contribute to efforts to address the hyper-polarization problem.

• Bridge Building
  A Braver Way with Monica Guzman — With political tensions at a new peak, the pressure to take a stand -- or keep the peace -- can be intense. Which should you do? Monica Guzman, a liberal, relaunches her podcast by exploring this with a conservative friend.
• Civil Society
  Citizen-Led Solutions — The landing page for Braver Angels' Citizen Led Solutions program, explaining what it is, how it works, with case videos and write-ups showing how citizens can work together across difference to solve problems.
• Constructive Communication
  How Polarizing Is Your Feed? Now We Can Tell — Build Up’s new polarization footprint, like the carbon footprint, lets us measure the divisive consequences of social media feeds.
• Leadership
  Leadership for a New Civic Future — A discussion between Daniel Stid, Ash Hanson and Liz Joyner about T-shaped civic leadership and its role in creating a new civic future.
• Developing a Unifying Vision
  Building common ground for the common good. — In this current political climate, imagine if we could use AI technology to bring citizens together at scale to collaborate and find solutions to problems in their community.  AI can help do this.
• Civil Society
  Recap: The Raleigh Civic Assembly — On May 5, the Raleigh City Council unanimously accepted recommendations developed by the city’s first-ever civic assembly (not to mention the biggest one east of the Mississippi!). Here's a story about what they did.
• Developing a Unifying Vision
  We the People America: 250th Anniversary in Conversation. — The Napolitan Institute and Google's Jigsaw launched “We the People,” a nationally representative series of AI-powered conversations leading up to America’s 250th anniversary. The first conversation explored freedom and equality.
• Artificial Intelligence
  How can I stay Up To Date? — The resource page from the Council on Technology and Social Cohesion with links to articles and organizations of particular importance and interest.
• Developing a Unifying Vision
  The Democratic Tradition We’ve Forgotten — Trygve Throntveit, a member of the Braver Angels' Citizens Scholar Council writes that we need to remember the American tradition of working together across difference to build a "commonwealth."
• Artificial Intelligence
  AI and DEMOCRACY Perspectives from an Emerging Field — A research project to understand how funders, researchers, advocates, technologists, and policy experts working at the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and democracy are working together.
• Bridge Building
  Bridging is not sufficient to the task of fighting authoritarianism. — Debilyn Molineaux writes about how and why she modified her theory of change from bridging to visioning a future which fulfills our own and others' fundamental human needs.
• Media Reform
  Prosocial Design Network — Prosocial Design Network fosters healthy online spaces by connecting research to practice. Evidence is presented on 52 interventions that improve behavior and outcomes of social media activity.
• Civil Society
  Civic Signals — Civic Signals can help clarify how well or poorly our existing digital platforms meet critical public needs. They tested the Civic Signals framework with thousands of social media superusers in 20 countries.
• Saving Democracy
  America's Next 250: A Toolkit To Be Part of What's Next 🇺🇸 — In this webinar, the ‪National Issues Forums Institute‬ introduces America’s Next 250, a nationwide initiative designed to help Americans turn conversation into action where they live, work, and learn.
• Theories of Change
  Using the Power of Story to Grow Democracy: Actionable Insights for Advocates — A webinar discussing how entertainment media can shape people’s understanding of government and find ways that we can tell better stories about democracy. These findings translate to storytelling across media.
• Effective Problem-Solving
  Expeditionary — Expeditionary is an applied AI research, product, and global advisory company partnering with the world’s most ambitious enterprises to deliver intelligence and strategy for complex negotiations.
• Developing a Unifying Vision
  We Cannot Heal Society With the Tools That Burned It Down — We need a mass activation of people willing to rebuild the social contract, writes Terry Kyllo, through the slow, courageous work of helping people know one another again.
• Theories of Change
  What Is Dialogic Systems Change? — An approach to meaning-based change in complex human systems -- which are even more complex and difficult to change than are non-human complex adaptive systems.
• Saving Democracy
  Veterans and Community Leaders Unite to Renew Trust in U.S. Elections — Trusted local leaders join to make voting welcoming, reliable, and grounded in civic pride.
• Saving Democracy
  Rebuilding the Relational Foundations of US Democracy — While economic hardship is real, the deeper challenge is a waning belief in democracy itself. What once appeared as localized democratic strain --visible in rural communities for years -- is now manifesting as a national condition.
• Developing a Unifying Vision
  From Protecting the Status Quo to a Vision for Change: Framing Democracy in a Time of Authoritarianism — This report offers a strategic roadmap for democratic resilience, shifting conversation away from the fear of loss and toward an aspirational, collective vision of what democracy can and should be.

News and Opinion

From around the web, more insight into the nature of our conflict problems, limits of business-as-usual thinking, and things people are doing to try to make things better. (Formerly, Beyond Intractability in Context.)

• Social / Economic Complexity
  The year of cosmic shock: We’re living through a new Copernican Revolution — Science enabled humanity to dramatically improve its understanding of the world in which it lived. This article suggests that we're embarking on a period of even more radical improvement in our understanding of the world.
• Social / Economic Complexity
  No Wonder Everyone’s Rallying Around This Terrible Idea — The latest iteration of one of the most destructive (from a long-term perspective) strategies -- give everyone what they want and pay for it by sticking the next generation with unpayable bills.
• Israel, Hamas, Iran, and Related Wars
  Islam as an imperial project — An interesting effort to use AI to help us better understand the very different way in which Muslims thinks about international relations.
• Israel, Hamas, Iran, and Related Wars
  The theology of resistance: how Iran sees this war — One of the keys to understanding conflict, and especially military conflict, is understanding how the other side thinks (and not assuming they think like you do).
• Social / Economic Complexity
  The Economic Experiment That Upended Reality — An update on the predicted economic calamity that was predicted to follow increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour -- it didn't happen.
• Family / Gender / LBGTQ+
  Steve Stewart-Williams on Sex Differences and Human Nature — A thought-provoking and probably controversial effort to think through the complex relationship between social and biological determinants of gender identity.
• Education
  Schooling Alone — A worrying extrapolation of where the now widespread practice of using highly individualized computer-based instruction is likely to take us.
• Developing a Unifying Vision
  Six-Chart Sunday – And Now for the Good News — Something that is, unfortunately, rare -- an article with good news about issues that really matter.
• Artificial Intelligence
  Cut Off — An article that reminds us that the most powerful forms of artificial intelligence are likely to be monopolized by those with deep pockets -- people who will then use that intelligence to strengthen their already powerful positions.
• Race / Anti-Racism
  When Diversity Erases the Children It Claims to Include — A thought provoking essay that explains about how simplistic approaches to racial identity politics frequently break down when applied to those with multi-racial backgrounds.
• Saving Democracy
  Packing the Court Would Shred the Constitution — A sharp critique of Democratic proposals to reform the Supreme Court in ways that would make it more supportive of Democratic goals and constituencies.
• Education
  We Forgot to Teach Americans How America Works — One of the big reasons why western democracies are so dysfunctional is that our institutions of higher education quit teaching students how they could use the system to make things better.
• Saving Democracy
  How to End the Gerrymandering Doom Loop Forever — For those outraged at the way in which both political parties are using gerrymandering to disenfranchise their political opponents, thoughtful ideas about how to get out of this mess.
• Education
  Stanford’s War on the Western Canon — A thought-provoking critique of Stanford's new Civic, Liberal, and Global Education requirements.
• Race / Anti-Racism
  Old McDonald Had a Race Preference — An example of the kind of controversial program through which the Biden administration gave preferential treatment to predominantly Democratic, race and gender based constituencies.
• Interstate War
  Real-Time Satellite Intelligence Is Making Ukraine’s Drone Strikes Deadlier Than Ever — Startling news that commercial satellites services are now willing to sell us detailed and almost real-time images of any part of the planet -- images that can be used to target the now widely accessible drones.
• Developing a Unifying Vision
  America needs liberal nationalism back — For a time when self-criticism of US society dominates, an argument for remembering, celebrating, and defending what has made liberal democratic societies so exceptional.
• Interstate War
  Putin’s deliberate brutality in Ukraine has a backstory — An important reminder that keeping the peace also requires an ability to defend oneself against the most terrible forms of violence and brutality.
• Israel, Hamas, Iran, and Related Wars
  Qatar’s Influence-Buying in America Is Even Worse Than We Thought — This article explains how, with unlimited amounts of money and a singularity of purpose, a nation can change the way another society thinks about the world.
• Progressive Left
  Challenging Adult Supremacy Through Ethnic Studies — A story about just how extreme efforts to repudiate and abandon collective social wisdom have become.

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About the MBI Newsletters

Two or three times a week, Guy and Heidi Burgess, the BI Directors, share some of our thoughts on political hyper-polarization and related topics. We also share essays from our colleagues and other contributors, and every week or so, we devote one newsletter to annotated links to outside readings that we found particularly useful relating to U.S. hyper-polarization, threats to peace (and actual violence) in other countries, and related topics of interest. Each Newsletter is posted on BI, and sent out by email through Substack to subscribers. You can sign up to receive your copy here and find the latest newsletter here or on our BI Newsletter page, which also provides access to all the past newsletters, going back to 2017.

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