Focusing on the important

“It is humanity’s duty today to see that civilization does not destroy culture, nor technology the human being.” — Wilhelm Mommsen, 1851

Whose culture? Which cultures?

How can we preserve multiple local, national, religious, racial, sexual, gender and cultural identities in the face of globalisation?

How can we help people see the positive in change, while addressing the negative?

How can we identify root causes of problems both real and imagined?

How can we address them?

How can we break down the echo chambers of opinion that are affecting left and right, making minor concerns seem major — and distracting us all from the truly important underlying issues?

How can we break down the silos of political opinion that make everything a clash of core values, and opponents worthy only of contempt?

How can we acknowledge and address flaws in current systems without giving inadvertent support to those who would tear those systems down?

How can we preserve the best that the post-Enlightenment era has given the world during the past centuries of European-American hegemony, while accepting that it wasn’t perfect?

How can we find new ways of understanding the world, and learn to see it through others’ eyes?

How do we most effectively help the vulnerable while promoting economic growth?

How do we get past terminology and political tribalism to work together for the good of all?

How do we get more women into politics? More minorities? More working class people? More people with real business experience?

How do we shake the hegemony of existing political parties to allow something new and (hopefully ) better to rise up?

How do we confront racism effectively, without entrenching fears and differences?