Originally posted at Writeindependent.org on November 11, 2011
The whole purpose of this website is to give people a sense of hope. Before I started this project, I felt like everyone was complaining, but nobody was doing anything constructive. And since the media seems to regurgitate what everyone else is doing, they repeated the laments ad nauseum.
What I wanted to do was simple: by nurturing our strengths as a country, and believing in the best of people, I could find those creative energies that can turn the tide. We have some of the best most educated minds, we have a long tradition in this country of strong-willed individuals rising up against great odds to get here and then pave a new life, no matter how difficult. We can draw from the strength and depth of our communities, much the same way we prepare for the Olympics or make a multi-million dollar movie, or rally our generous souls to come to the aid of a devastated city or country, like New York, New Orleans or Haiti.
We have what it takes to move in a new direction. What we sorely need is the leadership to guide us. If we want to pick ourselves up by our bootstraps, we need tools to do so. This website is my “gift” to America, the tool chest that will rebuild our country in the way that we envision it.
This is your website, and my only hope is that you find expression through it. Even the smallest spark of an idea can fuel some great thinker to take it and run with it. Together, our minds are greater than the greatest genius working alone. Please tell us what you are thinking. Please, for all our sakes, don’t be quiet anymore.