Social entrepreneur Bill Shireman encourages a new approach to divisive family gatherings
As Election 2020 gives way to the holidays, political division across the nation is straining personal relationships. Americans are wondering: How do you break bread with someone whose politics you hate?
Some are trying a new approach to save the family gathering from falling apart before the turkey does:
Having a humilitarian holiday.
Humilitarianism is not a political ideology. Rather, it’s a way of discussing politics and conducting yourself as you do so — with humility, kindness, and love — especially with those on the opposite side of the aisle. It signals a commitment to interacting with political opponents in ways that nurture trust and mutual respect, putting truth over tribe and people over partisanship.
The creator of the humilitarian idea, author and political psychologist Robin Koerner, is known for his viral 2011 “Blue Republican” article in HuffPost championing principle over party. As he says, “The only legitimate ends of politics are people. It makes no sense to chastise political opponents for disrespecting or even mistreating others, and then do exactly the same to them in the ways we talk to them or about them.”
Social entrepreneur and environmental policy innovator Bill Shireman is a humilitarian, and also a partner at In This Together, a coalition to redirect major political donations toward solutions that can unite Americans.
“Waging partisan warfare gets us nowhere,” Shireman says. “70% of Americans are willing to set aside partisanship to reach solutions. We just need to figure out how to talk to each other, whether at the dinner table or on Capitol Hill. Humilitarians are offering a better way.”
Other self-declared humilitarians include former pro football player turned coach Jonathan Hayes, pro football exec Randy Mueller, Ms. World 2017, Meghan Buelt, and founder of the DonorSee app, Gret Glyer.
In This Together was founded by Dallas real estate scion Trammell S. Crow and Bill Shireman, CEO of Future500, to bring together major donors to both parties, in an effort to reduce political polarization and work across partisan lines to solve problems like climate change.
Humilitarian.us is a hub for humilitarians of all political backgrounds to identify themselves and each other, living out principles based in humility, kindness, and love to change political discourse in America.
