What does this country mean to you?
What does it stand for?
Who is it for?
Where do we need to go from here, and why?
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Try writing these things down. Then look for all the metaphors, received ideas, and historical just-so stories that might appear in your answers (the opportunity for all people to bootstrap their way to the moon in pursuit of happiness, for example).
This is much harder than it sounds: it’s surprising how little we know what we mean when we try to say what we mean. But woolly thinking, thickets of mixed metaphors, and solved problems are not very solid ground to build the future on. (Make no mistake!)
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PS: Bonus points for sharing this exercise with someone you know.
Colin Steele 