It might seem like the only voice in politics these days is an angry one.
Turn on the television and barely a minute passes without a chorus of attack ads over the airwaves, funded by special interests awash in anonymous corporate dollars. Political demagogues are pandering to the worst fears of Americans by weaving wild conspiracy theories and accusing entire groups of Americans of being socialists, Nazis, or terrorists. Rallies and town halls have become less about the pressing issues facing our country, and more about who can cause the most disruption or hold the most outlandish sign.
It's hard not to feel frustrated and helpless in this environment. But we have good news: you're not alone in feeling that the only thing screaming ever accomplished was a sore throat. There are untold millions of Americans who don't have time for shouting or finger-pointing and are instead committed to addressing the serious problems we have as reasonable, respectful adults.
This weekend, there is a rally in Washington, DC for these people, and much of the Change.org team will be there. The event is the Rally to Restore Sanity, hosted by Comedy Central's The Daily Show and Jon Stewart.
It's a sign of the times that a rally for reasonableness has to be put on by a comedy show. But this rally is no joke. The aim is to show the country that when it comes to politics and civic discourse, the majority of Americans are interested in sane, calm discussion rather than shrill, angry shouting.
If you're not able to attend the official rally in DC, don't worry. In a display of geographic reasonableness, rallies for sanity are simultaneously taking place across the country. You can check out whether there's a rally in your town, or even start your own rally for sanity, by clicking here.
These are challenging times. But we're only going to get America back on track if we resist the urge to simply throw our hands up in resignation at the partisan politics that have dominated the past year and instead commit ourselves to standing for a civic discourse of reasonableness.
For more news and commentary from this week in change, see the summaries from your favorite causes below.