海角大神

After requests from the U.S. attorney general and President Donald Trump鈥檚 lawyers, the warrant for searching Mar-a-Lago was unsealed. The intense public interest speaks directly to the proper functioning of American democracy, which relies on truth and the rule of law.

What does an honest history of Partition look like? Formal efforts to understand the chaotic events of 1947 are increasingly making space for tales of heroism, humanity, and kindness.

With snowpack shrinking and wildfires growing more frequent, climate change can stir panic. But this veteran fire lookout has a fresh and calm perspective, informed by her joy, hope, and experience in the wilderness.

It took a long hike to get to his fire tower shoot. But once there, the Monitor鈥檚 Alfredo Sosa met with a dedicated subject whose joy in her important work was worth sharing.

In Kenya, where leaders have long stoked tribal divisions to gain power, the Aug. 9 election produced an unusual expression among many citizens. During the campaign, young people would signal to each other with a two-handed fist bump, bringing their thumbs together in a show of oneness over duality. The gesture was a symbolic rejection of the divide-and-rule tactics by politicians.

Such displays of civic unity have become more common in many democracies. Voters have woken up to a common ploy by leaders to manufacture fear of 鈥渢he other鈥� rather than encouraging followers to embrace the dignity of their fellow citizens and engage in calm discourse over difficult issues.聽

During this year鈥檚 mass protests in Sri Lanka, for example, the protest site became 鈥渁 civic space, a safe zone for the country鈥檚 religious, ethnic and sexual diversity鈥� in contrast to decades of leaders whipping up factional hatred, according to The New York Times.

鈥淧eople now openly talk about equality,鈥� said one Sri Lankan protester. The protests led to the ouster of an unpopular president. 聽

Last year in Israel, many Jewish and Arab citizens protested together to end intergroup violence fueled by the divisive rhetoric of politicians. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not a question of national identity but of values,鈥� one protester told Haaretz. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 let racism break through again.鈥�

In 2019-2020, tens of thousands of Iraqis camped out in major cities in a show of unity against the political practice of divvying up power and oil wealth along religious and ethnic lines, which has only fueled corruption. The protest sites became temporary mini-states of desired secular rule.

In Lebanon three years ago, young people held mass protests aimed at ending the fearmongering between religious groups and at bringing about good governance. In Taiwan, protests known as the sunflower movement have led to an emerging national identity that overcomes old divisions between families from mainland China and native Taiwanese.

This phenomenon is now quite global. 鈥淲e once thought of a community as a group of people who live in the same geographic area, or who share socio-economic, ethnic, linguistic, or religious characteristics,鈥� Achim Steiner, administrator of the United Nations Development Program, said in a 2020 speech. 鈥淭he evolving global context, including the extent to which new technologies have empowered communication and information-sharing at the individual-level, requires us to embrace a far wider definition.鈥�

The United States is not immune to this trend. A survey last year by the Siena College Research Institute found one divisive factor stood out among Americans more than any other.聽

鈥淩inging loud and clear,鈥� the survey found, 鈥渋s a dissatisfaction with a political landscape in which they say politicians stoke divisions, divide and conquer, won鈥檛 work together to address the needs of the people and remarkably can鈥檛 be held accountable for misdeeds that are apparent to everyday citizens.鈥�

In any society, people wear a variety of different hats to define themselves. Yet they can also create bonds of affection under the umbrella of an identity based on shared civic ideals. In Kenya, that identity is now more widely shared between individuals, all with a simple fist bump between clenched hands.