It’s called the Unum Test.
Here’s how it works: put partisan blinders aside and ask yourself which policies would have the long-term effect of uniting—or further dividing—our country. The policies that pass the test won’t all come from one party or ideology. That’s precisely why it offers an off-ramp from our bitter polarized debates. The Unum Test can reunite our nation because it is rooted in principle and practicality, not partisan agendas, allowing us to make progress towards a more fair, just and prosperous nation.
It can help us achieve:
- A political system where solving problems is put ahead of destroying the “other side.”
- An economic system that rebuilds the middle class and ensures equal opportunity and social mobility for all Americans.
- A civic culture that emphasizes shared values and the dignity of every individual, while protecting the open debate that democracy depends upon.
What is Unum?
It’s an idea that flows from the earliest ideals of our republic. The United States of America was the first nation born out of an idea rather than a tribal identity. Our Constitution begins with a call that transformed subjects into citizens: “We the People.” The founders’ crystalized our mission with a national motto: e pluribus unum, “out of many, one”— and placed it above the eagle holding a cluster of arrows and an olive branch on the Great Seal of the United States.
E Pluribus Unum remains the key to what makes America exceptional in the eyes of the world. America’s role as an imperfect but diverse democratic republic stands in clear contrast to the history of other nations—as well as the ethno-nationalist parties and surveillance state autocracies that are on the rise today. At our best, America remains a rebellious project against tribal and fundamentalist forces. And e pluribus unum is literally the opposite of “us against them”—the demagogues’ eternal calling card.
If we consciously aim to elevate Unum over the divisive forces that encourage groupthink and group-blame it will lead us to durable reforms rooted in broadly shared American values in the intertwined areas of politics, economics, and culture.
John Avlon, Mickey Edwards, Maya Macguineas, and Jonathan Haidt in Time Magazine