Trust is not built on personal likes or dislikes. It is not a sentiment or an emotion. It is built through shared commitment, shared risk, and willingness to work through difficulties. It is possible for people to hold divergent opinions and still trust one another.  I was reminded of this a few weeks ago when we celebrated the life of […]

Fairness in the justice system is basic for maintaining trust in any country. But there are two systems of justice in America: one for the very rich and powerful and one for the poor and powerless.  It often seems that the larger the crime and the more powerful the offender, the less likely it is that the criminal will see […]

“We are true to our creed when a little girl born into the bleakest poverty knows that she has the same chance to succeed as anybody,” said Obama in his inaugural address on Martin Luther King’s holiday. The word “poverty” was scarcely uttered during the election. Candidates of both parties constantly claimed to be champions of the middle class, but […]

David Frum, who worked for George W. Bush and authored Why Romney Lost, tweeted that the “’real fiscal cliff story” is “how the entire American political class convinced itself that unemployment is no longer worth thinking about.” Indeed. Although unemployment remains stuck at 7.8% (a far larger percentage is underemployed), and most economists agree that unemployment and lack of purchasing […]

When Hillary Clinton visited Northern Ireland recently she told her hosts: “You are the ones who reminded the world that while a peace deal may be signed at a negotiating table, peace itself takes life at the kitchen table. It must be nurtured in the hearts of people, in the way they live their daily lives and treat their fellow […]

Steven Spielberg’s masterful film, Lincoln, comes at a timely moment for America. Daniel Day Lewis’ powerful and nuanced portrayal of the president’s combination of courage, compassion, realism, humor and faith is a challenge to Washington today. The narrative focuses on the struggle to pass the 13th amendment that ended slavery. Spielberg skillfully avoids stereotyping. He respects and challenges his audience […]

We were sitting over dinner in our home with Rajmohan Gandhi (visiting Richmond to keynote our annual Metropolitan Richmond Day forum), two African American neighbors of thirty years, and several young IofC staffers. The conversation naturally turned to the presidential election.  Some years ago our black neighbors chose to join a nearly all-white mainline church. They reasoned that since race […]

By the time most of you read this the United States will have chosen the occupant of the White House for the next four years. Half the country will be pleased; the other half deeply disappointed. But everyone will be glad not to see another political ad for a long time!Whether Democrat or Republican, the president will be confronted with […]

“We can’t be friends with them because they don’t speak our language,” an Afghan soldier told a reporter in discussing tense relations with US troops. I was struck by this remark because it could be applied to the breakdown of public conversation in America today.  Whatever the outcome of the presidential election, one thing is certain: the victor will be […]

The Richmond Folk Festival gets better every year. On a crystal clear weekend, with the sun sparkling on the James River, about 200,000 people enjoyed an amazingly eclectic range of culture ranging from Ethiopian Azmari music and dance to Argentine tango and traditional New Orleans jazz, and from demonstrations of the Chinese jaw harp and the Iraqi oud, to Irish […]