About
A reverse echo chamber for civic life, built to bring people who disagree into real conversation, one person at a time.
Why I’m The People exists
“We the People” is the first line of the country’s founding document, and somewhere along the way it stopped meaning anyone in particular. It became a phrase on a wall, invoked most often by the people who already hold the power, about the people who do not.
A crowd is easy to speak for, because a crowd cannot answer back. So this project starts from the other end: not what “the people” want, which nobody can honestly report, but what one person is actually willing to say and do. Change the word from plural to singular and the whole sentence changes with it.
The question we are asking
Set aside the slogans: what do people who disagree actually still agree on?
We do not claim to know, and no AI gets to answer it for us. The only honest way to find out is to ask people who see things differently, two at a time, and write down what they discover. What they confirm goes on the public Common Ground page, for anyone to read.
What we believe
- You can only speak for yourself, and that is enough.
- A person is harder to hate than a category.
- You can hold your convictions firmly and still listen well to someone else’s.
- Shared ground is a place to begin, not a reason to pretend the disagreements are not real.
What this is not
Not a party, not a candidate, not a side. Not a movement looking for members. Nothing to buy or donate to. The unit is one person, which is the whole argument.
Read more
The blog covers what the research says about polarization and how to talk with someone you disagree with. The glossary defines the terms.
Get involved
Have a question or an idea? Get in touch. Or join and find out what you have in common with someone you would never have met.