I think our businesses are seeing that, and the good ones are figuring out how to respond to it and provide the kind of environment that not only satisfies but motivates workers. At minimum, it is our responsibility to try to build a society where the fewest possible number of people feel like outsiders. It s important that we not impose on others our view of whether they re excluded or not. The way you bring hostility down is not by dealing directly with the hostility, but by building self-esteem. If there s a lesson here, it might be for us to take a more serious look at the corrections industry .
Civility emphasizes tolerance.
We should encourage people to be lots of different things, but we should never make the mistake of thinking that puts anyone s behavior or ideas beyond moral question. Democracy desperately needs a moral center, and we only find what the moral center is by having conversations about where we agree and where we disagree.