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Too often, we lament the lack of decency in our society while refusing to extend it to those with whom we disagree. We say we want civility, but we rarely offer it. We demand dialogue, yet we recoil from discomfort. That contradiction is at the root of our dysfunction.

Here’s the truth: we can’t solve problems if we can’t even discuss them together. And the real answers—the durable, meaningful ones—rarely live at the extremes. They’re found in the middle ground, in the realm of shared purpose and collective effort. But we’ve grown unwilling to explore that realm. Maybe because it takes real work. Maybe because it demands the discomfort of thought.

Instead, we choose ease. We absorb sound bites. We tune in, press play, and let someone else tell us what to think. Then we regurgitate that cud into hot takes, posts, and memes—seeking likes or sparking arguments. It feels like participation, but it’s not. It’s intellectual fast food. And it feeds not just the algorithm, but our egos.

Meanwhile, the pundits and influencers we love? Their business models are built on division. They profit from polarization. They are not incentivized to solve our problems. They are incentivized to exploit them.

Real solutions require something they cannot provide: the messy, necessary work of collective problem-solving among people who do not all think the same. They require us to show up—to listen, to wrestle, to resist the easy retreat into ideology. That kind of engagement isn’t glamorous, but it’s the only path that leads to progress.

I love this Commonwealth. I love this country. And I don’t make political or ideological exceptions when I say that. That means I love all y’all—even when we don’t agree. Especially when we don’t agree.

We were made for each other. We have to figure this out together. That’s why I got into public service—to help us find our way back to each other, and to solutions that serve the greater good.

We must recommit to personal responsibility. We must champion a values-based existence that transcends politics. Norms matter. When we tear them down, society begins to unravel. It’s time to bind our principles back together—collectively. Let’s focus on core values like decency, accountability, and respect. Our children are watching. The true failure won’t be leaving them a country governed by “those Republicans” or “those Democrats.” The failure will be leaving them a country at war with itself—weakened from within, vulnerable to external manipulation, and adrift from the ideals that once united us.

I stand ready to mark a different path.

So what’s your choice?

Will you take the easy road—what JFK called “the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought”? Or will you meet this moment with the courage it demands? Will you do the hard work of unity?

As a community, a Commonwealth, and a country, we are all in this together. Our greatest success will come not from fearing our differences, but from rising to our shared ideals.

Brian Vincent
Mayor of Farmville