We’re a publication built around the ideas we’re meant to miss when we’re being flooded with daily noise designed to confuse and divide.
We cover journalism, history, philosophy, theology, art, pop culture, and humor – the types of content that reminds us how to think, not what to think. And help you see the pattern to act before it’s too late.
We’re grounded in the values Chicago. When this city burned to the ground in 1871, the citizens didn’t give up. They rebuilt a 2nd City better than the first and celebrated with the country’s largest outdoor festival. That’s not optimism as a feeling. That’s optimism as a decision.
And we’re grounded in the values of America’s founding in 1776. The founders were unorthodox. They studied every republic that came before, kept what they liked and threw out the rest. They didn’t see America as the heir to Western Civilization’. They saw it as a break from Western Europe’s mistakes. Freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of religion were all key parts of that vision. Jefferson wrote: “I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” He meant it. So do we.
Those values today are under attack, from people who want to impose on us the type of ruling class that our founders and ancestors came here to escape. To kings and strongmen, to the idea that the right elite should rule the rest because the rest of us can’t be trusted. That’s not America. Is it perfect? No. But 249 years later it’s still standing and we want to keep it that way.
We don’t believe in heroes coming to save the country or critics narrating its decline from the sidelines. We believe in citizens – the ones reading this included. Broad coalitions, not within parties but across them. Hate is the point, fear is the point, it’s a trap and the only way to win is to refuse to play.
If America is to make it to 250 and beyond, it’s because regular people decided to learn what’s happening, think clearly, and act in whatever shape acting takes for them. We’re here to help make that possible.
If their plan is to flood the zone, we think it’s time the zone strikes back. We invite anyone to join us who wants to take back discourse and debate in the public square.
They want despair. We choose defiant optimism. They want paralysis. We choose action.
Show up. Read. Debate. Think for yourself. Then act. That’s the Commons.