The American Experiment, the Ongoing Test of Democracy
Profound Conversation invites thought leaders to explore the enduring and contested idea of the “American experiment.” Rooted in Enlightenment principles and launched in 1776, this experiment was never merely about forming a government; it was about testing whether diverse peoples could build and sustain a society on the radical premise that all are created equal and endowed with unalienable rights.
Yet, from its inception, the experiment has been fraught with contradiction and doubt. Early observers, including Benjamin Franklin, acknowledged the fragility of this undertaking: “A republic, if you can keep it.” The American project has always been a wager on the capacity of ordinary people to govern themselves, and history has tested that wager—through slavery and the Civil War, through the civil rights struggle, through ongoing debates about equality, justice, and belonging.
This episode grapples with the question: Is the American experiment succeeding, failing, or still unfolding in ways we have yet to grasp?
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Profound Conversations Executive Producers are the Muslim Life Planning Institute, a national community building organization whose mission is to establish pathways to lifelong learning and healthy communities at the local, national and global level. MLPN.life
The Profound Conversations podcast is produced by Erika Christie www.ErikaChristie.com
