Lately, I’ve been wrestling with cognitive dissonance: the mental gymnastics we perform to shield ourselves from reality. Whether it’s religious doctrine, political ideology or our own deeply held convictions, we erect walls of justification so elaborate that admitting we might be wrong feels impossible. Those walls lead to isolation, corruption and a fractured society. The real breakthrough lies in communication and unity, bringing every voice into the conversation and recognizing our shared stake in honest power.

From Sacred Wisdom to Fortress of Hypocrisy

Every founding vision, spiritual or secular, risks turning into a walled citadel once gatekeepers claim exclusive mastery. In early Christianity, Jesus denounced the Pharisees’ fence of hundreds of extra rules meant to guard holiness. Over time that fence morphed into an iron prison of showy prayers, crushing burdens on the vulnerable and profit from religious rites. The Iron Law of Oligarchy teaches that as any group grows, power concentrates in the hands of a few who then preserve their own status above the original mission. The same fate befalls secular movements whenever “Great Codes,” whether the Bible or the Constitution, become sacrosanct. Their complexity demands specialized interpretation, locking out those who lack the training to navigate arcane language and centuries of commentary. Debates then collapse into appeals to “Original Intent” or hidden mandates no one can verify.

Leverage in All Its Forms: Knowledge, Money, Strength

“Knowledge is power” and “power corrupts” line up more neatly than their authors may have intended. Just like money in a vault is inert until someone learns how to invest it, and raw muscle is just flesh until trained into skill, facts in a dusty tome become force only when someone masters their meaning. Once you hold that key, you control the gateway and you decide who enters. That explains why data brokers trade our personal profiles, why deep-fakes upend trust and why niche scientific breakthroughs can be weaponized overnight. Money and physical strength follow the same pattern, each capable of serving the common good or crushing communities depending on who wields them and how transparent their motives happen to be.

A Movement to Change the System

For decades we have seen politicians realizing they could never win every debate or change every vote. What if instead of chasing persuasion they decided to reshape the very game board? Wouldn’t it be absurd if they quietly sowed seeds of doubt in established institutions so that old power structures collapse and new levers of influence fall into their hands? That is the momentum behind today’s political movements: allies assembled, doubts cast, power upended under our feet. None of us have been left untouched.

Repairing the Conversation

True unity isn’t uniformity; it’s a tapestry of voices listening and responding to one another. We need to revive the lost art of two-way dialogue to ensure every stakeholder, from neighborhood activists to subject-matter experts, has both a platform and a responsibility to speak honestly.

One barrier to honest power emerges when Congress shoves thousands of pages of policy into a single “Big Beautiful Bill” that no one can read. Most members scramble to skim summaries while constituents rely on headline highlights. When the size and speed of legislation rule out meaningful scrutiny, power shifts into the hands of insiders who hold the only keys to interpretation. Wouldn’t it be absurd to expect citizens to parse a multi-thousand-page bill in a single weekend or to depend entirely on staff briefings and whisper networks?

Legislation must open its doors long before votes are cast. Publishing draft bills on public platforms where anyone can pose questions, challenge assumptions or suggest amendments invites real-time scrutiny. Semi-annual town halls can become moments of collective reckoning, with speakers drawn from all walks of life and the moderator’s chair rotating among community members.

Stewardship of our guiding frameworks should also rotate. Term-limited consensus councils with diverse representation can draft nonbinding policy charters. When one council’s term ends, fresh voices take over to prevent any single faction from cementing its control.

Building a true knowledge commons is equally crucial. Plain-language editions of our most critical texts, from legal codes to policy white papers and budget reports, should circulate alongside annotated glossaries, explainer videos and live Q and A forums. Meanwhile, forty-minute text-taming workshops in libraries, schools and online spaces can unpack one provision at a time to ensure nobody is frozen out by jargon.

Celebrating Intellectual Humility

Beyond structural reforms, we must reframe our relationship to error. Refusing to admit mistakes doesn’t help when held up to the illuminating flame of truth, nor does it help those that long to be like said figure. Admitting “I was wrong” should be a badge of courage, not a source of shame. Shared “oops” boards where mistakes and lessons learned are posted publicly can normalize transparency. At every public gathering, a set number of participants might share one belief they have revised and why, transforming humility into a ritual of collective growth. When we weave revived dialogue, rotating leadership, an accessible knowledge commons and a culture that celebrates reversals into a single tapestry, leverage becomes a tool for collective flourishing instead of oppression.

This is on us.

Which barrier will you dismantle first? Do you need to learn more? Or do you already have insight to share? Start the conversation today because unity begins when every voice finds a platform.

Blue dragonfly on a black railing.