A Starting Point is a “video-based civic engagement platform” created by, among others, actor Chris Evans. It’s based on a solid idea: We need more constructive dialogue with people who have different views. No argument there.
I’ve only watched one of the site’s point-counterpoint discussions so far, but I see a couple of problems. The main one is that the participants seemingly blew past the premise behind the conversation and never looked back (sound familiar?).
“Can Congress be fixed? We think it can!” is followed by calls for technocratic budget process reform and civil bipartisanship based on relationships. That’s all well and good, but none of it matters because Congress is corrupt. Corporate and big donors come first, which means that reforms will go nowhere and bipartisanship will not save us.
As for civility, it needs to be more than just politesse.
Want to get corporate money out of politics? Move to Amend is leading the fight.
"It's not *actual* corruption." — commenter on another platform
Call it "soft corruption" or "effectively corrupt" or whatever you like. It's a distinction without a difference. https://www.dailyposter.com/follow-the-pharma-money/