The New York Times ran an editorial this week titled, “Every day is January 6th now,” and argued we are in a constant battle of free vs authoritarian societies. But, if we live in a constant state of battle, the authoritarians still win. When we’re in a threat mindset, we don’t have the space for deliberation, conversation, reflection, and curiosity. We feel scared or angry, and we chant slogans and push policies that don’t solve our problems. The real antidote to January 6th is not constant political war, but an optimistic, assertive movement to fix what has broken. 

Every day is January 7th now. We have to acknowledge the relentless, multiyear disinformation campaign has penetrated the minds of 1 in 3 Americans. There is indeed a dark movement to dim our universal light. But we have to remember this republic was forged in the cradle of Enlightenment. It’s our birth right - our tradition - to seek knowledge, learning, and progress. The Founders, the Constitution, our heritage, and our history are with US.

Everyday is January 7th now, and everyone must ask how they’ll help restore the republic and free societies in the internet age. We want to contribute. Our focus is on helping individuals build the skills and habits to consume high-quality information. And also the skills and habits to reject low-quality information. Let’s build a culture that rewards knowledge, reading multiple perspectives, asking questions, and critically thinking. 

To that end, we launched a new product this week.

It’s like a Fitbit for your newsreading. 

If you read on a computer, you can sign up here. 

https://www.averpoint.com/home/readers 

If you read on an iPhone, you download here.  

If you feel exhausted by the news - and feel like it just sucks you into a vortex of rage, we’re trying to build you a solution. We help you track what you read across your devices, set goals, and improve your information consumption. We also suggest 20 to 30 articles a day that will help you up the learning curve... not down the rabbit hole.

We’ll help you avoid the constant drama, and do the following

- Read from high-quality sources every day - sources that have editors and fact-checkers who get fired if they lie.

- Read from multiple sources to get different points of view, so you break your liberal or conservative bubble.

- Read from multiple topics so you know more than one narrow thing.

- Read from multiple places, so you broaden your perspective.

- Read about your own town - not just the national headlines.

- Read longer - not just skimming headlines.

- Question what you read.

- Evaluate the evidence in what you read.

And we work with partners who reward you for doing the hard work of staying informed.

The solution is to promote a culture of light, not rage.

Every day is January 7th now.