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DocuSign Envelope ID: DED368CC-D87F-4704-8F64-B8F2DB10EE93 <br /> June 6,2017: <br /> Dear Den.n, <br /> Arttet .,„inifeei strikes me as a.necessary and thrilling project, and timely in, a nfanner that would <br /> have been. hard to foiesce„ .As Atne.rica.ris We drift through our lives on.der the lost and even.• <br /> forgotten assumptions that w are Caere people. hut at this point,in Ilistcry„ We SCelll to define <br /> ourselves by what divides us from ea.ch other. Because,of relatively'recent technological <br /> developments, which, faYor a subset of the population„, the divisions between those,who are tech <br /> savvy and those who aren't, 'between those who grew up in a digital landscape and th.ose who <br /> continue to struggle with increasingly obsolete modes of comnutoleation, threatens to create a <br /> permanent pa.rtition in our country that resembles the ancient division between landowners and <br /> 1.serfs, <br /> .recently beard a new word--nichilication—Which aptly describes the sort of psychological <br /> specialization tha.t separates us from each other, a.nd has been.doing so for decades,. Undoubtedly <br /> this recently new development,i,s the result of empowerm..ent--o.f women, of ethnic groups, of <br /> sexual orienanon in general—dlot empowerment seen as an absolute, as i purely necessary <br /> sta.rice, creates its own forni.•of isolation, a wall that—if it's high enough—can block out <br /> the sound of ArneriCa. <br /> Of course walls are important, but What's von mere important is that we learn what is taking <br /> place on the other side of the wall that blocks us from our fellow citizens.Arnsi United is a <br /> project that add.resses our n,eed to reach cat.and. understand to each other, to find. the binding <br /> human clement-4ere always is one—ahat ch.alleng,ca our various kinds of isolation, It <br /> recognizes both the need tbr"'community"1117.61 the tingers of exclusivity--that weird Silenee <br /> which we converse only with those who know what we already know, and little else.. The self satisla.ction of an enclave. <br /> We, use the word.'polarizatit.m"to characterize modern politics, to describe the overwhelming <br /> distance that exist between opinions concerning health-care and itn.migration and globalization. <br /> But our lanuaan,failure is a larger matter than..these broad topics suggest,. It's the failure to „sve. To <br /> see over the walls that separate us from each other, This failure to see and. to understand what we <br /> we i the underlying problem that the ArliP IllItted proposal addresses, It's a wend.crliti project. <br /> Sincerely.. <br /> John Rosenthal <br />