To the Journal editor:

I picked up the book “Endurance” about Shackleton’s 1915 ill-fated Antarctica expedition. Facing the dire consequences of their ship being crushed, the Endurance’s crew perspective changed from self-serving to seeing the humanity in each other.

Their only chance for survival was to combine each of their unique skills in order to be successful.

They jettison ego and petty differences, and began to salvage what they could before the Endurance finally succumbed to the violent stresses of polarizing ice sheets. The crew relied on each other to navigate dangerous ice floes for 15 months before landing on Elephant Island.

They modified one of their remaining boats to give their 6-member team the best chance of crossing 800 miles of most dangerous stretch of ocean in the world to reach safe harbor.

While the remaining crew members took care of each other for another 4 months until their crewmates returned to rescue them. Not one of the 28 crew members died. Their commitment to each other’s wellbeing is truly inspirational.

Our democracy is facing dire consequences from being caught between polarizing political ice sheets formed by a political vortex created by self-serving ego-driven political pundits who dominated and dehumanized anyone who challenges their self-serving way of thinking.

Decades of harsh cold toward fellow Americans has trickled down to the citizenry, and many have gone cold or silent hoping this nightmare will pass. Our Democracy hasn’t sunk, although it’s groaning under these nefarious pressures.

We need a renewed commitment to each other in order to safely navigate toward safe harbor. We need to jettison political ego, hatred, and biases to free ourselves to rediscover our core American values … and what responsibility to each other really means.

We can disagree with each other and be committed to each other’s wellbeing.

The overwhelming number of strong, caring, and smart citizens in this great country provides the hope, but it’s time for a personal perspective reset to awaken us. By speaking up, we can melt the polarizing political ice sheets and start our country moving again.

Take 15 minutes to start a dialog with your elected representatives to covey your perspective of the “State of the Nation.” I trust in our unique skills and persistence to help empower accountability to each other over loyalty to a slogan or party.

We can navigate democracy safely toward a more perfect Union and be truly inspirational for future generations.