The immigration issue affects virtually every American, directly or indirectly, often in deeply personal ways. This guide is designed to help people deliberate together about how we should approach the issue. The three options presented here reflect different ways of understanding what is at stake and force us to think about what matters most to us when we face difficult problems that involve all of us and that do not have perfect solutions. This issue guide presents the following three options for deliberation: Option 1: Welcome Immigrants, Be a Beacon of Freedom This option says that immigration has helped make America what it is today- a dynamic and diverse culture, an engine of the global economy, and a beacon of freedom around the world. Option 2: Enforce the Law, Be Fair to Those Who Follow the Rules This option says we need a fair system, where the rules are clear and, above all, enforced. With an estimated 11 million people living in the country illegally, our current system is unjust and uncontrolled. Option 3: Slow Down and Rebuild Our Common Bonds This option recognizes that newcomers have strengthened American culture in the past. But the current levels of immigration are so high, and the country is now so diverse, that we must regain our sense of national purpose and identity.

Coming to America: Who Should We Welcome, What Should We Do?

Politics & Social Sciences

London, Scott

Social Sciences

NIFI/National Issues Forum Institute

Drug abuse, a problem the United States has faced for decades, has taken a sharply more lethal turn with the rise of opioids―both legal pain- killers, such as oxycodone and fentanyl, and illegal ones like heroin. Drug overdoses are now the leading cause of death among Americans under 50. More than 64,000 Americans were killed by drug overdoses in 2016, according to the Centers for Disease Control. That is worse than the death toll at the peak of the HIV epidemic in 1995 and more than the number of US combat deaths in the entire Vietnam War. At least two-thirds of those 2016 drug deaths were caused by opioids. This issue advisory presents three options for deliberation. Each option offers advantages as well as drawbacks. If we increase enforcement, for example, this may result in putting many more people in prison. If we reduce the number of prescriptions written, we may increase suffering among people with painful illnesses. Each option is based on differing views about what we hold most valuable. Each represents a general direction and suggests a number of actions that can be carried out by different people or groups.

What Should We Do about the Opioid Epidemic?

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Wharton, Tony

Addiction & Recovery

Every American is affected by the divisions and outrage that prevent us from making progress on urgent problems. This issue guide is designed to help people deliberate together about how we should approach the issue. These are difficult questions, and there are no easy answers: <ul> <li>Should we require more accurate, respectful discussion in the media and online, or would that stifle free speech?</li> <li>Should we reform politics and government to encourage compromise, or will that mean giving up on the changes we really need and want?</li> <li>Should local communities set policies in areas like health care and the environment, or would that risk the progress we've made and make further progress nearly impossible?</li> <li>Should we crack down on money in politics, or will people just find new ways to evade the rules?</li> </ul> This issue guide presents three options for deliberation about difficult problems for which there are no perfect solutions. Each option offers advantages as well as risks. And each reflects different ways of understanding what is at stake, forcing us to think about what matters most to us. The research involved in developing this guide included interviews and conversations with Americans from all walks of life, as well as surveys of nonpartisan public opinion research, subject-matter scans, and reviews of initial drafts by people with direct experience with the subject.

A House Divided: What Would We Have to Give Up to Get the Political System We Want?

Sociology

A Nation in Debt: How Can We Pay the Bills? (2022)

Business & Money

Stokes, Sutton

Economics

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