182 – Partying Like It’s 1776

On July 6 Saving Elephants assembled an august team of commentators to commemorate the advent of the United States turning the big 2-4-9!  With only one year to go until the nation is 250 years old, the group reflects on the foundational ideas of America, whether she's succeed or failed at those aspirations, and what the future holds for this most exceptional of nations.

 

Meet the panelists:

 

Lura Forcum

 

Lura Forcum leads the Independent Center, the nation’s go-to organization for information, research, and engagement with independent voters, representing those who are fed up with partisan politics and feel politically homeless.

 

Lura holds a PhD in marketing and consumer psychology from Indiana University (Kelley School of Business). She’s studied social cognition and brands, focusing on the factors that lead consumers to respond to brands as if they were people and the outcomes of doing so.  Prior to becoming president of the Independent Center, Lura was the Director of Marketing and Communications at the State Policy Network.

 

Jeffery Tyler Syck

From jtylersyck.com

 

Jeffery Tyler Syck is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Pikeville.

 

Tyler’s academic research focuses on the development of American democracy and the history of political ideologies. He is the editor of the forthcoming book “A Republic of Virtue: The Political Essays of John Quincy Adams” and is completing a second book manuscript entitled “The Untold Origins of American Democracy.” This second book describes how the political debates between John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson forever altered the republic created by the American founders – leaving behind an increasingly majoritarian democracy. His essays and articles on politics, philosophy, and history have appeared in several public facing publications including Law and Liberty, Persuasion, and the Louisville Courier-Journal. Tyler’s academic work has recently been published in the journal Pietas.

 

A native of Pike County Kentucky, Tyler’s political thought and writing are strongly shaped by the culture of Appalachia. With their tightly knit communities, the mountains of Appalachia have instilled in him a love of