{"id":129464,"date":"2025-09-22T14:35:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T18:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/?p=129464"},"modified":"2025-09-22T14:30:52","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T18:30:52","slug":"former-governor-ricardo-rossello-and-author-aaron-bare-urge-america-to-flip-the-incentives-driving-political-violence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/former-governor-ricardo-rossello-and-author-aaron-bare-urge-america-to-flip-the-incentives-driving-political-violence\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Governor Ricardo Rossell\u00f3 and Author Aaron Bare Urge America to &#8216;Flip the Incentives&#8217; Driving Political Violence"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Sept. 22, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) &#8212; Former Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossell\u00f3 and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Aaron Bare have released a joint essay, \u201cThe Perverse Mirror: Flipping Incentives Before Violence Becomes the Logic of the Game,\u201d confronting the alarming rise of political violence in America and offering a hopeful path forward, the Ricardo Rossello Nevares Foundation announced today.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/images\/25-0922-s2p-ressello-800x600.webp\" alt=\"Former Governor Ricardo Rossell\u00f3\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-129458\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/images\/25-0922-s2p-ressello-800x600.webp 800w, https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/images\/25-0922-s2p-ressello-800x600-400x300.webp 400w, https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/images\/25-0922-s2p-ressello-800x600-200x150.webp 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><br \/><em>Photo caption: Former Governor Ricardo Rossell\u00f3.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The essay opens with recent tragedies, from the killing of Charlie Kirk on a Utah campus to the fatal shooting of Minnesota House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband. In each case, the response was not unity but division\u2014tribal scorekeeping instead of shared mourning.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cViolence doesn\u2019t stop the culture war\u2014it fuels it,\u201d said Rossell\u00f3. \u201cOutrage has become currency. Every death is just another coin tossed into the partisan slot machine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>THE ANATOMY OF PERVERSE INCENTIVES<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Rossell\u00f3 and Bare describe three layers of distortion that have rewired democracy to reward the wrong things:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Biological Hardware<\/strong>: Our brains are wired to detect threats faster than reason, making negative emotions spread more rapidly than positive ones.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Behavioral Software<\/strong>: Habits and metrics drift toward proxies\u2014followers instead of influence, clicks instead of truth, fundraising instead of governing.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Institutional Cloudware<\/strong>: Media profits from eyeballs, not accuracy; politics rewards fearmongering, not solutions; bureaucracy prizes activity, not impact.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These distortions, they argue, create what they call \u201cthe perverse mirror\u201d\u2014a system where even the moral constant killing is wrong arrives with conditions.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ROSSELL\u00d3\u2019S LIVED EXPERIENCE<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Rossell\u00f3 recounts becoming the target of \u201cTelegramgate\u201d in 2019, when leaked chats\u2014distorted and stripped of context\u2014ignited digital mob trials, protests, and death threats against his family. Though later cleared of corruption, the outrage had already forced him into exile.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t need a bullet to experience political violence,\u201d Rossell\u00f3 said. \u201cI lived it through mobs, headlines, and algorithms that valued clicks over truth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Yet his story is also one of redemption. In 2021, Puerto Ricans wrote his name onto ballots in sufficient numbers to elect him as the island\u2019s first \u201cshadow congressman,\u201d chosen to advocate for statehood in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/images\/25-0922-s2p-Aaron-Bare-800x600.webp\" alt=\"Author Aaron Bare\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-129459\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/images\/25-0922-s2p-Aaron-Bare-800x600.webp 800w, https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/images\/25-0922-s2p-Aaron-Bare-800x600-400x300.webp 400w, https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/images\/25-0922-s2p-Aaron-Bare-800x600-200x150.webp 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><br \/><em>Photo caption: Author Aaron Bare.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>A FRAMEWORK FOR CHANGE<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Bare, who studies exponential systems and incentive structures, underscores the urgency of redesigning rules:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf resilience can rebuild a leader, then courage can rebuild a nation,\u201d Bare said. \u201cDistortion is not destiny\u2014small flips can restore balance in our lives, institutions, and politics.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The authors propose \u201crule-change sprints\u201d to realign incentives, such as:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Adding quality gates to replace volume-chasing.<\/li>\n<li>Implementing justice-integrity scores for fairness beyond convictions.<\/li>\n<li>Rewarding cross-tribe reach metrics to incentivize unity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>They also advocate building the \u201cRadical Middle\u201d\u2014a rules-anchored common space where the quiet majority, roughly 80\u201385% of Americans, can unite to move forward instead of being drowned out by extremes.<\/p>\n<p><strong>A CALL TO ACTION<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The essay closes with a challenge to citizens: resist the pull of outrage. Don\u2019t take the mob\u2019s invitation. Call a friend on the other team. Audit a metric. Take deep breaths.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMost people, despite the noise, still want beautiful futures for their families,\u201d Rossell\u00f3 said. \u201cThe perverse stack tells us to win against. The virtuous stack tells us to build with. The first leaves ruin; the second builds civilizations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>ABOUT RICARDO ROSSELL\u00d3<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Ricardo Rossell\u00f3 is the former Governor of Puerto Rico, scientist, entrepreneur and author of \u201cThe Reformers\u2019 Dilemma.\u201d He also served as Puerto Rico\u2019s elected shadow congressman, advocating for statehood in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ABOUT AARON BARE<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Aaron Bare is the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of \u201cExponential Theory: The Power of Thinking Big,\u201d a keynote speaker, futurist, and strategist advising global organizations on innovation, incentives, and the future of work.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ABOUT THE RICARDO ROSSELLO NEVARES FOUNDATION<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Rossello Foundation is a platform where leaders across sectors can unite to reject polarization, foster bipartisan collaboration, and develop innovative, long-term solutions to the most pressing and complex real-world challenges.<\/p>\n<p>Learn more about the Ricardo Rossello Nevares Foundation at: <a href=\"https:\/\/ricardorossellofoundation.com\/\">https:\/\/ricardorossellofoundation.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>PRESS CONTACT<\/strong>:<br \/>\nForbes Shannon<br \/>\nForbes@forbesfivehundo.com<\/p>\n<p><strong>MULTIMEDIA:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Photo link for media: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.Send2Press.com\/300dpi\/25-0922-s2p-ressello-300dpi.webp\">https:\/\/www.Send2Press.com\/300dpi\/25-0922-s2p-ressello-300dpi.webp<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Photo Caption: Former Governor Ricardo Ressell\u00f3.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Sept. 22, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) &#8212; Former Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossell\u00f3 and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Aaron Bare have released a joint essay, &#8220;The Perverse Mirror: Flipping Incentives Before Violence Becomes the Logic of the Game,&#8221; confronting the alarming rise of political violence in America and offering a hopeful path forward, the Ricardo Rossello Nevares Foundation announced today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10132,"featured_media":129457,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12804,1,48,491,559,540],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-129464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ap","category-business-news","category-government-news","category-opinion-commentary","category-products-news","category-puerto-rico-news","has-post-title","has-post-date","no-post-category","no-post-tag","no-post-comment","has-post-author"],"acf":[],"views":1901,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10132"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129464"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129464\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":129469,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129464\/revisions\/129469"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}