In a fundamental difference of thought, one group of people fights for the freedom of all people to be who they are without someone else imposing their will on others, providing we respect the rights of others to live their own peaceful life. The other group wishes to impose limitations on others because their belief means others need to live as they do to be legitimate enough.
The gray areas: when someone's freedom begins to encroach upon the right to safe and peaceful existence of others. When someone's idea of freedom harms helpless children or others not able to stand up for their own rights within their care.
But the bottom line: the oppressors need to be resisted, diminished, emasculated, and otherwise rendered impotent. America needs to defy and smash oppression, corruption, and exploitation.
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
If You're So Smart...
A white colleague is critical of Trump supporters. All of them, even though some their individual reasons for voting for Trump were very separate from him as an inept and generally bad person (in any way people want to judge others). Regardless of his policies and tenuous ties to the GOP, he thinks it should be apparent by voting for an obviously stupid, rudderless, petulant, and immature person as president is really poor judgment, and that people should see that.
Well, everybody doesn't see that. Not everybody has learned gobs of perspective at college. Not everybody has traveled to and spend significant time seeing a few cosmopolitan parts of the country, much less lived in another country entirely. Not everybody reads a lot of books and is able to understand other viewpoints and ways of living/behaving that may be different and still OK. Not everybody lives in a multi-cultural environment and sees the whole thing -- the good, the bad, and the ugly. Not everyone has had the benefit if seeing young immigrants struggle to learn English and succeed in America. Not everybody has been in their houses, seen their effort to survive and still make it. Not everyone has the benefit of friends and workmates of different persuasions, and has experienced, second hand, some of the things they've experienced.
OF COURSE, anyone who has had some or most of those experiences, and has been blessed with a critical, open or intelligent mind could never vote for someone who has shown such irresponsible behavior as a public figure. But clearly there are enough people without that level of discernment. The long term fix for that is to make it possible for way more people to have some of those experience, like college, overseas experience, and life in multi-cultural worlds (a eventuality that our changing demographics will help with). How to make them broad readers, curious, open minded? A tough task, but it's possible that public education could make that one of its priorities for real.
Well, everybody doesn't see that. Not everybody has learned gobs of perspective at college. Not everybody has traveled to and spend significant time seeing a few cosmopolitan parts of the country, much less lived in another country entirely. Not everybody reads a lot of books and is able to understand other viewpoints and ways of living/behaving that may be different and still OK. Not everybody lives in a multi-cultural environment and sees the whole thing -- the good, the bad, and the ugly. Not everyone has had the benefit if seeing young immigrants struggle to learn English and succeed in America. Not everybody has been in their houses, seen their effort to survive and still make it. Not everyone has the benefit of friends and workmates of different persuasions, and has experienced, second hand, some of the things they've experienced.
OF COURSE, anyone who has had some or most of those experiences, and has been blessed with a critical, open or intelligent mind could never vote for someone who has shown such irresponsible behavior as a public figure. But clearly there are enough people without that level of discernment. The long term fix for that is to make it possible for way more people to have some of those experience, like college, overseas experience, and life in multi-cultural worlds (a eventuality that our changing demographics will help with). How to make them broad readers, curious, open minded? A tough task, but it's possible that public education could make that one of its priorities for real.
Friday, November 4, 2016
You said "If [Trump] wins the election it will mean that America stands for what he stands for." There is a certain portion of voters -- I hope a small minority -- for whom that is true. There are many more voters who disagree with much of what he stands for but will still vote for him because they've come to hate Clinton with irrational zest (flaws, yes, but several orders of magnitude less than what most Republicans (and even non-Republicans) believe because of the relentless attack she's been under, all because Republicans have known since she was FLOTUS that she would be a legitimate contender for the White House). They've utterly convinced themselves and many others, through the sheer volume of vitriolic rhetoric, that she's Satan. [I think it's easy for them to go there because there is enough carelessness on her part to open that door a crack, and of course they exploit that doubt to the nth degree.] Anyway, there are also many voters who don't agree with him who will vote for him anyway for personal financial reasons, for political and SCOTUS reasons, and even just anti-Establishment motivations. And there are those voters who will vote for Clinton.
So in a very real sense, equating what he stands for (as evidenced by his actions and frequent unscripted blathering, not the teleprompter-Trump) to America at large is false. And in another real sense, as the President, he would be the face of America to the world, and would indeed represent what America stands for to many here and abroad.
And with all that said, I don't think I contradict you. Niels Bohr said "The opposite of a fact is falsehood, but the opposite of one profound truth may very well be another profound truth."
So in a very real sense, equating what he stands for (as evidenced by his actions and frequent unscripted blathering, not the teleprompter-Trump) to America at large is false. And in another real sense, as the President, he would be the face of America to the world, and would indeed represent what America stands for to many here and abroad.
And with all that said, I don't think I contradict you. Niels Bohr said "The opposite of a fact is falsehood, but the opposite of one profound truth may very well be another profound truth."
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
The Radicalization of Radicals
Oh boy, are there a lot of different types out there. Maybe you've met someone or worked with someone who seems to be spring loaded to take offense. What do you think of them? How do you think they got that way? A psychologist would say it's a combination of personality type, physiological situation (anxiety level) which could be caused by any number of things including hormone levels, neurotransmitter levels, brain structure and function, etc.). How do you treat them? Do you provoke them on purpose? Do you treat them gently? Do you treat them like everyone else, even though you know they're different?
There are all types, and there is going to be a certain percentage who are prone to violence after continually feeling oppressed, denigrated, unfairly treated, etc. What's more likely to make that less? Fostering an environment of equity, fairness, appreciation, love, acceptance or treating people with increasing hostility of any sort? What makes a society safer: creating a world with more people who have had enough and won't take it any more, or one that people feel there are avenues for their tough lives?
There are all types, and there is going to be a certain percentage who are prone to violence after continually feeling oppressed, denigrated, unfairly treated, etc. What's more likely to make that less? Fostering an environment of equity, fairness, appreciation, love, acceptance or treating people with increasing hostility of any sort? What makes a society safer: creating a world with more people who have had enough and won't take it any more, or one that people feel there are avenues for their tough lives?
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
No Need For Your Words, I'll Just Watch You Be
If you're still listening to what people have to say about who they are or what they'll do or what they believe, you've got a lot to learn about people.
First, before you even need to say a word, just show me your record. What have you done? What are you doing? How did you vote? What causes do you give to and how much of your time, advocacy and fortune? Who do you help who can not pay you back? Who are your honest, close friends?
Are any of those actions or situations unusual? Here's a chance to explain yourself, but mostly, I'll just listen to disinterested people who know you best. If more than a few are questionable, you really don't need to speak. Your character speaks loudly and clearly through your actions. You're planning to change? Once you've said those few words, you don't need to say it again. Just change, and we'll watch what you do. If you're avoiding transparency, that tells me everything I need to know.
Enough said.
First, before you even need to say a word, just show me your record. What have you done? What are you doing? How did you vote? What causes do you give to and how much of your time, advocacy and fortune? Who do you help who can not pay you back? Who are your honest, close friends?
Are any of those actions or situations unusual? Here's a chance to explain yourself, but mostly, I'll just listen to disinterested people who know you best. If more than a few are questionable, you really don't need to speak. Your character speaks loudly and clearly through your actions. You're planning to change? Once you've said those few words, you don't need to say it again. Just change, and we'll watch what you do. If you're avoiding transparency, that tells me everything I need to know.
Enough said.
Monday, July 25, 2016
A Call to Educate Yourself
White people, can you for a minute, for a day, for as long as you can take it, stop trying to opine. Can you suspend your need to be heard, express, influence, impose, or otherwise reinforce your viewpoint for long enough to really understand the other point. Can you interrupt your reflex to respond, retort, interject or rebuff? And just listen and really hear and really feel the other side? What would it take for you to willingly immerse yourself in an attempt to imagine yourself having been raised in another cultural experience, utterly foreign, often painful or degrading, destitute or denigrating? As a member of an oppressed minority from childhood, on the receiving end of racism?
Every childhood, home, family, cultural and economic experience is different, and all come with their ups and downs. But to be able to talk as an educated person about something, you need to deeply grok all 3, 4, ...n sides of the issue.
Old white man and lady, it's easier than ever to explore these experiences. Books are immediately available on your computer, kindle, iPad. Movies are there for you. You could probably even get a virtual reality experience if you looked for it. You could chat with a willing black person. If you told them you really want to understand the big deal of Black Lives Matter, and mean it, they might help you. But without bringing an open mind (is is still capable of letting something new in, or are you done?), it would be for nothing. You'd stay unchanged.
Why would you want to spend your limited time and intellectual effort learning about Black Lives Matter, yes, I hear you.
How long would it take to actually learn something substantial about a topic? A couple 40 hour weeks? 100 hours? I challenge you to intentionally open your mind, allow your inbred beliefs to sit down and shut up for the duration as you drink of the foreign experience. What would your hero, idol, Jesus, do?
Every childhood, home, family, cultural and economic experience is different, and all come with their ups and downs. But to be able to talk as an educated person about something, you need to deeply grok all 3, 4, ...n sides of the issue.
Old white man and lady, it's easier than ever to explore these experiences. Books are immediately available on your computer, kindle, iPad. Movies are there for you. You could probably even get a virtual reality experience if you looked for it. You could chat with a willing black person. If you told them you really want to understand the big deal of Black Lives Matter, and mean it, they might help you. But without bringing an open mind (is is still capable of letting something new in, or are you done?), it would be for nothing. You'd stay unchanged.
Why would you want to spend your limited time and intellectual effort learning about Black Lives Matter, yes, I hear you.
- Treatment of minorities, especially African and Native American is a metastatic cancer that we want to move into remission. It has flared up and down, but has always been part of us, and though we can't change our past, living as a healthy country going forward requires we bring as much of our resources to bear to fight it as possible. Especially the dominant power, which, today, is whitey. The cancer is not blacks fighting back against the system, the cancer is the systemic discrimination, manufactured and delivered by mostly whites.
- It is the predominant social issue of our time, and it hurts all of us from the President and tip-top CEOs to the aborted fetus and high school dropout headed to prison. It costs billions, it diminishes the greatness of our people, and undermines the American character (and consequent reputation) both in and outside our borders. It diminishes the perpetrators equal to their transgressions because it damns their souls, their psyches, identities.
- You can be part of our national healing. It is possible. We can get better and use the experience of our past sins to live healthier in the future.
- Be on the side of the underdog, the bullied. Stand up in defense of good cops who break the code of silence by strengthening the defense from the bullied. Racist cops hurt their victims most, and their good-cop partners almost as much. Bad cops exponentially multiply the problem and get good cops killed.
- If your idea of adventure is picking a new shade of paint for the bathroom, don't you think God put you here for something more important than that? If your adventures have always been for you and selfish, why not take one of them into the realm of helping others for no other reason than that you can and it matters outside yourself. Accumulate a legacy worth emulating, and leave your heirs something to be proud of instead of liquidate.
How long would it take to actually learn something substantial about a topic? A couple 40 hour weeks? 100 hours? I challenge you to intentionally open your mind, allow your inbred beliefs to sit down and shut up for the duration as you drink of the foreign experience. What would your hero, idol, Jesus, do?
Thursday, July 21, 2016
True Believers and Trumpets
When I read True Believer, I took it as an analysis of historical mass movements. Not as a cautionary tale of modern America. I thought the fringe would remain there on the strength of a strong majority of regular people.
Here's where my credulity is tested. These things are so clear, and yet people I know (though none who I regard as well balanced or particularly thoughtful people, but regular people) would allow him to represent the best of America.*
1. He doesn't say it like it is. (He's mostly wrong, so more accurately, he says it like it's not.) He doesn't just say what he believes. (He doesn't really believe in things except for a moment, but that's not really a belief.). He does make things up on the spot, and say what's on his mind. He reacts like a kid, putting people on an enemy's list based on criticism of him.
2. He's has a genius, but it's a middle school bully level genius. His skill is an innate awareness of someone's greed/fear/bigotry buttons, probably because they are only very shallowly buried under his gigantic id/ego (yeah, his id and ego in the colloquial sense have sort of mutated together). He's not a business genius. He's not good with words. He's not good with ideas or systems. He doesn't really know stuff. He's honed his skills at manipulating the basest instincts in himself and others (greed, fear & insecurity, bigotry). That's provides the bedrock of his business dealings. He's not a negotiator, he's a wheeler-dealer, and if you don't know the difference, so are you. Read this: his ghostwriter for The Art of the Deal had a moral epiphany and rebuked his work.
3. He's not good with people. He doesn't have friends, confidants, or relationships like you or I might. Everyone in his life are just work implements. And you could say that we're all like that and our close friends and family are just tools to give us love and to love, but he doesn't feel love like that. His wives are accouterments, his kids are ornaments. His friends are henchmen and there to give him the attention and validation he so clearly needs. He engages in petty feuds with people. Do you? And what do you feel about yourself when you're over it - proud of yourself? I wouldn't either, but I don't engage in that.
4. He is an outsider. But can you think of another outsider who's as much of an idiot as he is? Vanilla Ice comes to mind (no offense, Vanilla, but I read Ice by Ice while standing in a library somewhere and I couldn't believe a book that bad could actually be published. I couldn't put it down, the train-wreck of words was uniquely horrendous. It reads like a Trump Rant, but I was younger then and could tolerate the grotesque much better than I do now.) Can you think of one other business leader who is that full of himself and that shallow a person? Gates. Welch. Musk. Virgin. OK, Fiorina is a distant second. Oh, and Palin. But she's a semi-insider.**
5. This one is particularly pernicious because it seems to make sense but it does not: "Someone who has [raised some good kids/ built a real estate empire/ been successful in business (very debatable)] must have something healthy at the core. Oh my God, no. He didn't raise his kids. Do you seriously believe their testimony in an interview or at the podium when they're trying to get him elected? Of course you don't. Either way, it's a false argument. If you find yourself believing this, you really do need to take some basic psychology. Why people stay with abusive spouses, why people fall for get-rich schemes, why people burn crosses in other people's front yards. There are unhealthy psychological complexes that induce people to believe and do things that are not only false, but against their long-term self interest, and unless you want to be one of them, please educate yourselves! Listening to the Evangelicals rationalize supporting him (who, by their own definition, is the antithesis of living a moral life) is surreal.
6. He's not maligned by the mainstream media, nor the erudite print media, nor the public media, nor the foreign press. There are opinionated people who are out to do him harm, but there are other, often non-establishment Republicans, and others who have never been political, who see him for what he is. His sophomoric deflections fool no one with any time understanding the world. But if you are unable to detect bias and lack of bias, and you're willing to believe a candidate who has given virtually no evidence to support his veracity over every media source out there, there really is no hope, except that you're in the minority.
7. He will shake things up and we need that. I agree. But not without a plan to put it back together. And when you shake things up good, you better have some seriously sophisticated plans to rebuild. If you're going to take apart a complex machine, without any knowledge of how it all works together, you're not fixing anything. Breaking things doesn't fix them!
All the major reasons people give for supporting Trump are weak, if not utterly false. And yet, here he is. With more being caught up in the excitement at the expense of a commitment to integrity. Ouch.
*[I totally understand a Never Hillary attitude. I get that. I wouldn't vote for Hillary because she's a complete politico, and is too far gone to be a real person. She sees honesty and transparency as a weakness, probably based on her history of having been elected and appointed to offices without exercising a real commitment to honesty, transparency or authenticity. But she knows things, and her lies are understandable adult lies (if not less egregious): she's trying to protect her political career, whereas Trump is just boasting, trying to make you think he knows something he doesn't, or habit.]
**[I totally understand why you'd want an outsider to be in the White House. I think everyone is sick of the establishment's inability to think for themselves. But let's at least get someone (anyone) who CAN ACTUALLY THINK. Trump is incapable of sitting down and thinking, analyzing, restating a complex thought or argument, working through any sort of rigorous logic, even when logic needs to be infused with the reality of human problems which must understand and accommodate the irrationality of human behavior as part of their process, but at least coherent.]
Here's where my credulity is tested. These things are so clear, and yet people I know (though none who I regard as well balanced or particularly thoughtful people, but regular people) would allow him to represent the best of America.*
1. He doesn't say it like it is. (He's mostly wrong, so more accurately, he says it like it's not.) He doesn't just say what he believes. (He doesn't really believe in things except for a moment, but that's not really a belief.). He does make things up on the spot, and say what's on his mind. He reacts like a kid, putting people on an enemy's list based on criticism of him.
2. He's has a genius, but it's a middle school bully level genius. His skill is an innate awareness of someone's greed/fear/bigotry buttons, probably because they are only very shallowly buried under his gigantic id/ego (yeah, his id and ego in the colloquial sense have sort of mutated together). He's not a business genius. He's not good with words. He's not good with ideas or systems. He doesn't really know stuff. He's honed his skills at manipulating the basest instincts in himself and others (greed, fear & insecurity, bigotry). That's provides the bedrock of his business dealings. He's not a negotiator, he's a wheeler-dealer, and if you don't know the difference, so are you. Read this: his ghostwriter for The Art of the Deal had a moral epiphany and rebuked his work.
3. He's not good with people. He doesn't have friends, confidants, or relationships like you or I might. Everyone in his life are just work implements. And you could say that we're all like that and our close friends and family are just tools to give us love and to love, but he doesn't feel love like that. His wives are accouterments, his kids are ornaments. His friends are henchmen and there to give him the attention and validation he so clearly needs. He engages in petty feuds with people. Do you? And what do you feel about yourself when you're over it - proud of yourself? I wouldn't either, but I don't engage in that.
4. He is an outsider. But can you think of another outsider who's as much of an idiot as he is? Vanilla Ice comes to mind (no offense, Vanilla, but I read Ice by Ice while standing in a library somewhere and I couldn't believe a book that bad could actually be published. I couldn't put it down, the train-wreck of words was uniquely horrendous. It reads like a Trump Rant, but I was younger then and could tolerate the grotesque much better than I do now.) Can you think of one other business leader who is that full of himself and that shallow a person? Gates. Welch. Musk. Virgin. OK, Fiorina is a distant second. Oh, and Palin. But she's a semi-insider.**
5. This one is particularly pernicious because it seems to make sense but it does not: "Someone who has [raised some good kids/ built a real estate empire/ been successful in business (very debatable)] must have something healthy at the core. Oh my God, no. He didn't raise his kids. Do you seriously believe their testimony in an interview or at the podium when they're trying to get him elected? Of course you don't. Either way, it's a false argument. If you find yourself believing this, you really do need to take some basic psychology. Why people stay with abusive spouses, why people fall for get-rich schemes, why people burn crosses in other people's front yards. There are unhealthy psychological complexes that induce people to believe and do things that are not only false, but against their long-term self interest, and unless you want to be one of them, please educate yourselves! Listening to the Evangelicals rationalize supporting him (who, by their own definition, is the antithesis of living a moral life) is surreal.
6. He's not maligned by the mainstream media, nor the erudite print media, nor the public media, nor the foreign press. There are opinionated people who are out to do him harm, but there are other, often non-establishment Republicans, and others who have never been political, who see him for what he is. His sophomoric deflections fool no one with any time understanding the world. But if you are unable to detect bias and lack of bias, and you're willing to believe a candidate who has given virtually no evidence to support his veracity over every media source out there, there really is no hope, except that you're in the minority.
7. He will shake things up and we need that. I agree. But not without a plan to put it back together. And when you shake things up good, you better have some seriously sophisticated plans to rebuild. If you're going to take apart a complex machine, without any knowledge of how it all works together, you're not fixing anything. Breaking things doesn't fix them!
All the major reasons people give for supporting Trump are weak, if not utterly false. And yet, here he is. With more being caught up in the excitement at the expense of a commitment to integrity. Ouch.
*[I totally understand a Never Hillary attitude. I get that. I wouldn't vote for Hillary because she's a complete politico, and is too far gone to be a real person. She sees honesty and transparency as a weakness, probably based on her history of having been elected and appointed to offices without exercising a real commitment to honesty, transparency or authenticity. But she knows things, and her lies are understandable adult lies (if not less egregious): she's trying to protect her political career, whereas Trump is just boasting, trying to make you think he knows something he doesn't, or habit.]
**[I totally understand why you'd want an outsider to be in the White House. I think everyone is sick of the establishment's inability to think for themselves. But let's at least get someone (anyone) who CAN ACTUALLY THINK. Trump is incapable of sitting down and thinking, analyzing, restating a complex thought or argument, working through any sort of rigorous logic, even when logic needs to be infused with the reality of human problems which must understand and accommodate the irrationality of human behavior as part of their process, but at least coherent.]
Monday, July 18, 2016
What Does Trump Believe About...
Trump is "Success Driven" and "Goal Oriented." He doesn't believe in things like you might think of someone who has spent time pondering, analyzing, troubling over things, researching things he doesn't understand, and then thinking some more in order to understand an issue and take a stance. That's clear from his lack of depth in any given topic. You don't NEED all that thinking to make a buck or a billion in America. (Though it does come in handy when you want to steer a prudent course for a big nation.)
Clearly from his interviews and speeches, he's not that kind of person. He's like a lot of other people who may expend their blood, sweat and tears on the matter at hand, and not on high-falutin' or abstract ideas that don't immediately apply to today's profit. He doesn't know things. He sort of feels and sees the outer shape of things makes a gut judgment. But, a gut gets its judgment from experience in that area. I don't need to talk about his experience in statesmanship. His behavior and words are clear.
Politicians, even the best of them, color their remarks about beliefs depending on who they are talking to, and someone who hasn't ever committed to something long term, like marriage, business commitments, etc., don't even care. It's not about what they believe. But someone who is averse to knowing real things and making that knowledge part of their repertoire is not a person who should be making decisions about important things. Not for someone who is a professional in public service. Someone who makes up stuff, blathers incoherently from topic to topic and fears actually committing to a single piece of substantial policy is not the person to lead policy execution.
This is a person who is not a leader, and someone who follows such a leader . . . I just gotta wonder about your integrity. You can still be my friend, but I'll always wonder about that severe gullibility, brought on probably by a deep need to believe in something! Instead of fall for a charlatan, why not seek out someone worthy to support, or better yet, become someone who is willing to lead something local (or bigger) that accomplishes that which you are hoping your false god can? Rather than put your hope in an empty vessel, find the real deal and elevate them to prominence and influence.
I wrote this before reading the article in The New Yorker featuring the comments from the ghostwriter of The Art of the Deal. It fully confirms my own observations of him as a person.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/07/25/donald-trumps-ghostwriter-tells-all
This is a person who is not a leader, and someone who follows such a leader . . . I just gotta wonder about your integrity. You can still be my friend, but I'll always wonder about that severe gullibility, brought on probably by a deep need to believe in something! Instead of fall for a charlatan, why not seek out someone worthy to support, or better yet, become someone who is willing to lead something local (or bigger) that accomplishes that which you are hoping your false god can? Rather than put your hope in an empty vessel, find the real deal and elevate them to prominence and influence.
I wrote this before reading the article in The New Yorker featuring the comments from the ghostwriter of The Art of the Deal. It fully confirms my own observations of him as a person.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/07/25/donald-trumps-ghostwriter-tells-all
Saturday, July 9, 2016
Anti Racism - Are You Finally Ready?
According to research psychologists, there is unconscious bias in us all. Even African American children have an unconscious bias to (statistically) predict white dolls over black dolls as positive ideals. And you can test yourself if you dare at this website.
Having unconscious bias doesn't make a person racist. And for this, let's just say racist is treating someone more negatively based on their heritage, skin color, or other external group trait or otherwise contributing to that end.
If you're reading this on Facebook, your a friend among all types. Big white biker boys in the Carolinas, tiny Asian women, men who look very much like Bob Marley, fat old white ladies in the Dakotas, slender nubian-princess activists in New Orleans, young men you'd mistake for Mexican Gangsters if you didn't know them, Jewish women from Alaska and South Africa. Most of you can claim the same - a panoply of diversity. I like to believe I'm not racist. My past experiences have embarrassed most of it out of me, having met men and women and children of every race, color and creed who have bested me in everything I might take pride in within myself. After my teaching and work with street kids, and in my travel throughout 4 of the 7 continents, it's hard to hold onto beliefs based on anything aside from behavior over time. But not being racist does not make me Anti Racist. To balance out and eventually neutralize racism (so we can all use our energy to bring our world to a more productive place), there needs to be sustained effort in fighting it.
We all have room in our lives (with the exception of young mothers and graduate students writing their theses and others struggling with overwhelming issues) for our vocations, our families, and an avocation or two. And a little exercise and "me time." Based on the persistent trouble in which we find ourselves here in America (like since 1492?), it's time for way more of us to add one more. Fighting injustice.
Awareness is a good first step, and I think you can feel this with me. We've had social media, with FB posts and retweeting galore, and that activity is not getting it done. But it IS a first step. The first step (awareness) doesn't get us there. It's the second, third and the habits of moving forward that could get us there. "There might not ever be perfect, but does anyone believe we can't do way better? We see the steady progress of technology (because it's fun and puts money in the pockets, and a compelling sense of accomplishment in the egos, of those perpetrating it). There may be very little (or even negative) direct individual financial gain, in taking more steps toward effecting racial equality, but as a nation, there is ZERO doubt that being able to re-enfranchise more and more Americans into an greater participation will create opportunity, and raise more boats, and ultimately have deep, positive economic results for everybody.
Bringing anti racism to your main vocation may be your greatest influence. Giving a minority the benefit of the doubt, even if it doesn't ultimately pan out, is fair, when you consider that they've been on the receiving end of the opposite side of that equation more than you'll ever know. But taking some of your personal bandwidth and pointing it in the direction of fixing yourself and the world could have additional and important ripples in our ill society.
Life is complex and when you ask all the "why's" about how we got here and what we can do about it, there are a thousand answers. But there are hundreds of millions of us who are spending plenty of time "social mediating" and video game playing and in the gym and watching TV and reading novels and etc. If we were to replace some of that (by all means, waste some damn time -- everyone needs a little of that every week) with something else that propagates positively into the real world and answers a few of those "why's", can you think of a better way to spend that time than working to improve the lot of those worse off than yourself?
Not sure where to start? Me either. Getting together with some friends you trust and talking about what you could actually DO to make a difference. Ask your black friends. Ask your Mexican friends. Talk about it. Think about it. Read about it. Be creative and then create. My gut tells me that our eventual hope lies in the next generation. Let your own kids tag along and have those hard conversations with them. You don't know the answers, but together you can ask the questions together and research answers.
I'm sitting here watching The Shawshank Redemption. When Andy tunnels out and they discover his escape, Red narrates Andy's love for geology, ruminating on Andy's love of geology and its main forces of pressure and time. "Pressure and time." And how that persistence meant his escape. The pressure is growing. The more pressure, the less time it takes for the plates to shift. There's hope now, but it's by no means inevitable. If we care enough about what's right, and we apply some pressure within our sphere of influence, and if we work to expand that influence wherever we can, even if it's within our small circle of friends, and if we network that circle to the next degree of Kevin Bacon, I don't know what might happen. My imagination tells me that it could matter.
Many of you reading this are already actively working within your jobs, AS your jobs, and through other means working toward relegating racism to the ash heap of history. Clearly we need more of us in on that endeavor.
What are some things I could do? Brainstorm:
Get involved in the Urban League or NAACP or Southern Poverty Law Center, participate in their activities, ask where you can contribute to their efforts to help out.
Create your own Meet-Up Group (White's for Universal Rights/ Minority Rights, Anti-Racist San Diego Action Network) and get together, create an action plan, and go with it.
Recruit friends, make friends and get together to discuss options. How awkward is that? As awkward as suffering through another 4 decades of racially-motivated atrocities?
Volunteer at your local school (elementary, middle or high) to help organize an anti-racist program, including curriculum, club, etc. According to Stanford's school of education, Anti-Racist Teaching is one of the 10 Features of Successful Small Schools. Anti-Racist Teaching. Students, staff, leaders, etc.
As you start, learn what you don't know. Expose yourself to some writers from within disenfranchised groups. Read about the enemy (racists). Read about reformed racists. Read the words of Jesus and the Dalai Lama. I started with I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, Sula, Invisible Man, Huckleberry Finn and some speeches and letters famous for their power and perspective. Get in there and turn your perceptions on their heads.
Google it: What should I read to understand racism? What can I do to stop racism?
Having unconscious bias doesn't make a person racist. And for this, let's just say racist is treating someone more negatively based on their heritage, skin color, or other external group trait or otherwise contributing to that end.
If you're reading this on Facebook, your a friend among all types. Big white biker boys in the Carolinas, tiny Asian women, men who look very much like Bob Marley, fat old white ladies in the Dakotas, slender nubian-princess activists in New Orleans, young men you'd mistake for Mexican Gangsters if you didn't know them, Jewish women from Alaska and South Africa. Most of you can claim the same - a panoply of diversity. I like to believe I'm not racist. My past experiences have embarrassed most of it out of me, having met men and women and children of every race, color and creed who have bested me in everything I might take pride in within myself. After my teaching and work with street kids, and in my travel throughout 4 of the 7 continents, it's hard to hold onto beliefs based on anything aside from behavior over time. But not being racist does not make me Anti Racist. To balance out and eventually neutralize racism (so we can all use our energy to bring our world to a more productive place), there needs to be sustained effort in fighting it.
We all have room in our lives (with the exception of young mothers and graduate students writing their theses and others struggling with overwhelming issues) for our vocations, our families, and an avocation or two. And a little exercise and "me time." Based on the persistent trouble in which we find ourselves here in America (like since 1492?), it's time for way more of us to add one more. Fighting injustice.
Awareness is a good first step, and I think you can feel this with me. We've had social media, with FB posts and retweeting galore, and that activity is not getting it done. But it IS a first step. The first step (awareness) doesn't get us there. It's the second, third and the habits of moving forward that could get us there. "There might not ever be perfect, but does anyone believe we can't do way better? We see the steady progress of technology (because it's fun and puts money in the pockets, and a compelling sense of accomplishment in the egos, of those perpetrating it). There may be very little (or even negative) direct individual financial gain, in taking more steps toward effecting racial equality, but as a nation, there is ZERO doubt that being able to re-enfranchise more and more Americans into an greater participation will create opportunity, and raise more boats, and ultimately have deep, positive economic results for everybody.
Bringing anti racism to your main vocation may be your greatest influence. Giving a minority the benefit of the doubt, even if it doesn't ultimately pan out, is fair, when you consider that they've been on the receiving end of the opposite side of that equation more than you'll ever know. But taking some of your personal bandwidth and pointing it in the direction of fixing yourself and the world could have additional and important ripples in our ill society.
Life is complex and when you ask all the "why's" about how we got here and what we can do about it, there are a thousand answers. But there are hundreds of millions of us who are spending plenty of time "social mediating" and video game playing and in the gym and watching TV and reading novels and etc. If we were to replace some of that (by all means, waste some damn time -- everyone needs a little of that every week) with something else that propagates positively into the real world and answers a few of those "why's", can you think of a better way to spend that time than working to improve the lot of those worse off than yourself?
Not sure where to start? Me either. Getting together with some friends you trust and talking about what you could actually DO to make a difference. Ask your black friends. Ask your Mexican friends. Talk about it. Think about it. Read about it. Be creative and then create. My gut tells me that our eventual hope lies in the next generation. Let your own kids tag along and have those hard conversations with them. You don't know the answers, but together you can ask the questions together and research answers.
I'm sitting here watching The Shawshank Redemption. When Andy tunnels out and they discover his escape, Red narrates Andy's love for geology, ruminating on Andy's love of geology and its main forces of pressure and time. "Pressure and time." And how that persistence meant his escape. The pressure is growing. The more pressure, the less time it takes for the plates to shift. There's hope now, but it's by no means inevitable. If we care enough about what's right, and we apply some pressure within our sphere of influence, and if we work to expand that influence wherever we can, even if it's within our small circle of friends, and if we network that circle to the next degree of Kevin Bacon, I don't know what might happen. My imagination tells me that it could matter.
Many of you reading this are already actively working within your jobs, AS your jobs, and through other means working toward relegating racism to the ash heap of history. Clearly we need more of us in on that endeavor.
What are some things I could do? Brainstorm:
Get involved in the Urban League or NAACP or Southern Poverty Law Center, participate in their activities, ask where you can contribute to their efforts to help out.
Create your own Meet-Up Group (White's for Universal Rights/ Minority Rights, Anti-Racist San Diego Action Network) and get together, create an action plan, and go with it.
Recruit friends, make friends and get together to discuss options. How awkward is that? As awkward as suffering through another 4 decades of racially-motivated atrocities?
Volunteer at your local school (elementary, middle or high) to help organize an anti-racist program, including curriculum, club, etc. According to Stanford's school of education, Anti-Racist Teaching is one of the 10 Features of Successful Small Schools. Anti-Racist Teaching. Students, staff, leaders, etc.
As you start, learn what you don't know. Expose yourself to some writers from within disenfranchised groups. Read about the enemy (racists). Read about reformed racists. Read the words of Jesus and the Dalai Lama. I started with I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, Sula, Invisible Man, Huckleberry Finn and some speeches and letters famous for their power and perspective. Get in there and turn your perceptions on their heads.
Google it: What should I read to understand racism? What can I do to stop racism?
Thursday, June 9, 2016
It Doesn't Matter if Trump Wins or Loses the TU Lawsuit
The fact that he wants to bilk unsuspecting get-rich-quick hounds out of money speaks to his character. And is, sadly, the exact same model to power his campaign: preying on the gullible and desperate (who don't even realize they're gullible and desperate).
As an additional comment on his character, rather than comment on the merits of the lawsuit, he launches an ad hominem attack on the judge. A rookie mistake by an inept debater.
And the final point: his attack was racist. Another rookie mistake: projecting your own character onto your enemy. Just because Trump would bias himself for or against something because of his racial prejudices doesn't mean his opponent would do likewise. But, if he felt his case was strong on its merits, why would the judge be an "opponent" even before the case goes to trial? If Trump were to attack the judge for being biased against bigots, he might have a stronger leg to stand on, but whatever the motivation for the attack on a judge, it belies his defensiveness.
I don't want a defensive President, period. I want one who's confident in his facts and stance so he can be calm and firm when the chips are down. Not this cognitively dissonant and shrill "cocky victim"-mentality. Get some therapy, my troubled fellow American. When Obama was overly defensive and victim-y with the recalcitrant Republican congress (and if anyone ever had a legitimate claim to be shrill, this was it), I didn't like it. It reduced him to to less than he should be.
As an additional comment on his character, rather than comment on the merits of the lawsuit, he launches an ad hominem attack on the judge. A rookie mistake by an inept debater.
And the final point: his attack was racist. Another rookie mistake: projecting your own character onto your enemy. Just because Trump would bias himself for or against something because of his racial prejudices doesn't mean his opponent would do likewise. But, if he felt his case was strong on its merits, why would the judge be an "opponent" even before the case goes to trial? If Trump were to attack the judge for being biased against bigots, he might have a stronger leg to stand on, but whatever the motivation for the attack on a judge, it belies his defensiveness.
I don't want a defensive President, period. I want one who's confident in his facts and stance so he can be calm and firm when the chips are down. Not this cognitively dissonant and shrill "cocky victim"-mentality. Get some therapy, my troubled fellow American. When Obama was overly defensive and victim-y with the recalcitrant Republican congress (and if anyone ever had a legitimate claim to be shrill, this was it), I didn't like it. It reduced him to to less than he should be.
Thursday, May 12, 2016
I Don't Know about Trump
I don't know if 4 years of Trump as President would ultimately be a bad thing. With the chaotic and complex (in both colloquial and technical terms) interaction of global influences, from economics to social (and mainstream) media to global relations to mass cultural movement, no one can say. Calamity often aligns enemies against a common foe or congeal the bonds of alliance between loose associates, and can result in long term betterment. The energy crisis of the 70s gave us a head-start on development of alternative energies, the atomic bomb may have ended WWII earlier and prevented deaths (we don't know because in one-off events, there is rarely any reliable control (in the scientific sense) to compare the alternatives timelines. Some of the most interesting fiction involves exploring what happens on different timelines. Because we KNOW we don't know what will happen.
As much as I value and respect integrity, compassion, wisdom, competence and strength (the opposite of Trump), I cannot pretend to know for sure that putting a narcissistic, stunted intelligence in office wouldn't ultimately strengthen this country -- much like surviving cancer, or the loss of a limb or loved one, or vicious attack by evil, can deepen the character of an individual. It's possible the disaster of Trump could result in a wiser and maturer nation after the deluge. And, as much as I despise the power wielded by bullies and musclemen and as much havoc as the wreak upon their world, there is power, as evidenced by Trumps affluence. And it can be used for good or evil, which often depends on the side you're on. And again, it can often catalyze the forces of good for a future net-gain.
I would never support or vote for a "Trump," and I will do what I can to relegate his brand of small-mindedness to the trash heap of history, but I don't know -- and either do you -- whether in the long run, Trump might not finally wake our country up to more active involvement toward building the best America and Earth we can envision. I don't believe holding signs and shouting is going to change a lot minds. Deeper discussions with each other about what we want as a nation and how we might accomplish it among more and more people over time, might. Getting together to plan real involvement in the (gag) political process, as cringe-worthy as that thought is to me, could make a difference in a year or so.
On a related note: we get what we deserve by our apathy. When those with whom Trump resonates, the insecure and afraid and xenophobic and prepubescent minded are finally excited to join the cause, their opposites can either get up or shut up. If you're too busy basking in your middle-class, educated glory (rut?) to work to motivate your like-minded citizens, you deserve whatever dregs the true believers hoist up the flag-pole. It's the desperate who are seeking the huge change (and rightly so). But when they're not given a rational (if a little jarring) option for change, they'll go with the crackiest of crack-pots.
[Here's where you crank "Get Up" by the Kinks on your loudest sound system]
As much as I value and respect integrity, compassion, wisdom, competence and strength (the opposite of Trump), I cannot pretend to know for sure that putting a narcissistic, stunted intelligence in office wouldn't ultimately strengthen this country -- much like surviving cancer, or the loss of a limb or loved one, or vicious attack by evil, can deepen the character of an individual. It's possible the disaster of Trump could result in a wiser and maturer nation after the deluge. And, as much as I despise the power wielded by bullies and musclemen and as much havoc as the wreak upon their world, there is power, as evidenced by Trumps affluence. And it can be used for good or evil, which often depends on the side you're on. And again, it can often catalyze the forces of good for a future net-gain.
I would never support or vote for a "Trump," and I will do what I can to relegate his brand of small-mindedness to the trash heap of history, but I don't know -- and either do you -- whether in the long run, Trump might not finally wake our country up to more active involvement toward building the best America and Earth we can envision. I don't believe holding signs and shouting is going to change a lot minds. Deeper discussions with each other about what we want as a nation and how we might accomplish it among more and more people over time, might. Getting together to plan real involvement in the (gag) political process, as cringe-worthy as that thought is to me, could make a difference in a year or so.
On a related note: we get what we deserve by our apathy. When those with whom Trump resonates, the insecure and afraid and xenophobic and prepubescent minded are finally excited to join the cause, their opposites can either get up or shut up. If you're too busy basking in your middle-class, educated glory (rut?) to work to motivate your like-minded citizens, you deserve whatever dregs the true believers hoist up the flag-pole. It's the desperate who are seeking the huge change (and rightly so). But when they're not given a rational (if a little jarring) option for change, they'll go with the crackiest of crack-pots.
[Here's where you crank "Get Up" by the Kinks on your loudest sound system]
Monday, May 9, 2016
Real Service As One Tool To Ease Depression/Anxiety
I know there's no magic pill to make depression go away. I know it's a multi-pronged approach, and different causes will require different interventions. But I do know that some people are prone to get all up in their own heads which spools up into anxiety and mental trouble of all sorts, including narcissism.
Getting significantly involved in the service of less fortunate or helping others in need, like seniors, homeless, single mothers, sick children, or abused animals, to name a few, does a few things.
1. Active engagement takes a person out of their own head and into the activity of service
2. Working with the needy helps provide perspective to our own problems
3. The social aspect of working with others exposes us to co-volunteers (usually a pretty positive lot), and those who we serve.
Along with the counsel of a healthcare professional, good exercise/diet/sleep, and a review of substance use (prescription drugs and self-medicating),
Oh, and along the way, you're helping the world be a better place. Making your neighbor's life a little better is, perhaps, the noblest endeavor.
Getting significantly involved in the service of less fortunate or helping others in need, like seniors, homeless, single mothers, sick children, or abused animals, to name a few, does a few things.
1. Active engagement takes a person out of their own head and into the activity of service
2. Working with the needy helps provide perspective to our own problems
3. The social aspect of working with others exposes us to co-volunteers (usually a pretty positive lot), and those who we serve.
Along with the counsel of a healthcare professional, good exercise/diet/sleep, and a review of substance use (prescription drugs and self-medicating),
Oh, and along the way, you're helping the world be a better place. Making your neighbor's life a little better is, perhaps, the noblest endeavor.
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Masters/Ph.D in History and Wondering What to Do?
Make your name and save the world. In a way, literally save the world.
In San Diego today, the first AIDS Hospice house is on sale, and historical societies are concerned that we'll lose what is considered a historical landmark by some.
If someone wants to develop a protocol and format standard for digitally capturing all the historical (or potential) historical sites in the world, to make them available in perpetuity should they be destroyed or re-purposed for whatever reason. You could start with the obvious sites and the obvious needs, partnering with other historians, scientists, computer engineers who are already experts at digital conservation.
Creating a process that could systematically capture the essentials of any given site, with automated 3D modeling, photographic storage, laser measuring, etc. and put together a package for any site that might be of interest to historians (or others) for whatever need arises in the future. It would provide opportunity for local historians finding it hard to get a job, projects for grad (and undergrad and even high school) students.
It's a process that could be patented or sold or commercially exploited. I know there are parts of this process already in advanced use, but to start cataloging sites and making them publicly available would be a great service for the world.
In San Diego today, the first AIDS Hospice house is on sale, and historical societies are concerned that we'll lose what is considered a historical landmark by some.
If someone wants to develop a protocol and format standard for digitally capturing all the historical (or potential) historical sites in the world, to make them available in perpetuity should they be destroyed or re-purposed for whatever reason. You could start with the obvious sites and the obvious needs, partnering with other historians, scientists, computer engineers who are already experts at digital conservation.
Creating a process that could systematically capture the essentials of any given site, with automated 3D modeling, photographic storage, laser measuring, etc. and put together a package for any site that might be of interest to historians (or others) for whatever need arises in the future. It would provide opportunity for local historians finding it hard to get a job, projects for grad (and undergrad and even high school) students.
It's a process that could be patented or sold or commercially exploited. I know there are parts of this process already in advanced use, but to start cataloging sites and making them publicly available would be a great service for the world.
Saturday, March 19, 2016
The Limits of Knowledge and Saving the World
Of course there's not limit to how much can be known about this bloated universe, and of course no human can know everything about anything, much less everything. But when you read and think broadly for long enough, you start to see the parallels between almost any given domain, and have a strong and deep grasp of the main forces shaping human existence (evolution, neuroscience, physics, sociology, learning, human development, genetics, psychology, biochemistry, the human condition, culture, dialectics and logic, linguistics, economics, geophysics, etc.), it becomes a matter of time. How much time do you spend processing, challenging, discussing, writing about, creating, or otherwise interacting with various domains of knowledge and understanding. I like the idea of a very broad exposure to all of the main domains, and a few deep dives into different elements of life. Once a person reaches this place, it's nice to pick one and apply the whole of what you've mastered to furthering that chosen domain for the betterment of all.
I think of the many brilliant early Americans who applied themselves to establishing our initial institutions, and as we progress, I wonder if breadth of knowledge has become so much less a thing (with the waning of liberal arts as a thing), that the fully educated statesmen have been replaced by specifically trained wonks and fluffy leaders. The prevalence of non-readers, disengaged citizens, and the dearth of broad/deep knowledge of the engaged has left is in quite a difficult state.
There are, to be sure, those who get themselves involved in broad/deep endeavors, and it's a pretty impressive thing to see. I think of Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Charlie Rose.... But I just wonder if there are enough of them, and if there are enough associations/collaborations/organizations/institutions that exist to take advantage of the small proportion of those who have applied themselves to that endeavor. When I read of Jefferson and Madison and Hamilton and Bacon and Newton and Einstein and Boorstin and Bryson and Bolden. They are impressive.
With the scope and nature of the challenges and obstacles that are staring us in the face here on earth, notably the immigrant/refugee crisis, virus proliferation and the spread of antibiotic resistance disease, climate change, energy and water shortages, increasingly aged population... All of these need many levels of leader, from the global to the local level, and what we're turning out from schools are students who are uninterested in learning because they've been inculcated with a culture of paper achievement. We virtually ignore the most important aspects of education: psychology and relationships, and leadership married to a mastery of another specific domain of knowledge.
This is the real crisis, because all of the other crises are going to be coped with by effective leaders of people who are able to fully (as much as is possible) comprehend the gross and nuanced full scope of the issues. The fact that we turn out most students who don't read and students who just want the degree instead of the learning that the degree is supposed to certify. We've got it backward, and we're perpetuating a back-dated idea of how we eventually deal with the problems of the world.
Finally, building a better conduit for transmitting what is known about things to the populace in general is going to be needed if we expect the average American to have a pretty good command of the state of affairs that require our active work to solve.
I think of the many brilliant early Americans who applied themselves to establishing our initial institutions, and as we progress, I wonder if breadth of knowledge has become so much less a thing (with the waning of liberal arts as a thing), that the fully educated statesmen have been replaced by specifically trained wonks and fluffy leaders. The prevalence of non-readers, disengaged citizens, and the dearth of broad/deep knowledge of the engaged has left is in quite a difficult state.
There are, to be sure, those who get themselves involved in broad/deep endeavors, and it's a pretty impressive thing to see. I think of Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Charlie Rose.... But I just wonder if there are enough of them, and if there are enough associations/collaborations/organizations/institutions that exist to take advantage of the small proportion of those who have applied themselves to that endeavor. When I read of Jefferson and Madison and Hamilton and Bacon and Newton and Einstein and Boorstin and Bryson and Bolden. They are impressive.
With the scope and nature of the challenges and obstacles that are staring us in the face here on earth, notably the immigrant/refugee crisis, virus proliferation and the spread of antibiotic resistance disease, climate change, energy and water shortages, increasingly aged population... All of these need many levels of leader, from the global to the local level, and what we're turning out from schools are students who are uninterested in learning because they've been inculcated with a culture of paper achievement. We virtually ignore the most important aspects of education: psychology and relationships, and leadership married to a mastery of another specific domain of knowledge.
This is the real crisis, because all of the other crises are going to be coped with by effective leaders of people who are able to fully (as much as is possible) comprehend the gross and nuanced full scope of the issues. The fact that we turn out most students who don't read and students who just want the degree instead of the learning that the degree is supposed to certify. We've got it backward, and we're perpetuating a back-dated idea of how we eventually deal with the problems of the world.
Finally, building a better conduit for transmitting what is known about things to the populace in general is going to be needed if we expect the average American to have a pretty good command of the state of affairs that require our active work to solve.
Friday, March 11, 2016
Charity 2016
If your wondering where to give your hard earned dollars this year to give back to the greater good, consider this. We're a nation of 360 million relatively rich people. We absorb immigrants and refugees from around the world, and, for the most part, have jobs and support waiting for them so they, for the most part, can become contributing members of our society. We have some pretty amazing infrastructure for such things compared to most countries.
In Greece and Turkey, with a total of 85 million people between them, whose economies that don't do nearly as well as we ours, are now absorbing hundreds of thousands or millions of refugees from Syria. Their citizens are making real, palpable sacrifices to take in and process these people simply because they happen to be adjacent countries.
Now, consider the Syrians, leaving everything behind, risking life in ways dearly more extreme than what the Mexicans coming to the US and more extreme than the original colonists coming to America. When I thought of asking my Turkish friend what he thought of the situation, I felt the connection that has been there there all along: I know that this is a devastating situation for the entire region, and aside from my taxes funding some marginal support from the US military, where can I contribute to directly help them?
IRC, the International Rescue Committee. This organization not only resettles refugees from all parts of the world, helping them become contributing members of San Diego, and helping the students directly at Crawford, where I teach, learn English and understand America and what it means to be here, but does so all over the world. They are on the ground in the places around the world where suffering is the greatest and doing their best to alleviate it.
Please entertain the idea of pushing some of your bounty in their direction. People over there giving until it hurts even more than normal.
Even in you don't give personally to this particular cause, please feel free to forward this to others who may not have considered this particular organization and its mission. They willingly occupy one of the most difficult and perilous nexuses between warring nations, sometimes hostile natives, governments, bureaucracy, and the most destitute humans. Be part of the solution!
In Greece and Turkey, with a total of 85 million people between them, whose economies that don't do nearly as well as we ours, are now absorbing hundreds of thousands or millions of refugees from Syria. Their citizens are making real, palpable sacrifices to take in and process these people simply because they happen to be adjacent countries.
Now, consider the Syrians, leaving everything behind, risking life in ways dearly more extreme than what the Mexicans coming to the US and more extreme than the original colonists coming to America. When I thought of asking my Turkish friend what he thought of the situation, I felt the connection that has been there there all along: I know that this is a devastating situation for the entire region, and aside from my taxes funding some marginal support from the US military, where can I contribute to directly help them?
IRC, the International Rescue Committee. This organization not only resettles refugees from all parts of the world, helping them become contributing members of San Diego, and helping the students directly at Crawford, where I teach, learn English and understand America and what it means to be here, but does so all over the world. They are on the ground in the places around the world where suffering is the greatest and doing their best to alleviate it.
Please entertain the idea of pushing some of your bounty in their direction. People over there giving until it hurts even more than normal.
Even in you don't give personally to this particular cause, please feel free to forward this to others who may not have considered this particular organization and its mission. They willingly occupy one of the most difficult and perilous nexuses between warring nations, sometimes hostile natives, governments, bureaucracy, and the most destitute humans. Be part of the solution!
Wednesday, February 3, 2016
Why I Like "Groundhog Day" So Much
There's the moment where he switches from autopilot to consciously taking advantage and appreciating each moment, from impatience with his situation to nonjudgmental presence. The result is a shift from self to service. He finally finds meaning in providing succor to those in need. Is there any other real meaning?
His service falls short because he isn't able, and so he has a reason to improve himself, and does it in earnest because there is now a reason for it. From the unexamined to the examined life.
It all happened after he had exhausted all other channels and he was ready to hear the words of some random person: "Maybe it's not a curse, Phil. It just depends on how you look at it." It wasn't just that, of course, but the entire life building up to it. In his case, he had to suffer a lot. Not a surprise, given his overbearing personality.
And in making himself a servant, he becomes the most interesting man in the world as a side effect. But the pleasure of being a virtuoso in his own life may not "matter" compared to his focus on service, but it's a natural and appropriate collateral benefit.
He disengaged his need to connect his intentions with the results. All he could do is what he could do and the consequences are what they are. In a Buddhist sense, he escaped the habit of desire.
And I like it so much because it's a resurrection story, and how doesn't like that? I like it because something like that happened to me once upon a time.
His service falls short because he isn't able, and so he has a reason to improve himself, and does it in earnest because there is now a reason for it. From the unexamined to the examined life.
It all happened after he had exhausted all other channels and he was ready to hear the words of some random person: "Maybe it's not a curse, Phil. It just depends on how you look at it." It wasn't just that, of course, but the entire life building up to it. In his case, he had to suffer a lot. Not a surprise, given his overbearing personality.
And in making himself a servant, he becomes the most interesting man in the world as a side effect. But the pleasure of being a virtuoso in his own life may not "matter" compared to his focus on service, but it's a natural and appropriate collateral benefit.
He disengaged his need to connect his intentions with the results. All he could do is what he could do and the consequences are what they are. In a Buddhist sense, he escaped the habit of desire.
And I like it so much because it's a resurrection story, and how doesn't like that? I like it because something like that happened to me once upon a time.
Friday, January 29, 2016
SuperBrain Yoga, Another Helpful Piece of Crap
Placebo is real and effective, and so if it helps the unsophisticated find a little comfort from their anxiety, then by all means, let it.
Yes, sciency types know that it's the simple act of believing in a thing that can have real, measurable psychological effects on mood. If someone believes themselves to be happy for real, then, by God and by definition, they are happy. And we know that happy alters the stew of brain chemicals, hormones, and other real biochemical dynamics in the body, and can improve well being. Never mind that it's all in the head. Because the head (mind) is indeed a powerful force for good (or evil) in a person's life.
I do believe that someone who studies neuroscience and psychology a little deeper could find better ways to self-regulate that believing in magic by simply believing in the scientific principles that lead to similar results, because they they would be able to really optimize the effects.
When I saw the video, it was clear that the ritual focus on something aside from problems, no different than regular yoga, taking our minds off anxiety-fueling thoughts, finding a biophysical routine that helps the mind reach a calmer state, was in work. No difference than learning a new dance and then practicing it. Or working on the backhand (although this one is even more helpful because not only could it accomplish the same thing as SuperBrain Yoga -- using the same mental dynamics of physical and mental concentration, but it would actually improve one's backhand and make tennis more fun! Yippee, tennis! If one were to, while learning and practicing a better backhand, believe that it was also improving their brain, then I am confident that it would accomplish the very same miracles, probably even better, than SuperBrain Yoga.
On the other hand, it's enriching the bank accounts of several bandwagoneers. Good for them. And they're probably more effective in their pursuit of gold if they truly believe it's a thing. I read an interesting article of the possible survival advantage of believing one's own lies. It makes the lie less detectable, which is good for the liars.
In any case, just because it's bullshit doesn't mean it's not useful. Manure is essential to the fertilization of real plants that become real food and nourish real people. Turning bullshit into good shit is one of the fundamental functions of mankind. Although I'm pretty sure we create more bullshit than we use. But that's another story.
Yes, sciency types know that it's the simple act of believing in a thing that can have real, measurable psychological effects on mood. If someone believes themselves to be happy for real, then, by God and by definition, they are happy. And we know that happy alters the stew of brain chemicals, hormones, and other real biochemical dynamics in the body, and can improve well being. Never mind that it's all in the head. Because the head (mind) is indeed a powerful force for good (or evil) in a person's life.
I do believe that someone who studies neuroscience and psychology a little deeper could find better ways to self-regulate that believing in magic by simply believing in the scientific principles that lead to similar results, because they they would be able to really optimize the effects.
When I saw the video, it was clear that the ritual focus on something aside from problems, no different than regular yoga, taking our minds off anxiety-fueling thoughts, finding a biophysical routine that helps the mind reach a calmer state, was in work. No difference than learning a new dance and then practicing it. Or working on the backhand (although this one is even more helpful because not only could it accomplish the same thing as SuperBrain Yoga -- using the same mental dynamics of physical and mental concentration, but it would actually improve one's backhand and make tennis more fun! Yippee, tennis! If one were to, while learning and practicing a better backhand, believe that it was also improving their brain, then I am confident that it would accomplish the very same miracles, probably even better, than SuperBrain Yoga.
On the other hand, it's enriching the bank accounts of several bandwagoneers. Good for them. And they're probably more effective in their pursuit of gold if they truly believe it's a thing. I read an interesting article of the possible survival advantage of believing one's own lies. It makes the lie less detectable, which is good for the liars.
In any case, just because it's bullshit doesn't mean it's not useful. Manure is essential to the fertilization of real plants that become real food and nourish real people. Turning bullshit into good shit is one of the fundamental functions of mankind. Although I'm pretty sure we create more bullshit than we use. But that's another story.
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Mark Zuckerberg, Do This With Your Money
Incubate companies who write into the charters a few awesome elements:
- Wage inequality abatement: limits on senior executive salaries relative to the lowest paid employees. If the average income of the lowest 50% of employees is 150K, the max salary of execs would be, say $450K. And the C-levels get $650K. Because the strength of America is more important than creating more Billionaires.
- Earth Friendliness, Sustainability
- Giving Away Personal Wealth once it hits $500MM
- Supports entrepreneurial spirit -- what makes America special.
This blog is called blather for a reason. I've got to get back to work soon, and I haven't worked out the details, but somehow being a catalyst for decent living instead of ridiculous wealth accumulation, which is tantamount to financial cancer in the soul of a people. Wage disparity could tear this country apart.
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