Sycophant?

No Brown-Nosing

 Voice of the day

We will be neither chaplain nor sycophant to our new political leaders. Instead, we seek to be a faithful conscience, serving as a bridge-builder and offering prophetic critique (and pressure) when necessary. 

- Adam Russell Taylor, via sojo.net

Okay, so what is a sycophant? 

A sycophant is a person who tries to win favor from wealthy or influential people by flattering them. Also known as brown-nosers, teacher's pets or suck-ups.

Sycophants can be a disruptive force at work as they ingrain themsleves at work to curry the favor of the boss. According to Psychology Today, A sycophant will have no problem using you as a means to their end. Try to remain as detached and emotionless as possible when you interact with them. Make them stick to the facts. Ignore the praise and flattery and keep every interaction with them focused on the issue at hand.

Deborah Parker, Ph.D. and Mark Parker Ph.D. wrote an article in Psychology today on how to recognize a sycophant. They start with a story.  

One day, when Sultan Mahmud (reigned 998-1010) was hungry, he was brought a dish of eggplant. He liked it very much and said, “Eggplant is an excellent food.” A courtier began to praise the eggplant with great eloquence. When the sultan grew tired of the dish, he said, “Eggplant is a very harmful thing,” whereupon the courtier began to speak in hyperbole of the harmful qualities of the eggplant. “Man alive,” said the sultan, “have you not just uttered the praises of the eggplant?” “Yes,” said the courtier, “but I am your courtier and not the eggplant’s courtier.”

Here's what they came up with:

1. Opinion conformity.  Sycophant imitates your tastes and opinions, often sharing your opinions enthusiastically.

2. Fashion stockers. This is a subtype of mimickers. In the eyes of some, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but it can go too far and get creepy. 

3. Self-promotion. This happens often in the workplace where the suck-ups promote themselves unceasingly to impress the boss.

4. Other enhancement.  Be wary of those who flatter their target routinely. It could be a boss, or someone whose circle the person aspires to join. 

5. Kiss up, kick down.  This behavior distinguishes a truly despicable sycophant and is most noticeable in hierarchical situations. Such bootlickers ingratiate themselves to those with whom they are currying favor and abuse those below them, treating perceived underlings dismissively and with contempt.

6. Disagree on small points.  This is particularly wily. The suck-up will only register mild differences of opinion — to show that he or she has some independence of mind — but will always agree on big issues.

Outing the Suck-Up

If you want to out someone you suspect of being a sycophant, express an opinion or preference for something—then change your mind, and see if he or she will do the same.

Sojourners is saying they will continue to hold power to account. 

"It was a stunning preview of how character, honor, and integrity matter immensely for presidential leadership. I pray that in the days ahead, the Biden administration will demonstrate that good governance, sound management, and bold policy change also matter. 

I believe fervently in the words of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who said that “the church is not called to be the master or servant of the state, but to be the conscience of the state.” In that vein, we will be neither chaplain nor sycophant to our new political leaders. Instead, we seek to be a faithful conscience, serving as a bridge-builder and offering prophetic critique (and pressure) when necessary."

Trump drew strength from his sycophants. He shunned anyone who would dare hold him to account. Sojourners is saying, "no more." 

At the very least, public media needs to do the same as we hold our leaders accountable.

IT’S TIME TO BE THE CONSCIENCE OF AMERICAN POLITICS

BY ADAM RUSSELL TAYLOR, JIM SIMPSON, TERRANCE M. MCKINLEY, MELODY ZHANG, PAOLA FUENTES GLEGHORN, ROSE MARIE BERGER

Local News Death Spiral

Can Local Journalism Survive?

Our regional newspaper is in a steady decline. In the mid 90's there were nearly 400 reporters working for the Hartford Courant. Today there are just over 50. The Courant no longer has a newsroom. Printing of the paper has moved out of state. Local and regional coverage has diminished considerably. The local section of the paper is down to about three pages of stories. Obituaries have taken over the rest of the section because they produce revenue.  

The Hartford Courant is a part of Tribune Publishing which is owned by Alden Global Capital. Their focus is on the bottom line, not journalism. 

Not Much There Anymore

Occasionally, I get updates from "The Save Our Courant Team. 

Last week The Financial Times published an important look at the issues facing local newspapers in the United States, with The Hartford Courant front and center.

You can read the whole article here, but we wanted to sum up the major points. Here were our takeaways: 

Takeaway No. 1: The Courant keeps getting smaller

As the Financial Times reports, The Courant's newsroom has dropped from nearly 400 employees in the 1990s to about 52 currently. Nearly a third of the staff has left the paper in the past year alone.
 

“If you work at the Hartford Courant [today], you’re either completely crazy or you still love your job or a combination of both,” one veteran reporter says.

Takeaway No. 2: Alden Global Capital is bad news

Alden Global Capital is the largest shareholder of Tribune Publishing, which owns The Courant. Alden is notorious in journalism circles. From the Financial Times:
 

To the thousands of journalists who work for Tribune Publishing, which includes venerable papers such as the Courant and the Chicago Tribune, there is one name that they see as the biggest threat to their jobs and their papers’ future: Heath Freeman. Freeman is the president of a secretive hedge fund named Alden Global Capital. As such he has become the “personification of the new vulture capitalism that has invaded what was once, not long ago, a business that cared about its mission and its civic role”, says Ken Doctor, a media industry analyst, referring to the broader sector. 

Some employees of his companies and bankers who have cut deals with him refer to Freeman as “the Grim Reaper” and “destroyer of newspapers”. 

Takeaway No. 3: It could get worse.

Alden is following a familiar formula... one that spells bad news.
 

The situation at the Courant is now following a familiar playbook for Alden-backed papers, according to interviews with more than a dozen current and former Tribune journalists, many of whom insisted on speaking anonymously. Under Alden’s watch, the newsroom’s phones and television were disconnected. Then its printing plant was shuttered, eliminating 151 jobs.

Freeman’s modus operandi is inspired by the slash-and-burn, “zero-based budgeting” practice that became famed on Wall Street for its success as much as its brutality. The Freeman recipe: get rid of the newsroom and sell the real estate, helping recoup the purchase price of the newspaper, then go through every line item in the paper’s expense sheet and cut. Lay-offs are typical. The result? “Ghost” papers unable to produce much in the way of original local journalism.

Takeaway No. 4: It doesn't have to be this way 

Not all local newspapers are experiencing this level of cuts. New ownership for The Courant would mean a new life for America's oldest continuously publishing newspaper.
 

[The] rallying cry to save the Courant is being echoed around the country as other small newspapers try to find wealthy, free-press-minded investors to save them from hedge funds and private equity. Beyond The Washington Post, billionaires in the past decade have bought the dominant newspapers of Los Angeles, Boston, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City and Minneapolis.

Thank you, as always, for your support. If you have any ideas or want to get involved, please let us know. You can reach us at courantguild@gmail.com.

Sincerely,

The Save Our Courant team

Does It Matter? 

Yeah, it does. Beyond the day to day reporting of events around us, the importance of true journalism runs deep. The American Press Institute puts it this way.

Though it may be interesting or even entertaining, the foremost value of news is as a utility to empower the informed. The purpose of journalism is thus to provide citizens with the information they need to make the best possible decisions about their lives, their communities, their societies, and their governments.

Newspapers were in trouble long before Alden Global stepped in. Declining readership and declining revenue are taking a toll. The trend has accelerated because of digital media. According Pew Research, more than eight-in-ten U.S. adults (86%) say they get news from a smartphone, computer or tablet “often” or “sometimes,” including 60% who say they do so often. Survival of print journalism may well depend on it's digital footprint. 

Inauguration

 The difference? 

The day was about moving forward. It was about uniting to meet the challenges. It was about hope.

The Significance of The Hill We Climb

A Glimmer of Hope

Will Biden's message of unity bring America back together? 

Yes, as long as we understand the work ahead of us. Don't expect everybody to come on board. That all or nothing attitude will stand in the way of moving forward. It will take all of us who are ready to change the harmful outcomes of the past four years to do our part.

An example of what needs to change is in an article I read from the Associated Press.

Some expect President Joe Biden to bring a unifying tone now that he has been inaugurated, but say that alone won't be enough to bring unity. How the people react will be key.

Jonathan Jones' front-row seat to what happens next is his restaurant that is decorated with Black Lives Matter signs and art near the Oregon State Capitol. Epilogue Kitchen and Cocktails has been vandalized by a white supremacist. One day, police showed up as Jones and his friends were being accosted by neo-fascist Proud Boys. The police at first confronted Jones' group as if they were the threat.

“There’s not a person who stood with me that day who didn’t think that they might die,” Jones said. “And the most awful part was not knowing if it was going to come from the police or from the Proud Boys.

Democracy Delayed

This is from Amanda Gorman' s poem The Hill We Climb she read at today's Inauguration. It gives us hope.

We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it,

Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy.

And this effort very nearly succeeded.

But while democracy can be periodically delayed,

It can never be permanently defeated.

As I wrote this post, the sun came out.

The Value of Shared Experience

 

                      Damir Spanic

A Shared Culture

After the events at the Capitol, the three paragraphs below gave me hope. The hope is in the shared cultural experience.

It can be argued that the riot in Washington is a shared experience, but not the kind that builds community, or builds bridges between people. The attempt there was fueled by recklessness, lies and an attempt to overturn a free and fair election.

The shared experience of The National Pastime was free of fiery rhetoric. It was more about a common bond, much like Rock n Roll was to the Boomers and the acts of generosity during the Great Depression. The simpler act described below is hope in the face of increasing isolation brought on by Social Media, partisan politics, and made worse by the pandemic.

The comfort of rituals.

Frank Miller, a retired civil engineer, needed to play catch. A former baseball player in high school and college, he wandered his house in Dallas practicing the grips for a slider, curve and cutter after reading a book about pitching. So his wife, Alice, put out a call on social media: Does anybody want to play catch with my 74-year-old husband?

The response showed them they’d tapped into something bigger than baseball. Players and strangers of all ages and talents turned out at a neighborhood park, ready to let the turbulence of recent weeks fade into the background and toss the ball around.

“Isn’t baseball beautiful?” Mr. Miller said at the end of the session. “It’s a piece of art, really.”

By Remy Tumin and Jeremiah M. Bogert, Jr. NY Times The Morning Anybody want to play catch? I know where my glove is.

Unstable Leadership

 Chaos Here Reverberates Around the World

Me First Attitudes

The alliances and treaties put in place after WWII were there to create political stability. The building of trading partners was to build a better world. After the First World War, the Germans and it's allies were punished with all sorts of sanctions. The idea was to isolate them. The result was the rise of fascism, and an unstable geopolitical climate. 75 million people perished in World War Two. Economies were left in ruin.

Today we're faced with repairing all those alliances and partnerships to rebuild the US and rebuild trust in us. But, are our allies willing to trust us?

There is a real hesitation from our allies after four years of America First.

For America’s allies and rivals alike, the chaos unfolding during Trump’s final days as president is the logical result of four years of global instability brought on by the man who promised to change the way the world viewed the U.S. From the outside, the nation has never looked so vulnerable — or unpredictable. Alliances that had held for generations have frayed badly — from leaving the Paris climate accord and the Iran nuclear deal to quitting the World Health Organization amid a pandemic. By seeking to overturn his loss to Joe Biden, Trump upended the bedrock principle of democratic elections that the U.S. has tried to export around the world, Lori Hinnant reports from Paris. (Ap)  

World warily watches America's postelection aftershocks

After the war the US, in partnership with its allies, took on the mantle of leadership. There was an understanding that we could not maintain our security by isolating ourselves. Our adversaries are trying to fill the vacuum we left. The US, in cooperation with our allies will need to reassert that leadership role, unless we want the Russians and the Chinese to take over. 

Discrimination Has a Price

Cost Of Racism: U.S. Economy Lost $16 Trillion Because Of Discrimination

A Waste of Human Potential / A drag on Economic Growth

Whenever we exclude people and their potential, it comes at a cost to all of us. Discrimination comes in many forms. The EEOC investigates discrimination complaints based on an individual's race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, and retaliation for reporting, participating in, and/or opposing a discriminatory practice.

Whenever we discriminate there is a cost in lost potential. Two thirds of the US economy is based on consumer spending. By holding people  from participating in the economy, we're hold back potential for economic growth.

Citigroup did some research on the issue. The study found that over the past 20 years the US economy lost $16 trillion to racial discrimination against African Americans alone. Ending discrimination would give a $5 trillion boost to the economy over the next five years.

Specifically, the study came up with $16 trillion in lost GDP by noting four key racial gaps between African Americans and whites:

• $13 trillion lost in potential business revenue because of discriminatory lending to African American entrepreneurs, with an estimated 6.1 million jobs not generated as a result
• $2.7 trillion in income lost because of disparities in wages suffered by African Americans
• $218 billion lost over the past two decades because of discrimination in providing housing credit
• And $90 billion to $113 billion in lifetime income lost from discrimination in accessing higher education

This is only the beginning when it comes to lost potential. The GDP is adversely affected by all forms of discrimination. Two more examples:

• Age Discrimination $850 billion per year (AARP)
• Gender Inequality $2 trillion per year (Katica Roy - Fast Company)

Minorities Have Positive Economic Impacts

It is reported that the LGBT community currently contributes over $1.7 trillion to the U.S. economy. The findings from this research have strengthened the LGBT community’s leverage for inclusion. (asae Research Foundation) Imagine the boost to the economy without discrimination.

It's not just the money

How does discrimination impact social inclusion?

Discrimination affects people’s opportunities, their well-being, and their sense of agency. Persistent exposure to discrimination can lead individuals to internalize the prejudice or stigma that is directed against them, manifesting in shame, low self-esteem, fear and stress, as well as poor health. A survey regarding HIV-related stigma and discrimination among people living with HIV in Asia and the Pacific, for example, found that half to three-quarters of respondents felt either shame, guilt and/or low self-esteem. -UN

When US News and World Report looks at the best places to live in the world, it looks beyond broad access to food and housing. They look to quality education and health care, to employment that will sustain us, quality of life may also include intangibles such as job security, political stability, individual freedom and environmental quality.

What social scientists do agree on is that material wealth is not the most important factor in assessing a life lived well. The results of the Quality of Life sub-ranking survey reflect that sensibility.

Canada is ranked on top for the fifth straight year. Survey respondents view the North American country as No. 1 for being politically stable, No. 4 for having a well-developed public education system, and No. 2 for having a good job market, a perception supported by independent research. The North American country is seen as possessing the most well-developed public health care system.(Quality of Life Rankings). Seven European countries made the list.

In a society that functions optimally, those who can should naturally want to provide for those who can't. That's how it's designed to work. I truly believe we're here to take care of one another.

- LeVar Burton

Why Revenge?

 

You Won't Feel Better

My motivation for exploring the pitfalls of vengeance and revenge is the recent surge in federal executions. Propublica reports a rush to execute, often at the expense of due process. So, what's the big deal? These people are on death row. They are getting just punishment based on our legal system. Right?

Trump is demonstrating a core belief that those who commit a crime should be punished in kind. Remember the Central Park Five. Never mind they were cleared of the crime after spending years in prison. DNA evidence and a confession freed them, I believe. Trump never backed off his assertion.

The lust for retribution and vengeance is a core value of his base, including White Evangelicals. Ironically, White Evangelicals are strongly opposed to a woman's right to choose claiming killing is wrong. 

If we are one nation under God, the Bible says, "An eye for an eye," right? On the contrary, Jesus said, "But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, …" "But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also."

Sound advice. Once consumed with revenge, you will not soothed once enacted.  

So, what's happening on death row in federal prisons?

According to Propublica:

In its hurry to use its final days in power to execute federal prisoners, the administration of President Donald Trump has trampled over an array of barriers, both legal and practical, according to court records that have not been previously reported.

Officials gave public explanations for their choice of which prisoners should die that misstated key facts from the cases. They moved ahead with executions in the middle of the night. They left one prisoner strapped to the gurney while lawyers worked to remove a court order. They executed a second prisoner while an appeal was still pending, leaving the court to then dismiss the appeal as “moot” because the man was already dead. They bought drugs from a secret pharmacy that failed a quality test. They hired private executioners and paid them in cash.

The Trump administration has executed more federal prisoners than any presidency since Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s. Roosevelt was president for 12 years, and his total includes six saboteurs who were tried by a military commission.

True Healing

Does the vengeance of capital punishment offers bring healing, peace of mind, and closure to the families of the victims? Good question. There is plenty of evidence to suggest not. 

Behaviors of rage and seeking vengeance are learned. The justification is a whole genre of popular movies where a super hero takes on whole groups of people alone. Well, they are armed with superior fire power, so never mind the law. Besides, the villains are so obviously bad.

If revenge is a learned behavior, it can be unlearned.

Learn to Let Go 

I found a website called Ditch the Label. It offers advice to teens and young adult. They're global youth organization helping young people overcome the issues that affect and hold them back the most. Their core strands of support include bullying, digital wellbeing, mental health, relationships and identity.

They've come up with Seven Reasons Why Seeking Revenge Is A Bad Idea.

1. IT WON’T MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER.
Sadly, evidence shows that people who seek revenge instead of forgiving or letting go, tend to feel worse in the long run. You are much better off channelling your energy into moving forward positively with your life.

2. IN FACT, IT MIGHT MAKE YOU FEEL WORSE.
While you might feel hurt or betrayed right now, eventually you will be able to put those feelings behind you, but if you burden your conscience with guilt, you are more likely to ruminate over your actions – this makes moving on much harder and only puts your life on hold.

3. IT COULD BACKFIRE.
Gandhi once said, “An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.” It is far better to save yourself from the possibility of further trauma. Focus on the good things in your life and look at how you can move forward, putting the person who hurt you firmly in the past.

4. YOU ARE WASTING PRECIOUS TIME.
Do you really want to waste your precious time on someone that doesn’t deserve it?
How can you make way for new, positive experiences if you are preoccupied with wreaking havoc?

5. BECAUSE, KARMA.
Whether you believe in it or not, karma makes a much better friend than a foe – make sure to keep on the right side of it:

6. TWO WRONGS DON’T MAKE A RIGHT.
Fact. Seeking revenge isn’t going to undo the actions of the person who has wronged you. So do the right thing, be the bigger person – you will be glad you did so in the long run.

7. YOU COULD GET CAUGHT IN AN ENDLESS REVENGE LOOP.
So, you seek revenge on the person who hurt you. They then take revenge on your revenge…and the cycle continues. Make sure you don’t get caught in a loop, it will only cause you further pain and hurt. Try and leave negativity and people who bring you down in the past. They are not worth your time and energy.

Something Ditch the Label forgot to mention is a strong support group. Nobody said forgiving and moving on was going to be easy.

Getting The Big Picture: Vaccinations

You've seen and heard we're all in this together. If only we were.

The slow roll out of COVID 19 vaccine can be attributed to the absence of a unified plan. There's a lack of understanding of the big picture when it comes to inoculating 300 million people.

There is resistance to any sort of national guidance or plan for the distribution of the COVID 19 vaccine. The fear is of the slippery slope to communism, or the fulfillment of a conspiracy theory. 

The lack of planning and guidance is actually leading to delays and unnecessary suffering and death.

• One reason the U.S. is falling behind in its coronavirus vaccination campaign: Federal officials left much of the planning to overstretched local health officials and hospitals. “We’ve taken the people with the least amount of resources,” one expert said, “and asked them to do the hardest part of the vaccination.” NY Times

• We are all a part of something much greater. We are all interconnected. Nothing we do is done in a vacuum. Alone, I can do my part. Together, we can do so much more. I'm looking forward to a collaboration of communities in 2021.