Three Evils

Some Things Will Never Change

The triple evils are racism, economic exploitation, and militarism. MLK, jr.

And he went on to say, "The great problem and the great challenge facing mankind today is to get rid of war … We have left ourselves as a nation morally and politically isolated in the world."

Has anything changed?

Racism

It is still with us. FBI data released in October 2023, showed there were 11,643 reported hate crimes in 2022. Other datasets show the numbers are likely much higher. The Bureau of Justice Statistics, for example, reported U.S. residents experienced about 246,900 hate crime victimizations each year between 2005 and 2019. (USA today) Statistics show most hate crimes are based on bias against people of color.

Economic Exploitation

The wealth gap continues to grow. This is from the Federal Reserve:

Black Families’ Wealth

• Black families’ median wealth was $45,000 in 2022, growing 66% from 2019.
• As a group, Black families owned 2% of total household wealth despite making up 11% of households.
• Black families had 16 cents per dollar of white median wealth.
• The Black-white gap grew to $242,000—up $47,000 from 2019

Income inequality is a global issue with several causes, including historical racism, unequal land distribution, high inflation, and stagnant wages. As gaps increase thanks to crises like COVID-19, the world needs to take action in education, labor market policies, tax reforms, and higher wages. (various online sources)

War

Of immediate concern to Dr. King was the percentage of African Americans fighting in the Vietnam War. According to the Library of Congress, African Americans made up 31% of the ground combat troops in Vietnam, while African Americans made up 12% of the population. Most of those fighting on the ground in Vietnam were draftees. Today's army is all volunteer.  

Big picture, there was concern funding for the war took funding away from social programs. In the 60's, the government spent on both the war and domestic projects. The economy over-heated and inflation went up. The increases in the cost of living affects the poor more.

Internationally, war affects women and children the most. It also displaces people, drives immigration,  increases poverty and suffering, and causes famine.

There are more conflicts now than at any time since the Second World War. "Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed, stating that peace — the United Nations’ raison d’être — “is now under grave threat”, observed that people’s sense of safety and security is at an all-time low in almost every country.  Six out of seven worldwide are plagued by feelings of insecurity, the world is facing the highest number of violent conflicts since the Second World War and 2 billion people — a quarter of humanity — live in places affected by such conflict.  Recalling the Secretary-General’s words that “the world is at a key inflection point in history,” she underscored the need to rethink efforts to achieve sustainable peace." (United Nations)

Can things change? Yes! Will it be easy? No! Change I'll come about if we address the root causes of war. What? King would refer you back to the first two Evils on his list. West Point offers more perspective: Bumbling leaders, ancient hatreds, intransigent ideologies, dire poverty, historic injustices, and a huge supply of weapons and impressionable young men.

The Harvard Business Review (Ross Kanter) came up with ten reasons people resist change. The application was for business change, but I think the same reasons apply to social change.

Loss of control

Excess uncertainty

Surprise! surprise!

Everything seems different

Loss of face

Concerns about competence

More work

Ripple effects

Past resentments

Sometimes the threat is real 

Without change, there can be no progress. If there is no change, the number affected will climb beyond two billion. The world will be at war.

Hate

 Lack of Love is Indifference

"paradise is a world where everything / is sanctuary & nothing is a gun."

- Danez Smith, "summer, somewhere"

I looked at postings from the supporters of Donald Trump, and I understand they will never find sanctuary as long as they hold onto hate. Is it hyperbole, sometimes.

At other times, the hate and rage easily lapses into violence.

At a Trump rally in 2022, a Trump supporter explained that in the coming civil war he would murder his Sister, a Democrat, without hesitation. In 2020 there was the incident when a Trump caravan intentionally harassed a Biden/Harris campaign bus. Tailgating with the intent to harass is a crime. Ramming is overt, and involves reckless endangerment.  The January 6th attack on the Capitol demonstrates how easily hate can result in violence. Trump called them patriots.

Going Deeper

Strong emotions can make it impossible to think, reason and make decisions. And the opposite of love is not hate, it is indifference. Hate is not about indifference. Hate is intense and unremitting and can easily motivate violence. Hate usually stems from fear, insecurity, or mistrust. (MedicineNet)

Hate has a very strong pull. Psychology today provided insight. Aristotle says, “hate rises without previous offense, is remorseless for the person experiencing it, incurable by time, and strives for the annihilation of its target.”

Darwin, in 1872, described hate as a feeling that lacks a distinct facial expression and manifests itself as rage.

Typically, hate is viewed as an extreme form of dislike, an amplified version of anger, disgust, or contempt and a readiness to do harm.

Psychologists believe that hate is most likely to emerge in the presence of moral violations particularly when the targets of hatred are perceived as bad, immoral, and dangerous. It is not surprising, therefore, that politicians frequently vilify their opponents using negative terms.

If you are consumed with hate it will make you crazy and old before your time. (cs&n)

According to the Psych Matters website, It’s important to note that all these reactions affect only the hater, and not the hated, breaking down your nervous – immune – and endocrine system, and your mental well-being.

Manipulated by an algorithm

Letting go of hate takes a realization that you are consumed by hate and a willingness to change. The fires that feed hate and rage on social media are unremitting. Stepping back, taking a breath is hard when all you see and hear reinforces the hatred. It is evil and it could consume all of us.

"Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil." "But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness." "Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly." (Psalm 37)

Stand - In the end, you'll still be you

 

By fighting for better conditions, by crying out unceasingly for the rights of the workers, of the poor, of the destitute–the rights of the worthy and the unworthy poor in other words, we can to a certain extent change the world; we can work for the oasis, the little cell of joy and peace in a harried world.
- Dorothy Day

So, who would you classify as unworthy?

• The working poor? Despite increases in the minimum wage, millions in this country cannot make ends meet.
• The single mother living on food stamps because her paycheck won't stretch beyond day care and diapers.
• The man begging on the street who lost his family, leading to an avalanche of depression that he could not afford to treat.
• The immigrant working the fields or the meatpacking plant? Immigrants were on the front line during the pandemic.
• Women?
• People of color? According to Oxfam, Millions of people today work in jobs that pay shockingly low wages, provide scant benefits, impose irregular schedules, offer unsafe conditions, and abuse their rights to stand up and speak out. In essence, these workers are denied the basic right to “decent work."

When we undervalue people, we undervalue ourselves.

Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.
- James 5:4

Discrimination is holding us back

According to an article in Forbes, race-based discrimination is estimated to have set America back over $50 trillion since 1990 alone. Other estimates forecast that eliminating race-based discrimination would generate 6 million jobs and $5 trillion in American economic power in just five years. -Jan 15, 2024

CNBC reports the wage gap costs women in the U.S. about $1.6 trillion a year, a new report finds. Women earned 78 cents for every dollar that men made in 2022, according to the National Partnership for Women and Families.

Immigrants increase the supply of labor, which increases the supply of goods and services that people need; their consumption, entrepreneurship, and investment also increases the demand for labor, creating better‐​paying jobs for Americans elsewhere in the economy. -CATO Institute

12.4% of Americans now live in poverty according to new 2022 data from the U.S. census, an increase from 7.4% in 2021.

Changing the Way We Think

Together, we should be looking for solutions. We should focus on the problems. Instead of demonizing the poor, immigrants, hunger, the homeless, women, and people of color, we should be working for ways to allow them to grow and prosper. We should be listening to them. We should make sure we treat people with respect and make sure they are allowed their dignity. The United Nations agrees that poverty is not only deprivation of economic or material resources but a violation of human dignity too. The concept of human dignity is based on a particular pattern of perception: of perceiving humans as beings rather than things. -church-poverty.org

 

Mind Boggling Waste

Edward Humes: Total Garbage

We waste 40% of our food.

The Average American is responsible for 1.5 tons of garbage each year.

EPA States on Waste

EPA estimated that each year, U.S. food loss and waste embodies 170 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (million MTCO2e) GHG emissions (excluding landfill emissions) – equal to the annual CO2 emissions of 42 coal-fired power plants.

Humes also asserts, we waste 60% of our energy.

6 billion gallons

Vehicles idling combine to waste nearly 6 billion gallons of fuel per year, and cost owners more than $20 billion. That's a billion with a B. And idling consumes fuel without moving the vehicle, which means you're wasting both energy and money without doing any work. -gpstracker

Traffic congestion increases vehicle emissions and degrades ambient air quality, and recent studies have shown excess morbidity and mortality for drivers, commuters and individuals living near major roadways. Presently, our understanding of the air pollution impacts from congestion on roads is very limited

- nih.

Plastics

We produce 400 million tons of plastic waste per year attendant to food packaging, disposable bottles and the synthetics woven into our clothing


Headlines from the World Bank

First, rapid urbanization, population growth, and economic development will push global waste generation to increase by 70% over the next 30 years.

Second, in low-income countries, over 90% of waste is mismanaged – it is either openly dumped or burned.

Third, plastics are a profoundly difficult and complex problem.

Word Wildlife Fund points out

Micro-Plastic is in everything. We eat the equivalent of a credit card per week.

There's a solution - Consume less. 

As a part of a society known for it conspicuous consumption, the answer is pretty simple really. Once we are finished with  goods and products, they usually end up in a landfill as waste. The less we consume, the less damage we will do to the environment. Reducing our consumption is a great way to reduce our carbon footprint and take a political stance by rejecting our consumerist culture. (From on-line sources)

COVID Mitigation Worked

 

Without a Plan

The impact of vaccines and behavior on US cumulative deaths from COVID-19

 America’s improvised strategy to fight COVID-19—public and private behavioral changes to slow transmission until vaccines could be deployed—prevented close to 800,000 deaths in the country. The ad hoc effort’s effectiveness is surprising because public health officials could not precisely target mitigation as they lacked precise information on the routes and mechanisms of the disease’s transmission.  -Brookings

What Worked?

Hand Washing

Masking

Social Distancing

Isolating

Testing

Lockdowns

Ad hoc measures to keep us safe were the best things we could do with no plan in place until the vaccine was developed. Research suggests without the ad hoc measures, COVID would have cost over two million lives instead of one million. It is estimated that vaccine hesitancy cost an additional 273 thousand lives.

There were two forces at work. The first group, people who had a a good idea of what needed to be done, forged ahead with solutions. 

The second group, people who were blown away by the enormity of the task, spent an inordinate amount of energy looking for somebody to blame. They looked for conspiracies from the CDC and HIH. They blamed the World Health Organization. They blamed China for deliberately releasing the virus as a form of warfare. Another conspiracy theory claimed it was a plot by the establishment to deny the president in his bid for reelection. None of this was supported by the facts. All of it got in the way, and put all of us at risk.

Thank God the first group persevered. 

What Immigrants Built

The Transcontinental Railroad

The National Archive tells us, Beginning in 1863, the Union Pacific, employing more than 8,000 Irish, German, and Italian immigrants, built west from Omaha, Nebraska; the Central Pacific, whose workforce included over 10,000 Chinese laborers, built eastward from Sacramento, California.

And why were Chinese workers chosen to build the railroad? They were excellent workers and it was cheaper to bring Chinese workers across the ocean than other workers across the continent. -the Folsom Cordova Unified School District.

They Built This City

When I worked third shift in a machine shop in Milwaukee, I worked side by side with people who were immigrants from Europe, Central and South America, Mexico, Asia and Blacks who were part of the great migration.  Their contributions don't end there. The American Immigration Council recently completed a study that points out, “The United States was built, in part, by immigrants—and the nation has long been the beneficiary of the energy and ingenuity that immigrants bring. Today, 13.6 percent of the nation’s residents are foreign-born, more than half of whom are naturalized citizens. Immigrants support the U.S. economy in many ways, accounting for 22.2 percent of entrepreneurs, 22.8 percent of STEM workers, and 15.2 percent of nurses. As workers, business owners, taxpayers, and neighbors, immigrants are an integral part of the country’s diverse and thriving communities and make extensive contributions that benefit all.”

The Immigration Council has come up with a really cool interactive map. The 2023 Map, showcases the contributions of immigrants in the country, all 50 states, and industry sectors across the economy. It also features hundreds of stories and videos from local leaders talking about why immigration matters to them.

I clicked on the map to find out how immigrants are contributing to Connecticut. There are 551,000 immigrants, They make up 15% of the population. They pay $8,1 billion in taxes, Immigrants have  $19.2 billion in spending power. There are nearly 41,000 immigrant entrepreneurs in Connecticut. And, just over 290,000 eligible voters.

Why do immigrants want to come here? Why do they persist despite long odds, bias and bigotry? According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, The predominant reasons immigrants say they came to the U.S. are for better work and educational opportunities, a better future for their children, and more rights and freedoms. Smaller but still sizeable shares cite other factors such as joining family members or escaping unsafe or violent conditions.

What can I do?

“When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”  Leviticus 19:33-34 

Meanwhile, in a cruel twist, 68 percent of white evangelicals say America has no responsibility to house refugees. (Pew Research) I guess they missed that part of the Bible.

Is It Possible to be All Things to All People?

 

Not on the Radio

Bonnie Gillespie Quote: “When you try to be everything to everyone, you accomplish being nothing to anyone.”

It's a lesson learned a long time ago in public radio. The phenomenal growth of the system in the 90's and early 2000's was because we knew our audience and we served them with programming strategies aimed at that specific audience.

If we want to diversify our audience, we have to think about who that audience might be. And it is likely, people from that demographic will be running the show.

Thinking in terms of programming for one big diverse audience is foolishness. There are many audiences left unserved, and to serve them will take consistency in appeal of the programming.

Remember Afropop Worldwide? The original effort was to seek a more diverse audience for public radio. Did it work? Not really. Afropop brings African pop music to a mostly white audience. The idea that a one hour program is going to serve an African American audience is wishful thinking. It can't even come close to covering the cultural diversity of Africa. One hour a week is not going to make difference.

John Sutton's recent essay in Current has it right. Choose your demographic, and serve that demographic with consistent appeal and programs that resonates with your targeted core audience. (Why Public Radio's Efforts to Reach New Audiences Aren't Moving the Needle)

Public radio's audience is driven by two programs, Morning Edition and All Things Considered. To reach another audience means another programming stream.

This does not have to be a one or the other proposition. Stations have found work arounds before by finding different streams for different formats. The same could be done in this instance. Would something like the differing formats of the streaming services be a viable option?

So, why are we learning this again?

Land of the Free

Constitutional Freedoms

The First Amendment guarantees the freedoms of religion, speech, assembly, and the press.

FDR'S Four Freedoms 

His "four essential human freedoms" included some phrases already familiar to Americans from the Bill of Rights, as well as some new phrases: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.

God Given Freedoms

The three “God-given” rights are in the Declaration of Independence - the right to ““life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” That was written in 1776, a year after the war had started.

Trump's Take

White Christian Nationalism, Truth Social and conspiracy theories, the January Sixth insurrection, and the press is the enemy of the people. 

So, what's happening? Revenge and Retribution. Demonizing opponents. The dismantling of our democracy.

I’m holding on to my freedom / Can’t take it from me / I was born into it / It comes naturally

- Jill Scott, “Golden” (2004)

You might not know...

 I Raced Bicycles

Not road races or motocross or mountain bikes. I raced on an oval track. Sprints! I was competitive. Over course of seven summers I won multiple sprints. I also learned there are certain athletes that are world-class. People like Major Taylor, The Worcester Whirlwind. I never raced against Taylor. He was before my time at the turn of 19th and early 20th centuries.

According to sources quoted in Wikipedia, "Marshall Walter "Major" Taylor (November 26, 1878 – June 21, 1932) was an American professional cyclist. Even by modern cycling standards, Taylor could be considered the greatest American sprinter of all time." He held several world records. In this country he beat the mostly white racers so soundly, he was banned from track racing in Indiana. He was allowed to race elsewhere, including Madison Square Garden, if "he didn't act all uppity" after his victories. A superlative athlete, he was a draw. His presence filled the seats at the velodrome.

Sad Notes

He died alone and penniless in Chicago in the early 30s. He was put in a pauper's grave, but he wasn't forgotten. He had innumerable fans. Bike racing was a popular sport then, and he was responsible for filling up the Garden every time he raced.

The owner of Schwinn Bicycles stepped forward to change the outcome. Walter became more than a sad footnote. In 1948, Frank Schwinn  had his body exhumed, and then put in a proper grave where his accomplishments could be celebrated. He's remembered in Worcester, too. They have a museum in his honor.

One More Twist

My bike was super light weight. It was manufactured by Frejus. According to the website Vintage-Steel, "Frejus is a rare masterpiece of craftsmanship, a piece of the Italian cycling heritage." The brand was founded in 1896 in Turin by Emmo Ghelfi and then acquired by Emilio Bozzi. The latter was kidnapped and assassinated in the mid-1970s by the Brigate Rosse or BR, an Italian terrorist group. The company then closed.

There's a new documentary about Major Taylor from WTIU, the PBS station in Indianapolis. It airs Monday February 26th. It will also be available on the PBS app.

Radical Thinking

But none of us can be erased if we refuse it. The idea of love, justice, and freedom do not belong to the powerful alone. It also belongs to us.

- Danté Stewart

Radical Love.  Radical Thinking. 

It's in the Bible and it's in the Declaration of Independence.

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

- Matthew 5:6

The Declaration of Independence included these three major ideas: People have certain Inalienable Rights including Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness. All Men are created equal. Individuals have a civic duty to defend these rights for themselves and others. ushistory.org

What's so radical about this? The words are meant to apply to everybody. No exceptions. No exclusions. There are no barriers. 

It's the basis of our democracy and it is not about Christian Nationalism, because the invitation is, come as you are, all are welcome. 

Struck by the stark warning.

"I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strays, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice."

- Ezekiel 34:16

Not exactly comforting words for those who currently have a tight grip on power. God is clearly taking the side of those who the powerful endeavor to keep in their place.

So what was Ezekiel talking about?Ezekiel was a prophet who saw the future of the Israelites. He saw the rebuilding of the temple. A sign that they had regained God's favor. There was a catch, a hurdle to overcome. That vision was for a just future based on love, and those who subverted that love would pay the consequences.

In sum, the book of Ezekiel describes God's promise that the people of Israel will maintain their covenant with God when they are purified and receive a "new heart" … Marvin Sweeney (1998)

What's going on? It's seems pretty clear. If the people of Israel wanted to continue to be in God's favor, they needed to make changes. They needed to become fair and just in their dealings with others. They would have to display inclusiveness and generosity. There could no longer be divisiveness, an us against against the other mentality.

For believers today, the commandments go beyond saying I will pray for you. If believers leave it there, they're not listening to what God is telling them. 

Micah 6:8 NLT

No, O people, the LORD has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

NLT: New Living Translation

Those are imperative statements. If you see someone in need, and do nothing, are you ignoring God's imperatives?

Changing the Focus

I listen to the Republicans, and their patter is all trash talk, no goals, no solutions. Words that are aimed to diminish others, to enflame and enrage.

 There's a better way.

What would happen if we focused on 

the event, or the policy, and not the person?

This calls for a measured response. Listening before speaking. 

It might take a change in behavior. Instead of lashing out, developing the ability to skip a beat before responding.

What would happen if we looked toward the solution instead of back at the problem?

We might just find common goals. From there mutual respect. We might just stop aiming our words at each other.