Rhetoric that divides

Wokeness

Despite the use of woke as a pejorative, being woke is a good thing. 

Woke is now defined as “aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice),” and identified as U.S. slang. It originated in African American English and gained more widespread use beginning in 2014 as part of the Black Lives Matter movement.

When Ron DeSantis says, "This is where woke goes to die," does he mean Florida is the home of racism, fear, and hate? A place where our history is not taught? A place where we have second class citizens? A place where homiphobia is commonplace and encoraged? A place where children are taught what to think, not how to think? A place where only people with the right connections can get a fair shake? A place where white priviledge is guaranteed?

Racist and Discriminatory Policies

A Stamford pysychologist has identified Seven Factors that contribute to American racism. According to the psycologist, Steven O. Roberts, of the seven factors the researchers identified, perhaps the most insidious is passivism or passive racism, which includes an apathy toward systems of racial advantage or denial that those systems even exist. "After examining research on racism from psychology, the social sciences and the humanities, the researchers argue that American racism systematically advantages White Americans and disadvantages Americans of color – but that it does not have to." It all starts with awareness. That's the opposite of the positions taken by legislators and governors in 44 states, most notably in Florida, Texas and Arkansas. They prefer awareness of racism be suppressed. This includes students with advanced education, starting with advanced placement classes through univeristy cirricula.

What will grow in the place of "woke" if principles like diversity, equity, and inclusion are pulled out of the white rose garden by their roots? We'll be left with a society where diversity will be viewed as problematic, where companies and schools no longer attempt to provide equitable opportunities to their employees and students, and where exclusionary tactics replace inclusion. Racially Restrictive Covenants were once used to prohibit "Black people from moving into specific homes and often entire communities." While these covenants are no longer legally enforceable, the racist language that remains in some of the deeds of American homes serves as a painful reminder of what exclusion looks like in action. -Allison Wiltz

What Can Be Done?

Become active! Learn! Act!

Mei Cobb's blog on The United Way site came up with eight actions we can take to inspire change.

1. Register to vote and help others do the same.
2. Examine and correct your own biases.
3. Have conversations about race.
4. Read to understand the history and impact of racism.
5. Support anti-racism organizations.
6. Advocate for laws that dismantle barriers to economic opportunity.
7. Volunteer to improve the health, education, and financial stability of people living in poverty.
8. Use your influence within your workplace and other organizations to address racial inequity.
9. I would add another. Never give up.   

Things That Work / Social Justice

(Sushil Nash)

Why We Should Give a Damn

Income inequality is creating an untenable situation that is dealing out a majority of the world's population. The disparity between rich and poor is leading to mass migration, extreme poverty, conflict, and human suffering.

The income divide is creating a world that is unfair and unjust. Hoarding wealth is creating:

• Reduced social mobility Income inequality can make it more difficult for individuals to move up the economic ladder.
• Increased poverty Income inequality can lead to higher rates of poverty particularly among children and other vulnerable groups.
• Political and social unrest ...
• Reduced economic growth ...
• Negative impact on health and well-being ...  (economicmatter.com)

What is the divide?

The Pew Research Center has crunched some of the numbers on this issue. The top 20% of income earners in this country brought in 52% of US income, more than the bottom four-fifths combined. Income inequality in the U.S. is the highest of all the G7 nations, according to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Pew's numbers are from 2018. It's gotten worse, a lot worse. The top 1% of earners make over 20 times as much as the bottom 90%. (Source: Social Security Online) The gap between the rich and everyone else seems to be worsening.

Toward a Just World

According to the Network Movement for Justice and Development, Social justice is still a distant dream for millions. In 2020, the world still has six hundred million people living in extreme poverty. They live on 1.5 dollars a day or even lesser. The definition of social justice has changed over the decades. If it once meant equal access to food, clothing, and shelter; now it is about living with integrity, good education, proper healthcare, and so forth. If you look at the happiest countries in the world, you’ll see they have free access to healthcare, education and is a corruption-free democracy. Social justice is a human right, it is essential for achieving a well-rounded society. Those of us who care are standing up for the end of discrimination, equal healthcare systems, better educational opportunities for all, and equal participation.

Several organizations and institutions provide their own definitions for social justice. Here are a few:

• “Social justice may be broadly understood as the fair and compassionate distribution of the fruits of economic growth.”
  United Nations
• “Social justice is the view that everyone deserves equal economic, political and social rights and opportunities. Social workers aim to open the doors of access and opportunity for everyone, particularly those in greatest need.”
  National Association of Social Workers
• “Social justice encompasses economic justice. Social justice is the virtue which guides us in creating those organized human interactions we call institutions. In turn, social institutions, when justly organized, provide us with access to what is good for the person, both individually and in our associations with others. Social justice also imposes on each of us a personal responsibility to work with others to design and continually perfect our institutions as tools for personal and social development.”
  Center for Economic and Social Justice

What Can We Do?

It's simpler than you think. Pinning our hopes on the grand gesture results in a paralysis. Mindfood.com came up with ten things we can do to promote social justice every day.

1. Spread the word...
2. Listen more...
3. Attend a rally...
4. Reclaim your community...
5. Volunteer...
6. Support local organizations...
7. Adopt a politician...
8. Embrace diversity...
9. Sign a pledge...
10. Practice what you preach.

If you refuse to listen to the cry of the poor, your own cry for help will not be heard 

(Proverbs 21:13).

            

Things That Work / Critical Thinking

Michal Matlon

Impairment created by a continuous stream of negative information is rising.

Our information bubbles are damaging our ability to think, reason and make good decisions. These bubbles are creating a feedback loop that amplifies anger and hatred. Strong emotions hijack our ability to think critically.

Edutopia points out, when a continuous stream of negative emotions hijacks our frontal lobes, our brain's architecture changes, leaving us in a heightened stress-response state where fear, anger, anxiety, frustration, and sadness take over our thinking, logical brains.

Critical thinking is the act of deliberately analyzing information so that you can make better judgements and decisions. It involves using things like logic, reasoning, and creativity, to draw conclusions and generally understand things better.

So, who is the uncritical thinker?

They don't see critical thinking as a good value point. Pretend they know more than they do and ignore their limitations. They are close-minded people and resist criticism of beliefs and assumptions. Often base beliefs on mere personal preference of self-interest. May 18, 2021 tutsmaster

Children are not born with the power to think critically, nor do they develop this ability naturally beyond survival-level thinking. Critical thinking is a learned ability that must be taught. Most individuals never learn it.

Since critical thinkers are made, how do we promote that ability in children? Walden University came up with these seven ways of developing critical thinking skills.

Critical thinking exercises for elementary education

• Ask questions. ...
• Encourage decision-making. ...
• Work in groups. ...
• Incorporate different points of view. ...
• Connect different ideas. ...
• Inspire creativity. ...
• Brainstorm.

The idea is to teach children how to think rather than what to think.

Is it too late for adults? 

Indeed has come up with a list of ways to improve critical thinking.

Become more self-aware. ...

Understand your mental process. ...

Develop foresight. ...

Practice active listening. ...

Ask questions. ...

Evaluate existing evidence. ...

Meeting with a mentor. ...

Participating in team-building exercises.

Our Future Depends on Critical Thinking

Psychology today says, critical thinking is the skill that, among many things, enables you to tell a truly informed and researched opinion apart from an uninformed one. Employees with critical thinking skills benefit an organization because it makes them better able to develop better solutions. They go on to say, Thinking critically takes effort, study, and sometimes a struggle to understand and analyze an argument. It's a skill that is cultivated. Developing critical thinking skills allows us to resist the bombardment of misinformation and mount a positive argument for the truth.

Are We Pro Labor?

 

61%

The share of U.S. adults who say the long-term decline in the share of workers represented by unions has been bad for working people. Union membership hit an all-time low this past week.

(Pew)

Does this stat surprise you. It is surprising to me. What did not surprise me, this a partisan view.

Pew points out union support is increasingly partisan. Around seven-in-ten Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say the decline in the percentage of workers represented by unions in recent decades has been very or somewhat bad for the country (71%), and a similar share say it has been bad for working people (76%). Among Republicans and GOP leaners, 40% say the decline of organized labor has been bad for the country and 45% say it has been bad for working people.

Among Republicans, there are sizable age, educational and income divides in views about the impact of the decline of union membership. The differences among Democrats are more modest.

Right to work states have lower wages for it's labor force. the Economic Policy Institute that found wages in right-to-work states were 3.1% lower than non-right-to-work states after accounting for differences in the cost of living.

And right to work states have higher poverty rates. According to IUPAT, Poverty rates are higher in states with right to work laws (14.8 percent overall and 20.2 percent for children), compared with poverty rates of 13.1 percent overall and 18.3 percent for children in states without these laws. The infant mortality rate is 14.2 percent higher in states with these laws.

Are fair wages and competitive advantage mutually exclusive?  Considering that workers who feel valued are more productive, even invested in their work, paying people what they are worth pays off.

Things That Work / Kindness

Andrew Thornebrooke

It's an attitude based on learned behavior.

"I stopped to get a coffee between students last week. The clerk miscounted and gave me too much change. At first, I wasn't paying close attention. Then it clicked. So I said, "I think you gave me too much." She seemed embarrassed at first, but I explained, I think you will want your cash drawer to balance at the end of the day acknowledging a simple mistake. She smiled and wished me a Happy New Year. I smiled back."

I was taught kindness. Most of the learning came from my parents. I credit them. They did a great job.

I was taught not to prejudge. I was taught to speak when appropriate and when to keep certain things to myself. If somebody disagreed, it was never to be taken personally. The idea was to focus on actions, not the person. It became so much easier to express ideas and reach consensus. There was so little to gain from scorched earth. The learning process continues to this day.

An example? Sexuality. They preached, "What consenting adults did behind closed doors was not for us to judge." Our judgement would just get in the way of valuing people for who they are. If you're thinking I was brought up with some sort of "wokeness," both of my parents were Republicans and pretty conservative. They understood if we eliminated people based of prejudice, we were leaving so much potential on the table.

The attitude starts with human kindness.

Kindness is defined with the qualities of being friendly, generous and considerate. According to menatlhealth,org,uk, acts of kindness can make the world a happier place for everyone. They can boost feelings of confidence, being in control, happiness and optimism. They may also encourage others to repeat the good deeds they've experienced themselves – contributing to a more positive community.

Berkeleywellbeing.com has a list of the  types of kindness:

• Giving compliments.
• Giving gifts.
• Saying kind words.
• Showing gratitude.
• Doing an act of service for someone else.
• Being respectful.
• Noticing good things that others do.
• Giving your time to someone else.

Kindness is not a one way street. Some people think kindness is a sign of weakness, those who are kind are losers who let others take advantage of them. Quite the opposite! The Mayo Clinic says kindness can change your life. Kindness has been shown to increase self-esteem, empathy and compassion, and improve mood. It can decrease blood pressure and cortisol, a stress hormone, which directly impacts stress levels. People who give of themselves in a balanced way also tend to be healthier and live longer. May 29, 2020

Bright before me the signs implore me
To help the needy and show them the way
Human kindness is overflowing
And I think it's going to rain today

Randy Newman

Things That Work / Being Happy

 

Tapio Haaja

The Happiest Place on Earth

Finland is the happiest country on earth for the fifth year in a row. To stay happy there are three things they do (or don't do)

Frank Martela, a phycologist says there three things Finns never do. It must be working because they've been the happiest country in the world for the past three years.

1. They don't compare themselves with their neighbors. There's a community humbleness. They don't use individual wealth to compare themselves with each other. 

Martela offers this happiness tip:

Focus more on what makes you happy, and less on looking successful. Don't compare yourself with others.

2. Don't overlook the benefits of nature. 87% of Finns feel that nature is important to them because it provides them with peace of mind, energy and relaxation.

Martela's tip? 

Spending time in nature increases vitality, well-being and gives a sense of personal growth.

3. They don't break the community circle of trust. Finnish people tend to trust each other. If you leave your laptop or phone at the coffee shop, you are likely to get it back. 

The Happiness Tip: 

Think about how you can show up for your community. It can be the small things like opening a door for someone or giving up a seat on a train.

You can read the full article here at cnbc make it.

Disturbing Statistics / Reasons for Hope

Looking for something to cover? 

Suffering from, nothing ever happens around here? What happens over there, affects us here. You will never run out of news to cover or topics to talk about. Statistics from sources like Pew, the United Nations and others offer a wealth of information and starting points.

89.4M

The worldwide number of people displaced because of conflict, violence or disasters in 2020, a record high.

According to Pew Research:

Europe and Asia have the most international migrants. 

While the International Organization for Migration, a United Nations affiliated group, recorded more than 1,200 deaths of migrants in the Western Hemisphere in 2021, it tracked 728 migrant deaths along the U.S.-Mexico border, calling it the "the deadliest land crossing in the world."

25%

A quarter of U.S. parents say there have been times in the past year when they could not afford to buy food their family needed or to pay their rent or mortgage. Among low-income parents, these shares rise to 52%. (Pew)

NASA says, Scientific evidence for warming of the climate system is unequivocal." Ice cores drawn from Greenland, Antarctica, and tropical mountain glaciers show that Earth's climate responds to changes in greenhouse gas levels.

Pew found, Income inequality in the U.S has increased since 1980 and is greater than in peer countries. Income inequality may be measured in a number of ways, but no matter the measure, economic inequality in the U.S. is seen to be on the rise.

52% The share of Black Americans who say that racism in U.S. laws is a bigger problem for Black people in the country than racism by individuals; 23% of U.S. adults overall say this. (Pew) Americans give public health officials mixed ratings for the job they’ve done communicating with the public about the COVID-19 pandemic. Many U.S. adults feel public health officials were unprepared for the outbreak, but many also say officials’ ability to respond was hurt by interference from elected officials. (Pew) Need some help finding topics? It's only a click away if you know where to look. All of these stats and the issues they represent are an opportunity to bring people together. The solutions require input and thoughts from a broad spectrum of ideologies. We have the opportunity to bring people together.