Volunteer Glue

Do you volunteer? For Little League, Boy Scouts, Girls Scouts, church school, church nursery, or anything like that? How about the village garden club or society? Or Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions or the Chamber of Commerce? Do you lend a hand with local school events and PTA? What about working on an ad hoc committee or task force at your place of employment? Do you do such things?

Those activities and organizations are just the beginning of volunteer involvements. There are cultural (theater, music, art), educational, medical assistance (elder care at home, care giving for family members, transportation help to doctors for neighbors) and so many other charities in need of volunteers.

Here are more examples:

• Environmental organizations
• Food banks
• Meals on Wheels
• Community newspaper
• Home Owners Association newsletter
• Hobby group
• Friends of library, park district, fire district, etc. 

The list goes on and on. Once you get started identifying these it is hard to stop! Yes, that many opportunities to get started.

I helped host an information booth last weekend at a Volunteer Exposition. Yes, this community wanted to headline all the groups in town who functioned mainly on volunteer horsepower. And they came out to talk to one another, volunteer, and cross pollinate group functions! Several were able to connect on common projects but from different points of view. Win-win buzzed throughout the room.

One booth featured volunteers for the county court system's monitoring child care. These folks were assigned cases of foster children. They followed up on home visits to determine how well the child was treated in the course of prescribed care matching the kid’s specific situation. They filled positions of trust, awesome trust. Paid county staff doesn’t have the time to do all the leg work associated with this area, so volunteers are pulled in and trained to do the work. All for free.

Stop and think about that. We are not speaking about volunteers to tote, carry or deliver communications or things. We are talking about volunteers getting professionally involved in the lives of others so good things will result. How much of this goes on in our nation? How deeply are out lives affected by the work of volunteers?

In a day and age when everyone expects a paycheck, I think the public would be stunned to learn that volunteers are relied on to accomplish a lot of good things. Miracles, really. Miracles.

SCORE is an association of retired people works with individuals wanting to create their own business. Mentors are ready to lend a hand and walk those people through a process that will result in a dream coming true. SCORE mentors also help with existing small businesses with a problem in need of a solution so they can continue in business on a stronger basis of profit and growth. All of this work is done by people with experience and expertise. They share it willingly. And for FREE. Volunteer, remember?

This is just another example of significant volunteerism.

In so many ways America is the land of volunteers. Great things get done by good people needing to share with other good people. Not everyone is looking for a handout. Not everyone is looking for payback. Instead they are looking for and wanting a society that works well for the common good. Pretty basic thing. Basic motivation. Simple.

And yet we are bombarded daily – minute by minute – by news items filled with bad news and laments on our sorry situation.  Well, the situation isn’t sorry.

If you don’t like what you see, step up and make it better. That’s the starting point of all volunteer work. You can do something about the world, the city, the state, or the neighborhood. You can make a difference. Chances are you already have.

So give yourself some credit. And clap your neighbor on the back for the work he or she does, too. We are in this thing called life together. And we will make of it what we will.

Best if we decide now to make it the best we can! It’s the glue that holds us together as a nation. If you stick to it, it will stick with you.

February 9, 2017

Games or Values?

When we were kids we played a game called Fiddle Sticks. The primary action was to toss the bundle of fiddle sticks into the air and let them come down on a flat surface higgledee piggledee. For those not schooled in this term, think ‘every which way’ and you have it on the nose!

The point of the game was then to create order of the chaos. Sticks were in a variety of colors and players were to pull their color sticks from the pile without disturbing others. The person gathering all of their sticks first, won the game.

Today’s circumstances in much of the world are like a game of Fiddle Sticks. Russia certainly has its chaotic array of issues complicated by a lack of financial resources. Much of Africa is riddled with nations of varying size, much of them individually in chaos while all of the African nations taken together are a hodge podge of chaotic troubles.

Far East nations – Japan, Philippines, Malaysia and many more – have their issues as well. China alone has a lot of issues in play. So too the Koreas and, as a result, the rest of us who wish to keep peace in a tinderbox region.

America has its trumpet times which attempts to redefine everything into as yet unknown terms. Sort of like what the United Kingdom is dealing with following its exit from the European Union – if it actually happens. And then, of course, there is all of Europe which is dealing with the Euro’s value, the European Union’s stability, NATO’s identity crisis, the rumbles of military mischief from Russia and the current instability of Europe’s relationship with the USA.

Fiddle Sticks and chaos. All in a mess. Everything up in the air.

Well, this has bothered me. It addles my thinking. I pull on one thread of thought (just one colored fiddle stick, remember!) and see where it will take me. But there are so many other sticks in play I cannot let my focus veer too far from the central issue: Order in all things. Order.

The mind seeks order. It normalizes the odd thing or two, and then the many. It must. Without order chaos reigns and muddies process and outcome. In fact outcome becomes accidental rather than intended. That disturbs orderly minds even more!

So we seek order. I do. Hopefully others do as well. Do you?

Governments do. That is their job. Making sense of disorder and bringing things back into focus. The world community despises disorder and imbalance. Like the economy in each nation, equilibrium is sought moment by moment to create stable values upon which we all can rely. That is how currencies get their value and retain them with some sense of orderliness. Stability. Trading partners seek stability. So too do diplomats as they manage toward calm and peace. Disorder creates tensions that disrupt and distract.

Well now, maybe we are getting somewhere. Putin distracts with military exercises. Those rattle the Scandinavian countries, and by extension, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Estonia, and all the other small former USSR nations. They are now free of the USSR but they still fear and dread Russia. Putin knows this and intentionally rattles former allies to unsettle the world community.

North Korea does the same but for their own paranoid purposes. Philippines is led now by an unstable leader who is a distraction all unto himself; but his actions destabilize former relationships throwing future relationships in doubt. More distractions. More realignments in store?

The Middle East is as it has been for centuries, a stew pot of horrors and instability. Kingdoms and religious fiefdoms vying for power among brother nations in a mud puddle of oil interests and frayed economics. Chaos to be sure.

I have not touched on South America but we all can imagine the regimes of power in each nation that attempts to manage the varied tribes of regional leaders throughout the continent. How stable is all of that? Few know the answer to the question.

Let’s just say that what is normal today is not normal by past standards. Everything seems to be up in the air.

This is uncomfortable for those of us who seek calm and order.

There is a large ‘however’, however! And it is this: Disorder creates the tension necessary to properly define what we want. What we expect. What we value. Forget the fears of the unknown. Focus instead on what matters to you and your loved ones. Focus on what is near and dear to you and then expand that idea to everyone else.

If all of the people in the world value much the same things, then we have a common focal point to work with. Just imagine what we could do with that one golden nugget of an idea, of a value. Why, we could build upon that an order of peace throughout the globe.

The mind staggers at the enormity of this concept.

I just wonder when we will get to the point of distancing ourselves from the chaos to consider the common value? That’s where our attention should be.

Or does a game of Fiddle Sticks still have too many of us engaged in a game?

February 8, 2017

What’s Bothering Me?

In the Age of Trump here are the things that most concern me. I’m not sure of their priority order but I list them as they come to mind in rapid succession:

1. Retention of Gay Rights; continue to decrease discrimination of gays
2. Full access to healthcare at the least cost possible; move towards universal coverage
3. Full access to quality education for all; no barriers based on income or poverty; based on ability, personal achievement and motivation
4. Maintain regulations against greed in commerce and industry; safeguard banking and investment industries against fraud and manipulation
5. Planned maintenance and replacement of public infrastructure
6. Eliminate private donations from political campaigns
7. Separation of Church and State
8. Woman’s right to choose abortion or not
9. Free trade world wide with tariff penalties on nation’s subsidizing their goods
10. A full commitment to world peace and making it happen
11. Replacement of ‘oil standard’ with new technology and renewable energy sources
12. Protection of the planet with air/water/soil conservation standards adopted and policed globally

There are more topics of interest but these are my primary ones. Being gay is the reason for my first topic, but gay rights speak as well to the civility and acceptance of diversity throughout our society. It is healthy to be diverse; society is strengthened and more dynamic because of diversity. Diversity does not require sameness of mind or thought; that would be the opposite of diversity.

Healthcare is a basic human right. Yes it is expensive; but it is also a primary element of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. If we all have that we are then able to live out our own dream.

Access to education according only to the student’s ability and self motivation should produce the highest possible outcomes for our society. Intelligence and ability are not dictated by wealth or social class. They should be free to seek their own rewards based on their own merit.

Governance ought not be purchased. All elected officials should be barred from accepting any emolument that could be construed to influence the official’s discharge of duties. All political campaigns are to be paid from public budgets of the specific taxing bodies attached to the elected office.

Free markets do not exist for the most part. Regulations shall be crafted to guard the public against manipulation and greed from stakeholders of commerce and industry. The banking and investment industries are to be carefully regulated to avoid fraud and manipulation.

Public infrastructure is a common good used by both commercial and public interests. It ought to be well planned and budgeted from public resources for timely maintenance, replacement and expansion.

Religious beliefs or absence of same are not to directly affect the governance of the people. Such are private and social matters free of interference from government. Mingling of church and state issues is strictly prohibited.

A woman’s right to choose child bearing issues is solely her own, not that of the state or religion. Abortion access is a health option guaranteed to all women.

Free trade encourages full use of all economic resources throughout the globe. Artificial pricing of labor, raw materials or finished goods will not be allowed with the exception of penalties levied against a nation’s goods that are subsidized by their government.

The natural state of the world’s societies should be rooted in peace. All nations must work together to build and maintain that peace. Military forces are to be designed for defensive postures and uses rather than offensive ones. World governing bodies are to design controls against violations and implement their use as needed.

Removing the globe from the ‘oil standard’ is commonsense. Oil supplies are finite. Locale of such resources cause social unrest and wars. New energy resources are available and expanded without harming the planet or causing wars. Thus the oil standard should be eliminated by 2050.

The planet is our home and needs to be protected from behaviors that would despoil it or cause its death. Environmental protection is vital to mankind’s survival and quality of life.

In a complex world of enormous diversity we owe it to ourselves and future generations to adhere to the above principles. This is my opinion. What’s yours?

February 7, 2017

 

A Challenge Forward

Today’s blog is a book review of a sort. Read through the following and see if the challenge ahead is one we can answer with action.

Conclusions from The Smartest Places on Earth – Why Rustbelts are the Emerging Hotspots of Global Innovation, by Antoine Van Agtmael and Fred Bakker (2016)

1. Past competition in the business world has kept technological advancements and cross-disciplinary scientific research from realizing their full potential.
2. Recent developments are eliminating the competitive reticence and sharing research findings, interdisciplinary academic research in technical fields, and process development innovations have emerged in new, collaborative models.
3. Communities that once were strong manufacturing centers have lost their cost/benefit competitive advantages and watched their businesses fail, disappear or move overseas.
4. These rustbelt communities are finding new ways to use technology to build smart manufacturing processes, products and plants. Private investment, corporate investment, small entrepreneurial investments, research university partnerships and government grants have funded brainsharing that has invented the region back into a major competitive power.
5. Public/Private partnerships or corporations are springing up in many places – both in the USA and Europe.
6. American support for this development is much larger and far reaching than what is found in Europe. Other parts of the world are even less positioned for this new means of competing globally.
7. 2008 was the year the recession in America began and economic bubbles burst in several economic arenas. Housing, real estate (both commercial and residential), mortgage lending, investment portfolios of mortgage securities, and much more combined to build a massive economic recession bordering on a depression.
8. Many jobs were lost; wiped out by the recession and relocation of entire industries overseas. At the same time massive retirements of baby boomers and pre-baby boomers occurred. The workforce shrank. Unemployment, however, grew exponentially. Clearly the economy was undergoing a huge and painful adjustment.
9. That adjustment continued for several years and in 2016 some new trends emerged. These may last several more years or undergo more evolution before settling into a new normal. Without much doubt the old normal is gone and probably forever.
10. What is needed is innovation and that comes from rethinking what we are trying to do, complete, discover
11. We have ideas; we have processes for those ideas; and we have outcomes. How do they all fit together and what innovative, creative thinking must go on in each to truly make them new and different?
12. We have the ability to create new things from nothing if we put our minds to it. The truth of the matter is – We don’t know what we know or don’t know – so we have to move forward into the future
13. Moving forward is done not alone but with others from different disciplines of thinking. Sharing knowledge both within and among groups leads to new discoveries and connections of data/disciplines/ideas that can be used in concert to discover new outcomes
14. New jobs, careers and disciplines emerge from all of this work
15. Entirely new cities could result; but what happens instead is renewal of old places. What is needed in each are systems and subsystems that provide the infrastructure for people living together – housing, transportation, shopping local, walkable streets, cooperative institutions (colleges, universities, schools, libraries, etc.), research institutions, private corporations and local and regional government agencies. Funding, too, comes when funding agencies with the resources see what is being created and in need of support.
16. Thus rustbelts become brainbelts. The critical key is brainsharing behaviors.
17. Brainsharing requires trust, humility, true search for common problems and their solutions, leading wherever it may toward a fresh new tomorrow.
18. From this work come many discoveries that may not be usable today by the current researchers, but others, by networking, will learn of the discoveries and find uses for them.
19. Meanwhile the primary quests are being worked on and solved. And those solutions are being bought and sold and employed in many new, exciting ways.
20. Economic development comes from this sort of collaborative living.
21. And meaningful life styles grow from this environment of ‘can do’. Communities are built that are true to themselves and each citizen living within them.
22. And life is Green with reduction of waste, efficient use of resources – food, housing, energy, investment funds, etc. – that sustainability of the community and of the planet are co-creations.
23. The way forward is together, in community. This relies on sharing and cooperating. 

Can we do this in America? Can we find the humility and goodwill and trust in one another to accomplish these great deeds? Or are we too selfish and self-centered to break free and live large in our own place on the planet?

Can we suspend our Trump distractions long enough to give brainsharing and brainbelts a try?

February 6, 2017

Schism

We have two America’s today. Scan Facebook and the media if you don’t believe me. Rhetoric is loud and plentiful. Difference of opinion screamed for all to hear. Point by point someone’s upset is laid out over and over again. By a lot of people. That includes me. This blog is a ready example.

How many millions of blogs are there? What outrage gave each their birth?  Will they last? Will more voices come to life? Who will be heard? What new thoughts will be added to the public stew?

And will the discourse revolve around new and stronger themes? Will these themes combine into a movement? Will strength come from this movement and provide leadership for others? Will a new way of seeing our nation emerge from all of this? Will it embrace enough people to create a fresh majority? One that will re-order our nation at war with itself?

A nation at war with itself. A divide among American citizens is evident. Where this will go is open to discussion. But change is here for certain. Just how big and elemental it will prove to be remains unknown.

I’ve written here recently that I sensed a shift coming. I feel opinion is coalescing against Trump. I still think this is true but that shift is not yet strong enough to force the new White House to retract recent actions.

Today’s news indicates Trump has issued soft messages on foreign policy indicating he will challenge Netanyahu on new settlement construction as ‘not helpful’ in working toward peace. He has also back peddled a bit on his earlier campaign rhetoric attacking President Obama’s foreign policy positions. UN statements by Trump’s new UN Ambassador suggest a stronger position opposing Putin’s harsh stand in Crimea and eastern Ukraine. North Korea’s bombastic threats also have been met with stern opposition by Trump’s emissary. And then there is Iran and its ballistic missile test. Trump now claims Iran is ‘on notice’ for the test and promises consequences.

I find these messages promising. They are soft inasmuch as they contain no hard actions to support them. Time will tell if such are forthcoming. But the job of governing is a role that demands 24/7/365 attention. Thinking through all the ramifications this kind of work requires is daunting both for the person in the presidency as well as support staff. Life is more complicated in the White House than on the campaign trail.

The wall is another point. Building the border wall separating the US from Mexico is not a quick process. Land owners must agree that their land can be used for this purpose. If not, lengthy court proceedings will be engaged. Even the principle of eminent domain is not a fast track decision to be made and implemented. It is lengthy and complicated precisely because it protects the rights of ownership. Even the most conservative mind in the US pales when the term ‘eminent domain’ is uttered. Those words are sacred.

Still Trump continues to roil political waters. He now claims he will loosen restrictions on the separation of church and state and encourage religious institutions freedom to engage in political demagoguery. That will distract millions of faithful on both sides of many issues. All are divisive. All are reminiscent of the campaign trail. Will this become a symbol of the Trump regime – endless distraction?

Trump continues to assault the role of regulation in banking and commerce. He seems to forget that regulation saved the nation from countless depressions and mended the most serious recession. Removing regulation only serves the power of greed. It also threatens instability of the economy itself.

Maybe the distractions will boomerang? Will the public stir from its civic slumber enough to act against these distractions? And if it does, will that public stay engaged long enough to help define for the long term what it wants from its government?

Are we a nation of big and bold government? Or of weak and small? Who operates either model? How are both to be checked and balanced with public will? How stable is that will?

Indeed, how deep is our divide? How great is our schism one from another?

Does anyone know?

February 3, 2017

Lady Liberty

Here we go. Struggling to define freedom. All over again. I thought we had already done this. Didn’t you? So why are we in this struggle today?

The simple answer is: Freedom comes from fighting for it; every day; forces will always exist to limit it so others can gain. The struggle is against greed afraid that someone else will take something away from them. But they already have freedom. Freedom is not divisible. It is whole and for all of us. Why then do they obstruct freedom for all?

This most likely is caused by fear of the unknown, fear of the not understood, and fear of change. They are all of the same fabric. They are one and the same. I seek protection from losing something I do not understand. That seems to be the new mantra of America!

Well, that point truly begs discussion. Examining the elements will help us understand, maybe.

When the Germans emigrated to the US there was resistance to their growing numbers. Soon resident Americans feared their job opportunities would disappear with immigrants begging for jobs at lower pay. Anything to help them get settled and started in America. Yes, resistance to this dynamic was registered and German immigrants remember their family stories well. Same for Irish and Italian immigrants. And Hungarian and South American immigrants, too.

The same can be said for every group of immigrants by nationality as they sought freedom and opportunity in America. Each group felt discrimination. Each worked hard for acceptance. At first they formed their own churches, small grocery stores and service shops (tailor, plumbing, handyman, shoe repair, etc.) so they could talk in their native language comfortably. Slowly they acclimated to America, became bi-lingual, and then fully absorbed into the local culture. It took a generation or two to accomplish this. For those who count the years, that’s 20 to 45 years to span two generations. Young kids learn English quickly when immersed in it. So too grandkids. They become the translators of languages as well as culture. They get it fast and share it with their elders.

This is the face of acculturation in any society and in any land regardless of nationality.

In times of trouble – world war, insurrection faraway, or oppression – America has always opened her arms and welcomed refugees. Yes the numbers taken in at any one time was a problem to be managed. But manage it we did in fits and starts. The right thing was done eventually. Hard feelings were smoothed over and eventually forgiven. Not necessarily forgotten – this is history after all! – but at least people moved on to build their lives and bring a rising tide of success to the land that adopted them.

We are in the midst of world terrorism. Forget the cause of that terrorism. At this point the focus is not on that cause but rather how we handle the effects of it.

People are dying in Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Greece, Africa and in many other regions of the globe. Although America cannot be the queen of all refugees, it can lend a very large hand in accepting and resettling these peoples. It is our history and our nature to do so. It is hospitality any way you cut it.

So accept refugees we will and ought.

In time of world crisis we will need to take care on accepting these people in need. We have done so in the past and we can do so again and again. Developing the proper methods to protect all concerned is the question of the moment. We have talent and assets to devote to this task. It is a big job but not insurmountable.

Please, remove the political stigma and accept the human compassion. We can be both careful and compassionate. All we need to do is the job itself.

Heavy handed policies don’t work well; those making them need to soften the approach and let talented administrators tackle the tasks. Stipulate the outcome you desire, and let others work to make that happen.

Meanwhile be kind with all incoming peoples. They need comfort and support and love. They need to feel accepted. This will cost time and money but we have both in abundance. The reward will be a stronger nation with more talent and more ability to compete with the rest of the globe to extend prosperity for all.

Now is not the time to be stingy. Now is the time to extend our hearts and welcome.

February 2, 2017

Sensing a Shift?

I may be wrong. I may be deluding myself. But I’ll say it anyway – I sense a shift in public attitude toward Trump. This is coming after a week of executive actions that seem particularly offensive and insensitive. No nuance or attempt at balance and fairness. Just bald policy statements with broad intent and impact.

Perhaps that is what Trump’s team wanted – impact. It seems they have that intended or not.

As a nation America has learned to live with bald statements on the campaign trail but not from the White House. In the Halls of Congress, yes; in the home of our president, no.

We expect statements that carefully address the intent of a policy decision while  safeguarding those specifically not the target of injustice. Such is not what we have in the first week of Trump’s presidency.

He declared war on immigrants. Not just illegal, but legal too. That’s where the problem lies at the first instant. The second instant deserves a watchful eye as well: there are all kinds of immigrants and visitors to the USA; some may be in violation of regulations and laws. Most are not and are welcome in our nation to do their business, visit family and friends, or simply tour our country. We welcome you and open our doors to you.

In a time of terrorism more care and watchfulness should be expected. However such is no excuse for heavy handedness. Or downright inhospitable treatment!

Because the White House executive orders were so baldly powerful, millions of people have taken to the streets to protest. Rightly so.

Trump needs to understand there are limits to all power. Especially in a democracy. We elect leaders but they have to continue to earn citizen support every day. Election opens the door to a position of trust; faithful discharge of duty is required to actually earn trust and keep it. In a transparent democracy such as America's, earning trust is often an hour by hour arrangement. President is not king. Nor god. Rather, logic is king and religious faith is separated from government, so God is God, and not the politician.

In church yesterday both our director of music – while performing at worship – and our pastor in his sermon – spoke out against the war on immigrants in our nation. I’m sure a stir was caused; how that will play out within the congregation is yet to be known. But it was a gutsy move for both people and they spoke from their heart and their faith in a place of safety and faith.

Not so the White House. It is not a church or citadel.

America was founded by immigrants. They were seeking religious freedom initially, but also freedom from tyranny and all powerful monarchies. They sought individualism and self sustainability. They soon learned that they had to rely on others to survive and thrive. So they constructed communities in which group life served all inhabitants well. As the  population grew so did the need for social order and institutions. It was a slow go but in time strong values knitted communities together into counties, states and a nation.

More time and more complexities followed. The economy matured. So did education, philosophy, religion and science. Human behavior was challenged over and over again as it always has been. Behavioral norms changed but so did expectations and governance change to moderate and safeguard individual freedoms while making so much more possible.

An ungoverned people is anarchy. So government is in place precisely because humans require it. It is a fact of life.

Whether government should be large or small depends on the tasks needing to be done. The smaller tasks are left to local and regional governments. Larger tasks are left to national agencies and government. National standards for justice, military safety, interstate and international commerce, money and banking, and so many other aspects of our national life are the province of the federal government.

Commerce requires competition. It breeds greed, however, and that needs regulation to moderate or control. The negative behavior is the object of control to protect others; not commerce to control, although unintended results may be felt.

The same in other avenues of governance and related policies. But they must be managed with care and sensitivity. What is given up in order to gain what good? That balancing act is a companion to all policy making. It is not easy work. Quick and clumsy policy statements do more damage than the good intended.

Such is at issue today. And Trump must soften his stance. If not, the people will teach him a lesson of power he does not yet understand. And that’s how our democracy works. Always has.

The question at hand – is the shift happening now? And to what effect on current affairs? And the other affairs we know are targeted? What then will a shift portend?

Interesting times in which we live. Watch how all of this is resolved in a transparent and energized democracy!

February 1, 2017