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

So Many Topics!

Immigration Policy

Muslim vs Americanism

Business Conflicts of Interest

Lack of Personal Transparency

World Tensions – War?

Beating Back ISIS

Obsession with Lifestyle *

So many topics to address and yet justice can only be done one at a time. Which to choose? Which one is the most important? Which of the topics has potency to affect all the others?

The latter point may just be the most helpful idea in making a choice. Aha! I have it. Obsession with Lifestyle is the topic for today. And why is that you ask? Well read on!

Scanning today’s news headlines I find a preponderance of items dealing with films, popular music and musicians, celebrities from the entertainment industry and the challenges or triumphs they are experiencing. I also note public interest articles on environment, the animal kingdom, funny videos that are sure to tickle the news junkie, and many other subjects too esoteric to go into. Of course there are the diet and health items as well as travelogues enticing the reader on to consideration of exotic trips to out of the way places. Of course sunny climes are depicted during our dreary winter months!

The point of the previous paragraph is the amount of ‘news’ items that have to do with lifestyle issues. Wealth and personal financial management articles are a close ally of this but then, managing wealth makes lifestyle choices possible. Especially the fanciful options. With all of this written on lifestyles when do the readers spend time on the truly important items that will spell whether or not they will have the time or existence available to them in which to engage lifestyle choices?

This is a critical issue. With the federal government entering identity chaos, mission and purpose of government have been redirected. Where exactly is still under examination. The changes underway in two weeks time since Trump took residency in the White House have thrown most of our assumptions out the window and policies are now being written that totally revise how life is to be lived in America. Well, that is an overstatement because policy does not control life in these united states. We citizens still do that and will continue to do so until some force enters our homes and physically changes what we are doing and when. I doubt that will occur.

Policy does shape operations, procedures and expectations. But policy also is misunderstood by most people, especially those who wish to make rapid change and are not experienced in public policy. Policy must be understandable to the majority of citizens. Personal whim does not usually muster support. So declaring certain nationalities unwelcome in the USA does not sit well immediately and creates chaos. Chaos, in turn, creates reactions and counter actions. National and international behaviors change as a result. But only for the instant to register reaction.

When the full scope of the effect of the policy is plumbed, the original policy is withdrawn and rewritten to a much milder stance. That has not happened as yet but will shortly. Just watch.

Declarations will be spouted from the White House or emissaries to the effect that “this is not what we intended, so the actual practices will be…”  See how this unfolds and measure how close or far off my prediction is. Either way the original policy will not stand.

Even the governor of Washington state has declared Trump an enemy of the state. And of course taxi drivers in New York City are mainly foreign nationals and are staging work stoppages at airports. How then do travelers move from airports to cities and back? How do airlines react to passengers of blocked nationalities? How do their nation’s react to their people being blockaded from free movement?

Then there are the trading partner relationships being upset. And foreign policies throughout the globe being upturned. Anger and frustration turn to mistrust and edginess of military preparations should such be needed.

It is a small distance from there to actions of war.

And that is my point. If Americans are obsessed with how they live with shallow feelings and interests in the lives of celebrities and wealth, how do they absorb and understand the larger issues of life and death being toyed with from the current White House?

Is this obsession the reason Trump was elected? Too many people placed their attention away from the important and focused on the frivolous? Enough so to explain why enough people voted for a person clearly unprepared and unable to be President?

Attention to details is important. Distraction has a cost. I fear we are witnessing an exorbitant price of the unthinkable right this instant. Please prove to me I am wrong!?

January 31, 2017

Poverty, Powerlessness, Guns

The title of this post today is my attempt at defining the elements of violence in Chicago neighborhoods. It is not Second Amendment run riot. It is not liberal design run amok. It is not bad leadership in the police department. It is not poor leadership in the city’s government.

Rather it is a confluence of social ills that have led us to the brink of a return to the Old Wild West.

It is also another example of – “Forgive them Father for they know not what they do.”

In every city in America are neighborhoods mired in stubborn poverty. Living conditions create complex sub societies where families turn away from themselves as one by one, the young explore larger social experience. There they are exposed to what can be, not what they have.  They see money and the things it buys; they see life styles money affords. They see power and influence they have not experienced themselves. They learn to want it and seek it.

How they do the seeking to fulfill the wants is variable. For some hard work, saving money, going to community college and later to a four-year college or university for a degree. They explore career options and build a life that slowly acquires a family, a home, and a life style with which they are comfortable. And happy.

A variable is this: find ‘friends’ similar to themselves living in similar powerless lives. Seek power through means of short duration – take, rob, fight in the presence of others for support. Gang life comes into focus. Strength in numbers. Companions in poverty and now in seeking power. A gun is flashed, and others are pulled from hiding places and waist bands. Soon an arsenal is in evidence and those not so armed are urged to get theirs soon.

An armed band of poverty youth in one neighborhood. And yet another. And another. And so it goes that several neighborhoods become populated by armed gangs with time on their hands and power to gain. Robberies spike. Turf struggles emerge, then violent fights. Drive by shootings happen to mark territories and enforce gang discipline. Money is earned from nefarious dealings and robberies. Crime grows as gangs fight for dominance. They now have the power they sought; but seek more.

Violence against people adds to the sense of power. Gun violence is but one aspect of it. Families shrink from the horror but in poverty have little resilience to move to a new and safer environment. What jobs they have is all they have and elsewhere is a gamble of unemployment. Renting or owning a home in the current ‘hood is more affordable than the cost of moving elsewhere where the cost of living is unknown and a job is not available.

So the status quo is kept. The family remains. They call the police when violence happens. And watch from windows when authority arrives to quell the violence. Only they witness more violence as police protect themselves in such violent surroundings. Innocent people get hurt and even killed. And the police are blamed for unprofessional conduct. Even jailed or stripped of their jobs. More are hurt and reduced to powerlessness in this dance of the macabre.

Now the police are powerless, too. The families – they are powerless and have been for generations.

Unless the guns are removed. Unless the poverty is lessened and eventually removed. Unless the power is returned to these neighborhoods and safety and peace along with the power returns with it.

Unraveling the reality of poverty, powerlessness and violence is not easy. It doesn’t come from elevating the violence and powerlessness that comes with National Guard or federal authorities.

No, it comes from understanding the cause, effect and result of social interaction and history. This is how mankind deals with its problems. It learns. It changes behavior. It improves on its circumstances. With feelings and minds engaged people work on these problems and fix them.

It was the lack of engagement that produced the problems in the first place. The engagement of the local family structures and neighborhood builds the power that solves the problem. Regaining a foothold will not be easy but it is the only way.

The only way. Forward, together, one household at a time. First one step and then another. Open the front doors along the block. Meet and talk and share hopes and dreams. Let light shine on shared problems. Let small steps ease the neighborhood back to a life self sustaining and safe. This is community. And yes, this is the power that has been missing.

That power comes from within and it resides there even now – used or not. It does not reside in the nation’s capitol or in the police precinct.

It resides in you and I – us.

January 30, 2017

Petulance and Character

We have seen much petulance in the past several days. A new president is sworn into office and all we get are smug smiles, leering sneers, thumbs up signs, raised fists and cold shoulders. And these all from the president himself.

We are not used to this behavior on our national stage.

Let there be no mistaking that this stage is not Trump’s but ours – the American People’s.

There are many in public office in Washington DC. Several hundred of them are elected directly by their constituents. Many others are not; they are appointed by elected officials. Thousands more are hired to fill vacancies caused by the change of administrations in due course.

Still working quietly day by day are the tens of thousands of federal civil servants who have been vetted, trained and hired through tried human resource protocols. They are the ones doing the work of the federal government, not those who strut their stages of influence. No, the work force does the daily tasks that actually is the government. Social Security. Medicare. Medicaid. Military. Intelligence operations. Health and human services functions. Judiciary. Justice, investigations, analysis, planning, budgeting and safeguarding the business processes of our large organizations. The institutional life of the government is huge. And complex.

Dealing with this as a blind bureaucracy would be a mistake. These are professional people in professional jobs for which they have been well trained. They ought not be treated as chattel. Blanket hiring freezes hurts them as they struggle with normal turnover and unable to replace those who die, retire, become disabled, or change jobs. The remaining workforce is required under hiring freezes to take on more and more tasks without relief. Not a good thing for accuracy and efficiency. Private organizations know this lesson well.

And salary freezes as well? On top of the growing work burdens and overtime requirements? Without merit increases, or promotional opportunities?

If you were working in this environment, how would you feel?

If your argument is with management and decision makers, focus your attention there, not on the workers who carry out the directives of others.

This is just one of the current whims of petulance being carried out by a new president who does not know his job yet.

Instead of learning what it is he is supposed to do in his new role, he argues over photos comparing inauguration attendance comparing his to his predecessor’s? The record is well established. The Obama inaugural attendance broke all records. It is well documented. The Trump festivities were much more modestly attended. And TV coverage was heavy but viewership unmeasured. No way to document TV viewership, so this cannot be counted as attendance.

Like a child Trump focuses attention on the poor comparison and has to blame someone. So it is the messenger who catches the fallout. The Media? Give me a break! The media reports facts: who, what, where and when. The why remains for history to settle or for research to uncover. That takes time. Besides, I don’t want media opinion unless it is well researched and documented. That then is factual and not opinion.

Polls will tell us the public’s opinion. And that may be interesting but not a driving force unless it is in campaign season and indicative of a pending tide of votes. In governance season it matters little.

So why the deep and abiding interest of our new instantaneous president in chief? It is his ego, of course. To be sure that is my opinion and not a fact. But then again it may be fact. I’m just not the person to claim it is at this point. That’s up to you and history to discern.

Meanwhile, what will we be dealing with?

January 27, 2017

The Young and the Bloggers

Yes, the young and the restless is an alternate title appropriate here! But I want to chronicle a specific young woman who is at a crossroads of a sort. My granddaughter Lindsay.

She is 16, a very good student, active in music (violin, guitar and ukulele; singing and song composing), theater, and reading. Her grasp of the world around her is alive and active. She thinks about things seriously yet retains her sense of humor. She wonders out loud and thinks and writes about her thoughts. Yet she is dismayed.

It seems that her community is above average in household income and age demographics also suggesting families in mid and later careers. Such homes are the bastions of the middle class attempting to rise farther. And their politics are often republican and conservative.

This is context to the political climate of Trumpism. It seems Lindsay’s schoolmates have families that supported Trump in the recent election. As a result casual conversations among her set of friends mirrors the Trump tweets. Such are disrespectful of women, gays, immigrants, and the whole welter of targets well known to us all. This has caused a freeze in friendly chats at school. A cooling of social interaction is uncomfortably growing and these young people are struggling to understand what is happening.

Of course mindsets of young teens are subject to parental opinions. Such are ever present and slowly absorbed as context of understanding the world around them. Only until the individual teenager experiences different opinions among peers will their brains figure out alternative ways of perceiving the world. The broader context pulls the individual into a larger world view. It is the normal process of maturing. Exposure to the outside world broadens one’s thinking by challenging logic, expanding dictionary, and growing historical facts. And a slow expansion of understanding all of that.

Meanwhile she is struggling to communicate intelligently with her friends. She works to maintain a diplomatic approach to smooth things over until more is known and understood. This will take time. This will take experience. It will take patience.  All of these are maturing agents as well. She is on her way.

Getting her over the interim, however, is the challenge. She is thinking of writing a blog that explores her feelings and thinking about many topics. I’m hoping she will accept this challenge and use the blog as an open journal of her growth. I’m being a little selfish in this because I’m wanting to see how a ‘millennial to be’ thinks.

Although I work with a group of teenagers who are drug addicts, I still don’t know how they think, only how they behave. I’m struggling to capture some connection between their behavior and the thinking. Perhaps my granddaughter’s blog will help with my education?

Listening to different generations and their ideas is paramount to understanding them.

We shall see. First she has to get comfortable with the concept of blogging and exposing herself to the world. One hopes this will be a pleasant experience and not a hideous one. After all, behavior of others appears to be an ungoverned morass these days. Yet another challenge to logic and articulation of current events as they affect our personal space and thought!

January 26, 2017

New Reality

Face it. We live in a new time. Politics has upended value systems long fought for and achieved. The new order diminishes the following: women, gays, immigrants, hard workers, achievers, entrepreneurs, creators, science, theology, intellect and history.

Evidently what has been awarded value are: greed, wealth, power, lack of curiosity, less education and manipulation of people, resources and facts.

White males feel aggrieved and so they stole the houses of government from the people. Under educated people felt aggrieved so they helped the white males redress wrongs they didn’t understand. All the problems in their homes, neighborhoods, towns, states and regions, yes, even the nation, are the problem caused by someone else. Not them. The power of Alternative Facts comes alive! So they rallied around that single thing and voted a nothing into office. 

Well that nothing most likely will accomplish little but damage. Intentional or not, damage will be done. Let’s explore the what:

-Infrastructure: yes, like anything man made and of use, it requires maintenance. Occasionally it will require rebuilding from scratch or replacement. But there is another issue – if replacement is necessary, ought it be in the same shape, design and location as the present structure? That is a strategic question in need of serious answer. I wonder if the ‘nothing person’ is capable of asking that question and answering it correctly?

-Education: yes, like any institution, it requires maintenance, occasional redesign, and tweaking to maintain its ability to produce desired results. But first we must identify those desired results. Do we understand them? Have we accurately identified them? And do we know how to acquire those results? What then needs to be changed in the institution to produce those desired results? Does the trump team know how to manage this? Or will they dump and replace regardless that they will destroy the good with the bad?

-Foreign Affairs: the objective is what? World peace I’d say. That means sharing the peace with everyone for common good of all. But if the objective is America First, then world peace will not be available except by way of domination and military might – and death of many millions of innocent people. In the nuclear age those millions might turn out to be billions of people. And then the question is what are we left with? And are you so certain ours is the nation to survive the new nuclear holocaust? Strategic minds of goodwill are needed here, not minds of narcissism and self aggrandizement.

-International Economics: everyone re read Thomas Friedman’s The World Is Flat. Then reread it. Discuss in group. Agree on the important issues and operative methods. Only then discard self-serving national economics. International economics requires free trade so the elements of production are used for their best and highest economic good wherever they are found. Best designs. Best materials. Best manufacturing methods. Best labor. Best minds. Etc. When this is done the ‘free market’ identifies those who can succeed without artificial supports of tariffs and trading agreements. The art of the deal doesn’t hold sway here. Only economics open and free. If in doubt of this conclusion, reread The World Is Flat.

-Healthcare: accessible to all through universal care, standards and scientific discovery. This benefits everyone. Peace on Earth Goodwill Toward All Men.  Remember this? That should be the motto of the healthcare system. It belongs to all of us, not just the wealthy or powerful. Share the good with all so all will be good and empowered to survive and fulfill the many promises of a talented global population.

-Military: do what we have to do to protect against evil, but no more. Work hard to find agreement and peace and then maintain that. No offensive designs. Remove all nuclear weaponry. No need for them. Work toward that end.

-Democracy: it works best when the electorate listens to one another, works toward common goals, and celebrates our common humanity. It does not work if the goal is bald power to exercise over others. Knowledge is the true power. Facts and hard logic.

Every religion throughout history has preached love one another and yet we don’t. We are afraid someone will take advantage of us. Well guess what? They are already taking advantage of you. The only way to break that cycle is to love them no matter what. And then – if they love you back at long last – you won’t have to be afraid of them.

Seems to me we should try to live by this while we can. Before it is too late.

If you believe this to be true our churches should be full of grateful worshipers. The opposite is true – the churches stand mostly empty or underused. And yet there are many who claim to be worshipers and believers. Where are they? What are they saying? What are they doing?

My, my! The emperor is not the only one without clothes.

January 25, 2017