As the holiday season rolls on, I’m sure many of you are busy and running and trying to get it all done. I know I am. And I also endeavor to keep my focus on what I value. That can be very hard to do when there are so many pressures from so many places.
Time to slow down.
Time to breathe.
Time to think.
Time to remember what you value.
And then ask yourself, Am I living what I value?
We’ve been on quite a political see-saw these past few decades. Democrats in charge promote their agenda, then Republicans, then Democrats, then…
Every once in a while someone tries to throw in an Independent, or a Green party, or a Libertarian but it never gains any traction and usually just helps whatever party is trying to inch it’s way back into power.
What is the solution? Stop focusing on blind loyalty, no matter what, to one party.
What to do instead? Focus on the issues that have meaning to you and insist your Representatives follow your lead, not the lead of money and power.
Spend some time today clarifying where you stand on the following issues –
Education, Workers Rights, Human Rights, Environment, Campaign Reform and any other categories that come to mind. Do some research online to see what people are saying about these issues. Talk to your friends, neighbors and family. Begin to create an idea in your mind of where you stand, stay open minded, make some notes. Join a group that matches your beliefs or write a letter to your Representatives.
Unions have been taking a beating in recent years. Corruption in some has tainted all. They are seen as unruly and too powerful, pushing an agenda that damages business. As with all things, some of this is true, most of this is not.
Unions protect laborers from greedy business practices, they provide needed controls for health and safety and ensure fair treatment. If ever, we need unions to function now. We have seen many corporations use and abuse their employees. You have likely seen such practices as refusing to hire full time employees to avoid paying benefits, refusing to pay a living wage, exorbitant compensation to CEO’s while full time employees struggle to make ends meet or are even on welfare.
Make sure you are getting good information about unions. Check out the unions in your community. Who is doing a good job? How can you be supportive of them? Which need to be called out for poor practices? This doesn’t mean you throw out the whole union, fix it, make it useful and honest.
Be sure to support your teachers union. These tireless angels are working hard and need reform in school budgets and oversight. A very important place to start is ensuring the needs of our teachers and schools. Get in touch with the Parent Teacher Organizations, find out about the union, be active and vocal if only a supportive note or donation.
Tell me what you find out.
This Christmas play bingo with your family no matter who they voted for. See how many of these you can agree on. Print out a copy for everyone. The people with the most matches win! What categories did you agree on that I don’t have listed? Let me know in the comments.
The Rules:
You can only speak for yourself. No comments on others. Meaning, discuss your ideas, why you believe what you do, otherwise, listen carefully to what others believe.
If discussion becomes heated, all agree to stop and move on to a new topic.
| All children deserve a free, public education
How should a school be funded? |
I want clean water to drink
Should water be free? Who decides the water is clean? |
I believe in a democracy based on the majority vote of the people
How do we decide what is a valid vote? |
I want my grandchildrens’ grandchildren to have a healthy planet
How do we ensure clear air, water and food for the next generations? |
Teachers work hard and deserve to be properly supported
What pay level is appropriate for teachers? |
| Insurance should be affordable for everyone
Since many jobs no longer include insurance, how should the employed get insurance? |
I believe we need to have strong middle class jobs
What prevents strong middle class jobs? |
Class sizes are too big
Where are the best places to spend education dollars? |
Women deserve equal treatment and pay
What actions could we take as a society to ensure this outcome? |
Fake news awareness must be taught to students and adults alike
How do you identify fake news? |
| Investigative journalism is part of a healthy democracy
What is ethical journalism? |
Some CEOs make money at the detriment of their workers
What are business ethics? |
Political campaigns need to be shorter and without fundraising
Would you support four month campaign seasons with each candidate spending the same amount of money? |
I like to do activities outdoors
How do you like to spend your free time? |
Racism is wrong
How do you define racism? |
| Corporations and the top 10% of income earners need to pay their fair share of taxes without loopholes
How could this happen? |
I would plant a tree to help the environment
What actions do you take toward your societal values? |
I like to vote with my dollars, let businesses know my values
What are your values regarding your country? |
There needs to be more technical and vocational programs
Actually, these are easily available in most school districts. What do you know about the options in your area? |
Hatred and divisiveness will not solve America’s problems
What will solve America’s problems? |
| Fraud in government programs needs to be rigorously investigated and stopped
What are the best ways to stop fraud? |
We need to figure out high drop out rates and illiteracy
What are the drop out rates in your school district? What about other areas in your state? |
Any immigrant coming to this country must be legal and fully vetted
How many immigrants is the right number to enter and why? |
We need all opinions to solve the problems of America
Would you want to control Americans or find solutions together? |
Wall Street and big banks need regulations
Can we trust corporations to police themselves? |
I’m sipping on a Egg Nog Latte at the moment. Warm, spicy, festive. How would the media report this event? Depends on whom they are trying to reach. Consider the following headlines –
Ignorant consumers continue to use foam cups despite landfill issues
Fancy city folk celebrate holidays with expensive fancy coffee but pay workers only a minimum wage
Starbucks taking over the world. Where’s my Dunkies?
Heathen Westerners celebrate holidays with fancy coffee but no sign of Christmas. They want to destroy Jesus, the reason for the season.
Coffee prices rise as severe weather destroys crops
Which of these would you click on? Or maybe none? Why?
Would you just share if the headline matches your thinking without reading the article? (It’s soooo tempting :0)
What is the point of the news?
Shocking headlines are catchy, headlines that support my beliefs are satisfying and headlines that lie create a misinformed population. All of it is a problem. We need to move back to trusted news sources. These are likely boring news sources with boring headlines. Boring because they deal in facts and reality which is not as exciting as our dopamine craving brains want it to be.
Much has been done to bring doubt to reliable news sources. If you look closely it is usually based in because-I-say-so talk. There might be other sources cited but they are usually websites where people just repeat – because-I-say-so. “Facts” are made up to support their agenda.
Take a very close look at which headlines you click on, the website or news organization from which they come. Look for organizations that follow journalistic ethics. Watch, read, subscribe and demand they shift away from sensationalism, then write the editors with your ideas and wants for factual news. Keep them honest by making comments and sending emails any time you see a problem.
What newspapers and journalistic outlets do you subscribe to and why?
Worker Wednesday 11.30.16 –
Which class are you? Check out the numbers below –
A major issue all political parties have been talking about, and doing nothing about, is the middle class. Consider the following from investopedia.com:
The median income is only $50,000 per year.
You are Upper Class if you make more than $150,000, 5% of the population. If you make more than $250,000 you are the 1%
The Upper Middle Class tends to be well-educated and white collar positions. This class is white male dominated and earns more than $100,000 per year. This is the top third of US incomes.
The Middle Middle Class makes between $32,500 and $60,000 per year in lower-level white collar jobs and may have a college education but not one that gets into higher paid jobs. These are police officers, This class is made up of more women and minorities.
The Lower Middle Class, or the Working Class, are the blue collar workers with not much for education but maybe some technical or vocational training. These are sometimes police officers, truck drivers or factory workers with salaries ranging between $23,000 and $32,500.
The Poverty Level income for a family of four is only $18,000 or $23,000 per year. This is 15% of the population or 42 MILLION PEOPLE.
What needs to happen for the Middle Class in this country? How did we let 42 million people fall below the Poverty Level, many of them children? It’s time for some Fierce Change but not done with violence or abuse. Anger expressed in the raw is a recipe for disaster. Emotions are very bad decision makers. Emotions are excellent information. Anger lets us know something is not fair, a wrong needs to be made right. We need to breathe, think, make a plan and take calm, steady, fierce action.
Many of us are angry at the state of the political system in our country. It needs to change, on that, every political party can agree. How it changes is the question. We need all points of view. We need all ideas. We need Republicans, Democrats, Green Party, Libertarians and whoever wants to chime in to speak up for all of us. And we need to listen.
It’s time for Fierce Listening, Fierce Understanding, Fierce Compassion and Fierce Love. I know it’s out there. I know you can contribute. I know we can weave a tapestry of authentic connection that leads to compromise (not a dirty word) and true progress. What would you contribute to the conversation?
Wherever you are on the Climate Change spectrum, nearly everyone agrees it’s a good idea to do something to help the planet. We all want clean water, healthy food to eat, and a vibrant farm community. Here are a few suggestions for taking action today.
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