I’m listening to Christmas music. I know, it’s April, but I lost all of my iTunes music last November in a crazy action meant to keep my old computer working just a little bit longer. I missed hearing all those happy songs of peace on earth and I really need that right now. In the ensuing months since last autumn, I have learned a great deal about iTunes, computers, googling answers and relying on the kindness of strangers.
Isn’t that how life works? We make mistakes. We do something stupid. We keep making more stupid mistakes and then finally admit our errant ways, hoping someone can dig us out of the hole. We need to do this today more than ever before in my lifetime. We’ve dug quite a hole here.
For example, one mistake (believing media was solid), led to another mistake (if media is corrupt, conspiracy theories must be true), to another mistake (believing an outsider would improve this country), which leads to our current mistake – hiding – because we’re so embarrassed we were taken in by Facebook and Russians, we’re hoping it will all magically get better…. but 8,000 iTunes songs are gone. Vanished. No denying it.
I know, it’s hard. You feel stupid. How could you have sent all those songs to the trash just because you believed they were carefully backed up on your external hard drive? “Warning: This action cannot be undone.” Click. Drag. It all seemed to make sense at the time.
Ok, time to peek open one eye and admit to the mistake. There is no shame in that. In fact, it requires a great deal of courage.
Next, do some research. What exactly do you agree with in this administration? What do you oppose? How would you like your representatives to move forward from here? What do you think will really make the gridlock stop? And then google how to get your iTunes from your external hard drive to your new computer. Smart strangers know some good stuff.
When you have some answers, take some actions. And before you know it, Christmas songs, Rachmaninoff, Justin Timberlake, and Reba McIntyre will be humming away in your happy ears.
One of the biggest issues for honest politicians to work through, is gerrymandering. John Oliver has a good history detailing the problem, and several bad jokes, but ultimately explains the details well. The link below has Olivers’ show on the topic with one potential solution, but the website, fairvote.org has an idea that may be better.
These are the discussions thinking people need to work through. Ideas are plentiful. Solutions are available. Don’t believe the doubters, they are only afraid. Nothing can change until we change it.
Tell your representatives you want new laws regarding all systemic issues in America including not only gerrymandering but also lobbying, campaign reform, citizens united, net neutrality, internet privacy and corporate welfare and dis-regulation among business and wall street. Make it clear if they cannot repair these issues, you will find a candidate that will.
This is how we put America back together again. From the heart.
In this country, all news sources use fear and sensationalism to get an audience. I listen and watch a wide variety of mediums so I can get a picture of what is being said and how it is being said. They’re all pretty much the same. One horror story after another. Some are worse than others. NPR tends to be one of the best at reporting the facts while remaining calm and thoughtful, but this week, there was unusual fear mongering from normally soft spoken NPR. The doomsday tale was a story about the bird flu in China. There was nothing useful about this story. It held no information that helped me to understand my world better, to improve my life, or enrich my soul. In fact it was a soul sucking story. The main point was this – a devastating epidemic may happen soon, but we just don’t know.
This is why you can’t sleep. Media induced insomnia. NPR interviewed scientists, talked about the past, conjured up potential disasters. All imaginary scenarios based on maybes but scary enough to get your fight or flight system engaged, cortisol and adrenaline coursing through your system.
What is the point of this story? To scare you. To make you feel like you need the news to keep you informed and protected. Click. Scroll. Click. The disturbing part is that there are so many important stories you need to know to protect yourself that are not being aired while they find stuff like the non-existent bird flu maybe-in-our-future epidemic. This is shaping up like Ebola coverage. Remember all that?
Meanwhile, you are desperately trying to talk yourself down – ‘it’ll be okay’, ‘it’s not here now’, ‘I’ll do a google search on how to protect myself from bird flu when I get home’ but in your heart of hearts you feel doomed. This and the dozens of other cautionary tales you heard today will replay in your mind when you are trying to sleep, along with your own worries of the future, regrets of the past and wonderings about the security of our country.
The security of our country is questionable when the actions are so far out of the box, no one knows the consequences. People are overwhelmed just trying to comprehend the actions of this new administration. What we need are journalists detailing those dilemmas and offering information on potential actions and solutions might be found. Story on internet privacy? Give me clues on how I get my privacy back. Story on the dismantling of the EPA or Dept of Education? Tell me where I can go to make a difference. How were changes fought for in the past? What worked? So much news, so few journalists.
Great journalists are out there. Comprehensive news does exist. Look at the ‘marketplace’ of news from many sources. Complain when the media is below standards, demand facts and only facts and give feedback to what you find helpful and what you do not.
Ultimately, we need to breathe, slow down. Change is a golden opportunity to find new paths, better ideas, see problems clearly and discover amazing solutions. It is time to have faith in each other. To buoy people with energy and innovation. Then you can go to sleep knowing the foundations for a better country are underway.
When the video of the United Airlines passenger, forcibly removed from the aircraft, went viral, it showed how appalled Americans feel at the willingness of the United Continental corporation to treat customers like cattle. The callous words of the CEO added fuel to the fire. This is not the problem in itself, it is a symptom of a world where humans have become devalued by the corporate and political system.
I’m sure the United CEO wishes he had spoken more eloquently. I’m sure he wishes that he had spoken differently, not because what happened was wrong in his eyes, but because it caused a dip in the value of the company’s stock and may affect traveler numbers. But, I’m also sure he’s not too worried because Americans have short memories and feel powerless to stand up for themselves.
It is the sincere wish of United Continental that this fade to the background as quickly as possible. Then they can go on with their policies, the media will move on as it is no longer a shocking story – just every day – and people will continue to be treated badly without any recourse. Other stories are surfacing but it is only a matter of time before this all just goes away.
There is a law that caps how much a passenger can be compensated but the airlines are not required to go that limit. United opted not to offer the max by less than half. If you have a compelling reason to stay on the plane, it doesn’t matter as flight crews do not have a say in that decision. Hmmm, I wonder how those laws and regulations came about? Legislatures. That’s how that came about. You have little power, unless, you take it. How to do that?
Pay attention to your representatives actions and votes. Do they lean toward corporation rights or consumer rights? for workers rights? family rights? or human rights? How they vote is how they will take care of you. You can’t go by what they say. Politicians know how to say what you want to hear, but then vote very differently. People in this country are treated pretty shabbily as we become smaller and smaller cogs in the big business machine without unions or politicians who have our back.
See what your representatives do, not what they say and take action. Let them know they are replaceable. That will get their attention.
I’m back. Finally finished my taxes. Whew! So now I can focus on the good stuff which is getting this country back on track. Believe it or not, today, the good stuff comes from CSPAN. The messenger is Senator Marco Rubio.
This video shows the path to repairing our current dilemma – gridlock. There is no way to fix problems if our only option is to force our way on to others. Right now, in America, the political system is set up for just that, forced compliance with whoever has the reins at the moment. It’s not fair for Democrats or Republicans to cram their agenda through the legislature, the courts or the executive branch. Most people, when their party is out of office, hate this very phenomenon.
It is also part of what led us to the results of the last vote in November. Too avoid the gridlock of a Republican congress and a Democratic President, the country (of course, for more reasons that just this) got the Outsider. This gridlock occurs because the parties are in a not-what-you-want mode. Not anything. Ever.
Americans are hoping to be done with gridlock but are also keenly aware the Outsider may have been a huge mistake as we watch the destruction of all that has been created over the last two and a half centuries. Nervous people are very aware our country may be in danger of decline or dissolution causing sleepless nights and major distractions (electronics mostly) during daylight hours. We need the answer of how to get out of the gridlock and it has nothing to do with singular control in politics and everything to do with people.
Someone is going to have to change the gridlock. Will it be Rubio? McCain? Graham? These are the only Republicans so far to show any signs of willingness to talk across the aisle or even criticize their own party. In today’s world, it will have to be a Republican because they are in charge and will need to set the new world in motion. It doesn’t seem we have any such brave souls yet, but I have faith in you to communicate what you want to your representatives. Only power hungry, corporate owned, we-don’t-care-about-you politicians, will be against this idea in the long run, if we are clear it’s what we want. Say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. It’s true most politicians fit the above description, so we need to look to fresh faces and give them new marching orders.
Along with the protests, marches and phone calls, send this most important message: Figure out how to work with the other side.
There is only one way out. We have to talk to each other. We have to re-enter some uncomfortable words back into our vocabulary. Words like listening, compromise and negotiation. We need to explore new ideas, stop worrying about which political party gets credit and who is against who.
Take the Department of Education for example. There have been times when teachers complained the Feds had too much control of their classrooms. Cleaning out this department may go a long way to improving how school districts have control to handle their specific problems. On the other hand, if you are just dismantling and destroying, we have a major problem with the basic tenets of the American system. There must be discussion, exchange of ideas and the creation of a plan that brings in all sides.
What is the answer here? Conversation. Open, honest, all ideas on the table, discussion. Public debate on the pros and cons. Watching politicians work together. I know, you think I’ve had something really good for lunch, but this is the only direction that makes sense. The focus must change from my way to our way.
Want to have a functioning healthcare plan for Americans? Here’s the three step process:
Get an idea, a plan and a draft together of needed changes and potential solutions
Tell other pertinent people about your draft
Discuss the differences between your draft and the other drafts to create a plan that uses the best parts of everyone’s draft.
Then we give it a try, see what works and what doesn’t, then get together again to improve the plan. Easy Peasy. But only if we demand this of ourselves and our congresspeople. We must vote in people who will do this. It doesn’t really matter if they are Democratic or Republican ideas because ultimately they are just plans to solve American problems.
Start a conversation with your friends about how to ultimately change the political climate in this country, by being willing to listen, learn and work together. Look for “others” that are open to conversation. And share this video with everyone. Ask your friends – how can we make this happen?
Compromise is only a problem if your team has to WIN at all costs. But then we all lose. Think about it.
We are fortunate to live in this time with all we have gained over the last thousands of years as we arrive to the culmination of much wisdom and learning. We now have the ability, we have the resources and we have the humanity to overcome what appears to be impossible. This is the biggest challenge we’ve had to date to preserve our values and raise humanity to new levels of connection. It can be done.
In the long arc of history, we have learned to survive the elements, living on an unpredictable planet with many dangers ranging from inclement weather to devastating earthquakes or tsunamis.
We have learned to prosper and develop vast knowledge even in the darkest of times which brought light and beauty to our world.
We expanded across the globe destroying much we encountered and then learned the value of democracy.
Recently, we’ve begun to see the humanity and the rights of others we had scorned in the past and have held out a hand of comfort and compassion.
The clash of viewpoints today has to do with the dying model of controlling others. Do we force agendas and make others come to our way of thinking? Or do we reach out in curiosity? Do We The People realize our power, the power to come together to create a world of inclusion and diversity by making plans for our communities based on empathy and understanding?
You may be thinking, ‘well this is all very Kum-by-yah and peachy but I live in the real world’. That’s just fear talking. Fear that it’s impossible or threatening but in reality this way of thinking likely takes you out of your comfort zone. Take a good look deep inside yourself, many of us were made for this time, for a time to sincerely reach out to others to understand and come together.
What is your part in bringing people together? That is the most important question. Here is a TED talk you may find helpful.
It’s nearing the first anniversary of my mother’s death. She had a good, long life I remember fondly with twinges of sadness and a full heaping of gratitude. My mom had an unwavering desire to bring people together, to find the good in everyone and never to judge a person based on race, sexual orientation or anything else you can name. She joined the League of Women Voters as a young woman, fought hard for the rights of people and the environment. I learned a great deal following her around doing tasks such as going to the Children’s Hospital wishing well where we cleaned out the coins left by those generous and those despairing. She did not have much time with four kids in tow. She was devastated by the death of her husband, our dad, at a very young age, nevertheless, she persisted.
I listened to conversations around the dinner table on human and environmental rights, with varying political views creating some raucous and lively disagreements but through it all, she was determined people would speak civilly, with respect and an attempt to understand the other side. This at times was no easy task, nevertheless, she persisted.
Through subsequent trials and tribulations, she fought hard, went back to school, found work she loved. She volunteered and gave back to the community. She cared deeply for her friends and family. For a couple of decades she wrote a weekly ‘family letter’ intended to keep a wide range of siblings and step-siblings in touch with one another as we ran around the planet in our teens and twenties. She could have let it go, nevertheless, she persisted.
As a result, my step-siblings have nothing ‘step’ about them. We love each other and argue with each other as if the same blood runs through our veins. In a way isn’t it true? The same blood that goes through my veins runs through every human on the planet, from the same source of star dust, created and returned to the earth since the beginning of time. The people of this earth have had many struggles, nevertheless, we persisted.
I feel my mothers strong desire within myself, the urge to bring all kinds of people together, to listen carefully to one another, with respect and an attempt to understand the other side. Politics are the avenue for figuring out how to live together in a peaceful society. I think we have forgotten this simple fact. So, in honor of my mother, even though in this day and age this may seem an impossible task, I will not be deterred from doing all I can to make this world a better place. I have many who say to me, it’s impossible, we can’t move forward from here, the divisions are too wide. I have people who tell me I’m a dreamer and a naive idealist. Nevertheless, I persist.
No, you don’t have a cold, cruel heart if you don’t repost the poor, downtrodden puppy, the wounded veteran, the guy with fifteen months sobriety, or the kid whose class wants to know how far and fast a meme can travel the world. Many of the memes now are ways for those with malicious intent to worm their way into your computer. Feel free to pass them by without a care in the world. Instead of passing along a meme, find a puppy to rescue, find a veteran to thank, support someone trying to clean up their life or volunteer in a school.
Besides, passing along memes, while sometimes entertaining, will not save the world or even make the world a better place. If fact, many memes are mean and derogatory, judgmental and divisive. We have to stop the click and share of such destructive material. I know many folks get a hit out of it, a satisfying jolt of adrenaline and righteousness. If you are one of those folks, the best thing may be cold turkey.
It takes a clear eye to see how people on either side of the spectrum throw enough mud to keep us angry into the next century. I, for one, would like to wrap this up before then. This fight for democracy will not be won by putting others down.
I listened to some friends the other night, staunch liberal friends, talking just like my staunch conservative friends, the topics might be different but the sentiments were the same. I want to control my world and that means I have to control yours as well. If I don’t understand where you are coming from, then you must be wrong. It’s my way or the highway.
This is not going to get us off the pendulum swing and out of the hatred that has gripped this country. It’s time to ask questions. Time to find out why other people want what they want. Down deep, it’s likely the same as you want –
To protect family, keep them safe and give them the best in life
To be able to do as I want in my own life and not worry you will try to make me live your values and morals.
To have clean water, air and good food to eat
To be able to afford what I need and want
To love this planet and love one another
Soften your heart. Listen with your heart. Talk from the heart.
Wait… what??, you say? Yes, Republicans and Democrats, Progressive and Conservative, Green and Libertarian are not the issue. These are ways of thinking, ways of solving problems, all with some good ideas, all with some bad ideas. Ideas are never the problem.
Greedy, power hungry people are the problem.
Violent, destructive people are the problem.
Disturbed, delusional people are the problem.
Blind followers are the problem.
Tuned out people are the problem.
This is an important distinction as the media likes to sell papers or boost ratings by creating easy divisions to tell stories that keep people angry and tuning in. Politicians who want to force control will use dividing the political parties as ways of keeping their base behind them. They all spend a great deal of time with pundits and surrogates to keep the fires burning.
Don’t fall for it. Stereotypes are ways of separating. Thinking you already know all whiny, cry-baby libtards or cold-hearted, racists republicans is a lazy way of living on the planet. I know it’s scary to step out of our comfortable ways of dismissing large groups of people, but if we want to survive this latest crisis in America, that is what is required.
Listen carefully for the folks that say they want to start taking out immigrants, start shooting them dead. Listen carefully for the folks that say one thing and do another. Watch out for people who have shut out anything but what their guy says. Focus on the threats to Americans through the disturbed, frantic need to have control. These are not political party issues, these are social issues, legal issues and police issues.
Start talking with your friends and family about separating the political person from the disturbed person. Talk about how society needs to come together – all political, social, economic, racial, everyone – to find solutions for the social ills of our country.
Stick with journalism, the reporting of news based on facts without opinion or assigning emotions. It’s less entertaining but news is not entertainment. Even your local news is yelling and excited and sensationalizing to get you to tune in. Don’t be so easily manipulated.
Then we can actually get somewhere. I have faith in you. Reach out to one of the tuned-out folks. They are overwhelmed and scared, needing your support. I know you are open-minded, willing to listen to the other side, challenge your own thinking so reach out to someone different from you to see who they really are. Do it today.
This is what I am talking about. It’s not about a Republican or Democratic agenda, of course there are good points and ideas on both sides. We can’t even get to that until we solve this problem. What I’m talking about is HOW this administration is going about it’s business. We must have fair and transparent government which means we need journalism, we need congressional investigations into Russia and to know the financial ties the administration has that may conflict with Americans best interest. Thank you John McCain for speaking up, please continue, there is more to be said and done. Get others on board. Please stand up for what is right.
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