Blog
Complication of Affiliation
In a 2018 interview with a progressive radio station in Spokane, I was asked if there was islamophobia on the left. It was a thoughtful question and one that took courage to ask. I respected that. Part of my response was to acknowledge that there is, indeed, some anti-religious bigotry in the United States. Some…
Read MoreI and We
We all know we’ve gone too far down the path of “me, myself, and I.” This has left us lonely, afraid, and feeling a lack of meaning, missing the mystery and beauty of the world around us. We were told that greed is good, but now we’re hungry for something greater—a common good. It might…
Read MoreAnalogue Networking
Last week, I had a conversation with a thoughtful business owner about the Potluck for Democracy. We discussed the impact of social media on our society and how machine learning programs have learned to exploit our outrage, feeding us more of it to keep us on their platforms and generate more ad revenue. These platforms…
Read MoreBe the Chicken or the Egg
We often want to know what “started it.” We want to know what is the chicken and what is the egg. We do need to analyze what is happening. But sometimes our desire for complete understanding keeps us from acting. In a recent book by Robert Putnam, The Upswing, he shows how our nation went…
Read MoreSharing Positive News
Our brains are wired to pay attention to what threatens us, which is usually a good thing. It helps us stay alert when we’re on a ladder, crossing the street, or facing a danger to our families. Most of the time, this instinct is beneficial. However, we’re constantly bombarded with negative news from political leaders,…
Read MoreNew Orientation
I almost always know what direction I am facing. As I write this, I am facing north by northeast. I learned this skill when I was driving a wheat truck in sixth grade. The farm I worked on was in the Palouse hills, and the farmers owned thousands of acres. They would tell me to…
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