We are so divided right now and we’re missing the beauty of our diversity. — Eric Adams On November 2, 2021, two great cities in the world voted for diversity, inclusion and acceptance. Only time will tell whether the newly elected officials, Eric Adams and Michelle Wu, will be great leaders of the cities they represent. But they have hope on their side. Embracing diversity is the opposite of polarization. It is accepting all shades and colors, ways of being and ways of life. It is engaging in the richness all around us and within, and understanding we are all so much better off to be blessed with the gift of difference. Diversity thrives on complex and creative interconnections in society, amongst real, individual, living and breathing persons. It is recognition of the uniqueness of each human life. Joined together in mutual respect for the dignity and … [Read more...]
Present Bleak
Ode to those weak moments when I would think of Trump as something more than a distraction… I tripped the wire, you can see it in my eyesSold my dreams to a tyrant in disguiseAll behind me now, straight ahead murky waysI’ve been a romantic fool, dystopian wiseFrom wrong springs right, the truth dripping liesNow I’m standing at the fork, with nothing left to saySomeday somewhere a new sun may riseA constant source we can’t kill or buyMy past is fiction, my memory’s meekFuture uncertain, the present bleakMy heart’s still strong, but my mind is getting weak A prison cell inside and outNo words to scream, no lines to shoutTry to find the will, but I’m feeling only fearAll my dreams turned galactic dustMy soul condemned to scientific rustTime’s flying past, but I’m still standing hereA sentence set for no crimeA solitary confinement of my mindMy only guide a distant lightI’m blind to … [Read more...]
Can Judges Be Impartial in a Polarized Society
Revisiting the Powell Memo: has the judicial system become irredeemably marred by ideological bias? The Rittenhouse murder trial and the Charlottesville civil case have brought the question of judicial impartiality back into full relief, the question being whether the courts will be an effective means for addressing ultra-right violence. Many suspect not. On September 12, 2021, Amy Coney Barrett delivered a speech at the University of Louisville’s McConnell Center in which she expressed concern at the rising impression of the Supreme Court as partisan. Barrett asserted that judges must be “hyper vigilant to make sure they’re not letting personal biases creep into their decisions, since judges are people, too.” Given the circumstances of Barrett’s confirmation, led by Mitch McConnell, many might have found her comments on the importance of impartiality in that particular setting … [Read more...]
The Dawn of Everything and Fascism in Society
Graeber, Wengrow and the radical freedom to change. Inequality is not the inevitable outcome of civilization. In a nutshell, this is the thesis presented by David Graeber and David Wengrow in their new book, The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity. The central theme of the book is that the accepted story of the rise of mankind and civilization, a linear story of man’s progress from primitivism to modern society, is not accurate and is just that, a grand narrative, perhaps the grandest of all. The strength of the evidence presented will be hotly debated for years to come, as technology progresses, and further light is shed on the early evolution of our social interactions and political formations. But the importance of their thesis is undeniable: for it highlights the dangers of elevating a narrative to objective truth, and opens wide the possibility that we can … [Read more...]