Regarding the 2024 Elections:   

Am I surprised?  No.  Disappointed, yes, but not surprised. 

I see all around me people with serious concerns about the political changes of misfortune going on all around us and I almost feel guilty for not feeling in a more sympathetic manner.  The reason I will feel empathy but not sympathy is because I have had over 20 years to prepare for this time.   I sympathize with the feeling, but not the "shock" of the feeling.

Let me explain:

Many people will talk about 9/11 being a “watershed” experience for them.  9/11 didn’t surprise me.  If I was surprised, it was that such an attack didn’t happen before then.  We, the US, had been exhibiting our A/B (Arrogance/Belligerence) for such a long time before then, such an attack was inevitable.  Similarly, we, the US, had been exhibiting a complete lack of Skills of Democracy for such a long time before now that this election was inevitable.

Pure Democracy (as opposed to US Democracy) is based on two principles:  1) that there is an educated and informed populace; and 2) that the populace will vote for the good of society – even at a personal cost.  One doesn’t have to be a social scientist to see that we do not have, nor have we had, either of these two principles as a basis of our US Democracy.

By educated, I’m talking about being educated in the Skills of Democracy – not educated according to STEM or even STEAM subjects. 

My watershed experience happened in 2003 rather than 2000.  I had been participating in several “anti-war” demonstrations and protests against our invading Iraq at that time.  This included the largest protest in the world up to that time with over 5 Million people in the streets all on one day (Saturday).   It was evident that Bush, et al, was chafing at the bit to invade even to the point of sending Colin Powel to fall upon his sword by addressing the United Nations with obvious fabrications.  The only recognition this demonstration received was the sign of the  President’s social finger as a few weeks later he invaded Iraq and murdered/slaughtered well over 100,000 innocent men, women, and children.

Although the invasion was a heinous crime, to me, the bigger crime was that our society allowed this to happen without any repercussions.  Nada.  Nil.  That was when I realized that I did not want to identify with US Democracy any more.  That is when I decided to identify as a Global Citizen rather than a US Citizen.

One of the things I did was instead of blaming or accusing just the administration as being in the wrong, I blamed our society for allowing this to go unchecked.  Just as now I see the election as a manifestation that the problem is NOT with Trump, but with our society.  Just like the televangelist charlatans who draw the sheep up to the front of the alter to be bled of their money and allegiance - how much is that a problem with the charlatans and how much is it a problem of the sheep?

So back in 2003, I made the proverbial “40 day wilderness experience” to try to come up with the “root cause analysis" of what was wrong with our society. Back then I came up with the observation that our society was lacking in the Skills of Democracy in four (at least0 areas.  These were the following:  1) critical analysis; 2) compassion and empathy; 3) outsourcing of ethics and justice; and 4) conflict management.  

Our lacking in critical analysis is largely based on the Age of Marketing where everything is expressed in terms of hyper-hyperbole.  Everything is exaggerated to the point where people don’t even try to “learn to discern” the difference between Truth and Non-Truth.  I could go on, but I’m sure you recognize the problem and don’t need me to elaborate.

I’m also sure that you recognize that our  society is lacking in compassion and empathy towards others, so I won’t elaborate here either.

The problem of “outsourcing of ethics and justice” should be explained.  As a society, we outsource our ethics by listening to and following those ethics of religion, religious leaders, gurus, and even politicians.  As a result, instead of setting up our own standards of ethics, we just accept what we are told by others or by various interpretations of holy books like the Bible, the Koran, or Eastern religions, etc.  We have shed ourselves of our own personal responsibility of ethics.  Instead of developing our own list of ethical standards, we “use” the lists outside of ourselves. 

The same is true with justice:  We outsource our principles of justice to our legal system which is so broken as to be pathetic. 

So in 2003 we didn’t feel personally violated in either our ethics of justice when we invaded Iraq.  So too, now, with Trump.  Trump, the demagogue of the 21^st Century, is more than willing to be outsourced and be the voice of ethics and justice for our society looking for a source.  Instead of individuals developing their own principles of ethics and justice regarding Gaza, we just outsource the responsibility to “our US Democratic Government”. 

Back in 2003, I was so serious about these Democratic Skills that I decided to take a course in Conflict Management.  But I didn’t want to go to a Liberal, Left-Leaning University and be taught the same things I had learned throughout the Peace and Justice movement.  So I investigated and found an on-line course that was sponsored by the US State Department.  (With an Introduction by Henry Kissinger himself.)  This had been designed by the State Department for several countries in Central and South America.  (Evidently the  State Department determined that it would be better to teach them the principles of Conflict Management rather than have them follow our examples of how we responded in Cuba, and Nicaragua, and Chile, ad infinitum.  (smile)  The key takeaways here were “To Listen – Active Listening” and to “Dialogue”. 

I also took a series of courses and became “certified” in “Reconciliation Leadership” through the United Nations.  When I began that series, I didn’t even understand what “Reconciliation” entailed.  But I learned it was actually conflict management - dealing with areas of minor skirmishes such as the Philippines and Kosovo, etc.  And here I learned that the principles of conflict management were not only applicable in international conflicts, but also inter-personal conflicts, and even internal conflicts.  You hear people doing all kinds of training for internal stress, but I have never heard anyone taking any training for internal conflicts.  (Sigh)

Just as we were lacking in Conflict Management in 2003, so too we are lacking in it today.  That is why we are defined by our divisiveness.  That is why a demagogue such as Trump can master the art of creating conflict in order to control. 

Just as I found us lacking in these Democratic Skills in 2003, I’ve been putting up with that lack for these 20 years.  The main principle of American Democracy is that the majority wins.  If the majority is uneducated in critical analysis, compassion and empathy, insistent of outsourcing their ethics and justice principles, and lacking in conflict management, it is only natural that a demagogue such as Trump will be able to coalesce a majority.  It’s only natural that it will happen at some time.  And, lo and behold, that time is Now – just as Pogo’s statement is True:  “We have met the enemy, and the enemy is Us.” 

So this election did not surprise me.  As I mentioned, we have discovered that the problem is not just Trump, but with our uneducated society – uneducated in the Skills of Democracy. 

Note:  for both the Obama/McCain/Palin election and the Trump/Hillary election I performed a correlative analysis showing the States that went to which candidate as a correlation to that State’s ranking educationally - 1 through 50.  Of the top 15 States educationally, all but 2 or 3 went to the Progressive candidates; and of the bottom 15 States educationally, all but 2 or 3 went to the Conservative candidates – for both elections. 

After reading all kinds of analysis by the various politicos, I have yet to see one social critic suggest the long-term solution of trying to educate our society in my list of Democracy Skills.  (Sigh)

Enough. 

Now you know why I was not surprised by the election’s outcome.  I’ve had over 20 years of preparation for this time. 

As a solid example of the need for these skills even today – consider the situation in Gaza.  1)  Lack of critical analysis; 2) lack of compassion and empathy; 3) Lack of personal ethical principles and justice principles; and 4) lack of conflict management skills.  QED.

David

 

 

 

Resiliency Cost

Time, effort, energy, money, and all the other resources that will be necessary to expend in order to bring a community back to its condition before a disaster.  Imagine what the Resiliency Cost will  be for this  community in Spain.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/31/world/gallery/flash-flooding-spain/index.html

Note especially the picture of the cars piled up blocking a tunnel.

One type of Resiliency Cost – Gainful employment.  How many people will be out of a job, with no income, because their place of employment is destroyed?  How many people will be unable to work and thus will have no income for an extended period of time while they try to rebound?

What will it take for each individual, with the myriad of individual nuances of problems, to rebount to where they are equal to what they were before the disaster?  What will it take for the community to rebound?  What is the area underneath the curve of the Resiliency Curve from the time of the disaster to the time of the rebound?

Empathy is not a feeling – it is an understanding.  Understand the problems of Resiliency and you will learn empathy.

 

 UN General Assembly condemns the US economic embargo of Cuba for a 32nd year

    

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to condemn the American economic embargo of Cuba for a 32nd year after its foreign minister strongly criticized the Biden administration and expressed hope a new president would end it.

The vote in the 193-member world body was 187-2, with only the United States and Israel against the resolution, and one abstention. It tied the record for support for the Caribbean nation first reached in 2019 and again last year.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez blamed the U.S. government’s “maximum pressure policy” aimed at depriving Cuba of the imported fuel it relies on for a widespread blackout this month, including when Hurricane Oscar lashed the island.

“President Joseph Biden’s administration usually claims that its policy is intended to ‘help and support the Cuban people,’” he said. “Who would believe such an assertion?”

General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, but they reflect world opinion, and the vote has given Cuba an annual stage to demonstrate that the U.S. stands apart in its decades-old efforts to isolate the Caribbean nation.

Cuba has struggled with one of the worst economic and energy crises in its history. Besides waves of blackouts, citizens are frustrated over food shortages and inflation. Hundreds of thousands have migrated, many headed to the United States.

The embargo was imposed in 1960 following the revolution led by Fidel Castro and the nationalization of properties belonging to U.S. citizens and corporations. Two years later, it was strengthened.

In July 2016, then-Cuban President Raul Castro and then-President Barack Obama officially restored relations, and that year the U.S. abstained on the resolution calling for an end to the embargo for the first time. But Obama’s successor, Donald Trump, sharply criticized Cuba’s human rights record, and in 2017 the U.S. again voted against the resolution, and it has ever since.

U.S. deputy ambassador, Paul Folmsbee, told the assembly that the United States strongly supports the Cuban people’s pursuit of a future that respects human rights and fundamental freedoms.

“Sanctions are one element of our broader effort to advance democracy and promote respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in Cuba,” he said.

He noted that about 1,000 political prisoners have been unjustly detained in Cuba, more than at any point in Cuba’s recent history.

Folmsbee said U.S. sanctions exempt food, medicine and other basic goods and that the U.S. exported nearly $336 million in agricultural products and authorized additional humanitarian exports last year.

In May, the U.S. lifted some financial restrictions against Cuba in an effort to boost private businesses on the island. That included allowing independent entrepreneurs to open and access U.S. bank accounts online to support their businesses as well as steps to open up more internet-based services and expand private companies’ ability to make certain financial transactions.

Rodriguez said that under Biden’s presidency, Cuba has lost more than $16 billion and that measures announced in the last year “as alleged palliatives” to the embargo are not effective.

Noting next week’s U.S. presidential election, the Cuban minister said the winner will have the opportunity to decide whether to continue “the inhumane siege measures of the last six decades” or heed an increasing number of Americans and an overwhelming majority of nations “and allow our country to develop its true potential and capabilities.”

Rodriguez said Cuba will defend its “right to build an independent, socialist future.”

But he also said Cuba is willing “to hold a serious and responsible dialogue and move on towards a constructive and civilized relationship” with the new U.S. administration.

Israel Bans UNRWA When Most Needed

UNRWA's services have expanded over the years to include education, health care, relief, social services, infrastructure, and emergency response. The agency operates in five areas: Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem

NOW (10/2024)

The Israeli Knesset has passed a bill banning UNRWA from operating in Israel and another bill that will likely scale back aid distribution across war-ravaged Gaza.

The Knesset passed the laws despite strong international condemnation.

The humanitarian system in Gaza could collapse completely if Israel implements legislation banning the UN Relief and Works Agency from operating there, warns UNICEF spokesperson James Elder, who says the decision "means that a new way has been found to kill children." Gaza's health, education and water systems all rely on UNRWA, and no other humanitarian group can replace the organization, Norwegian Refugee Council Secretary-General Jan Egeland says.

What will the bills do?

One bill makes it illegal for Israeli officials to have any contact with UNRWA. The second prohibits UNRWA from conducting activities within Israel’s borders (which includes Gaza) – a rule that will come into effect in three months.

This will make it impossible for the agency to obtain any entrance permits to operate in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip – both of which are under Israeli control.

It will also make it impossible for the agency to transport assistance through Israeli territory to Palestinians in need. (Note: Israel controls all access by air, land and water in Palestine)

Why is Israel passing these bills?

This is not the first time UNRWA has come under pressure from Israeli authorities.

In January, Israeli authorities accused UN workers of participating in the October 7, 2023, attacks on southern Israel. This resulted in countries cutting funding to UNRWA, including Australia, Austria, Britain, Canada, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Romania, Switzerland and the United States.

After a UN oversight body investigated UNRWA staff involvement in the attacks, nine UNRWA staff members were fired in August.

At the time, UN spokesperson Farhan Haq stated: “We have sufficient information … to take the actions that we’re taking – which is to say, the termination of these nine individuals.”

What is UNRWA?

UNRWA is the main humanitarian organisation in Gaza and the West Bank and also operates in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

It was established by the UN General Assembly in 1949 after the 1948 Nakba to protect and assist Palestinians ethnically cleansed from their homes.

It became operational on May 1, 1950, and since then has helped generations of refugees, many of whom still live in camps.

It provides education, healthcare, social services and emergency relief to people living in refugee camps in the Palestinian territory, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.

How many people does it serve?

In the past 70 years, roughly six million Palestinians have relied on UNRWA’s support.

According to UNRWA’s website: “In 2021, almost 545,000 children were enrolled in UNRWA schools (2021-2022 school year); Social Safety Net Programme assistance reached 398,044 beneficiaries; and 1.7 million received life-saving humanitarian assistance.”

What services does it offer Palestinians?

UNRWA delivers crucial humanitarian aid and protection to millions of registered Palestinian refugees.

Aside from emergency relief and year-round assistance that the impoverished population needs to survive, UNRWA offers primary healthcare and mental health support.

Its services also include schools where more than half a million children were studying before Israel launched its war on Gaza on October 7, 2023.

Among the projects it oversees, UNRWA also tries to provide employment opportunities, microfinance programmes and support to Palestinians who want to develop income-generating initiatives

Many UNRWA operations are in Palestinian refugee camps, but it does not build, own or operate any camps, and it provides humanitarian services both in and outside camps, to any Palestinian in need.

What healthcare facilities does UNRWA oversee?

UNRWA clinics see about 8.5 million patient visits a year to 144 healthcare centres.

It also employs more than 3,300 healthcare staff, which makes it a significant employer in the Palestinian health sector.

What other social services does UNRWA provide?

UNRWA’s social services programmes include schemes from helping women enter the workforce to supporting people with disabilities.

It runs several skills training programmes, both vocational and professional.

Much in the same vein of its employment of Palestinians in the healthcare sector, UNRWA itself provides employment opportunities to the Palestinians who staff its centres, which offer things from training women in traditional crafts, sewing, knitting and embroidery to physical rehabilitation centres for injured Palestinians or Palestinians living with a disability.

 

 

 

Give me a person who discusses

When I was young, the only non-religious magazine that I ever remember having around the house was “The Reader’s Digest”.  Later, after developing my own world view, and philosophy and ideas about religion, I would question whether it was “non-religious” or not.  (Smile)  But one of the segments in the Digest I remember to this day was a “column” called “Give me a man who reads”.  I believe it was from the viewpoint of a boss looking for good workers and it might have been an ad rather than an editorial comment.

I am at a point in my life where I would like say, “Give me a person who discusses” – who discusses ideas and concepts.  There is a saying that goes:  “Small minds discuss people; average minds discuss events; and above average minds discuss ideas and concepts.”  It doesn’t matter if this quote came from Eleanor Roosevelt or not.  (In the sharing and resonating of wisdom, the source doesn’t matter.)  And I’m old enough not to care if identifying with “above average minds” is politically incorrect and elitist. 

I want to discuss with someone the difference between intelligence and wisdom.  I want to discuss the differences between a World View, a Philosophy, and a Religion.  I want to discuss multiple intelligences.  I want to discuss Essays from the book “Great American Essays – 2024”.  I want to discuss “How the mind works”.  I want to discuss the cleaving of Capitalism from Democracy.  I want to discuss American Democracy from other Democracies.  I want to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of other countries’ Parliaments, or their health systems, or their educational systems.  I want to discuss the issues of Sustainability – especially living in the State of Florida where the Governor has decreed that there be no official references to the concept of “Climate Change” and it’s irony as being one of the States most affected by it.  I want to discuss each of the 16 United Nations Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs).  Give me a person who can talk about the good things being done by United Nations through the civil sectors and Non Government Organizations (NGOs) rather than their broken system of the government sector.  I want to discuss how our memories work.    I want to discuss relationships.  Give me a person who wants to discuss religion without trying to convince or convert.  Give me a person who wants to discuss philosophies (and religions) by resonating with their good parts rather than identifying their faults. 

Give me a person who  will post their own ideas on FaceBook rather than just post a copy and paste of something said by someone else. 

Give me a person who discusses. 

David Kimball

 

UN Sustainability Development Goals Graphics

In the year 2000, the United Nations began their Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – a list of 8 identifiable, measurable goals – to tackle the problem of poverty in the Least Developed Countries.  These goals included cutting the number of people in extreme poverty (less than $1.25 a day) by 50%; primary schooling for all boys and girls; reducing child mortality by 2/3; etc.  These goals were to be attained in 15 years – 2015 – this year.

Many of these goals were reached.  Extreme poverty was actually reduced by 50% by the year 2010 – 5 years ahead of the goal period.  Other goals were not met but were close to being met.  Of those that were not met, they came closer to being met than if the goals had never been set.  As a result, the MDGs have been a tremendous success

Now in 2015 the United Nations is migrating from an emphasis of the MDGs to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the years 2015 to 2030.  These SDGs will be for the entire world – the Most Developed Countries as well as the Least Developed Countries – such as the United States and Australia.  There are 16 major SDGs which will be presented to the full body of the United Nations in September for their official approval. 

The success of the MDGs was primarily the result of the collaborative work of the Non Government Organizations (NGOs), the civil society sector, with the UN Agencies of UNICEF, UNESCO, WHO, etc.  However the success of the SDGs will require the collaborative efforts of all sectors of society – government, business, civil society, and education.  These 16 SDGs present a good all-inclusive set of goals that cover the broad spectrum of what is included in the label “Sustainability”. 

(I should mention that the United Nations has defined Sustainability as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”  Another way to look at Sustainability is “What do we need to do today to insure that we are just as viable 50 years from now?” 

I have created and attached a graphic which lists the 16 Sustainable Development Goals in an attractive, artistic way.  These include the currently identified problems of water, climate change, income distribution, oceans, sustainable cities, etc.  

Enjoy

World Peace Promoted Most by Non Religious

In today’s (January 6, 2015) The Guardian, there is an editorial entitled “If Peace On Earth is Our Goal, Atheism Might Be the Means to That End” by Adam Lee.  It is a great article revealing several results of various polls on religious societies and non-religious societies throughout the world.  The comments are sufficient themselves to press their points so I am just going to excerpt quotes from it.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/06/peace-on-earth-atheism?CMP=ema_565

“In America, millennials are the largest and least religious generation in the country’s history. The trend toward secularization in the US mirrors the movement in Europe and throughout the developed world. And poll after poll have shown that the nonreligious also lean more progressive and more pacifist on a wide variety of issues relating to violence: torture, the death penalty, corporal punishment, military adventurism and more.”

“A Pew poll from 2009, well before the Senate released its devastating torture report last month, asked whether torturing suspected terrorists could be justified found that the non-religious were most opposed to torture, with a combined 55% saying that it could rarely or never be justified. Gallup has also found that people with no religious preference are less supportive of the death penalty than any group of Christians. The non-religious are also among the most likely to say the invasion of Iraq was a mistake. The religiously unaffiliated are also less likely than Christians to believe that the US is superior to all other countries in the world, a hyper-patriotic attitude that’s hardly conducive to careful reflection about the use of American military power.”

“Religion’s violent tendencies also tend to be reflected in its adherents’ personal lives. The social scientists Christopher Ellison and Darren Sherkat found that conservative Protestants disproportionately support the use of corporal punishment, such as spanking or whipping, for children. The researchers speculate that this stems from theology: Christians who promote a literal interpretation of the Bible tend to believe that human nature is inherently evil, and that sin demands severe punishment. What’s more, the Bible itself (among itsmany other bloody verses) specifically calls for beating children in verses such asProverbs 13:24. (By contrast, freethinkers like the famous American orator Robert Ingersoll recognized the cruelty of corporal punishment as early as 1877.)”

“As long as humanity was in thrall to the violent morality of religious texts, our societies were warlike and cruel. As the American revolutionary Thomas Paine said, belief in a cruel god makes a cruel man. It’s only in the last few decades, as we’ve begun to cast these beliefs off, that we’re making real moral progress.”

“The influence of the non-religious shows is also evident on an international scale. The nonprofit group Vision of Humanity publishes an annual Global Peace Index, which ranks countries on a broad spectrum of indicators, including violent crime, incarceration rates, weapon ownership, and military spending. Sociologist Phil Zuckerman summarizes their results in his new book Living the Secular Life:”

“...according to their most recent rankings, among the top ten most peaceful nations on earth, all are among the least God-believing – in fact, eight of the ten are specifically among the least theistic nations on earth. Conversely, of the bottom ten – the least peaceful nations – most of them are extremely religious.”

The article goes on to say that not all religious people are violent, and not all non-religious people are non-violent.  But it mentions that Unitarians and Quakers especially have “played an important role in peace movements”.  The article also mentions that there are “prominent atheists like Sam Harris and the late Christopher Hitchens who have been entirely too cavalier about imperialism and military aggression.” 

The article ends with, “But in general, the trend is that, as the world becomes less religious, we can expect it to become even more peaceful.”

David Kimball