Category: Social Issues
A is for Atonement
As America continues to grapple with the subject of police reform and racism, it has become increasingly clear that we need change if we are to move past these issues. According to recent polling, the vast majority of Americans would agree with that statement. Do you remember the Disney movie Zootopia, which proclaimed that anyone…
Humility and Prejudice
This past October, I had the opportunity to take a weeklong vacation with my family to Northern California. We saw all the sights of San Francisco, Santa Cruz, and Muir Woods National Monument. When returning back to our hotel in Sacramento from the Bay Area one evening, we stopped to eat at a fast food…
When ‘Live and Let Live’ Became ‘My Way or the Highway’
I believe that kindness remains an overall value of American life. When we participate equally in the American dream, we are able to fight apathy with empathy. It is a value bigger than ourselves, deeply ingrained in our way of life. Foreigners often comment, with varying degrees of discomfort, that Americans tend to smile and…
Justice Can Only be Served if it Feeds All
When Americans talk about justice, we refer to a system where all are presumed innocent until proven guilty. It is a system that, in its only true form, serves everyone equally. When we start making exceptions to that rule, justice becomes a myth. Our criminal justice system has been a patchwork of laws…
Reflections on Truth
If you have a tile or hardwood floor in your home, I have an experiment for you to try. If you are familiar with the visual trick where you close one eye to view something and then close the other eye and the thing you’re viewing appears to move, you will have the basis…
Take This Blue Pill and Call Me in the Morning
In times of planetary crisis, it becomes easier for us to ignore the spectacular planet we call home. Under lockdown and stay-home orders, many of us pine for the great outdoors. We suddenly have so much time and too little to fill it with. Even if you have not experienced the pleasure or misfortune of…
We Have a Conspiracy for That
Have you ever wondered whether NASA faked the moon landings, Hillary Clinton ran a pedophilia ring in the basement of a pizzeria, or the US Government has allowed lizard people to infiltrate us, steal our thoughts and melt our brains? I have some perhaps comforting news (the real kind, not the kind that people yell…
Your Pronouns are My Pronouns
Lost somewhere in the daily deluge of COVID-19 coverage, you can find lesser-known, but still important stories of social interest. Some deserve more light than others. If my blog is to accomplish anything, it is to shine a light in dark recesses where the vulnerable have been hiding. We need a new lens through which…