WOSU 2/19/2010

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wosu/news.newsmain/article/0/0/1614200/Opinion/Unhappy.With.Your.Government.Look.in.the..Mirror

We hear a lot about government waste these days. I mean, it isn’t exactly a new sentiment but with the current levels of corporate welfare, the populous anger and the 24 hour news cycle (who’s always ready and willing to add fuel to the fire); well, I feel like there’s just no hope for our government.

Just like Howard Beale in the movie Network: “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!”

Thing is, I can’t bring myself to blame my representatives any more than I blame myself. As a citizen I play an important role in our democracy. That means that I’m equally responsible for this mess – and I’m happy to share the responsibility with all of my fellow Americans.

You see, we’ve all created this situation. Not just through our votes but through our daily actions. Over time we’ve developed a national identity that boasts how we’re better off when markets compete; when we compete. We believe so wholly in this market identity that we no longer consider ourselves citizens, we are consumers. As consumers we compete with each other and whoever dies with the most toys wins.

Our pursuit of happiness is so consuming that we turn a blind eye when that pursuit tramples over our neighbor’s happiness. As they say in reality TV, “I didn’t come here to make friends, I’m here to win.” Outsmart, outwit and outlast is often more like out-lie or out-cheat – oh, and get out without getting caught. Like the drug abuse in athletics; the infidelity and graft of the powerful or the banks’ abuse of bailout money – our zealous competitive spirit is setting the nation’s course.

Competition is also the basis of our love affair with free enterprise. This love is such that often you hear the plea to run government like a business. Businesses don’t have to worry about being harassed on the Sunday morning talk shows or dragged into court for every decision they make. Entrepreneurs are hailed as superheroes because of their ability to take on risk like taking a breath of air. We forgive their failures with our bankruptcy laws because we believe they’ll get it right next time. So surely that would solve the problems of waste and corruption.

Only; in our role as citizens we aren’t comfortable with risk and we don’t trust swift decisions. We punish failure instead of forgiving it. We demand transparency and accountability. All of this is very un-business-like. We actually demand the very bureaucracy we decry; mockingly we say, “I’m with the government, and I’m here to help.”

But we are a government of the people, by the people and for the people. So let’s accept the responsibility assigned to us and instead roll up our sleeves, pitch in to help each other and honestly proclaim, “I’m the government too and together we are the help our nation needs.”

WOSU 1/13/2010

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wosu/news.newsmain/article/4/0/1598504/Opinion/Casino.Debate.Forms.Strange.Alliances.

Casino free Columbus has a nice ring to it doesn’t it? Ok, maybe not everyone feels that way. In fact, the holidays are the perfect time to get together with family and discuss all of those things you can’t agree on – especially politics.

For clarity let me explain that my relatives are pretty conservative while I am decidedly not. So it was a happy moment when I realized that all of us were in agreement that we don’t want a casino in Columbus.

The surprise of agreement must have thrown everyone off balance. To regain our footing a new line was drawn – the traditional holiday argument instead became about whether or not we should do something to stop the casino.

Now I am actively working to try and keep Columbus casino free so I am very much for stopping this (or any) casino from being built in Columbus. The primary reason I am against it is that I have yet to see a single example of where a casino has done anything positive for a community here in the Midwest. Casinos simply bring with them too many negatives. Since the constitutional amendment does not require the building of a casino (it merely permits it); I believe there is an opportunity to prevent it.

My family however argues that we shouldn’t try and stop the casino from being built because it’s unfair to stand in the way of a business doing the same thing that the government already does. As my brother-in-law put it, “Ohio has the lottery so what’s the difference?” He then labeled me a hypocrite for not speaking out against the Ohio lottery all of these years. My response was essentially that I don’t agree with the Ohio lottery either.

But the lottery has a significantly smaller negative impact because it doesn’t centralize the gambling and because the generated funds are re-invested into the State.

I’ve always argued that I don’t have a moral issue with gambling which has generally let me be more ambivalent about what I am for and against. However, faced with my brother-in-law’s comment I began thinking about where I really stand on the moral issue. Looking deeper inside myself I found that I am put off by the extreme exploitation of organized gambling. Gambling – particularly casino gambling – is the far edge of capitalism, deriving value purely through exploitation of individual participant’s reserves.

With that I find myself directly in the middle of our age old holiday argument. Here I thought we had moved onto something different. No, no, here I stood, nick-named “Fidel” by my relatives years ago, clutching to my ideal that exploitation is wrong. And there, on the other side of the Christmas tree, stand my relatives firmly espousing the purity of the market and the holiness of exploiting the weak.

WOSU 11/30/2009

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wosu/news.newsmain?action=section&SECTION_ID=4

During a recent meeting for one of my community projects I had a side conversation about the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference. As you might expect we talked about the environment and our little efforts to save it; turning off lights and such, and how the poor economy has added incentive. When I get together with friends and talk about saving money and energy it can often turn into preaching to the choir.

This time though my friend changed the conversation and asked, “How is your internal climate changing?”

How is my internal climate changing? I don’t even know what my internal climate is? I thought about these things for several days after our talk. I had no quick answer to this one.

Not having a quick answer was in fact a clue to how my internal climate had been changing.

You see, I have always been fairly – ok very – opinionated. In the past I have been quick to provide a response to any number of topics based on my pre-disposed opinion.

Changing that behavior hasn’t been easy, but it appears to be happening. The current structure of our society doesn’t help because we reward ourselves for quick answers and cemented opinions.

For example; prior to the last election, at one of the city council forums, this question was raised:

“Do you think global warming is a man made phenomenon?”

On the surface this seems like a totally valid question; one that might even have a clear yes or no answer. Give a “yes” or a “no” and you are guaranteed to put yourself on one side or the other of the global warming debate. The reward is that you are now in the exclusive group of people willing to answer that question the same way as yourself. Just maybe that group will clinch the votes you need to be elected.

Unfortunately, through the process of grouping ourselves – creating us’s and them’s – we build barriers to actually accomplishing anything. Instead of finding ways to make the world better for all we become more concerned with one-upping the other team.

That makes this reward hardly a reward at all.

Asking what our internal climate is or how it is changing isn’t so much about coming up with a good metaphorical retort; it is about forcing the mind to discover what is in the heart.

Over the past several days I’ve discovered that my heart desires me to move beyond asking questions that divide. While I may maintain my opinions about climate change it is my internal climate change that is telling me I want to discover the questions that lead to a stronger union between myself and others.

So now it’s your turn. As the world’s leaders meet to try and take action on global climate change, I ask you, “What is your internal climate change?”

WOSU 10/26/2009

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wosu/news.newsmain/article/4/0/1570405/Opinion/The.%27Un-Conference%27.-.A.Perfect.Fit.for.Sharing.Ideas

I have very fond memories of watching Sesame Street and the Electric Company on PBS as a child. After years of watching This Old House I couldn’t wait to move into my first home. It was in that house that I listened to the very first episodes of This American Life on WBEZ, Chicago Public Radio. Now that I’m living here in Columbus I have the chance to not only enjoy WOSU but to be a part of it on air too.

Recently I attended the first national Public Media Camp as a representative of WOSU. The mission of “PubCamp” was to better understand the role of Public Media within the local community; particularly as online media becomes such a major factor in the production and distribution of content.

Because Public Radio and Television have been a constant for me my whole life, it just felt right that I would have a chance to help shape its future. I was honoured to have this opportunity.

PubCamp was held as an unconference. For those of you unfamiliar with this format it is structured in such a way that all attendees are participants. An unconference isn’t a place for presentation; it is a place for meaningful conversation.

The idea is actually very simple, just three basic steps:

• First, get motivated, interested, engaged and knowledgeble Public Media folks together in one space.

• Second, give them an issue to discuss.

• Third, let them determine the right questions and topics necessary to inspire conversations that lead to innovative solutions.

Believe it or not this process works great.

The unconference format is very empowering. It sets the stage for participants to work collaboratively for the common good of the group. For that reason I wasn’t surprised that PubCamp used this format. You see, I truly believe there is a difference between the people working in public broadcasting and commercial broadcasters. Public broadcasters seem to always look for ways to make their community better. For them, the common good of the community is ahead of everything else.

This wasn’t the first time I’ve attended an unconference; I’ve even helped to host a few myself. In every case I’ve walked away feeling like I helped to create something new. Then, just as important for me; I felt like I made some significant connections with other people.

So what would happen if we began solving of all of our community issues in this collaborative, empowering way? Instead of requiring a few willing people to try and figure out the answers to our complex problems, what if we tapped into the community knowledge that already exists?

Now is the time to maximize our collective intelligence and embrace these new conversation techniques. Through meaningful conversation, conversation that welcomes and listens to diverse viewpoints and maximizes participation and civility, we can transform conflict into creative cooperation.

WOSU 9/15/2009

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wosu/news.newsmain/article/4/0/1554721/Opinion/Sticker.Shock.Displays.Lack.of.Civility

Recently my family spent a wonderful afternoon at the Upper Arlington Arts Festival. Walking to our car we talked about the artwork, the friends we bumped into and the tasty ice cream.

As I settled my daughter into her car seat, a family passed slowly by looking for parking. As they passed our car the mother yelled out to us, “Obama is a terrible man. You should be ashamed.”

She obviously spotted our Obama bumper sticker.

A few days later my wife was putting my daughter into the same car when a couple pulled in next to them. The couple waited patiently in their car for my wife to finish. My wife apologized and said she’d be out of their way momentarily. The couple’s response wasn’t quite what she expected.

“We want to make sure you get your lovely daughter buckled in safely; however, your choice in bumper stickers is terrible. Obama is a bad man.”

In 2003 several cars on our street including ours were hit with rocks. We suspect it was because of our John Kerry stickers. That made us consider keeping our politics to ourselves but we don’t want to live in that type of country. However now my wife wants the Obama sticker off the car for fear of what might happen next.

There was a time when I would’ve thought this was crazy talk; but after seeing the unruly crowds turning out for the McCain rallies followed by gun toting anti-health insurance reform protesters, I have to consider what my freedom of speech is worth.

In this case I’m pretty comfortable saying that a bumper sticker isn’t worth the health and safety of my family but, is that how this all starts to crumble?

Consider the case of the LC – the music amphitheater in the Arena District. A well known singer was scheduled to perform. He has lyrics that call for the murder of homosexuals and the desecration of their bodies. This singer doesn’t just sing about these horrifying acts, he has also bragged about beating up homosexuals and was once brought up on charges for attacking gays.

The gay community protested. The LC, after hearing their argument, chose to cancel the show.

While the gay community and others celebrated, others saw it as a violation of free speech.

What I believe is lost on these people is that threatening someone’s opportunity at life and liberty is not an act of free speech but an unprovoked attack.

I’m not sure what happened to civility in our country but I beg our nation’s leaders to help bring it back. Unfortunately, many of those leaders are the very people stoking these fires of division and disrespect.