WOSU 8/31/2009

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wosu/news.newsmain/article/0/0/1549984/news/Shaw.Was.Right..It.Begins.with.Family

George Bernard Shaw wrote; “Perhaps the greatest social service that can be rendered by anybody to this country and to mankind is to bring up a family.” This is a task that my wife and I have gladly taken on.

My wife, myself and my nearly three year old daughter all work together to bring up our family; we work together to accomplish tasks and we all participate in making decisions.

Wait – your three year old daughter helps make decisions?

Well, to be more accurate her participation is both direct and indirectly direct, depending on the situation.

When my wife and I chose to live a healthier lifestyle – even before she was born – our daughter was indirectly directing our family decisions. When deciding how to best spend our time together my daughter always has a say in that; “Daddy, I want you and mommy to come outside and we’ll play tag and make sand soup.”

If I tell her we need to get some groceries she helps to decide if we go to the store first or play first, and whether we take the bicycle, walk or drive.

Family decision making like this is not new or even uncommon. Like many families, we make the most important decisions of our life, the ones related to our family, in such a way as to be inclusive of our whole family’s needs. We do our best to remove individual motive and try to consider all angles.

This is more than just decision making, this is how we organize: based on the situation at hand. My wife, daughter and I are all equal in our family with all of the responsibility and freedom that comes from equality. We all have an opportunity at leadership based on the needs of that moment.

As the father and breadwinner of my family I surely could try and assert dominance but, unlike generations past, I realize I do not have all of the answers. I know that my family’s needs are greater than my own.

For the old “head-of-household” model to work there can’t be equality. That model depends on one person dominating the others. Without equality, selfish desire takes the lead instead of family needs.

The media remind us daily of the effects of selfish desire. Not just at the family level but at the level of communities and countries.

When I consider George Bernard Shaw’s quote I think about how family is the building block of society, how it always has been. How the old ways of command and control have caused so much needless suffering.

So how would our actions affect society if all families are brought up using a model of equality; putting the needs of the whole ahead of selfish desire?

I believe when we do just that we will contribute to the greatest social service ever – the unselfish service of the common good.

WOSU 7/21/2009

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wosu/news.newsmain/article/4/0/1532207/Opinion/Healthcare.Reform.Equals.Economic.Reform

After having my hours cut at work I decided I’d use that time to get a business up and running. Taking lemons and making lemonade is supposedly one path to living the American Dream.

Lemonade anyone?

Unfortunately I had to pause when one of my first thoughts was about paying for healthcare.

This month my family will pay over $500 in medical bills, last month it was a couple hundred. Over the past three years we’ve paid several thousand dollars due to various family health issues.

When I see the bills I take a deep breathe, exhale and think, “Thank god we’ve got insurance.” Then I look at the dwindling bank accounts and try to figure out what can be shifted around to make the payments.

I count myself lucky; my employer provides a group plan. To take advantage of the plan I pay a few hundred dollars a month while my employer pays significantly more. Of course I realize that my employer’s contribution is as much a cost to me as it is to them; if they didn’t pay that portion I might get a raise, but then I would have to pay that amount myself.

If we take a moment to add it all together, the past two months have cost me about $3000 in healthcare. I wish I could say I was getting a lot for my money, but I’m not. Just ask my wife about all the doctors’ appointments I haven’t made; it’s a long list.

There’s a tired old debate that we shouldn’t pay for someone else’s healthcare, that the uninsured or underinsured are that way by choice and it is a personal responsibility issue; by socializing healthcare we are going to cause our taxes to balloon.

Currently about 16% of the US is uninsured, the rest have a hodge-podge of different options. Instead of harnessing the buying power of over 300 million people we have redundant systems upon redundant system failing to meet people’s needs.

Personally, I would argue that we are already paying an excessive tax; my combined current healthcare costs are the equivalent of about 17% of my salary. However, for some reason we still call this a “benefit”. Imagine the savings if we didn’t have all of the redundancies. Now imagine if you didn’t have to worry about paying for healthcare at all.

So let’s consider all of the people like myself who have either lost pay or lost their job all together. Once any of us become self-employed, once we chase after that American Dream, we automatically have to climb the mountain of healthcare costs or go without.

Economists and politicians are pinning the recovery of our economy on plucky entrepreneurs willing to fuel the economic engines. Instead of forcing them to choose between being healthy and helping the economy isn’t it about time we take healthcare out of the equation?

WOSU 6/9/2009

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wosu/news.newsmain/article/0/0/1516429/Opinion/Community.Holds.Us.Together.

Our families and communities are facing greater challenges than we have seen in several generations. When faced with such challenges I find some comfort by looking to our history, for the ideas of our fore fathers.

Consider these wise words written by Walt Whitman about the Civil War.

In his poem States! Whitman wrote; “States! Were you looking to be held together by the lawyers? By an agreement on a paper? Or by arms? Away! I arrive, bringing these, beyond all the forces of courts and arms. These! To hold you together as firmly as the earth itself is held together…”

As you read the full text of Whitman’s poem he doesn’t talk about financial windfalls or victory through the defeat of others. Whitman instead defines the word “These” as friendship, camaraderie, innovation and countless linked hands. “These shall tie and band stronger than hoops of iron, I, ecstatic, O partners! O lands! Henceforth with the love of lovers tie you.”

These are the bonds of community created by our souls.

The current recession has reminded many of us that it is not the agreements on paper that have built the greatest parts of our society; these institutions have been built through the use of collective resources and public funds.

Libraries, schools, community centers and green spaces; food pantries, shelters and free clinics; fire, police and public works departments – these are the institutions that bring us together. They require that you participate in the social exchange which in turn creates community.

Like a potluck, or the story of stone soup, we each contribute one small piece of the recipe to build something much greater than our individual effort could afford. Unfortunately, the common response as of late has been that we are turning our backs on “liberty” – becoming “socialists” by joining such collective efforts.

Whitman answers this in his poem by stating, “The most dauntless and rude shall touch face to face lightly, the dependence of Liberty shall be lovers, the continuance of Equality shall be comrades.”

When we remind ourselves of the history of our nation it is evident that no singular important event happened based on pure individualism, but on a community of individuals working together for the greater good. Standing united, in solidarity, for the sake of community; for the sake of love and compassion. This was the birth of our nation.

My hope is that we listen to those wise words that Walt Whitman put forward; when individuals and community organizations reach out we must meet them with open arms.

In these trying times we must again hold together as firmly as the earth itself.

WOSU 4/27/2009

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wosu/news.newsmain/article/0/0/1498803/Opinion/Jobless..Volunteer.Your.Way.Out.of.Depression

Last week President Obama called for citizens to step up and volunteer. He announced an expansion of the Corporation for National and Community Service as a way to promote these efforts. With millions of people out of work our national happiness index has nose-dived right along side our ability to try and buy happiness.

I wonder, can you volunteer your way out of this recession – and your own depression?

What did people do before the era of the mega-mall, back when we were still called “citizens” as opposed to “consumers”? Many people found volunteerism to be a worthwhile pursuit; and this sentiment is alive and well today.

In fact, Central Ohio boasts one of the top rates of volunteerism in the nation. So what does it take to be a volunteer?

Becoming a volunteer today is easier than ever. Online social networking sites make finding volunteer opportunities simple; however, if you can’t find one that suits you then make your own opportunity. Reach out to your friends and take on an issue not already being dealt with. Just invite a bunch of people over for a potluck or something with the intent of brainstorming some solutions.

How do you have impact? Come up with solutions that focus on the positive, that have an implementation plan and are viable and sustainable. Avoid solutions that rely heavily on someone else to do the work. It’s better to assume those people already have too much work to do; but you, you’ve got time on your hands – so use it!

Sharing your time and skills with a community of people doesn’t have to be as heavy as feeding the hungry, it could just as easily be about creating social opportunities for professionals or sharing your interests and knowledge with others.

Of course that social activity might include feeding the hungry – there’s plenty of room for crossover.

Use volunteering as a way to network within your community and to make positive changes that will benefit the greater good. Just like interviewing for a new job, volunteerism has the best outcome when you focus on the positive and how you are going to benefit others. Also, just like interviewing, you have the opportunity to make a good impression on others.

That good impression just might lead you back to paying work.

Your volunteerism could include using skills you have grown over the years and this is a way to keep those skills fresh. Your volunteerism may also offer you the opportunity to learn new skills; skills that you never had the time to learn in the past. Before you know it you may even have a new career direction.

So instead of sitting at home in a funk looking at the want ads for the 1000th time get out and volunteer! It may just be your first step back towards financial freedom. At the very least it will increase your personal happiness index. These days everyone could use a little more of that!

WOSU 3/3/2009

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wosu/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1476228&sectionID=4

With the passage of the latest economic stimulus package and talk of bank and healthcare nationalization many people fear that the United States is becoming a Socialist country. Having grown up during the Cold War helps me understand this.

Our nation is known for rewarding individualism and mixing together very different cultures and ideas; we are known as the world’s melting pot. However, with the power of the internet and globalization, the digital revolution is taking that over.

This system of efficient communication that cuts across physical, financial and cultural divides has created a global melting pot. A new social movement is bubbling up and it is reflected in the changes around us.

Throw into the pot one part entrepreneurism, one part social responsibility and add a healthy dash of technology-infused-collectivism and, voila!

We have what I like to call Digitalocracy.

Captains of industry and our political leaders will continue to battle over how to solve the global problems facing us. The Digitalocracy just isn’t willing to wait for them anymore.

Instead they are using government and industry resources to develop their own solutions to social and economic problems. Often this results in a mixed social entrepreneurial organization, one which provides both positive social change and a source of revenue.

Consider the website EveryBlock.com. Every Block combines data culled from local government, industry and beyond to build a clear picture of what is happening daily on every major American city block. Beyond providing such useful, hyper-local information, the entrepreneurs behind Every Block are giving the technology away.

Under a type of Open Source Licensing anyone can use the software behind Every Block to create a similar site for little cost. The only requirement is that they adhere to a well defined set of social standards including the promotion of social equality and the free sharing of information.

Through this remix of free data Every Block empowers individuals to make a positive change in their community.

There are thousands of similar examples.

Google and Wikipedia have goals of providing all of the world’s knowledge for free. They clearly state their commitment to doing the right thing for society’s sake which is a concept that many in business and government have long since forgotten.

This social movement isn’t just about entrepreneurship; that is merely one part of it.

The foundation of this social movement is access to resources; the collaboration of individuals, industry, government and non-profits to encourage the free sharing of information for the betterment of the global society.

The Digitalocracy are concerned with transparency in government and industry. They recognize that hierarchy and secrecy are more often harmful than helpful and in the last election they acted as a global electorate to make their will known.

Thankfully the Digitalocracy are a diverse group, there’s no set industry or political affiliation; just a simple familiar mantra. In life you should be honest and do the right thing, always; you will be rewarded.