What happens when passions run so high that common sense and civil discourse are impossible?


In The Submission, author Amy Waldman takes on that question.  A memorial to the victims of a terrorist attack in New York is being planned 10 years after the incident.  A jury reviews anonymous submissions for the design and chooses a winner.  When it is revealed that the winning designer is a Muslim American, passions erupt fueled by an aggressive press.

In the hullabaloo that follows, civility and common sense are lost, vision wavers, positions change, intentions are swamped in chaos.


Waldman tells her story through specific characters including members jury, representatives of the victim families, reporters, political leaders, political activists, and the designer.  Everyone has an agenda and everyone weighs in.

In the end...well, you have to read it for yourself to see how it ends.

As I read this book, the tragedy of Sandy Hook happened and quickly propelled us into a discussion of guns and gun control and that discussion has become wildly overheated.  This book tells a good story and offers a valuable warning.  We all need to pay attention to how we are manipulated, to who is pulling the strings, and to what we have to gain or lose.  Most of all, we all need to dial it down a notch.

Give Yourself This Gift!

'Tis, after all, the season for giving and from all appearances, we are in a perfect giving frenzy.  So, it may seem odd to suggest that a good gift to give yourself right now might be something called "the 29-day gift challenge."  On one hand, we are utterly obsessed with gift giving so where's the challenge? On the other hand, we are totally overwhelmed with gift giving so why do we need more of a challenge just now?

Here is the answer to both questions.  Just now, particularly just now, when we are consumed with giving gifts, we are probably doing both the giving and receiving unconsciously.  We have our lists and we are power shopping to get as much as we can at the lowest price possible.

This challenge is to give one gift each day and to do it consciously, just because.  Like the police officer in New York City who gave the homeless guy boots and shoes.  He saw a need and stepped up.

Oh, put away your credit cards.  This giving is not about money, although it could be.  This is very, very simple.  You just consciously give something each day for 29 consecutive days. And, write something about what you gave and who you gave to.

None of this needs to be complicated.  You just make a commitment to be mindful and look for giving opportunities throughout the day.  It can be as simple as a smile or as expansive as you choose.  Then you just make a note of it on your calendar or in a notebook or on you smart phone. "Gave smile and thanks to the sales clerk who checked me out today."

It's that simple.  And, you can up the ante just a little, if you are so inclined.  You can actually sign up for the 29-day Giving Challenge.  It's quick and easy and you can read stories of other people who have taken the challenge.  You can even download a free calendar page to track your progress.  You can enhance your experience by writing just a little more about your giving experience.

You can even get a copy of the book, 29 Gifts - How a Month of Giving Can Change Your Life, by Cami Walker.  Walker has multiple sclerosis and embarked on this challenge herself as part of her healing.  She was not healed in the traditional sense, but her life was transformed.  The 29-day Giving Challenge evolved from her experience.

I signed up because I want to open myself to some fundamental changes in my life.  I hope you will, too.  The worst that can happen is that you will make the world a little better place for 29 days.  That is not a bad downside.

If you decide to take the challenge, I hope you will stop back here and let us know.  You could consider your comments on this blog as one of your gifts.  I would deeply appreciate hearing from you!

Why I Want Big Government

If you are under 50 years old, you may not remember a time when government functioned pretty well and people went into government service as a calling.  In fact, these days it is a radical act just to suggest that such a time ever existed.

But, Government is what stands between you and the rascals who would happily fleece you at every turn.  Whether it is big industry dumping waste into public waters or big banks making off with your pensions, government is the only protection the mass of average citizens have and it should be big enough and strong enough to do the job.

In the ‘80s, Ronald Regan began the process of making government the cause of whatever was not working.  In The Wrecking Crew, Thomas Frank explains how Conservatives have systematically destroyed vital government services by putting them in the hands of utter incompetents and then complaining bitterly that they don't work.

As a result, Frank says, we expect little of government service providers and less of elected representatives.  By positioning themselves as perpetual "outsiders" (even when they have a conservative president and control of the Congress), Conservatives are never accountable for failures.  They simply don’t bother attempting to solve problems.  Whatever does not work is always the fault of someone else.  Failure is just a problem of not taking Conservative laissez faire principles far enough.

It has been a good strategy and it has worked up to now.  But, Thomas Frank and others are pulling away the curtain revealing the dirty tricks hiding in the dark.  Once you see it, you can never go back.

(Author’s Note:  I wrote this a couple of weeks ago, well before we started hearing predictions for Hurricane Sandy.  I remember that after the destruction of Irene last year, Republicans (notably Paul Ryan and Eric Cantor) wanted to “negotiate” for FEMA funding to provide aid to victims by trading other services for disaster relief.  Immediately after Sandy, I heard one little blip of that suggestion and then nothing.  Apparently, they decided that holding disaster victims hostage for political gain just before the election was not a good idea!  Negotiating relief in the face of disaster, however, is not longer unthinkable.  It is an idea that will be back.)

So now, how do you feel about the role of government in your life?  Do you believe government can work better for all of us?  What would it take to make that happen?