morality

Sing the Human, Electric

“It is not our difference that divides us.
It is our inability to recognize, accept and celebrate those differences”
~Audre Lorde

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We live in an era in which our individual and collective identities appear to have taken on an increased importance in their presumed ability to establish who we are—and who we believe we are not. But who are we really? Whomever we decide to be, we tend to construct such stories in terms of what we have come to call identity politics. Take a look at these “food for thought” articles related to this issue.  Then consider some of the ramifications of such methods of self-recognition and, indeed, self-creation.

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Hobbits & Hooligans

What kind of voter are you?

Just curious, do you consider yourself a Hobbit, a Hooligan or a Vulcan? Not sure?  Well, are you politically well informed?  Do you perhaps vote in accordance with your best buds, your BFFs, your clan, your family, friends or grossly defined political party (largely disregarding the issues associated with a particular candidate)?  You wouldn’t by chance make a habit of either choosing a candidate without even knowing who or what you are voting for or (perhaps more likely) do you not vote at all?  If you recognize yourself in two of these three descriptions, according to political philosopher Jason Brennan, you should be excluded from the voting rosters of your community.

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Feel Better

We believe in the power of stories to help us learn from and better understand one another and serve as a reminder that there is more that unites us than divides us.

500 Pens

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Last week, we posted a “feel good” story about free medical tuition.  If you could use another dose of feel good, maybe even on a regular basis, check out 500 Pens which describes itself as an “anti hate news project”.  Organized around the values of inclusion, opportunity and respect, 500 pens seeks “to produce honest and compelling content that encourages readers to care, connect and act”.

To get a better sense of who is behind 500 pens, read through their About page.  Even better, if you really want to know what they have to offer, read through some of their articles.  Perhaps you might discover a place of continued rejuvenation.

Big

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Sometimes, size matters.  Sometimes, we can only accurately define “size” within specific contexts. Most times, the situation is not about “size” per se but something considerably more profound. This post is a bit different from what usually appears on this blog.  It is meant to be heuristic rather than specifically informative. This is to suggest, that as you work through the superficially different videos below, ideally, you will come away with an integrated idea that no one video presents on its own.  Hopefully, you will develop ideas regarding large and small actions in the world, actions which uniquely apply to your own life situations. As always, as has been a major orientation of this blog, indoctrination is not the goal, but rather, expanding opportunities for personal enablement through information and imagination. So imagine this … (more…)