LET’S BE BETTER INFORMED…AND HELP FAMILY, FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES

We’re bombarded with too many words, memes, slogans and examples of campaign jargon. Often confusing…often meant to confuse. Too much buzz and noise. Partisan bias creates an interpretive challenge and often makes thoughtful discourse and constructive problem-solving difficult, if not impossible.

Let me pose a few of these words and subjects for our consideration. Note your level of understanding as you initially engage, and see if/how that expands as your awareness grows. Consider how your practical experience complements a simpler dictionary definition. Read on. Thanks for joining me.

DEI

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion…Our conservative brethren (and sisteren) are threatened by all that these words represent. They fear an empowered citizenry that might dilute their dominance and power. They refuse to appreciate that our (their) Country was settled and developed by a diversity of immigrants…with various cultural and religious backgrounds. Much more than Anglo Christian identities.

NOTE: My wife and I were members of an Advisory Board for UT-Austin’s Division of Diversity and Community Engagement. We learned much about the wonderful diversity of UT’s faculty and students. This is one of the DEI programs ordered closed by Gov. Abbott. An enlightened voting citizenry will eliminate Abbott and his ilk in the near future, and progressive programs such as DDCE will be reinstated.

EQUIVALENCE

Too many uninformed folks acted as if there was some “equivalence” between Biden and Trump, and there are those who now project this equivalence between Harris and Trump. They’re not…not even remotely. Just look at the many credible fact-based comparisons of Harris’s and Trump’s backgrounds and records. Minimal research will clarify this tremendous difference in capability. Harris/Walz trumps Trump/Vance in most any category. In this case, NO equivalence…

FLIP-FLOP POSITIONS

Political candidates and elected reps are often criticized for changing their positions (flip flopping) on controversial issues. This can often be due to lack of knowledge in the first place. However, in many positive circumstances, minds and positions are changed as knowledge is gathered and a more informed approach is developed. So, in many cases, “flip-flopping” is a good thing.

WOKE

To be “woke” is to be socially aware, to be informed, and to be a willing participant in the process of community and democracy building. Right-wing partisans are threatened by this informed counter to their anachronistic and inflexible conservatism. So, LET’S BE WOKE!

HOPE!

Wow! What a time in our nation’s history. We are being tested as seldom before. All systems are suspect, and we’ve got lots of work to do. Government at every level, our schools, healthcare, social constructs, systems of equity and justice. All need our care, commitment, leadership and love. Yes, Love. We’ve got to open hearts and minds as we reach across aisles and other barriers, real and imagined, to regain our communal balance and rebuild this amazing Country.

The recent significant turn in our political affairs gives us HOPE…as we see a majority of fellow citizens of all persuasions who are tired of fear, hate and social paralysis…ready to join together for better. Yes, we now have HOPE! But hope must be complemented by constructive action…that starts with our Friend In The Mirror. I truly believe we’re ready. I am. Join me…