catching up
by So many people want to do the right thing. With enough awareness, we start to see the world of injustices embedded around us. We might think, “all I need to …
Category: essay
thought experiments
after the pilot
In 2003, the TV miniseries Battlestar Galactica premiered in the united states. Battlestar Galactica is a gritty science fiction series set in a politically complicated universe. The concept of the …
power and the harm of “we”
Another heatwave hit Seattle last week. It was mild compared to so many places in the world. I complained as the heat and smoke descended, a regular marker now for …
how do we learn?
Last week, wildfires swept the region of Maui known as Lahaina. This is a place of great significance to kama’aina, or Native Hawaiians, everywhere. Before the u.s. government conquered and …
escape the spreadsheet
June is LGBTQIA+ Pride month in most of the united states. This is great news for people who want to sell things to us! I’ll back up. There’s a joke …
visions of safety
Last year I joined a coalition of small-business owners whose members are LGBTQIA+. They recently advertised a forum on community safety. Safety is a high-priority topic in most major cities …
gentlemen’s disagreements
Throughout his term, Barack Obama had a call for the activists agitating for change. He recalled what Franklin Roosevelt told his activists pushing for their own reforms. FDR said, “I …
the destructive nature of self-preservation
Everything in the universe is in a constant state of change. The change can be imperceptible like the flowing water of a river. Or it may be more like the …
the platinum rule
The Golden Rule is a central Christian tenet for most practitioners. For the unfamiliar the saying means (roughly), “treat others how you yourself want them to treat you.” Professor Leonard …
three tales of courage
Last week, I said that our success in a system often means it’s tilted towards us. What I mean to say is that the systems that we live, work, and …