| This election season has all the trappings of a spy novel. Villains who might be good guys or actors or who might just be crazy. It almost doesn’t matter. If you are with the red or blue tribe and you had power and influence over the past 50 years as the middle class shrank you either were knee-capping the government, trying to knee-cap the other guy or watching helplessly as it all went down around you. Actually no matter what your allegiance was you were probably nearly helpless in the face of big dollars, twisted leadership and mis-information. This election is between people who want to revive the flawed USA and those who are want to sell it off like the USSR was, ironically, to Russia, multinational companies or to anyone else who thinks shoppers or citizens with captured minds assure an easy future. Here at wrwk we know that our future comes from minds busy creating a future, not locked up in the past. As a member of the media on the planet where all this is taking place we just want to keep it real. We can fix things in the USA or take an off ramp though to fix things we may have to suspend our egos and unplug from our tribes to some degree. What are the alternatives to really doing the work? An apocalypse promoted by folks who just want to grab a little on the way out, since its going to burn up anyway Nihilism peddled by monied interest who don’t want to change anything Magical leaders who will lead us out of the challenge into their monetized world of human desires. Not real choices. Now that everyone but us can see inside out heads, it is time for us to take a look, meet and tame our inner hate and fear before it is used against us. It’s a bootstrap operation. We all have to muster our inner superman superwoman and find the meaningful life that balances challenge, work and outcomes. Spoiler alert you may not get to enjoy the finished thing but end up passing it on to your kids.Be doing what you do because it is worth doing. In the meantime, WRWK will continue to bring listeners more stories of people and groups who help make the world work. Life is about life, and all the parts that make it possible. Humans have gained the power to alter the planet and life on it. The question is – will we rise to the moment, own our power and be a useful part of life or indulge our way to oblivion. Then there’s the election where we get to choose between the 242 year old attempt at human self management and a developer who speaks to our inner two-year old, our fear of the unfamiliar and our longing for a magic way out. May we think beyond ourselves and be a part of the 2022 turn-around. Ron WRWK theworkfm.org We welcome your feedback at feedback2wrwk@gmail.com You can send us some love/$ Here Closing and notes:None of these ideas are mine, I just cobble them together into a mosaic that describes for me an understanding of our situation, it’s depth and breadth, and some ideas for a way through this moment.If you’d like more background on any of these ideas I have prepared a list of resources that range from a dip into despair to a potential moral revival. Political outcome study updatehttps://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/race-class-and-social-welfare-american-populism-since-the-new-deal-by-erik-j-engstrom-and-robert-huckfeldt-new-york-cambridge-university-press-2020-199p-11000-cloth/72D167B5FBFEDF7193E6D7059095D944Shrinking middle class:https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/04/20/how-the-american-middle-class-has-changed-in-the-past-five-decades/ FCC’s role in society: EXCERPT FROM https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/mediaIn Near v. Minnesota, 283 U.S. 697 (1931), the Supreme Court determined that it is unconstitutional to exercise prior restraint with regard to print publications: “It is plain, then, that the language of this amendment imports no more than that every man shall have a right to speak, write, and print his opinions upon any subject whatsoever, without any prior restraint, so always that he does not injure any other person in his rights, person, property, or reputation, and so always that he does not thereby disturb the public peace or attempt to subvert the government. What happened to the economy?https://youtu.be/PVNdvkXTe1E Apocalypse, a revelation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocalypse apocalypticism: a handy rationale for those who are tired by the though of having to be good for extended periods. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocalypticism the next chapter, after we conquer our selves: https://www.flowgenomeproject.com/ living with intentional goodnesshttps://youtu.be/b5BVVZzhFYw Preview YouTube video Wealth & Poverty Class 1: “What’s Happened to Income & Wealth” by UC Berkeley Professor Reich (2022)  Wealth & Poverty Class 1: “What’s Happened to Income & Wealth” by UC Berkeley Professor Reich (2022) Preview YouTube video Jamie Wheal on Finding Meaning at the End of the World | The Mindspace Podcast #33 Jamie Wheal on Finding Meaning at the End of the World | The Mindspace Podcast #33 |
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