Fireside Weekly Digest: July 10 Edition

What a sad week it’s been. With the shootings in Baton Rouge, Minnesota, and Dallas, it’s enough to make you want to turn off the TV, stop listening to the radio, and stop reading the news altogether.

I’m afraid, though, that wouldn’t help anything. By keeping up with the news, we’re also reminded that we are called to act with empathy, compassion, and determination when people suffer. The pain we feel can also inspire us to take steps to address problems, even if it’s as simple as reaching out to a loved one who has also been a victim of gun violence, or a call to a friend living in one of the affected areas. The news may be bad, but our reaction to it does not have to be.

The best reporting I’ve seen on the shootings this week comes from Dan Balz of the Washington Post. In his article, Killings and Racial Tensions Commingle with Divided and Divisive Politics he writes:

In its totality, the week of gunfire and fallen bodies and videos too graphic to absorb but impossible not to watch has produced a whiplash of emotions and reactions. Whether they add up to anything constructive or simply add to the feeling of a country that is fractured and breaking apart is another matter — but one of genuine urgency.

The rest of the piece is worth the read. It has led me to consider what we need to do as a country to really start listening to one another and to have the kind of conversation we need to have true peace in our communities — peace that is respectful and safe for all. Safe for children of all backgrounds, safe for adults, safe for officers. We need that conversation in America, but I am afraid it won’t be started by the politicians. They are too busy yelling at one another to have a real conversation.

This week on The Fireside, I focused (unwittingly) on one of the people who is the strongest supporters of gun control and non-violence in politics — Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. She seems temperamentally inclined to conversation and cooperation. As I discuss in the essay, Jill Stein’s American Revolution, I’m not sold on her just yet, but her ideals and her manner are inspiring — particularly in the wake of such horrific violence. A radical approach may be what we need after all — and that is saying something, coming from a true-blue Democrat like myself.

Earlier in the week, I read an essay by TED author Chris Anderson. He spoke about global values in an earnest way that also seemed unconsciously elitist and out of touch. Given my working-class roots, it was something that I couldn’t let pass without comment. In TED Author Misses the Boat on “Global Values” I wrote about the people currently left behind by such globalist thinking and offered a couple ideas about how to reshape our notion of a global society.

I’m also conducting a Reader Survey to see how best to reach you and increase conversation about the issues this blog and newsletter raise. Please take a couple minutes to complete the survey by clicking here.

Thanks, as always, for reading. Please feel free to share this email with friends you think might enjoy reading it. And please join the conversation about our politics and culture, either by replying to this email, commenting on Medium, Facebook, Twitter, or directly on the blog.