Tag Archives: status quo

The Road to Diamond, Day 211: “No Distinctions”

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

June 27,2025- “No, it doesn’t matter where they are from, there should be no distinctions made when it comes to protecting children!” So said a bystander, when I recounted an action I had taken, three years ago, to safeguard three Mexican girls. He was right, of course, but the fact that he took umbrage at the reference to the girls’ nationality belied the xenophobia, masked as universalist concern, that arises nearly every time there is mention of the human rights of specific marginalized groups. Had I been talking about white girls, there would not have been any yelling or jutted jaw. (The same “ALL lives matter” ruse has been replayed countless times, when people try to deflect attention from specific cases of injustice.)

Those who object to any use of the terms diversity, equity or inclusion say they just don’t want those terms to be part of official policy, as in “Thou shalt hire members of marginalized communities, and prefer them over someone who belongs to the dominant community.” There is a case to be made for not specifying groups or for having hiring quotas. That case, though, is rendered null and void when the marginalized are not hired, admitted to colleges or otherwise given a shot at success, because of ingrained tendencies to render them invisible or prejudge them as incompetent, shiftless or untrustworthy.

The city council of Home Base I recently voted to not insert a paragraph stating that the city welcomes everyone, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, or national origin, into its land use document. That would be all well and good, but for the frequency of redlining and the official overlooking of harassment towards the marginalized. Most people, conservatives as well as liberals and progressives, accept people on an individual basis, anymore. Officially, though, too many local governments cherry pick and try to institutionalize the pecking order that favours one elite or another. This, too, is not exclusive to conservatives. The tendency, across the political spectrum, is to circle the wagons and shout down anyone with fresh ideas.

The angry bystander is right, just not in the way he intended: There ought be no distinction made between people, when it comes to basic human rights. This, however, applies to groups as well as individuals.

Angelic Troublemakers

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, Inspiration, Personal goals, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual, Striving

November 23, 2024- “We need, in every community, a group of angelic troublemakers”-Bayard Rustin

An angelic troublemaker is defined as “someone who uses their life to disrupt the status quo in a positive way”. The above quote was among those cited this evening by a community activist who definitely has challenged the status quo, in positive ways, over a period of twenty years. One of her actions involved playing an accordion in the midst of a rally of an angry demonstration, two or three years ago. It had a calming effect on some of the ragers, and she was not hurt.

Angelic troublemakers were responsible for much of the progress the nation, and the world, have seen over the past eighty years or so. Certainly Mohandas Gandhi would fall into that category. So would most of the rank and file in the American Civil Rights movements. Others, like yours truly, fall into the category of angelic troublemakers with tight halos, stumbling into acts of goodness as often as we intentionally walk into them. Most of the time, though, some good comes out of what we do.

I open my big mouth as often on behalf of people with whom I disagree on many things, as I do on behalf of kindred spirits. We have, in this physical world, a duty to listen to all sides, even the most outwardly ludicrous, in order to glean the whole truth of any matter. So, the “Flat Earther” can spout his gibberish, and maybe one or two kernels of truth will drop to the floor. The person who claims to be from the Pleiades can also spew forth a barrage of nonsense, and we may actually learn something about the greater Universe, in the process.

Where I draw the line is with those whose beliefs, when acted upon, cause harm to children, teens and other vulnerable people. There is no quarter for pedophiles, for vaccine deniers who also adhere to a diet of processed foods, for human traffickers, and for those who believe in price gouging of medicine and care for the chronically ill, the infirm elderly, the disabled and the mentally ill. I have no use for those who tell veterans and families of dead First Responders that they are on their own. I detest warmongers, no matter how “worthy” the pretext for their rampage.

So, on we go, us good troublemakers, angelic and otherwise.

The Road to 65, Mile 56: Expectations

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Posted by on in Social

January 23, 2015, Prescott- Over the past several years, I’ve learned it’s best to hold high expectations of my own performance and behaviours, while not expecting specific acts of others.  I’ve mentioned this before, and of course, taken flack from those whose view is that we ought hold each other’s feet to the fire.  The problem with that is, burnt soles make for hard walking.

I am working with a transient man who has rejected all solutions, thus far, regarding his getting permanent housing.  I sense he’d prefer to be out of doors, permanently and that’s fine.  I have pointed out, though, that  others who are helping him. and I, are not available 24/7, given our other responsibilities.  He is congenial about that, and doesn’t give us any flack.  There is one thing about expectations, though.  High hopes are admirable, yet need to be tempered with patience.  Keep your sights high, dream big, AND prepare to move forward slowly.  The progress of mankind will be constant, yet tempered by setbacks, largely due to the scarcity mentality of the financial sector and other aspects of commerce, by the limited understanding and fear of change that affect both the guardians of the status quo AND those who say they believe in new ways of doing things, even as they also believe that the bottom has to drop out of those new systems, eventually.

I believe that our expectations will lead to our future.  If you think that God provides, “kind of, sort of”, then you will get exactly what your doubt and fear are telling you will be provided.  If you believe that while, yes, it’s cold today, people might die, tragically, tomorrow and there may well be fires, earthquakes, tornadoes, floods and cyclones in the months and years ahead-maybe even WWIII, there will be civilized life beyond all those, then your efforts will be towards recovery and regeneration, not the doom and gloom of virtually every current religious and political system presently operating.

When the latter happens, are the pessimists going to be pleasantly relieved, or will they still look under rocks for “dark days ahead”.  Expectations do best to  seek the light, even that which lies beyond the storm.