Author: Rick Bellingham
Homeless Solutions and Models
How communities address homelessness issues provides a great example of what happens when you chase symptoms instead of change systems that are causing problems in the first place. Finding solutions to help people experiencing homelessness presents the same kinds of challenges communities face in dealing with health, criminal justice, poverty, inflation, immigration, climate change, gun violence, etc. The choice always involves investing in ways to improve the systems creating the problems vs. dealing with symptom Read More
Arcs of Life, History, and the Universe
Well, it’s not quite like being hit by a meteor that destroys the earth, but it’s pretty close to it. We just elected a cult leader who landed enough hateful and hegemonic messages to enough voters to win the electoral votes by 312-226. (Note: Trump’s margin was less than 2%, and he received less than 50% of the vote, llinois was the only blue state on the electoral map between the coasts, and the total Read More
Grace or Disgrace
In Nexus, Yuval Harari concludes that the difference between democracies and dictatorships lies in how they handle information. Systems, whether human or artificial, can evolve and self-correct when they promote conversation and mutuality and that they devolve when they give into blind subservience.
Grief and Grievance
I’m not sure I can turn the grief I may feel on November 6 into a garden of compassion, as Rumi suggests. Keeping my heart open no matter what happens might be a challenge too great for me to handle to continue my search for love and wisdom. To prepare for the possibility of needing to confront that challenge, I thought it might be helpful to explore the reasons behind the grief I might feel…
American Myths and Realities
Homelessness, a harsh reality for millions of people around the world, is often shrouded in misconceptions. These myths create a barrier to understanding the complexities of the issue and hinder efforts to address the problems. This overview dismantles some of the most pervasive myths surrounding homelessness and reveals the human stories that lie beneath.
The Common Good
We have been reduced to a “whatever-it-takes-to win” mentality.
As a result, we have a rigged system that perpetuates inequality, enables economic elites, and undermines trust in institutions.
What it would take to increase commitment to the common good?
Change and Choice
The evolution and acceleration of AI technologies has convinced me that we no longer have a choice about whether or not we change. The only question is, will we ride the waves of change to better lives, or will we drown in them by not asking the right questions or making the choices that change demands?
I will show how AI can help us take all those steps more efficiently and effectively.
The Material and the Ethereal
“In a way, you are poetry material; You are fully of cloudy subtleties I am willing to spend a lifetime figuring out. Words burst in your essence and you carry their dust in the pores of your ethereal individuality.” —Franz Kafka “The spirit-world around this senseFloats like an atmosphere, and everywhereWafts through these earthly mists and vapors denseA vital breath of ethereal air” —Henry Wadsworth Longfellow “Music is the ethereal connection between this world and the Read More
The Dangers of Demonization
“People aren’t terrible, systems are.” —Zadie Smith
I’ve been thinking deeply about the dangers of demonization.
Demonization is an easy means of simplifying the complexities of human behavior by reducing individuals or groups to caricatures of pure evil.
What kinds of situations and assumptions lead to this way of thinking, and what are the consequence?
Confidence and Competence
One of the best pieces of feedback I ever received was when an honest friend said, “Sometimes your confidence exceeds your competence.” As painful as that feedback was, it made me more conscious of the level of confidence I project when I assert an opinion or decide to take on a task for which I may not be entirely prepared. For example, I often observe myself giving directions or offering an opinion on a subject Read More
Locked and Loaded
“Locking” and “loading” refer to steps in preparing a machine gun to be fired: You first “lock” the bolt or safety and then “load” an ammunition cartridge or magazine. Figuratively, to be “locked and loaded” is to be fully prepared for aggressive action. As parents and grandparents, we are always looking for ways to keep our kids out of danger’s way and to avoid aggressive action. There are two messages I would love to be Read More
The Price of Privilege
I was born with privilege. I think it’s fair to say that I grew up expecting things to go my way.
While it is true that privilege pays, there is also a price to pay for too much privilege.
Read more to find out what the cost of privilege is.