I Raise You a Game of Monopoly

You know that story that gets passed around on the internet every few months about the professor who creates a socialist experiment in his classroom and all the students end up failing because no one wants to work hard just to get a lower grade than they deserve? Well, I see that apocryphal story and raise you a game of Monopoly.

Thing is, being concerned about full-blown socialism does not require being against social compacts, and being concerned about unfettered capital ≠ anti-capitalism.

A healthy market economy requires a healthy tension and balance between capital and labor and natural resources. If capital continues to call more and more of the shots (including increasing control over government/military/flow of information/education), where does that lead us? I think Adam Smith must be rolling over in his grave. And Pope Francis isn't having it.

From David Simon (creator of The Wire): "I'm utterly committed to the idea that capitalism has to be the way we generate mass wealth in the coming century. That argument's over. But the idea that it's not going to be married to a social compact, that how you distribute the benefits of capitalism isn't going to include everyone in the society to a reasonable extent, that's astonishing to me . . . Capitalism is a remarkable engine again for producing wealth. It's a great tool to have in your toolbox if you're trying to build a society and have that society advance. You wouldn't want to go forward at this point without it. But it's not a blueprint for how to build the just society. There are other metrics besides that quarterly profit report. . . .Are we all in this together or are we all not?"

The Dream

I watched Martin Luther King, Jr.'s I Have a Dream speech twice on its 50th anniversary today, and the part about people being judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin struck me a little differently.

Usually, I interpret it as people being seen for who they are, especially in terms of positive attributes, rather than being dragged down by negative racial stereotypes.

But it cuts another way, too.

When someone who is white commits a heinous act, I--as a white person--feel the pain the way humanity feels the pain, but I am not expected to feel the guilt or the shame or to bear any responsibility because I share the perpetrator's skin color. In fact, I do not have to worry that his or her actions will reflect on me in any way.

That is my privilege.

This is my dream: that one day all people who commit heinous acts will be judged by the content of their character and not used to judge others who share the color of their skin.

Weaponizing Goodness

A friend posted this article, which tells a lovely story about the new pope making a point of calling in person to cancel his newspaper subscription, along with a snarky political comment. I also noticed that the article itself is followed by some snarky political comments.

It is a beautiful story about human connection and humility. Why can't we just let a story like this wash over us and inspire us? Why do we have to turn the example he sets into a weapon and use it to condemn others?

A Simple Miracle

I stole the following from an anonymous friend, written in 2010.

"Reflecting on the story of the loaves and fishes, I realized that the miracle of the story might be as simple as Jesus asking for help and finding one boy who was willing to share. Perhaps heaven didn't need to provide the bread and fish. Perhaps other people, who had food but were keeping it for themselves, watched the boy, felt the spirit and had a change of heart. Perhaps when they all shared--when they all took a moment to think about other's needs--there was more than enough food for everyone. Perhaps the lesson Jesus needed to teach was how we can solve our problems if we work together. With the fear and anger in our communities, perhaps the miracle we need most is the miracle of changing hearts."

Eden

The story of Adam and Eve is to me a metaphor for the development of human consciousness, when we shifted from operating on instinct to becoming sentient beings who began to understand our world on a whole new level. We became aware of our actions and the actions of others. We became aware of the impact of all of those actions, for both good and evil. We became children of God.

I think, to our detriment, we've been trying to create the bubble of protection we sense we had in the Garden of Eden ever since. 

It can manifest itself in different ways for different people. We search out and cling to pat answers. We don't face hard things straight on. We create dogmatic systems of rules that lull us into believing we're doing something good when we follow them. We refuse to listen to people who don't see things the way we do. We whitewash history (of our faith, of our nation, of ourselves) because that is more soothing than owning up to and learning from mistakes. We resist commitment (to people, to ideas, to meaningful work). We use what we earn not just to sustain us, but to make ourselves comfortable. We ignore things that make us uncomfortable. We separate ourselves from people we view as sinners. Or who are different from us.

We fear knowledge, the fruit of the tree.

Instead of following the admonition to live IN the world, but not OF the world, we want the safety of living ON the world, but not IN the world. Engaging is painful and messy and dangerous.

We think we are protecting ourselves, enabling us to get through this life unscathed and on to the next. But instead we miss out on true spiritual growth. We miss out on life.

Another Day, Another Meme

Maybe this sounds good in theory. Maybe. But I can tell you from experience that making such a distinction can get really muddy really quickly in practice. It's not always easy to judge who is needy and who is simply lazy.

For example, hopelessness often presents itself as laziness.

And there's this: when we put so many barriers into place in our attempt to make sure that the undeserving don't get something they don't deserve, we often fail in our goal to help people when they really need it.

Siege Mentality

Nearly every semester I have at least one student who writes about some aspect of gun control. One hundred percent of them have been pro gun ownership.

Last year, shortly after the Utah State Legislature passed a law that made it legal for people with concealed weapons permits to carry guns on public college campuses, a couple of students wanted to focus on that.

A few weeks into their research, one of my students came to me, dismayed.

"I thought I'd turn up more data than not to support my opinion that more guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens will make us more safe," he said. "But I'm finding it's a bit of a draw." (Okay, so that last bit wasn't his exact phrasing, but I'd have laughed at the pun if he said it that way.)

According to his findings, sometimes people are safer if someone has a gun, and sometimes people are in more danger. It can go either way, and there aren't enough instances of public shootings or attempted shootings to make a definitive claim one way or the other.

We talked about what the options could be if the data he was turning up was inconclusive. Ultimately, he proposed a thesis that stated if that is the case, we must err on the side of the Second Amendment. His position was sane and well reasoned, and, because he had learned about situations that flew in the face of his original opinion, he was not afraid to address legitimate safety concerns. While he argued that people with concealed weapons permits should be free to carry a gun on campus, he also argued that the process involved in issuing concealed weapons permits should be wisely regulated.

At the end of the semester, I had to ask him if he ever carried on campus. Turns out he did. Every single day.

Personally, I told him, I would not choose to carry a weapon like that. I would not want to live with an ever present reminder of a threat that would most likely never materialize. It would make me more fearful, less free. I think he felt empowered. I would feel imprisoned. I'd rather take my chances.

On the other hand, now that my students are armed . . .