clmcdermid – Page 2

If School Can’t Pause, We’re Doing it Wrong

Jul 17, 2020

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in Community, Duties and Responsibilities, Education, Love in the Time of Coronavirus, What it Could Look Like

I will return to my series Keeping the Faith: Fostering Engaged Citizenship in the US next week. I was really worried when I went to college. Part of my elementary and all of my middle and high school years happened in a public school of choice (like a charter school, but established long before charter…

Part Three: Getting Off our Arses and Voting!

Jul 10, 2020

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clmcdermid

in Community, Duties and Responsibilities, Keeping the Faith, What it Could Look Like

This post is part of my series Keeping the Faith: Fostering Engaged Citizenship in the US. I am a citizen of a country with 328.2 million other citizens. Around 138 million other people cast a ballot in the 2016 presidential elections. Those numbers are big enough that normal human brains have difficulty coming to grips…

Part Two: It Doesn’t Have to be Like This — Practical Ways to Fix our Elections

Jul 3, 2020

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clmcdermid

in Duties and Responsibilities, Keeping the Faith, Polarization, What it Could Look Like

This post is part of my series Keeping the Faith: Fostering Engaged Citizenship in the US. You can’t blame people for being cynical about the value of their vote. In a world where big donors appear to be making the big decisions, districts are gerrymandered into foregone conclusions, the average congressperson represents 747,000 constituents, and…

Part One: A Democracy in Crisis

Jun 16, 2020

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clmcdermid

in Community, Duties and Responsibilities, Keeping the Faith, Polarization, Socioeconomics, What it Could Look Like

This post is part of my series Keeping the Faith: Fostering Engaged Citizenship in the US. America is not doing well. This was abundantly clear even before COVID19 and the murder of George Floyd. In 2019, only 17% of Americans said they could trust the government to do what is right all or most of…

Nothing to Lose: Race and Poverty in America

Jun 5, 2020

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clmcdermid

in Community, Duties and Responsibilities, Income Inequality, Love in the Time of Coronavirus, Socioeconomics

You can’t give people nothing to lose and expect stability. The grace, tolerance, and restraint shown by black and brown people in the protests gripping the nation continually amazes me. Almost all of the demonstrators are committed to furthering a non-violent movement for change. Given the realities, that demonstrates a dedication to principles of peaceful…

What Will it Be Like?

May 29, 2020

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clmcdermid

in Community, Love in the Time of Coronavirus, Masks, Multigenerational, Social Distancing, Socioeconomics, Uncategorized, Work

I used to work in low-income senior apartment buildings. In addition to my duties as a landlord, I got to do some fun activities. Our local public transportation agency had a program where they would provide a bus if you had enough interested seniors, and take them to the museum, an afternoon jazz show, a…

Duties, Rights, and Responsibilities

May 23, 2020

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clmcdermid

in Duties and Responsibilities, Love in the Time of Coronavirus, Masks, Media, Polarization, Social Distancing, Stay at Home Order

In the States, we are framing our national debate around our freedom to (leave the house, shop, get haircuts, go to work) versus our freedom from (COVID19, the unmasked, germs, non-essential risks). But what if this isn’t about our right to get a haircut, or our right to be safe? What if this isn’t about…

Missing Multigenerational Interaction

May 18, 2020

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clmcdermid

in Community, Multigenerational, What it Could Look Like

I ran across this article today in Aeon by Sarah Menkedick. It is a long-form reflection on the segregation of family (kid-centered) and adult life in the United States. She makes some interesting points, but it really got me thinking that this divide, which she attributes partially to a lack of community, cuts both ways.…

National Service

May 17, 2020

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clmcdermid

in Income Inequality, Love in the Time of Coronavirus, Socioeconomics, What it Could Look Like, Work

Today, watching a back episode of Amanpour and Co., I heard Mark Cuban call for National Service. The idea gets kicked around. Pete Buttigieg, a Navy vet, rolled out a whole plan, along with Kirsten Gillibrand, and some more obscure Democratic candidates. Clinton called for an expansion of AmeriCorps in 2016, as did Obama in…

Day Forty-Four: Review

May 9, 2020

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clmcdermid

in Housekeeping, Income Inequality, Love in the Time of Coronavirus, Polarization, Social Distancing, Socioeconomics, Stay at Home Order

It’s been a long, strange forty-four days. Jefferson County has baked. I can tell, because there is no flour to be had. Jefferson County has gardened. I can tell by all the planting I’ve seen my neighbors doing. Jefferson County has, by and large, stayed healthy. I can tell by this case summary put out…

Author: clmcdermid