Hope is a journey, not a destination

Peter Diamandis, he of of Singularity University, is a human with some pretty magnificent ideas.

While the news we consume would have us believe that we live in a world that is falling apart, Diamandis tells us that the exact opposite is happening.

In his book, “Abundance:  The future is better than you think”, Diamandis argues, persuasively and with the data to back it up, that the vast majority of humankind is living better today than ever before in the history of its existence.

More critically, he argues that the future looks far brighter for those inhabitants who have yet to experience the abundant world we now inhabit.

While generally loathe to reference Wikipedia for my fact checking, I figured, in the spirit of the brave new world we live in, to offer its analysis of Diamandis’s  four main points from his book, unedited:

The book’s four main points are:^[4]

1. Technologies in computing, energy, medicine and many other areas are improving at an exponentialrate and will soon enable breakthroughs that today seem impossible.
2. These technologies have allowed independent innovatorsto achieve startling advances in many areas of technology with little money or manpower. This is primarily achieved through incentive prize competitions.
3. Technology has created a generation of “techno-philanthropists” (such as Bill Gates) who are using their billions to try to solve seemingly unsolvable problems such as hunger and disease.
4. The lives of the world’s poorestpeople are being improved substantially because of technology.

There is, of course, a theme here – a woven word that finds itself in each main point – and, similarly is front in center of nearly every argument that Diamandis makes about the past, present and future:  Technology is humanity’s most powerful creator of abundance.

Diamandis, then, is the human being who predicts, predictably, that there will be a new era of abundance, and he believes it began in 2016 and will extend its way through 2020.

He calls this new era of human development the world of the “Rising Billions.”

In his blog, http://www.diamandis.com/blog/rising-billions-dramatic-positive-change, he once again argues that we live in a world that is more devoid of hopelessness than it is hope.

He writes about 3 to 5 billion people – consumers, if you will – who will find themselves equipped with the technological tools they need to have an abundant life.

To read more about these “rising billions” from the perspective of Diamandis I offer you, without compensation, his book,  Bold: How to Go Big, Create Wealth, and Impact the World.

A sequel to Abundance  Diamandis postulates that  there are “rising billions.”

In Diamandis’ words, “three to five billion new consumers, who have never purchased anything, never uploaded anything, and never invented and sold anything, are about to come online and provide a mega-surge to the global economy.”

I like Diamandis, even though I have never met him.

He represents the kind of bold (no pun intended) thinking the world needs at a time when we are consumed with little things that do little to prepare our planet for revolutionary change.

Which brings me to a project I have been privileged to recently become involved with called PROMISEHUB, https://PROMISEHUB.com/

It’s mission, is quite simple:

“We migrate digital opportunities to people in need around the globe in order to support them to flee poverty, to strengthen their abilities to create income and to add sustainable value to their local communities.

WE SEEK NOT TO PROVIDE A CANNED SOLUTION OR PRESCRIBED ACTIVITY! 

Instead, we begin to look at the situation in terms of human desires, talents, gifts, capabilities, and the global problem of poverty and education. Our open approach is based on the belief in the innate nature of human beings to self-organize and emergent problem solving.

The key lies in fostering and encouraging entrepreneurism within the community, where potential entrepreneurs will actively engage with the available new tools and resources and employ others within the population. To create an environment where people are encouraged to explore, think, and act we need an open framework which allows people to strengthen their talents and related goals guided by enthusiastic mentors with an innovative and open approach.”

Or, as its Co-Founder Dave Erickson states, “We strongly believe that turning aid into opportunity is the catalyst to create a significant increase in local income and we aim to migrate digital opportunities to people in need instead of migrating people to opportunity.”

In the weeks ahead, I hope to share more about this powerful initiative, the people involved with it and, perhaps most importantly, the people we hope to impact in the weeks, months and years ahead.

Rooted in the core belief that self-organization is central to the rise of the human endeavor, PROMISEHUB also embraces the notion that communities are not static.

Communities are like the humans that exist within them.

They change.  They evolve.  They aspire.  They create.  The consume.  They live.

PROMISEHUB aims to find itself at the center of those communities.

To serve as both a PROMISE to those who seek to rise and a hub to the billions who will.

 

I had no idea who Michelle Wolf was until this past weekend’s White House Correspondents Dinner.

In about 15 minutes I imagine most Americans won’t, either.

Yet, in the span of a news cycle in which we saw the Prime Minister of Israel accuse Iran of violating the terms of a nuclear agreement, the historic progress made towards a denuclearized North Korea and the arrival of a caravan of migrants reaching the U.S. southern border, Michelle Wolf has been the obsession of self-obsessed journalism in America.

So, I can be perfectly clear up front. 

Some of my best friends are journalists.  Some of the most remarkable people I know are journalists 

One of the most important jobs in a free, open and democratic society is journalism.

The United States remains one of the most vital and vibrant free societies in the world because we have a free press, largely and generally unsullied by entanglements with its government.

But, if there was ever a moment to suggest that journalism dial back the self-promotion of its craft and industry for making sure that Democracy doesn’t “…die in the dark.” or that it “…cut straight to the facts.” or ensures “..fair and balanced” presentation of the news or promising “…fact-based reporting.” it is the aftermath of the most recent White House Correspondents Dinner.

Because, for more than a decade now it has little to do with White House Correspondents and celebrating journalists or journalism or the craft they and the profession practice.

Instead, it has become an opportunity to see and be seen in Washington, D.C.

Celebrities and journalists – something that is increasingly become a distinction without a difference – have attended the event hand-in-hand.

They have partied and laughed together as comedians and others have poked fun at Presidents and the powerful Washington, D.C. elite.

The stories that come from the dinner’s aftermath never talk about the powerful need for journalism, or the necessity a free society has to encourage truthful, accurate, deep and reflective reporting and analysis.

Nope.

What we get are the best jokes from Barack Obama  The best insults thrown at Donald Trump.  Or, whatever the litany of jokes were presented by someone named Michelle Wolf that has roiled journalism to its core across America.

So much so that the President of the White House Correspondents Association, Margaret Taley, was forced to issue a statement after the event because of the jokes told by Wolf.

“Last night’s program was meant to offer a unifying message about our common commitment to a vigorous and free press while honoring civility, great reporting and sponsorship winners, not to divide people…Unfortunately, the entertainer’s monologue was not in the spirit of that mission.”

Pffft!

Not once in modern times has the White House Correspondents Dinner been reported on as a program intended to offer a “…unifying message about our common commitment to a vigorous and free press while honoring civility, great reporting and sponsorship winners, not to divide people.”

On the contrary.

And, frankly, that is the problem.

Not just with a silly dinner attended by a bunch of people patting themselves and one another on the back.

Not a single American should care about what happens at the White House Correspondents Dinner that has to do with anything other than learning about journalists who are doing – gasp – their job.

We live in an America where the free press is under attack.

By a President.  By politicians.

But, also by Americans themselves.

It is easy to blame the current President and politicians for this environment and, frankly, a lot of journalists do just that.

Yet, it doesn’t take much effort to reflect on the actions of the President before this President and his efforts to undermine the free press in America.

Or, those of previous Presidents and politicians long before the one’s today doing the mud slinging at journalists and their profession.

It’s an easy narrative, though.

It fits the narrative of far too many in journalism today, particularly those with the biggest soapbox, the most twitter followers and the highest ratings.

Journalism in America needs to do some soul searching of its own and learn what role it has been playing in the sullying of its reputation and the loss of its prestige.

Where it has seen its influence and presence wane in places where America needs journalism the most.

Oh, I know that the Washington Post has done the self-important job tracking and reporting that President Trump has made “3,000 false or misleading claims so far” and the Sinclair Broadcast Group is the only media syndicate committed to making sure the news is totally and completely accurate – according to them – and that Joe and Mika are really raising the bar on indignation and outrage.

But, America, now, more than ever – and more than ever before now – and long before then – and long after now – needs journalists and journalism to regain the prestige and power once afforded to them and their profession.

We need it in the small, quiet places in America where local government is playing an increasingly more influential role in American life than the politicians in Washington, D.C.

We need it in places where Americans don’t know how power corrupts and undermines democracy in ways we cannot even imagine.

We need our sons and daughters to aspire to be the truthtellers of the next generation of journalists because they see it as a higher calling of public service.

Journalism needs to heal itself.  Sooner, rather than later.

It needs to stop making itself the story.

And, it needs to cover the story.

Americans need to hear and read stories about journalists who epitomize the best and brightest of their profession.  We need to know that journalism honors those who have embraced their role in a free and democratic society to hold the powerful accountable at every level of power in America – not just in Washington, D.C. or in the statehouse of our country.

There are journalists who are mired in the drudgery and dim lights of their profession doing profound work across America.

It is time we lifted them up and celebrated the work they are doing so that other journalists can aspire to be them – not to be the ones who are “trending” because of the latest vitriolic exchange they are having with politician or celebrity they have latched onto that raises their personal profile on their Twitter account.

The most important story in America over the past 48 hours is not the White House Correspondents Dinner.

But, perhaps, the most important moment in American journalism in the past decade could have occurred in the past 48 hours after the White House Correspondents Dinner.

It may be an opportunity for those in journalism to take a step back and reflect on their own role in the sullying of its profession’s reputation and the decline of its prestige and influence in the most important democracy on Earth.

Or, like Michelle Wolf, the lessons of its aftermath may simply be forgotten 15 minutes from now.

 

 

Tomorrow morning my Daughter, Maisie, and somewhere around 20 other Daughters will climb onto a bus for a drive to Detroit, Michigan.

She is a member of the Convent of the Visitation School “The Robettes, Team 2177” and they are going to the national robot competition to join over 400 other teams to compete for national honors.

Sponsored by FIRST ((For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) the national robotics competition is one part of its mission to “… inspire young people to be science and technology leaders and innovators, by engaging them in exciting Mentor-based programs that build science, engineering, and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership.”

Attending a robotics competition is like going to a sporting event.  The competition is fierce.  The determination is real.  The sense of purpose is clear.

The Visitation Team is an all-girl school and The Robettes are attending this year’s national competition because of their achievement in receiving the North Star Regional Chairman’s Award,

My Daughter, like all of the young women on The Robettes, is a hard worker.  She embraces the entirety of the robotics competition from the very beginning of the process to the culmination of their national tournament participation over the next several days in Detroit.

If you want to the see the future of the United States and the world, just spend a few hours following The Robettes.

Remarkable young women who are working and learning together and care little for the notion that science and technology isn’t a traditional field for their women.

They are erasing gender lines every minute of every day and making it clear that girls and boys are only limited in their possibility by the false boundaries we place on them.

I write this at my kitchen table after having spent a weekend with another exceptional person in my life, my son, Owen.  I, along with several other Moms and Dads and adult volunteers, had the privilege to lead dozens of U.S. Naval Sea Cadets during their April Drill Weekend at the Minnesota Army National Guard Arden Hills Army Training Site.

The NSCC Twin Cities Squadron is made up of young men and women from all over the Midwest.  Some come from as far as Sioux Falls, South Dakota, or as close as 15 minutes away, to participate in this program that began in 1962.

Its mission today is to “further the image of our maritime services by adhering to a standardized training program designed to:

1. Develop an interest and ability in seamanship and seagoing skills
2. Instill virtues of good citizenship and strong moral principles in each cadet
3. Demonstrate the value of an alcohol-free, drug-free and gang-free lifestyle
4. Expose cadets to the prestige of public service and a variety of career paths through hands-on training with our nation’s armed services

I am always struck by my time with the Sea Cadets during drill weekends.  I always learn something new about myself, but also about the unlimited potential of young men and women to make the world a better place.

Despite booming faces, and for many of the young men and women Sea Cadets a significant amount of responsibility placed on their shoulder, they are still kids.

Kids who have the same hopes and dreams of kids of previous generations.

They want to work hard.  Achieve something.  Make a difference.  Matter in someone’s life.

Succeed in their life.

Both The Robettes and The NSCC Twin Cities Squadron Sea Cadets give a platform of possibility to young men and women.

The participants are all given the tools to forge a path of their own and adults, while standing by in the background to help guide, support and encourage try to remain largely in the background.

My goal in this blog post isn’t to market or promote either program, but to promote the young men and women who participate in them.

They are all remarkable.  They all make a difference in the world.  They will each have the opportunity to do amazing things.

Along their path in life they will be confront many of the same obstacles that young men and women before them have faced.

Too often those obstacles come from the adults in and out of the room.

What we say and write to and about the young men and women who come to participate in these programs, or any program, or just life itself, carries tremendous weight and influence.

What we say and write can either lift them up or crush them.

How we serve young people, and support them, allowing them the ability to succeed and the chance to fail, will play a role in their life now and long after they have gone on into their adult life.

I have watched my Daughter and The Robettes at their competitions and they are fierce, competitive, proud and kind to one another and their competitors.

I have watched my Son and the Twin Cities Squadron Sea Cadets and they are fierce, competitive, proud and kind to one another and their fellow Sea Cadets.

Not all the time.  But most of the time.

Just like kids are in life.

Like kids are meant to be in life.

Like every kid from every generation since the beginning of time.

The challenge for the kids in The Robettes, or the Twin Cities Squadron Sea Cadets isn’t for them to remember that they are kids.

It is for the adults in their lives to remember that.

And, to remember that in each of these programs what we say to them, what we write about them and what we do in support of them can either contribute positively or negatively to their future life as an adult.

To learn more about these two great organizations please go to https://seacadetstwincities.org/ and https://www.therobettes.com/

 

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It is Monday, April 2nd and I am in a Sheraton Hotel Lobby at 6:14 a.m. with a cup of coffee and a few hours from boarding a plane and heading back to the United States of America.

It has been a remarkable opportunity and gift to travel with my family to Europe.

We have seen incredible sights.  We have made lasting memories.  We have gotten on one another’s nerves from time to time.

In every place I go in my life I try to find something different and unique and special about my experience.

This trip has been no difference.

Unlike my first time to Europe thirty-six years ago with my brother, Butch, I spent some time observing more of the world around me in London and Paris, and along the Normandy countryside.

Yes, there are the great tourism spots and we spent some time at those places.  I don’t regret staying on the beaten path from time to time.  There’s a reason that places like Buckingham Palace, Westminster, Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower and so many similar spots find themselves besieged by millions of visitors each year.

It’s the basic human nature in all of us to say “I’ve been there!”

To say, “I’ve seen that!”

We also got off the beaten path, too.  Instead of staying at hotels on this trip we stayed in other people’s homes — we saw the world they live in every single day from their living room, kitchen, bedroom and their front door.

We went to the places they shop for food, drink and where they eat out when they aren’t in the mood to prepare their own meal.

Around us in their neighborhoods we saw the places where they might work, worship or run into friends, do laundry and find a place to mend their broken bones.

In the places farthest out from the big cities of London and Parish we walked in the same steps as those who were exiled from their homes by marauding troops of foreign nations.  Saw the cemeteries where many were blessed with the chance to die in their beds in their old age and the sadness of the gravestones of tens of thousands who took their last breath on the cold ground in violent acts.

As Americans we could close our eyes and see the arrival of thousands of young American men coming across a cold, wet and windy English Channel to be injured and to be killed on a cold, wet and windy beach in France.

We traced the journey of thousands of brave allied soldiers as they fought to rid the world of the treachery of a Dictator who sent millions of scared boys to kill millions of other scared boys.

As a Dad I was able to see the interest and the wonder of my children as they found those special places along our travels that captured their imagination and touched their heart and made their spirit soar.

They will remember this trip in their own way which is how my wife and I want them to remember it.  She and I will remember it in our own ways, as well.

There will be the simple joy and blessing of parents being able to help their children see a world outside of their own.

The decision to leave a little earlier one morning to drive out of our way to give our son the chance to see a church steeple where a man he admires dropped from the sky to hang from his parachute until he freed himself and set out to free others from oppression.

The chance to bring our daughter to the places that fascinate her and make her smile and think about the possibility she may return some day to live on her own.  Of course, the pleasure of a Dad being able to enjoy a final dinner in Paris with her and the lifelong memory we will have of a sweet little mouse frightening us as we enjoyed our meal!

It has been a wonderful trip – one of many I have had the privilege to have in the 17 plus years my wife and I have had the privilege to have children in our lives.

It is children, and their parents, and those without children and those who are not parents, that bring me to the close of this post.

Everywhere we travelled and everywhere we went the people of the places we visited are not terribly different from any single one of us.

They have their own hopes and dreams.  They have their own life experiences.  They have their own sadness and tragedy.

They live their life in the same way each of us in America live our life.

Day-to-day.  Every day.

It’s easy in a world of nearly 8 billion to lose sight of the fact that as much as each of us may be different in our own way, all of us are the same in that we inhabit the same planet.

We are born, we live, and we die.

How our life journey goes from the moment we are born to the moment we die is different for each one of us.

But, we all have the same basic desire to matter to someone.  To mean something.  To have someone care for us.  Love us.  Care about us.

Americans.  French.  British.

Human being.

No matter how different we are we are all the same on this planet we call Earth.

On Thursday evening my family and I board a plane and travel to Europe.

During our time we will visit London, Portsmouth, Paris and Normandy.

I will also revisit my life from over 36 years ago when I took my first plane ride in my life with my brother, Butch, and traveled to Europe.

My son, Owen, is nearly the same age as I was when I travelled to Europe.

So much has changed since then.

Back then there was no Owen.  There wasn’t a Maisie.

For much of the European continent there was no freedom or liberty or safety and security.

It was a world that still trembled under the weight of the Cold War.

A Germany still divided.  Eastern Europe under the boot heel of Soviet Russia.

I have travelled near and far many, many times since those days of hiking around Europe with my oldest brother.  I look at the pictures of our trip – I re-read my journal of that trip – and smiles return to my face about special times we had there, together.

I shake my head at the weirdness that evolved when we connected with our father in German – and spent a chaotic time on a ferry to Ireland and then frantic hours scurrying through the backgrounds of the country – before my brother and I went our separate way from our father in Dublin.

Function and dysfunction are the hallmarks of my life.

You can’t even escape that in Europe!

Most of all, though, I am reflecting on the trip ahead of me and not the one behind me.

I believe that Americans don’t travel enough to places beyond our own country to learn about people in their country.

I think there is a value to travelling in America.  I believe it is important that we know ourselves well as a nation.  That means we need to know one another.  There are over 300 million of us in this nation and we owe it to ourselves to get to know each other.

But, there are nearly 8 billion people on the planet.

We are all neighbors near and far.

We owe it to ourselves to get to know each other.

I spent this past weekend at my cabin with my son and his friend, Anthony.  I was honored to spend a few hours with them talking about their views of the world.  Their hopes and aspirations.  Their ideas about how to make the world – and our country – a better place.

I hope to continue some of those conversations with Owen, and Maisie, on our trip to Europe.

Perhaps with the background and setting of nations and people they have never known or seen before we will learn something more about what it means to be Americans – and what it means to be a citizen of the world.

To be sure I hope we also have some good food.  See some great sights.  And that they get up close and personal to things they have only seen in pictures in books or on the internet.

It is, after all, meant to be a vacation and not simply an extension of high school.

Frankly, my kids would poke me in the nose if that is all it was. And, I would deserve it.

In a lot of the pictures I have in my photo album I see places I vaguely remember.  Many of them are not landmarks in any history book.  Some of them likely no longer exist.  Some of the people in those photos are distant memories in the lives of their friends and family.

I also see two young men – myself and my brother, Butch.

Besides having more hair, less girth and a camera that took pictures with film, I see two young men getting ready for the rest of their life.

On this trip to Europe it is my hope that it sparks a passion for my kids to travel once they leave the confines of their parent’s home.

I hope they will explore everything in their youth.  Find places near and far that are amazing with people who are different from them on the outside, but surprisingly similar on the inside.

For them I want a world of possibility and wonder to be opened to them because they took the risk of going places that weren’t on the path well-travelled.

I want them to get outside their comfort zone.  To be uncomfortable.  To eat food that looks like a pet to them but is simply sustenance to someone else in another part of the world.

The population of the world has nearly doubled since I first walked Europe.

It took just a bit over 36 years to have that happen.

Thirty-six years from now I wonder what the world will look like for Owen and Maisie.  Where will they be?  What will they have accomplished and done with their lives?

Whatever it is, and wherever they are, I know I will be proud of who they are and what they have done.

No matter where in the world they go.

Owen Mische, 17, authored the following paper for his JROTC Program.  He then presented the paper as a speech to the American Legion Post 406 Oratory Contest in St. Paul.  He was successful and advanced to the District Level and ultimately to the State American Legion Finals where he finished 4th in the Oratory Contest.  He has given me permission to post his remarks here on my blog.  I hope you will enjoy them as much as we are proud of him.  

The United States of America was born on July 4, 1776.

Our revolution was a product of British imperialism, neglect, and mismanagement. Winning the revolution served as a testament to the unbreakable will of the men and women living in the British colonies in North America.

The last 241 years have served as testament to the both the strength of the ideals this country was founded on and the resilient nature of her people. In the 241 years since her inception the United States of America has endured war, injustice, and sorrow. She has grieved, celebrated, and most importantly carried on.

The ability to carry on functioning in the wake of extreme national trauma or duress stems from our constitution. Just as the United States is a remarkable country our constitution is a remarkable document. It provides the government with their mandate, and operating procedures, as well as establishing the fundamental rights to which every American is entitled.

There are two pieces of the of the constitution that stand apart from the rest in terms of significance. The first is the bill of rights, a documentation of the power wielded by each and every American just by virtue of being born here. The second is the ability for the constitution to change.

In the immediate aftermath of our Revolution the country faced a challenge. The British had previously provided all necessary governmental infrastructure. Now, the 13 newly independent colonies had to start from scratch to create a country. The first attempt, The Articles of Confederation was a massive failure.

In 1787 the founders were embroiled in a debate regarding a new constitution. The inclusion of the bill of rights was a condition of ratification imposed by those wary of a central government with too much power, they had just spent eight long years wresting power away from the government, they did not want to install a similarly powerful ruling body.

The framers created the bill of rights as a safeguard against becoming the same sort of nation they had fought so hard to be free from. The bill of rights serves as a guarantee from the federal government to relinquish part of its power to the peoples of the United States. This sort of guarantee was exceedingly rare in the 18th century, and unfortunately is not universal amongst America’s peers even today.

In 1835 French statesman Alexis de Tocqueville wrote, “The greatness of America liesnot in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.”.

The constitution is often called a “living document.” The ability to change in an outlined, democratic process sets the constitution apart from other historical documents.

I’d like to see the Magna Carta do that.

The United States has been able to adapt and thrive in changing times. The fact that the Constitution has only been changed 17 times since it was ratified should say something as to the strength of the document and the country.

It is to the framer’s credit that our laws change to meet the needs of the nation, and not the other way around. The United States is not perfect, even after two and a half centuries. The rights detailed in the constitution have periodically been denied to groups of people because the attitude of those in power was not one of systemic liberty. We have never been perfect, but the ability to change is what makes this country great.

The ability to correct our failings is built into the fabric of our nation because of the constitution.

The historical achievement of the US constitution should not be understated. It was created in such a way that would allow it to endure for 241 years. This is including a massively destructive civil war and two world wars. The American colonies under British rule operated more or less independently from each other. Even after the colonies won their independence Virginians still thought of themselves as Virginians, New Yorkers thought of themselves as New Yorkers, no one thought of themselves as Americans. It would take Civil War and Reconstruction to adopt a common national identity. The fact that the constitution was able to galvanize the 13 wildly different, independent colonies into a country not only capable of operating, but thrive is remarkable.

As citizens of this nation we are privileged to live protected by the constitution. On the other hand we each have a responsibility to preserve the ideals of the United States and to exercise our rights. The best way to protect our way of life is to actively participate in it. The easiest way to do that is to vote. Vote in local, state, and federal elections. A byproduct of our first amendment is that Americans love to complain about their government. Americans have been given the right to freely voice their complaints and a mechanism to act on them.

The constitution gives us the power to determine our government, it is not only exceptionally foolish, but completely irresponsible not to use it.

Voting is the fundamental responsibility of an American citizen. We owe it to ourselves and our country not only to place a vote, but to do our due diligence and make sure that vote is properly informed. The last election and the political upheaval that has stemmed from it only drives home the importance of informing oneself properly. Voting in this country, especially in local and state elections is viewed as a chore. This leads to a culture of minimal civic engagement and impulse voting along party lines or based off a shallow personal preference.

We saw in Virginia this last year an election be decided by the flip of a coin. If one more person had the mind to make it to the polling place and vote that election would not have made national news. Instead the people of Virginia decided to hope someone else would go vote. The Virginia house of delegates race was decided in an un democratic way that was, to be frank, embarrassing. As a nation we need to step up to both participate more in the system and change the culture surrounding that participation. No more relying on others to vote for you.

If you don’t like the direction something is taking you can do something about it. If the candidate you don’t like wins and you didn’t vote, that’s on you. Harry Truman put it best, “The buck stops here.”

Protest is another way of participating in the American system. The history of the United States’ is one filled with protest. From Boston Harbor to Selma, Alabama Americans have not been shy voicing their dissatisfaction. Recent events have shed a great deal of light and scrutiny on the idea of protest. There are those who would decry the right to assembly of those who do not align with their worldview. Whether it’s taking a knee at a football game or marching against abortion.

The impulse today is to demean those who disagree with you. I have seen both sides of the aisle say the other are not “real Americans” This simply isn’t true. There are few things more American than protest. In fact, it comes in just after a Yankees game when determining the national pastime.

When there is injustice in this country it is the civic responsibility of Americans to participate in their system to change it. Voting and protesting are the best ways for citizens to engage themselves with the governmental system and work to affect change as they see it to be necessary and right.

In conclusion, the United States is a very special country. This is in large part thanks to our constitution, written with a promise of power to every individual American and the ability to adapt to changing times. Americans have a civic responsibility to exercise their right to assembly when confronted with injustice, cast informed votes in elections, and support the defense of the country and the constitution either directly or otherwise. America is an exceptional nation that was founded on and embodies exceptional ideals.

 

This week my son, 17, and my daughter, 15, will be given the opportunity to join their classmates in a “walk out” to call attention to their concerns about shootings in our nation’s schools.

My wife and I spent a fair amount of time discussing this with our children who are now, for all intents and purposes, entering the era of “young man” and “young woman” in their life.

Or, as I cringe to consider, “young adults.”

Neither of my children take their decision to participate lightly.  Each of them has their own perspective and ideas about why such violence occurs in the world around them.

They have their own well-formed beliefs and perceptions of the world.

Their parents have tried hard to share our sense of what we believe to be important values and character traits as they have grown through the years.

We have studiously avoided imparting upon them our ideology, political or philosophical beliefs as ones they should feel obligated to embrace.

We have insisted they be kind to people.  To be tolerant.  To be open-minded and introspective and reflective.

Their worldview is decidedly a different one in many ways than the ones we grew up with as children and adults.

I am okay with that.

When I was my son and daughter’s age I was involved in politics and speaking up and speaking out.

As I set foot on the campus of St. Cloud State University I joined N.O.V.A. – Non-Violent Alternatives – and immediately found my voice in speaking out against social and cultural injustice and many of our nation’s governmental policies at home and abroad.

I somehow got elected to the Student Senate and along with many friends who I have followed over the years on social media we set out to save the world in our own way.

I protested politicians.  I wrote incendiary articles for the SCSU Chronicle.  I confronted the Administration.  I joined efforts to stop Honeywell from making cluster bombs and, until my Mom made me do so, I tried to avoid registering with the Selective Service.

As I grew older my black and white view of the world has found increasingly broader shades of gray.

I worked for the Minnesota Senate.  I ran political campaigns.  I got elected to the White Bear Lake City Council.  I worked for two Mayors of one of America’s great cities.  I served as a United States Senate Chief of Staff.  I made a living as a federal lobbyist.

Over time I grew disillusioned with my role in this nation’s political and government system.  I found myself alienated from either political party.

I have many friends on my political, ideological and philosophical left and right.  Many of them, on both sides, deride me for not settling into a place where my social, cultural or political identity can be easily ascertained.

I am okay with that.

I decided a long time ago that potholes, snow covered streets and crime aren’t best addressed through the lens of partisan politics or ideology.

Picking up garbage or pushing back against government overreach and inaction isn’t something that only Democrats or Republicans or Liberals or Conservatives do.

I just find of figure it is what We, the People, should do.

Which brings me back to my children.

And, their decision to raise their voices – and how to do so — to insist that something must be done to protect them and their peers in their schools from gun violence perpetrated by – anyone.

My children are my Heroes and Heroines in my life.

Both my son and my daughter represent, for me, everything that is possible in the world.

I have no doubt they will do remarkable things in everything they do in the long, long lives they have ahead of them.

But, no matter the fact that they are “young adults” they remain my children.

They are my babies

They are the babies I rocked, who threw up on me, who I have spent countless nights worrying about, whose diapers I changed so many times I prayed for the days of potty training.

My job as a parent is not yet done.

My wife and I determined long ago that our job as parents was to prepare our children for a day when they would leave our house to be successful adults in the world.

We hope and pray that, so far, we have done a reasonable job in that regard.

Between now and then, however, there is more to do as their parents.

We have children to protect in this violent world we live in today.

We support our children’s decision to raise their voices in whatever way is meaningful to them.

March, yes, by all means, march.

But, we must encourage them, and us, to do more.

We can’t just march and protest our way to change.

We also must talk about it. We have to live it.  We have to engage in difficult dialogue about what it is we can, and must, do to make our schools and communities safe for every child no matter what.

March 16^th-18^th I am inviting you, and anyone you know, to join me and others for exactly that kind of conversation at my cabin in Wisconsin.

Whether you come for the weekend, or for the day or for part of the day, I invite you to come and be a part of our conversation and dialogue.

We can’t make change unless we commit to change.

We can’t commit to change unless we talk to one another.

I am willing to talk to anyone to make the world a better and safer place for my children.

Those of you who believe that marches and protests are the path to change I salute your commitment to this nation’s most robust tactic of defiance and purpose.

March, yes, by all means, march.

But, when you’re done, let’s get together and talk.

 

Today, I kept my son home from school.

Why?

Because last night his Mom and I received an email from his school letting us know that an issue had arisen that might compromise safety at the school.

This morning we learned it was because of a rumor that a student intended to cause harm to other students.

Here’s the deal.  I’m tired of all of this.  Sick and tired of all of it.

Let me be clear about a few things about me.

I am not some squishy liberal.  Or, rock ribbed conservative.

I am not mired in some ideological wasteland where I can’t move my feet.  There is nothing stopping me from changing my mind about anything.

I love my country.  I cherish our Constitution.  I believe that we have important institutions in this country that deserve preserving.

I believe in the Freedom of the Press.  I believe in the Freedom of Speech.

I also believe there is a right for people to own guns in this country.

But, I also believe that the world changes.  It has to.  It must.

Anybody who tells me that we can’t change anything because of any reason I tell you this:  Get out of my way.

I am so angry right now.  I am angry, mostly, at myself for not having gotten angrier earlier about so many things.

Anger doesn’t fix anything though.  Any more than putting our heads in the sand.

Here is what I know for a fact.

People who think there are simple answers and solutions to anything are liars and they should not be given the time of day.

Anybody who tells you the solution to my son being held home from school today is to ban guns is a liar.

Anybody who tells you the solution is to arm teachers, or to put God back in the classroom, is a liar.

I am angry this morning because a rumor could have been true.  Who knows, maybe the rumor was true.

I’m not angry at the Administrators at the school who sent the email, even if the email raised more questions than it answered.

They didn’t get into the business of teaching children and managing schools so they could fight the battle of keeping our children safe from society’s malfeasance.

I’m angry at adults who offend basic human dignity by picking on children who were in a school where they heard and saw classmates slaughtered – who, if not for the grace of a God that was in that classroom watching over them, would be lying dead alongside their 17 schoolmates.

I am furious at Democrats and Republicans who hold public office — anywhere in America — who have the gall to find political advantage on the corpse of a child.

I am disgusted by the consultants that work for them, the ones that try to justify the blood money they pocket for coming up with their talking points and produce the slick commercials touting their pro-gun or anti-gun credentials.

As for the National Rifle Association, there are no words to describe you and the cowardice you exhibit in your faux defense of America’s freedom and liberty.

A sick boy killed other boys and girls in a school in Florida.

There are other sick boys in America.

Blaming the teachers, and the cops, and the FBI and everybody else because that sick boy, or another sick boy, got a gun and massacred innocents is exactly what is wrong with all of us today.

Every. Single. One. Of. Us.

We are to blame.

Get it?

What are we going to do to change it?

What has to be done?

How will it be done?

Who must make that change?

Don’t tell me that the children are going to be the change.

They are not.

Right now, they are children telling us, the adults, to save their lives.

So, let’s start doing that.

Take a damn chance.  Move your schedule around.  If it is important enough to you to save my kids – your kids – or someone else’s kids – then do something about something.

I am going to sit down at my cabin on Friday, March 16^th through Sunday, March 18^th with a piece of paper and I am going to make a list of what I personally believe has to be done to fight back against the killing of our children.

I intend to come up with some kind of ideas, proposals and solutions – perhaps using those of other people who have put ideas out there – and then figure out a plan to get them implemented.

You can join me if you want.  I hope you will.

Whether you join me, or don’t, here is what I am going to ask you which is what I have asked myself every single day since the last child fell in a school from a gunshot: What am I going to do about it?

One last thing.  To those who post easy solutions, answers or pithy commentary about the 1^st, 2^nd or whatever Amendment – those who post some essay by some guy telling us that the reason kids die in a school is because we took God out of the school – or that life isn’t fair – that there are winners and losers – that we are making a mountain out of a molehill – that getting rid of all the guns – or making sure that government doesn’t take our guns – that they have it all figured out.

You are a liar.

Can we stop yelling.

Just for a moment.

Please.

This is not doing anybody any good.  It will not bring back lost and broken lives.  It cannot ease the pain and suffering of those left behind.

You are right.  You are wrong.  Yes, it is true.  It is absolutely true.

This much is true, as well.

We are all wrong.

Throw blame everywhere but it will finally stick to where it belongs.

On all of us.

A click and post outrage full of demands and accusations at others is a deflection.

I am responsible for the dead and dying in Florida.

It is true.

I did not pull the trigger, but I have not done enough to stop him, or somebody else, from doing so.

You, those reading this, and those choosing to ignore it, you are culpable as well.

I will be more culpable if, after I write this and post this, I move onto the next thing in my life without committing to do something.

This is how we have all become.  We flit, and we flirt with wanting to do something.

Yet nothing is done.

What happened in Florida will happen again.

It makes me ill to imagine it so.

Imagine it not happening.

But doing nothing but dreaming about it will not stop it.

Dead children in a school are not the nightmares of their parents.

It is the cold, stark, hard reality that warm bodies they said goodbye to in the morning are now cold and lying on a slab lifeless and gone forever.

Stop yelling.

For a moment if you can.

Instead of looking for Congress to do something.  Anything.  What can you do.  What can I do.

What can we do.

Getting rid of all guns in this country isn’t an option.

It isn’t.

Please.  Stop saying it is because it just means you want to argue not solve this conundrum.

Will getting rid of some kinds of guns make a difference?  If so, what kind of guns.  Can you show me with facts that it can?

Because if you can’t you are just imagining it and that won’t fix anything.

Arguing that a document written by long dead old men simply cannot be changed is not the mark of an exceptional nation.

Those who started this country stir in their dust at the notion that any single amendment they permitted to be changed when change was required is exempted from change.

Stop yelling.

You can, if you want to.

I want to.

I am tired of it.  Tired of pointed fingers.  Spitting words.  Hashtag this.  Prayer that.  My cold dead fingers pried off of anything thumping of chests.

I don’t have a solution right now.

I have a promise and an offer.

I want to find a solution.  With those of you who want to find a solution.

I promise that this time I won’t make this promise to do something and then go onto the next something.

I need your help, though.

On March 16^th – 18th I invite you to join me at my cabin, The Northern Lights Lodge, outside of Hayward, Wisconsin. 

Let’s talk.  Let’s reason together.

Perhaps we can start a movement.  Maybe we can save my child.  Your child.  Someone’s child.

Isn’t that incentive enough to try?

Bring a sleeping bag.  A bottle of wine.  Or not.

Most of all, bring an open mind.

Next to a fire.  In a hot tub.  Out on a cold Wisconsin deck let us warm ourselves with a passion for believing it is us – not somebody else – who will bring us in from the frigid discomfort that the solutions to this are out of our hands.

They are not.

They never have been.

We cannot allow ourselves to believe that others can be compelled to action because we shout, tweet, post or write a blog or do a monologue on a comedy show at night.

For two days and two nights we can all – from wherever you come from geographically, ideologically, philosophically politically or otherwise – come up with a plan on how we can do something.

You can email me at erichmische63@gmail.com or you can text me at (651) 600-1188 and see if I am serious.

I am.

Come as a family.  Let us hear the words of your children.  Your grandparents.  Aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, cousins – the whole connectedness of what it means to be an American family.

Come as one.  Come as many.

There will not be too many.  Because there can never be too many who want to change the world.

We may be close but the closer we are the more we can do.

Join me on March 16^th -18^th for “Stop the Yelling:  A Summit at The Northern Lights Lodge”

We, the people – we will fix this and anything else that is broken in America.

Stop yelling.

All of us.

Let’s fix our broken hearts and minds.

 

Spare Key’s Groove Gala, https://www.sparekey.org/events/groove-gala, has grown from a staid 200 person event in the basement ballroom of the old Hotel Sofitel to a high-energy celebration with nearly 900 guests held at the Depot Renaissance Hotel in Minneapolis.

It didn’t get that way by itself.

There are, of course, a lot of people behind its success.

The Spare Key Team of Mary Serie and Sophie Butler have played a pivotal role in its success.

Mary’s dogged determination in securing sponsorships, silent and live auction items and maintaining order throughout the registration process before, during and after the event makes an event that would be daunting to a staff of 20 appear smooth for a staff of only four people.

Sophie fingerprints are on every single aspect of the Groove Gala.  From the design to the entertainment to the marketing and promotion of the event, all the way through the evening’s production where she helps to stage manage the flow of the show.

Emily Franksen, our newest Spare Key Team Member, has been thrust into the middle of all of this massive moving milieu of activity.  She coordinates our volunteers, manages the silent auction process and at the same time is also managing our Program.

My Board of Directors, including this year’s Groove Gala Chair Susan Link, have been essential to growing this event.  As we get closer to the event itself there are increasing numbers of emails, phone calls and entreaties by Spare Key Staff for this, that and everything in between.  It has been their commitment to fulfilling their promises to the organization that have been fundamental to the Groove Gala’s success.

There is, without question, our sponsors.  This year’s event is being presented by TitleSmart https://title-smart.com/

This home-grown, woman owned, and operated title company has at its helm one Cindy Koebele.  She is a force of nature in all things.  When she says, “I’ll do that!”  she does that in multiples.

There isn’t enough room on this page for the number of sponsors we have for this year’s Gala – which underscores that Spare Key is fortunate to have the support of many people with big hearts.

We are fortunate, as well, to have the creative genius of Nancy Jacobs, President of edgproductions, http://www.edgproductions.com, another woman owned and lead company.  Her work has been featured all over the world, and rightly so.  Nancy and her entire team can make silk out of a pig’s ear – and get the rest of the pig to fly – and make it look incredible!

The team at the Minneapolis Renaissance, The Depot Hotel,  http://thedepotminneapolis.com has been a necessary partner in the growth and success of The Groove.

When we looked to move our event from the Aria – after outgrowing the space in less than two years – The Depot space looked massive and daunting.  How would a small non-profit like Spare Key be able to fill that space?

After working out some operational kinks in our first year in 2016 with the professional support of the Team at the Renaissance we saw our 20^th Anniversary Groove Gala in 2017 come together with nearly 950 guests like clockwork.

Finally, and most assuredly not least important, is our partnership with Kent Kolstad, Founder, President and Technical Director of Fargo-based Livewire, https://www.livewirenow.com, a production house that offers a glimpse into the remarkable power of Millennial Entrepreneurship.

Kent, in his biography, is described as a “Live event veteran and new-school creative in UHD. Sleep is for the weak. Thrives on coffee, new ideas, camaraderie, art and music.”

On their website the company describes itself this way:

“With offices in Fargo, North Dakota and a presence throughout the North’s greatest cities including Minneapolis, Sioux Falls, Bismarck, St. Cloud and Alexandria, Livewire is one of the most versatile, creative, efficient and cost-effective production houses in the region, providing live event production for events of any shape, size and style throughout the country.

Our clients range from local entrepreneurs to concert promoters, large-scale international companies to community-building organizations, non-profits, and everyone in-between.”

One of the great stories about Kent and the company he has built and grown from the ground up is in a Prairie Business Magazine article from 2015.

http://www.prairiebusinessmagazine.com/business/technology/3974081-event-technology-firm-fulfills-vision-music-theater-and-other-events

The leading line of the article says just about all you need to know about Kent:

“Around the age of 13, most kids have no idea what they want to be when they grow up. Kent Kolstad, founder of Livewire Entertainment Media Services, was beginning a business that would sustain his life and passions 15 years later.”

Seventeen years later Kent Kolstad has created one of the finest production houses in the Midwest and, I have no doubt, in far less than seventeen years from now it will be one of the finest production houses in the world.

I love the story of Kent, at age 13, knowing what he was going to do with the rest of his life.

At the age of 13 I was running and managing a gas station in Fairmount, North Dakota.

While I didn’t end up having a career in the service station industry, I did end up having a career in public service.  By any measure, whether it was helping people pump gas or helping them pay their mortgage, I think that time at the Fairmount Mobil served me well.

Kent and his company don’t just give back – they have the back of those they are partners with in every facet of the projects they do.

There are no problems in Kent’s world – only opportunities.

At Spare Key we don’t have time to worry about problems – we only have time to work with Kent, and the other amazing Groove Gala partners – on opportunities.

Sixteen days from now the Spare Key Groove Gala presented by TitleSmart will take place in Minneapolis.  Our Master of Ceremonies Steve Patterson, Co-Host of Twin Cities Live! http://twincitieslive.com/ will call us together, and he, along with our Live Auctioneer Kristine Fladaboe Duininck http://www.fladeboeauctions.com/kristine-fladeboe-duininck.html will help us raise a lot of money to help a lot more families.

There is still time to get your tickets or sponsor a table – donate some items for our Silent and Live Auction – and volunteer for this event. Just email Mary at Mary@sparekey.org and she will work with you to make that all happen.

An event, that without the partnership, commitment, heart and soul of a lot of people and companies, simply could not happen.

Our Groove Gala color this year is Blue, and our theme is “The Sky’s the Limit.”

I have no doubt that come Saturday, February 24^th we will gather together to show those families we are honored to serve that when it comes to helping them “Bounce and not Break” the sky truly is the only limit.