I need your vote! I also need your help. As I have mentioned before, I am shifting into a new stage of life. I am no longer teaching at an institution, instead I am advocating and writing about social justice full-time both as part of Independence Rock Group: Center for Faith, Ethics, and Social Justice and here at Approaching Justice. As a result of this shift, I need to network and branch out in a whole range of new directions.... Read more
I was introduced to the Florence Reece’s song “Which Side Are You On?” by Pete Seeger’s rendition of the song. I love Pete’s version. It is a haunting song in many ways. I recently can across Natalie Merchant’s cover of “Which Side Are You On?” It is equally haunting and beautiful. Earlier today, I wrote about officially joining a union. Which side are you on? Read more
This week, I officially became Union. I have joined the National Writers Union (NWU). The NWU is affiliated with the United Auto Workers (UAW) and the AFL-CIO. As I have become disillusioned with the Wyoming Democratic Party , and party politics in general, I have been looking for groups and organizations that will allow me to advance social justice while also enjoying the association that comes with belonging to a group. I am social like that. On the campaign trail,... Read more
Jeff Shinabarger’s More or Less: Choosing a Lifestyle of Excessive Generosity reminded me of two philosophers, Aristotle and Peter Singer and how they addressed the idea of generosity. Today, I want to focus on Aristotle. Aristotle Aristotle directly addresses the idea of generosity in his Ethics. Generosity is a virtue for Aristotle and as such it is the middle point between a deficiency and an excess. Both the deficiency and the excess, in this case, are vices. The key to... Read more
I have long loved They Might Be Giants. The song "Your Racist Friend" is my favorite song, partially because experiences in life often (sadly) remind me of the narrative in the song. Today, I was remind of this song by comments #12 and #13 on this thread. Holy Crap! "Like" Approaching Justice on Facebook Read more
John Rawls is my hero, but I never met him. So, I love hearing personal experiences like that of Thomas Pogge. And to think…I have been accused of hero worship. 🙂 Source: The Carnegie Council’s Ethics Matters Series. I tend to side more with Pogge on the idea of global justice than I do Rawls. However, as Pogge mentions, many ideas about global justice, including the amazing work of Pogge himself, have been directly influenced by the Rawlsian concept of... Read more
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has released a statement in support of the shift by the Boy Scouts of America that will allow gay Scouts to fully participate within the Scout program. I want to share part of that statement: “While the Church has not launched any campaign either to effect or prevent a policy change we have followed the discussion and are satisfied that BSA has made a thoughtful, good-faith effort to address issues that, as... Read more
Todd, my oldest child, turns 13 today. Todd is my thinker. When I am trying to get him to make a decision, his thinking can drive me crazy. Todd is also an observer. He wants to know what is going on around him. In the mornings, when I drove him to school, Todd and I would listen to NPR’s Morning Edition together. He would just suck up the information. During the 2012 GOP Presidential Primary it drove him crazy that... Read more
Each morning I take a bus to the metro, then a short metro ride to work. Each morning I get on the bus, put on my headphones, or open my ipad to listen or read whatever book I am reading. As I do this I notice this seems to be what everyone else is pretty much doing as well. There is seldom anyone talking or really even noticing one another. This pattern is pretty consistent with public transportation commuting, at... Read more
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