Youth Advocacy
Youth Advocacy
Year 3, Week 51 (189 total reports)
20.12.2023-26.12.2023
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Advocating for young people in the face of politics and religion driven by fear (the Leviathon).
https://www.communitiesoftrust-jerrygoebel.com/youthadvocacy
Best Links of The Week
26.12.2023
Is Fear Driving Contemporary Politics? Hobbes’ Leviathan Revisited
https://www.thecollector.com/thomas-hobbes-leviathan-fear-politics/
This reflection on the theories of Thomas Hobbes is worth recounting as his theories of a Leviathan feasting on fear is certainly being displayed in right-wing politics and religions around the world. To be an authoritarian, is to constantly find ways to make people so afraid that they concede their democratic (and even human) rights and give them away to a central power (Leviathan) that will take over their decisions. The popularity of authoritarian governments (and authoritarian wannabes) in our world today certainly points to the success of those pseudo-leaders who solidly manifest their ideologies in fear.
25.12.2023
Life Lessons From Eavesdropping on the Taliban
https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/life-lessons-eavesdropping-taliban-bookbite/47139/
This book review intrigued me greatly from a former Naval intelligence officer turned physician. His primary insights into how the Taliban developed and established itself certainly has familiar links to the current Christian Nationalistic leaders trying to imbed themselves into US politics, education, and religion. This book offers a great insight into the playbook of religious authoritarianism.
24.12.2023
10 Victories the Working Class Won in 2023
https://truthout.org/articles/10-victories-the-working-class-won-in-2023/
The last three years have held out huge wins for the poor and working class. This January 1st, 22 States will raise their minimum wage for workers moving employees closer to a living wage. If you are not in a State that is raising their minimum wage (or at least considering it) you are in a State controlled by Republicans. There are true examples across the economy of what happens when government serves its tax payers as opposed to its wealthy. Hopefully, this will serve as a framework for what government in service to the people can offer.
23.12.2023
The Colorado Ruling Changed My Mind
https://apple.news/ALLVcOYYuTc6vquXIOseY-A
Like many political scholars today, I am of two minds when I reflect on the Colorado Ruling regarding Trump and Article 14, Section 3 of the US Constitution. I would love to see Trump and his GOP lackeys trounced at the polls, but I also want to see guardrails on who can run for office after being engaged in an insurrection.
22.12.2023
Texas Threw an 11 Year-Old Kid In Solitary
Texas is becoming synonymous with the abuse of human rights, this is but another example of how political bullies (in this case, in a school district) can undermine the human rights of the powerless. Whether it’s about women, immigrants, or children, this State is crawling back into the dark ages.
21.12.2023
Want to Raise Children Who Become Successful Leaders? Try Neil deGrasse Tyson's 'Rule of Chaos'
There is a movement afoot in many school districts to ban whatever might make children and teens feel uncomfortable in schools. Of course, the truth is that it is an attempt to ban whatever makes ideological parents feel uncomfortable whether it’s about women’s rights, civil rights, or sexual development. DeGrasse-Tyson makes a great point that children don’t grow from comfort—none of us do—we grow from attempting to resolve chaos. Dealing with our nation’s colonialist, misogynistic, racist history is part and parcel of what will help us NOT repeat those mistakes. Hiding those truths is an attempt to intentionally repeat them. We need to ask ourselves, who is it that wants to repeat this history and what will they profit by doing so?
20.12.2023
Finding Redemption in the World’s Most Heavily Incarcerated Nation
Having served and consulted for decades in the system of the most heavily incarcerated nation, makes me very sensitive and alert to articles like this. Thomas Merton would tell us that our greatest transgression today lies in “what is done in our name.” People can get away with horrendous actions in corrections (or in education as in the Texas case above), only because of a lack of involvement in those systems. Sadly, it becomes increasingly difficult to NOT be involved in those systems when they begin to affect and touch all of our families in some way. Sardonically, I believe the only hope for fairer treatment in our penal system will be the arrest and incarceration of more politicians who have broken laws and need to pay fair consequences. The more time they spend in prisons, the more changes we will see in these institutions.
This Week’s Links
26.12.2023
Is Fear Driving Contemporary Politics? Hobbes’ Leviathan Revisited
https://www.thecollector.com/thomas-hobbes-leviathan-fear-politics/
22 States To Raise Minimum Wage On New Year's Day
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/minimum-wage-increase-new-years-day_n_65845315e4b04da9842608dd
COMIC: The year of student loans
https://www.npr.org/2023/12/26/1215836894/student-loan-repayment-debt-relief-fresh-start
Iowa Gov. Puts Coal In Kid’s Christmas Stockings
https://politizoom.com/iowa-gov-puts-coal-in-kids-christmas-stockings/
Mike Johnson declared 2023’s “most disturbing” Christian nationalist
Grandparents for Truth Takes on Book Bans and Censorship in Schools
https://truthout.org/articles/grandparents-for-truth-takes-on-book-bans-and-censorship-in-schools/
‘Latinitas’ teaching coding and engineering to close gaps in tech industry
Activists Link U.S. Nonprofit to Anti-LGBTQ+ Laws Across Africa
https://www.advocate.com/news/family-watch-international-uganda-homophobia
The Holidays and the Epidemic of Loneliness
https://www.advocate.com/voices/loneliness-holidays-christmas-lgbtq
25.12.2023
Life Lessons From Eavesdropping on the Taliban
https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/life-lessons-eavesdropping-taliban-bookbite/47139/
How to Find Hope and Happiness Amidst Uncertainty
24.12.2023
10 Victories the Working Class Won in 2023
https://truthout.org/articles/10-victories-the-working-class-won-in-2023/
Kentucky's 'Don't Say Gay' Law Brings Misery to LGBTQ+ Students
https://www.advocate.com/news/kentucky-dont-say-gay-bill
LGBTQ+ Population in the U.S. Grows by Over 2 Million
https://www.advocate.com/news/lgbtq-people-america
LGBTQ+ groups band together to challenge school district over Don’t Say Gay policies
A Texas county plans to give low-income residents in the Houston area $500 a month as part of a universal basic income plan
Iowa won't participate in US food assistance program for kids this summer
https://apnews.com/article/iowa-summer-ebt-food-assistance-0e878c5c0fc9dd0dd55622cb22a82561
Most Read Articles of 2023
https://behavioralscientist.org/most-read-articles-of-2023/
11 Phrases That Signal a Person's Lonely, According to Psychologists
https://parade.com/living/phrases-that-signal-a-persons-lonely-according-to-psychologists
23.12.2023
The Colorado Ruling Changed My Mind
https://apple.news/ALLVcOYYuTc6vquXIOseY-A
Ron “Don’t Say Gay” DeSantis caps of 2023 with his most embarrassing loss yet
Republican Group Sounds The Alarm On 'Wannabe Dictator' Trump In Scathing Ad
The 10 most read Future Perfect stories of 2023
Understanding Our Stress Response System
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/deep-dives/202312/understanding-our-stress-response-system
5 strategic mindsets of exceptional leaders
https://www.fastcompany.com/90996386/strategic-mindsets-of-exceptional-leaders
22.12.2023
Texas Threw an 11 Year-Old Kid In Solitary
The Strange History—and Even Stranger Future—of Digital Deception
The Marriage Plot
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/12/political-gender-divide-marriage/676906/
How a Group of Grandparents Is Mobilizing to Push Back Against Moms for Liberty
https://www.advocate.com/politics/grandparents-for-truth
House GOP concludes embarrassing 2023, taking almost as many votes for Speaker than bills passed
AI is transforming how science is done. Science education must reflect this change.
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adm9788
Unintegrated Trauma: How to Improve Communication by Understanding Stress Responses
https://www.entrepreneur.com/leadership/how-to-improve-communication-by-understanding-stress/466461
5 Gratitude Practices to Try With Your Family Over the Holidays
https://www.mindful.org/5-gratitude-practices-to-try-with-your-family-over-the-holidays/
21.12.2023
Want to Raise Children Who Become Successful Leaders? Try Neil deGrasse Tyson's 'Rule of Chaos'
Empower Teens: Reframe Emotions and Embrace Life
It only takes 195 milliseconds for impulse to get ahead of intention. Try these ’emotional agility’ tools to retrain your brain’s response
The Biggest AI Trends in 2024
https://weandthecolor.com/the-biggest-ai-trends-in-2024/182739
7 Ways to Stop Jumping to Catastrophic Conclusions
We sued to keep Trump off the Colorado ballot. Here’s what our critics get wrong.
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-colorado-supreme-court-crew-lawsuit-rcna130730
Our Vision of the Future City is Trapped in Old Thinking
https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/vision-future-city-trapped-old-thinking-bookbite/47037/
20.12.2023
Finding Redemption in the World’s Most Heavily Incarcerated Nation
Texas’ new border law will hurt children and taxpayers, experts say
https://www.semafor.com/article/12/19/2023/texas-migrant-sb4-law-impact-children-taxpayers
Mike Johnson Is the Christian Nationalist We Should Have Seen Coming
https://newrepublic.com/article/177474/mike-johnson-christian-nationalist-seen-coming
(Un)comfortably Numb: 5 Ways to Alleviate Emotional Numbing
We Need Control of Our Cognitive Gaze Now More Than Ever
The Hypocrisy Underlying the Campus-Speech Controversy