Category: THE CRC BLOGCAST

LIFE AND LIVABILITY

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There is not an easy answer to the question of what the best place is to live in here in the United States. Because of our societal structure and cultural diversity, people have many options in choosing a desirable residence. Some may choose to reside in urban or suburban environments. Others may prefer the quiet and tranquility of rural areas. Regardless, there are many options for one to choose from.

There are many factors that may impact the preference for one environment over another. Personal, financial, or cultural factors may have a great influence in where one chooses to set their roots or raise a family. Beyond our inner scope, public policy factors can also nudge our decision one way or another. Given the relative ease of relocation, compared to the past, the decision to reside in one location can change. External factors can drive such change. 

For more, please click above to experience the Life & Livability podcast. 

LIVING THE DREAM

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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is an iconic figure in the annals of American history. Dr. King exemplified the ability for an individual outside the typical halls of power to make indelible change in our society. All Americans, regardless of background, benefited from Dr. King’s message. A message establishing hope for a society united harmoniously regardless of race. Despite our challenges, America must strive to reduce social tension related to race, gender, and other demographics. 


There is no easy answer to solve the racial tensions that seem to plague our society all to often. As the most diverse nation in the world, conflicting needs combined with past transgressions create challenges for identifying a workable and realistic solution. Strong emotions and unwavering political views harden stances. Our cultural political conditions create unnecessary dichotomies preventing society from solving many of our important issues. Until society can have a true honest dialogue surrounding our tensions, there really is no way forward. 

An obstacle is some want to move past the issue by overlooking the need to address discrimination in its current form. Others want to weaponize discrimination and view every social conflict in the context of discrimination. Both sides miss the middle ground. Society needs to be able to address incidents without regression to division. There will always be conflicts or incidents involving different races. Facts must be vetted before one jumps to conclusions or dismisses possibilities. 

The biggest impact society can accomplish in the near term is to reduce tensions and eliminate violence related to discrimination. There has yet to be a year in recent memory where headlines did not include stories covering the loss of life related to some form of discrimination. Whether it is a large- or small-scale event, hate crimes need to be stopped. People should not loss their lives for the mental illness of others. Society must fight hate in all its forms, not only the politically convenient. 

Peoples must at a basic level respect the right for others to exist. Respect the right to life, life, and the pursuit of happiness of all, not a select few. One does not have to agree with or embrace another’s views or values, but one should respect their rights. The great aspect of America is the belief in openness for all and universal personal and political freedoms for all citizens. Also, it does not hurt to experience another culture or seek to bridge the gap between cultures by sharing commonalities. 

Our failed attempts at fighting discrimination have largely resulted in a more divided society due to inconsistency. Resulted in more discriminatory feelings. Some use too broad of a paintbrush in exploiting every incident, creating groups to emote anger, resentment, and division. There is a need to combat discrimination and hate. But, there needs to be push towards ensuring justice and moving communities towards forgiveness and unity. Forgiveness is a critical aspect in American life that many miss. 

Society needs to combat all forms of hate. Not only the politically convenient forms. Social harmony will not happen when hatred is ignored in certain circumstances and overreacted to in others. The approach only reinforces stereotypes of inequity, as one race bears the complete responsibility. In reality, all bear some responsibility. Hate will be defeated by love, learning, and tolerance, not entitlement, revenge, and anger. 

No one can be sure if America will ever reach Dr. King’s Dream. That does not mean our society should stop trying. There is a clear need to identify a new path and dogma around the issue.

THE CRC: ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN POLITICS

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There is not a single person who wants interference with our local, state, or national elections. The reality of life is that foreign influence campaigns in politics occurred long before the 2016 presidential cycle. It probably will happen again to some degree. 

The impact from the influence campaign from Russian actors is highly exaggerated for political reasons. The campaign was poorly executed and there is no real proof that people changed their votes based on the clearly misleading information presented. 

The hysteria is leading policymakers to place undue responsibility on social media companies to regulate political advertisements as well as speech on their platforms. Conveniently, private firms do not have constitutional restrictions government deals with. 

Facebook and Twitter responded to social and political pressures in completely different manners. Facebook wants no part of suppressing free expression as it pushes back against criticism. On the other hand, Twitter decided to no longer accept paid political ads.

There is a general unfairness in attempting to make private firms shoulder the responsibility of policing speech. Government is essentially seeking a loophole to get around constitutional protections covering free expression. Censorship is not an appropriate response to fake news. 

Early efforts to filter content demonstrated a clear existence of political and ideological biases at the highest levels of social media companies. Any non-liberal non-Democratic voices were silenced by so called moderators, especially many legitimate conservative media members. 

The best defender against fake news is an educated, engaged, and informed society. While all should act in society’s best interest, there is always inaccurate or incomplete information out there. Not always purposeful but can still have the same impact. 

People who read a wide variety of legitimate news sources and stay abreast of issues can clearly identify and filter out fake news. The advertisements used in 2016 were clearly unconvincing and amateurish. Many were released well after primary contest ended in the impacted state. 

The real focus should be ensuring foreign governments cannot manipulate election results by altering vote counts or inappropriately accessing election data. States need to improve their systems and protocols around balloting. Paper ballots is an unnecessary regression. 

Foreign governments may always seek to influence. The United States too might continue influencing foreign elections. The key is to ensure the voters voices is truly reflected in the results. In 2016, the voice of the voters was heard.