John's Next Step

We are still in the pandemic and I hope we can continue to wear masks and decrease the spread while we increase vaccinations.  Many have died and countless are still suffering physically and financially due to the pandemic. Others able to work from home, save money, and stay safe have done better.  We can begin to see that we will get over this and eagerly wait for the economy to return to normal. I hope it doesn’t. Wealth Inequality From the 1980s our economy has been changed to create wealth inequality – workers are receiving proportionally less for the value they create, pay proportionally more in taxes, suffer from fewer rights, and receive less government support.  Executives, shareholders, and those with generational wealth take the lion’s share and more of our country’s wealth and prosperity.   As seen in the graphs below it didn’t have to be so unfair.  Every country has problems, but Europeans tend to treat members of their society better including...

Picture:  Creator: David J. Phillip, AP Copyright 2021 My thoughts turned to family, friends, and others suffering in Texas.  As I begin this the count is 22 souls lost in the state.  As I publish this some are still without power. Global Warming This time I’ve not heard “what we need is some of that global warming those science nerds keep threatening.”  Perhaps people are waking up.  I’m happy because I’ve little patience with the willfully ignorant. The change in climate reduced the wind and pressure systems that keep the cold air in the arctic.  We’ve always had some bumps with a polar vortex escaping to freeze part of the lower 49.  However, the changing climate makes such events more common and more extreme.  We have created a climate crisis and people are suffering and dying.  But I’m not talking about the climate this week. Texas First, I want to say that the problems are not the fault of the citizens of Texas and they deserve our help...

Last week I recommended a book. This week I’ m talking about a nother book, but I’m not widely recommending it. “Separated: Inside an American Tragedy” by Soboroff covers how we tore famil ies apart as a matter of policy to deter desperate worthy families from seeking asylum. I think it is a great book documenting the subject. I read it in part for my job with USCRI. Journalist Jacob Soboroff documents the policy and impact on families – those separated and his own. Yesterday, I heard a report that there are still 628 kids yet to be united. So the subject is still important, but there are many important topics and we can’t take on everything. It is a great book i f you want to know more about the subject. But you may have worked to stop the practice or otherwise know enough about this subject with all the other good work you are doing. We need to use our time and energy wisely in these times. Frankly the recent books I’ve read are wearing me down and I don’t want othe...

 Early life When I moved to Baltimore to study at the University of Maryland Baltimore County I left my car in Arkansas because I couldn’t could afford school and car insurance. I bought a bicycle and rode 10 miles to class – uphill both ways because there was a valley in between. It was not fun in snow and rain. I also needed a job. Back then with government funding of public universities a person could work and go to school, part time at least, without loans. My job was in downtown Baltimore and this generally required riding two buses. Sometimes after getting downtown I would take a long walk past the Inner Harbor and McCormick spice to save a little money. I worked as a hemodialysis tech. The job was 10 hour shifts. Four days was a full week, allowing time for school, but requiring early mornings or late evenings. Some days I could borrow a car which made the commute easier. One of those late evenings a coworker and I were to last ones after cleaning up. She was go...

Imagine you and your children have been repeatedly attacked because of your race, nationality, religion, ethnicity, or social group.  Really think about it. You try everything to keep your head down and protect your children, but still there are death threats.  You move to a different part of our country but persecution and danger continues.  What would you do?  Would you try to find safety and opportunity for your family in a different country? As discussed last week, you can apply to be a refugee while you are in another country.  However, if you are at our border or already in the country then you have an international and national right to apply for asylum. The asylum process is long and difficult.  Just to start there is a 12 page form to describe the threat faced.  The threat must be based on race, religion, social group, nationality, and ethnicity. If the threat is based on some other factor it doesn't matter how real or serious you will not be ...

I wanted to share a little of what I’m learning about refugees to our country.  Refugees are human beings who have been forced to flee persecution, war, violence to save their lives and those in their family they can help escape.  They didn’t volunteer to become a refugee and it can never be an easy decision, but if we know their stories we can understand and admire them.  We can offer assistance from our hearts  Learning and sharing some of their stories is one way to help. A refugee is given legal status in international law through a series of clearances and reviews.  Their best solution is to eventually safely return to their homes .  If that is not possible perhaps asylum in a neighboring country is typically preferable.  Resettlement in a distant country is a last resort, but a necessary one in our community of nations and human family. Strong, brave, hard working. The process to come to the states as a refugee is very involved as shown in the di...

My apologies for the delay in this post. I’ve been working to find my next step during this pandemic and it has taken some time to have something to write. Ethiopia and Peace Corps  After my sudden evacuation I was hoping to help my mom around the house and return in November of last year, an early tentative date proposed by Peace Corps. The continued pandemic and sad political events in Ethiopia continue to delay target dates. A return might be this November or maybe later.  I feel for the strong, brave, hard working, intelligent people of Ethiopia. They have had to face a locust plague, the global pandemic, and political unrest that turned horribly violent. When Peace Corps reopens the current rules would rule out returning to my site and probably my region due to health and security issues. I continue to pray for Ethiopia and the amazing people. God willing I will return, but I’ve decided to find another service opportunity at home.   Volunteering  As reader...