John's Next Step

Last week I wrote about the shooting in Atlanta Georgia.  Now there was another in Boulder Colorado.  Who knows how many others not widely published? ( Gun violence archive ) We have about 4.4% of the world population and own 42% of the guns. In terms of mass shootings, we are far and away #1. (However, Yemen, in terms of population, also has high gun ownership and gun deaths.) Wait, wait, wait, I’m not going to talk about another problem. Last week’s post was rather depressing. We have a target-rich environment for improving things. However, reading about the problems can be overwhelming. Peace Corps Lesson Two great friends in northern Ghana - God bless their homeland So a bit of perspective about how I view things starting with an example as a traditional Peace Corps volunteer. They say it is two years, but you also have about 3 months of training so 27 months, something like 800 days. On the first day of training, I’ll put my expected end date into a countdown ap...

Training in Ethiopia.  Come on Ethiopia, you can do better than just 2 on a moto :-) I was evacuated from the Tigray region of Ethiopia by the Peace Corps about a year ago while I was in training near the regional capital of Mekelle. My Peace Corps sub-office was there so I spent some time in the city. Axum was the market town for my site so I also spent time there during a week of site visit. Walking the streets, meeting people, and sharing meals with strangers to become friends.  One of the better parts of Peace Corps. Friends who helped me in my travels and paid for my breakfast.  I hope they are OK. If Tigray, Mekelle, and Axum sound familiar it might be because you remember some of my blog posts last year but more likely because of news about the conflicts between Ethiopian and Eritrean national forces against the regional forces and people in Tigray. A friend recently flagged this article for me - Ethiopia Tigray Atrocities NYT . I have a subscription to the...

I'm hearing more talk that "we the people", the government, should not help people in poverty, "I worked hard for what I got and they just want a handout" is a common statement. Since many who say this are old white men like me I wanted to add my perspective. My life after High School My wife and I worked and made significant sacrifices before we met and throughout our married life. We were successful by many measures. Here’s part of my side of that story. After high school I worked for a semester at a factory because I didn’t have enough money for school.  College was my decision and my responsibility so I stepped up. Once I could start my budget was tight. Lunch was mainly peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and carrots from home or a single slice of cheese pizza from the university cafeteria. Pepperoni was too expensive. Water was free. I took extra classes and studied hard while in school. When I ran out of money I quit school and worked full ti...

I didn't know much about AmeriCorps when I started at Iowa Welcome Corps almost two months ago as a Vista Leader.  This week is AmeriCorps week and so I'm sharing some information I've learned about the program.  Peace Corps and AmeriCorps Peace Corps started on March 1, 1961, of course by Kennedy. We just passed the 60 th anniversary of its mission of promoting world peace and friendship.  So also a belated happy birthday to Peace Corps. Johnson started Vista in 1964 as part of his efforts to reduce poverty.  In 1993 Clinton organized Vista and other programs under the umbrella organization the Corporation for National and Community Services, commonly called  AmeriCorps.   Its mission is to improve lives, strengthen communities and foster civic engagement through service and volunteering. Peace Corps and AmeriCorps programs have many similar policies and procedures. Some say AmeriCorps is “Peace Corps for the US”. I don’t really agree bec...

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...