governing – what a fool believes . . . .

Education

I wonder if we’re teaching our children what matters most.

Knowledge is important, of course, but in a world where data and information are at our fingertips – literally, given the proliferation of smartphones and other powerful devices that can educate us on any subject in seconds – perhaps we should be teaching them skills that help them interact with others. And not just in workplace settings either. Cooperation and collaboration in social groups and communities will be essential if we’re to achieve our greatest ambitions.

I believe that education should be the single highest priority for our societies. We owe all the members of our communities every chance to learn the things that they can leverage to build the kind of lives they want. It’s good for them, and it’s good for everyone else too, because if I’m doing what I enjoy, then I’m enthusiastically contributing to our society. And that’s the outcome we should be striving for. In jobs, in families, in communities.

We should be schooling everyone in the mechanics of healthy relationships, helping them to understand what a good relationship looks like and how to create one. And how to recognize and then navigate a relationship that’s not so good.

It’s probably a good idea to educate everyone in the principles of budgeting, estimating income and expenses, using credit appropriately. Basic financial skills can go a long way to alleviating stress in adult life, and that has so many benefits, especially with intimate relationships.

We might want to teach everyone the basics of transportation and home maintenance: how furnaces and home appliances work, how cars work, and how to keep them all in good working order.

And about nutrition – the kinds of nutrients we need, how to shop for groceries and how to prepare basic dishes.

In short, the kinds of things we need to know to live in balance with ourselves, with our neighbors, with our colleagues. It isn’t especially complicated – all of these topics and more can be taught in one high-school class period over a year.

Life skills.

Not more important than math or history or English or science. But still important enough to teach to a common level of understanding. I could have used something like it, and I believe most of my older teenage friends could have benefited just as much too.

Judgment

Finding truth seems much harder now than ever before. And I have sympathy – and no small amount of respect – for those among us who reserve their judgment because they don’t know what to believe. I believe in not judging any situation until you know enough to understand the essence of the issue and the conflict.

But I also believe in two other things: first, data and statistics; and second, that people are the same. Or rather that groups of people are the same in all ways that matter. And that it doesn’t take a whole lot of individuals to build a representative sample of humankind.

So what?

So if a group of people is getting dramatically different outcomes from the outcomes of other groups of people, then there is certainly something fundamentally different in their specific experience, and that difference lies outside themselves.

Take African-American men, for example.

I believe if you randomly assemble a group of African-American men, you will have a normal distribution of smart and dumb ones, tall and short ones, ones with glasses and braces and speech impediments, calm ones and hot-headed ones, rule-breakers and rule-followers, loyal and disloyal ones, and on and on for almost every other trait you can think of. What you won’t have is a normal distribution of age, of incarceration, of life expectancy. And since I believe that any group of people is essentially the same as any other group of people, those statistical deviations from the norm are not inherent in the group of African-American men, but rather result from external forces acting on that group. So something out of the ordinary is happening to African-American men. And it’s having a significant negative impact on them.

So do I need to understand the details of every shooting of an African-American man to judge that something is very much amiss in how that particular group is experiencing life in our great nation? I don’t think so. And that mortality, the worst outcome imaginable, should inspire those of us who believe in both data and essential human equality to move off the I-can’t-judge sideline and into action.

Faith

I’m a man of faith.

But only in that I believe that we must all believe in something. If there is an objective truth – and there may not be – I don’t know that any of us can see it. But either way, we need to anchor ourselves to a set of beliefs to guide our actions.

Do I believe in God?

Yes, but I don’t give it much energy. My God is generally benevolent, but my God doesn’t intervene in my life. I believe in my free will, I believe I choose my actions, and no amount of pleading for divine intervention will alter my life’s course. I do see serendipity, and I will acknowledge my angels when something goes surprisingly well, but I believe I’m responsible for what happens to me.

My set of beliefs align with most religious tenets. I think that’s because people through the years, including those religious leaders, have recognized that generosity, kindness, humility, forgiveness, community are the healthiest and most constructive paths to happiness and harmony. I identify with Christianity, but I think that’s more of a cultural decision than an acknowledgement of Christianity’s superiority to other faiths. If I’d been raised in China, I would probably identify with Buddhism or if I’d grown up in Thailand I’d be Muslim. While I won’t say religions are the same, they do seem to generally prescribe the same types of behaviors for their followers.

My beliefs are my truth. I fully believe them to be the best way for people to behave, and I will follow them or hold myself accountable when I fail to do so.

My beliefs are my truth. Mine. Not necessarily yours. They are my guide to my personal behavior, and though I believe them to be the best way for you to behave too, I don’t believe I can impose them on you. Because there’s nothing objective that says my beliefs are superior to yours. I could be doing you a tremendous disservice by insisting you adopt my beliefs, and I might be doing myself an equal disservice by not giving more consideration to your beliefs.

Faith must guide our personal choices, but when we come together in community with others, we need a more objective approach to govern our interactions. The genius of the founders of the American democracy is that they saw that no person had the answer to existential questions, no person’s faith was superior to any other’s faith, and so they wrote a Constitution to guide our communal interactions that expressly excluded faith – I can practice my beliefs, you can practice yours, but we cannot impose them on each other. Genius, that.

And very much in keeping with my beliefs. Faith is personal. But secular agreements like the Constitution are what governs us communally. And any leader who would impose faith on others is taking us away from this standard that has worked since our founding.