Education - Compelled to Move Forward

October 30, 2024December 10, 2024

DECEPTION

Deception. It’s been a plague on humanity since Eve was beguiled to take a bite from the apple. Whether self-induced, or seeded and cultivated by those determined to profit from it, deception has driven many wars and resulted in incalculable destruction, heartache and loss of human potential. Hitler lured Germans into believing Jews were to blame for their economic problems, President Johnson told the American people not to “worry about Vietnam” and sent tens of thousands of young men into a war he knew we wouldn’t win, and George W Bush pressured us into believing Iraq had WMDs while the CIA warned him they didn’t. These are just a few examples of “leaders”, bent on their own self-serving agendas, bent on gaining and holding onto power, choosing to lure people into believing falsehoods, with disastrous consequences.

September 29, 2024October 3, 2024

A PATH FORWARD FOR CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIANS

As we wade through this ever more divisive election cycle, the challenge of who to support has grown particularly acute for conservatives and ProLife Christians. This challenge has been festering for years and will reach far beyond this election cycle. We who are ProLife, who believe in the sanctity of life, are now facing a near impossible dilemma. Those political figures who advocate for protecting fetuses, are the same people who have acted with a callous disregard for the health and well-being of children, teens and adults. While I clearly lack the wisdom of Solomon, below is a path forward that largely aligns with ProLife principles and can pragmatically serve all life from conception through death.

August 8, 2024August 10, 2024

PUTTING PRINCIPLES ABOVE POLITICS

Given the near exponential growth in political disinformation and an unrelenting onslaught of highly polarized opinions coming from news channels and candidates, making political choices sometimes feels so onerous that many of us would like to either give up and either sit this one out or just retreat into our traditional political affiliation. I submit that if we want our choices to reflect who we are, what we want our nation to be, both in our lifetime and for future generations, and something we can be at peace with, it’s essential that we step back from all this rancor and reflect on what are the principles we hold most dear. Instead of trying to make choices based on who might help us financially in the short term, or who “we like” and “don’t like” for each office, I submit we’ll be much better served by measuring candidates by how likely they’ll be dedicated to policies consistent with the principles we hold most dear.

April 22, 2024May 11, 2024

A TRAGIC SYMBOSIS

Most of us learned in public school how a symbiosis is a “close biological relationship between different species”. Most of the time these relationships are co-dependences that benefit both species. Sometimes they’re fatal. Tragically, as a growing number of Christians have tried to assert their influence in political arenas, the accelerating ties between those who call themselves Christians and most Republican “leaders” dependent on their votes, has devolved to the detriment and mutation of both.

November 27, 2023December 3, 2023

INSPIRATION FROM SELFLESSNESS

If life has taught me anything it’s to look and listen carefully, and remember when I see someone acting against their own self-interest, against their own inner disposition. It happened about ten years ago when I witnessed a young lady, at one of America’s elite universities, choose to enter a boxing competition. She stood at around five-foot tall, weighed maybe 110 pounds, her countenance was one of a gentle and contrite spirit, and it was clear she had not a mean bone in her body. So why would such a bright young lady, with no discernable physical prowess, press into something so antithetical to her self-interest and disposition?

January 28, 2022January 28, 2022

What Patriotism Means To Me

While most of us have strong feelings about patriotism, its exact meaning seems nebulous and elusive. Perhaps that is why many of us practice patriotism so differently. Some exercise what may be the pinnacle of patriotism by enlisting in our military and putting themselves in harm’s way to defend our country. For most of us though, simply standing respectfully at the playing of our national anthem is our clearest expression of patriotism. Given the growing speed and strength of rebuke toward anyone who doesn’t conform to traditional patriotic practices and the way a number of politicians have used less traditional ways of practicing patriotism to advance their own political ambitions, perhaps it would be of some value to take a step back to reflect on the meaning of patriotism.

June 1, 2021August 26, 2021

RECONSTRUCTING CAPITALISM IN AMERICA

Given that income and wealth inequality in America has reached record highs, only 52% of Americans view capitalism positively, and the fact that the Federal Reserve had to rescue us from economic collapse twice in just the last 13 years, I submit that capitalism in America has morphed into a system that no longer serves us well and must be restructured. While America’s brand of capitalism has enabled our growth into an economic and technological behemoth, it has also left us far from the egalitarian society our founding fathers wished for us and encouraged an accumulation of debt and a concentration of business that have left us far from secure. Given our current relative stability, we are ripe, right now, to begin restructuring in ways that enhance freedom, build dignity, advance competitiveness and improve the stability of our economy.

May 17, 2021May 19, 2021

HAVE WE FORGOTTEN THE IMPORTANCE OF INVESTING?

As an Armenian, engrained within me is a culture centered on a dedication to family, faith and future generations. Given that Armenians have been a tiny population for centuries, the importance of self-sacrifice for future generations has always been an essential element of our lives and survival as a people. When that dedication to future generations and pride in what our grandparents built and gave us, meets much of current public policy and business aggression focused on the short-term, it is easy to be disappointed in how we’ve allowed the importance of investing to drift away from us.

January 23, 2021April 28, 2021

ELEVATING EDUCATION TO A STRATEGIC PRIORITY

Given the turmoil of the last few years, including near record income and wealth inequality, and all the derivative effects, if we truly want to build a more just, egalitarian America, we need to elevate public education to a strategic priority and resource it appropriately. With public school funding still highly imbalanced, and unemployment, under-employment, and poverty still running high, three specific areas of focus are recommended for all levels of government: further increase our focus and funding of primary grade reading programs, further increase the promotion and availability of skilled trades training programs, and reduce interest rates on all federal and state college loans.

December 2, 2020July 12, 2021

ALWAYS BUILD DIGNITY

Early in my career, a mentor provided me with a piece of wise counsel: “Always build dignity”. Over the last 40 years, those words have challenged me often. Given the ease with which we can spout critical words, particularly within the tattered fabric of our country, perhaps those three little words, can provide a meaningful balm to what ails us. A conscious effort to building dignity, I submit, is a most worthy goal in both our personal lives and as well in the governance of our country.