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ACCORDING TO LIZ - In this world of woe, it helps to keep repeating that people should accentuate the positive, give everyone reason to feel good about themselves so they can spread that bounty forward to create a more positive future.
In all walks of life, under every circumstance.
Praise children for what they get right; don’t disparage them for not reaching goals that may be unattainable for them at the time.
When explaining anything to anyone, couch your discourse in terms to make listeners feel hopeful, not talked down to, dictated to or denigrated.
Use the current chaos as a springboard to change and improve everyone’s life, not further despair.
Focus on solutions, not fears (we already have enough of those).
Invite others to think differently, to consider supplementary opinions. Don’t criticize.
Engender a positive, hopeful view about a future that has already arrived but isn’t yet apparent. Search for the opportunities available within every new iteration of our lives, understanding that changes crack open the walls in our world. Seek out the new and exciting solutions these openings have to offer.
Labor Day commemorates the American working men and women who built and continue to build this country.
It also celebrates the power that working people have created to incrementally regain their rights as human beings, for overtime protections, for retirement savings, improved safety on the job, and improving their own lives and the lives of their families and communities.
A power that has been sorely threatened in recent months and for which we must rally and fight. In the streets and in the halls of government. In our Congressional Districts and at our Neighborhood Councils.
Even in these dire days, more and more people – workers and judges, labor activists and politicians – are developing spines, showing they have the fortitude to challenge the Demon Toddler and his entourage of sycophants. To make a difference.
Our government should be working for everyone, encouraging employers and employees alike to do what’s best for all Americans. To continue to build a country for the people, by the people.
Today’s leaders need to stop carving out select jobs to support and culling out the rest, fracturing our economy. No part exists alone. Over time, every job has become interconnected, every business intertwined.
Yes, we desperately need change, but it requires a measured long-term approach and the acceptance that everyone will suffer some pain in the growing process of evolving towards a brighter era to come. For everyone – all nations, all the haves and all the have-nots.
Some jobs, some businesses will fade away and others will take their places; that is the nature of life. It evolves over time.
When people are scared – of losing their jobs, their healthcare, their way of life – they can strike out unthinkingly. And the malevolent forces that abound in the world today too often capitalize on that fear, spreading lies and sowing more fear.
The United States needs more immigrants to bulk up its economy so all workers can enjoy life with the leisure time they justly deserve and a viable retirement. But to do so, its leaders must move to replace a sclerotic system for one that works for everyone, not just the modern-day robber barons.
For one that guarantees all workers respect and a quality of life commensurate with the pride of being American.
People do want to hope again. They want to be inspired; not listen to talking heads and politicians interminably tearing people down; they want inspiration and energy and hope for the future.
Politicians need to develop storytelling that connects with all people, not just narrow tales for their constituents (or enough of them to elect their self-serving asses back into office year after year after year).
They need to buy into your dreams, not frighten you into supporting divisive and exploitive agendas.
Implement a positive populism. Replace greed and ignorance and fear with sustainable supply chains, good jobs in safe workspaces, education and healthcare for all, where people can enjoy a good life and relax in the knowledge that they no longer have to fear for the future.
Embrace innovation but delve deeply to discover how such can be tailored to improve all people’s lives, not just the bottom line of the 1%.
Welcome decentralization as an invitation to a more resilient and satisfying lifestyle.
Strive for peace and focus on finding commonalities and accord, aligning human values with technological improvements.
Employ both macro- and micro-approaches and strategic foresight prioritizing long term considerations to ensure that all short-term goals help build that better future.
Develop situational awareness and practice skills that build the emotional muscle needed to effectively handle the now-constant and ever-accelerating technological and geopolitical changes.
Dream the life you want as individuals, bravely act it out for it to become your life.
And join your dreams with the dreams and hopes of your friends and neighbors, and choose to elect the politicians to build that better future.
To create a more reputable reality for the generations to come.
(Liz Amsden is a former Angeleno now living in Vermont and a regular CityWatch contributor. She writes on issues she’s passionate about, including social justice, government accountability, and community empowerment. Liz brings a sharp, activist voice to her commentary and continues to engage with Los Angeles civic affairs from afar. She can be reached at [email protected].)
