THANKSGIVING WITH MY NEW ORLEANS FAMILY

Joan and I always appreciate being with our family. This year we are at our son Sean’s second house in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. Weather wise it is clearly much warmer than Scituate, MA. However, the major reason is we are celebrating Thanksgiving with family.  Surely, Joan and I are so thankful for our children, Sara, Sean, and Neal. They have given us the gifts our six grandchildren.

Even when we are living in a disturbed national divide, a world at war, a world where one’s color, wealth, and power make a significant difference in their lives. 

We are thankful that our children have been well educated and are providing their family financial and loving support. It is exciting to watch our grandchildren merge into the time of entering college.

I am personally thankful for my health, education and a career that serviced the needs of others.

And how could I not be thankful for all of our canine friends, most recently MaggieMae and now Sean’s canine friend, Husk.

Sitting with Alan

 There are nit many times that Alan comes to visit us. We enjoy this presence and always am hoping that his days go well. As today, we sit on the couch and look out to the beautiful ocean.

JUSTICE by means of DEMOCRACY

 Danielle Allen is an American political scientist. She is the James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University. She is also the former Director of the Edmond & Lily Center for Ethics at Harvard University.

Her book essentially on the inequalities among people. People are inherently unequal in their brain power, their basic health, their family life, and their participation in public life. She focuses on justice, democracy, and democratic aspirations. She references the basic elements of our democracy: Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Federalist Papers.  None of  these spells out specifics, but serve to guide citizens in how they deal with reality which, by definition, is constantly changing. The book zeroes in on the need to understand and respond to the problems that will be consistent with these documents.

Human interaction varies dependent on their understanding of the problems in their home, neighborhood, nation, and the world at large. Regardless of the problems, she emphasizes the principles that will address them. She focuses on social and economic issues and stresses the need to bridge the divide.

She has the ability to address issues that help to understand the basic needs and challenges while seeking answers that will heal the differences and keep our democracy alive!