The 4th of July is an awesome time to hang out with family, kids and neighbors. If there is one thing that unifies us is the dream of providing opportunities for our children and leaving the world a slightly better place than it was when we got here. Commitment to an ideal takes a whole community.
Support your local firefighters through volunteering, donations, and saying "hi".
We are seeing a rise in extremism and coordinated groups. I really can't say much about them because I don't know the specifics of the group. The only thing I can say is that this rise is troublesome. Our states and law makers are struggling with how to handle this rise in separatism and hate/race based activities.
In some cases, such groups were given free passes to function as they see fit with no consequences and in other cases we fanned their flames with "talk big" political conflict. As long as we continue to not understand the roots of hate, extremism and separatism we will continue to struggle with solutions.
We have to restore trust in our system and our institutions. That won't happen as long as we don't recognize the problem and we don't hold people accountable for their behaviors (mental health and/or criminal). It is fundamental to our way of life to ensure extremism groups don't dictate to our political leaders what their American values are.
We struggle with this accountability and seeing behavior for what it is. The same reason we were caught off guard during the Capital Riots is the same reason why we can't tackle local hate groups. We are blinded by our limited perception, awareness of multiple ways to look at the same root of the problem, and a general political-justice system that sort of didn't in the past view these things as serious (....highly dependent on the first image of what you envision when you think of the word "extremism". Test yourself...did you see a certain kind of person? a certain religion? a particular group? You don't have to tell anyone but just be honest with yourself. 💁💗 What do you think your friends imaged and/or your social networks? .....in this way we start seeing the social nature of injustice. You may also come to notice that different groups think different things but they are all connected by the same core principles that revolve around the deeper psychological underpinnings of hate. In essence, we can't see them because we can't yet see ourselves or others in a truer light. More knowledge and familiarity lowers those false perceptions and defense mechanisms.. This isn't for or against any particular mindset but is an opportunity for us to sort of ponder its implications. 🤔 )
These groups pop up over race, religion and even clubs (i.e. sports groups, political groups, etc...) from time to time. We may be seeing an increasing trend and that would be more of a sign of lowering trust of institutions (..why we need our politicians to be more thoughtful than loud!)We haven't really studied these groups and in some cases don't have the desire to stand up for something bigger than our personal social, political, and financial networks.
Lack of legal framework mixed with a timid desire to investigate hate behaviors is partly responsible for fueling issues. We just can't afford to pretend we don't have a problem (....blinders only work for a short time and when a trends starts we might consider finding a solution.). That doesn't mean we know all the answers but it does mean we have to take the time to understand and collect the information to begin the process of understanding. There must be an attempt to do the right thing so we can open the door to future possibilities and solutions (Assuming patriotism still means actions that strengthen our republic).
Do we have a solution? This is something I think is worth exploring. Michigan Coding and Thwarting of Hate Crimes. Will Michigan politicians act and/or propose a solution? 🤷....waiting.....waiting....waiting......etc......etc..... waiting.......that is also a choice.
The jobs report is up and that means there is pressure on the labor market to either raise wages or become more productive. Training also will rise as new skills are needed as different types of jobs become available in a digitizing world. We are receiving some economic benefits today that should prompt us on how to maximize future opportunities through human capital development and advanced technology devices.
What we might see also happening a focus on human capital development where we try and maximize learning and development to impact individual and national performance. The principles that apply to developing individuals should be applied across the board in our society. No company, country or entity functions well when the written, unwritten and natural rules are different (The closer they are aligned the stronger the message).
To obtain the next level of national development will require solving today's problems with a strategic eye for what is next (...putting ourselves in the best position to maximize multiple pathways). We still have serious sociological instability in our society (i.e. the problems from the riots and sacking of the capital don't just go away by clicking our heels like in the Wizard of Oz.). and many of our institutions are not sure what their next step is (Hopefully we will decide on universality but sometimes it seems we are a little checkered in our historic understanding of where and who freedom applies.)
Our citizens deserve a level playing field where race, ethnicity and religion are not the determining factors in our society of who gets opportunities and who gets put out. I'm talking more about how we turn small gifts of a window of opportunity into a movement to maximize people development (education, legal system, government hiring, etc...)
We are bridled by culture (good and bad) reflected in our institutions that range from entities like higher education to elected leadership. For example, we see our some of our systems (i.e. justice) struggling to update how to create systematic improvements that help the broadest sectors of society (This isn't for or against any movements. It is a statement about transition and its chaos.).
There is an argument to be made for fairness on a moral level as well as the need to develop our human capital environment for further economic development ( Belief creates reality and we have a responsibility to create the best reality we can). If we want to sell the American brand at home and overseas we also need to settle on what the American brand is (hopefully inclusively) and how we support that in our everyday activities (i.e. integration of brand strategy).
Our environment prompts human capital (access to skill, new inventions, etc...) and that prompts our economy (products, business, etc...). If we don't support fundamental American principles in our governance and institutions we will struggle to maximize the power of belief (on a societal scale).
Its hard for most of our leaders (not race, party or religion specific) to sort of grasp that concept of free (to develop society) because they were raised in their own particular culture (culture is programming of a way to see the world). The decisions and choices our leaders make today determines access to human capital and growth in the future (Time is a stream of choices). Human capital development, good governance and performance are well supported in non-political logic (It does have a logic but its often full of fallacies and improper definitions).
Lets just hope our leadership can take the economic fruit basket offered today and grow an orchard of opportunity for the future (Assuming they can get out of the next generations way by not making decisions for only themselves, their party or their generation. Leadership is about creating a vision that transcends current needs to push group performance forward. We should select our leaders wisely.)
You can see the following information in the July 1st, 2021 Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims:
In the week ending June 26, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 364,000, a decrease of 51,000 from the previous week's revised level. This is the lowest level for initial claims since March 14, 2020 when it was 256,000. The previous week's level was revised up by 4,000 from 411,000 to 415,000. The 4-week moving average was 392,750, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week's revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since March 14, 2020 when it was 225,500. The previous week's average was revised up by 1,000 from 397,750 to 398,750.
Days River is located in Delta County. Well groomed and includes, hiking, biking and ATV. There are separate paths for ATV and everyone else.
Each person holds the wants and needs that drive them to engage (or not) in activities that fulfill those urges. Often they are deeply biologically driven but how these needs are fulfilled is psychological (picking the tools) and social in orientation (prompting them to acceptable paths). Whether you are hiring a new employee or meeting new friends the personality has a lot to do with the benefits of certain social interactions.
Let us take this from a customers stand point. The little things count! The enthusiasm and demeanor of the customer service representative is going to make all the difference in how that customer feels. If a person is selfish it often comes through during the interaction no matter how polite the interaction.
What does that mean?
It means that language moves beyond what is being said and includes contextual information as well as non-verbal cues. People who are selfish have programmed their brains (environmental and biological) to think of their advantage and also their disadvantage. Its hard to fake it for long!
Much of what we learn from each other we don't even know. An anticipatory effect often occurs where people are willing to trade of certain things in order to be accepted and liked as well as avoid disapproval. See Anticipatory Effect.
People who are selfish will be giving out disapproval cues all the time and that makes them difficult to deal with over a long period. They will simply "rub" people the wrong way and that is unlikely to go away the more you know the person (one of the reasons why you cut toxic ties).
Selfishness is a trade of pro and anti social behavior. People who are pro social want to help others and in turn receive a level of help from others (helping the herd). Anti-social behavior is about helping oneself and only being nice enough to receive the benefits of that (profiting from the herd).
Whether you are hiring a new employee and or hanging out with a new friend avoid those who are selfish. They have very little to offer in terms of reciprocal benefits and often impact the vibe of groups through their anticipatory effects. Developing strong cultures is the process of adding pro social members and removing those who show themselves to be selfish (....or perhaps that is selfish too? 🤷).
Lawmakers did a good thing by passing a bi-partisan infrastructure plan to increase the economy and improve upon the overall development our our economic platforms. More bi-partisan activities will be needed at some point as our system becomes increasingly digitizes and legislation/government seeks to catch up to the changes (Yep! The digital world doesn't fit well into prior systems). When we pass solid legislation we create net positives where business interests, labor needs, and government wins through increased economic activity.
It should be remembered that one of the benefits of infrastructure investments is that it increases efficiency of transactions for commerce and improves transference of ideas. For example, having a new port may allow for stronger import/export servicing of Great Lakes industries improves the cost/profitability of shipping as well as raises the prospects of future commerce in the region (as other companies seek to compete). See Delta County Shipping.
Our government and business leaders will want to create as many net positives as possible as we seek to navigate a new Information Era (think digital renaissance). Government shouldn't be thought of as spending but as the management of a larger economic system where resources (inputs and outputs) must be managed in a way that the system continues to improve.
This is one of the reasons why I support developing clusters where specific industries must innovate to solve problems and in turn create larger net positives throughout the economic supply chain (beyond the initial products they develop). Locating the R&D of companies into the same proximal physical and digital space allows for stronger innovation of those participating industries because they share resources (i.e. banking, resources, information, ideas, etc...) See Transactional Cluster Theory.
(I'm starting to like CNBC because they put some solid articles together that seem to contain beneficial information. No need to rewrite. The only thing I will say is it would be nice if news agencies linked out to the actual government reports Yikes! I'm lazy like a lot of people 🤯). See CNBC Infrastructure Article.
What you do notice is that we don't have great metrics on how infrastructure improves business functioning and that in turn creates other things like taxes (that pays for improving our environment, roads, public health, etc...). Its not that we don't have the ability to calculate it but that government is often behind the 8 ball on emerging statistical systems. If we can't measure more accurately we won't know how much should be funneled back into the system (i.e. Great Lakes, infrastructure, etc...) to keep them developing and growing so the next generation has even more value (versus the old model of depleting resources. We are out of the "conquer the wilderness" mindset and should look to improving our environment, increasing performance/efficiency and what is beyond our atmosphere.) See Perpetual Sustainable Development Model.
Key Points from the Wharton's School of Business publication 'BIPARTISAN SENATE INFRASTRUCTURE DEAL: BUDGETARY AND ECONOMIC EFFECTS'
A bipartisan group of senators reached agreement with the White House on $1.2 trillion in infrastructure spending, representing a $579 billion increase from the current policy baseline.
That new spending would be financed with a mix of additional deficits (relative to current policy), user fees, and other tax provisions.
PWBM estimates that the proposal would decrease debt by 0.9 percent and increase output by 0.1 percent in 2050.
There is podcast one of the researchers did on the topic. See Podcast Economics
You may also take a look at White House Infrastructure Fact Sheet.
If your a busy business person or creative executive its important to find ways to maintain your health. Lethargy and work-life imbalance does impact performance and in turn your overall prospects (Ask any older person and they will tell you.). Our brains function best when we have adequate blood/oxygen supply and no major ailments to distract our focus. In my case, I still enjoy martial arts and boxing so I try and turn my speed walking into HIIT type program to integrate muscle building sprints.
This picture is the park in Gladstone Michigan.
