Teaching Youth Technical Skills (One Generation to Next)

We talk a lot about economics and business in this blog. Over the past few decades we have become every more reliant on others to do the work that we used to do ourselves. While specialization with one's work often improves income levels there are some benefits to doing some of your car maintenance (and other maintenance related to house, garden, etc...) ourselves. This becomes even more important for kids that will need these technical skills later. 

The other day my son asked if I could pay for him to get an oil change. The last time I paid it was $100 at the local oil depot. At this time, I'm teaching more about self-reliance and learning about how cars function and work than pulling out the check book. 

The total cost of completing the oil change was around $35 but the lesson learned was much more. 

Why change the oil together?

1.) Learn about the car and how it functions

2.) Learn basic mechanical skills

3.) The value of money and labor.

4.) To understand what the mechanic is doing to the car and how to inspect.

5.) Creating a connection from one generation to the next.

6.) Learning the right mindset for listening.

I think its important for one generation to teach the next generation valuable skills. Relying on others is great but knowing things yourself is much better. That doesn't mean you are going to get it right all the time. Fixing and working on your own car can really be a pain but it is definitely a learning process.

 Our next project will likely be an old truck and/or muscle car. Still thinking Harley. I will let fate decide.  See Apprentice Skills Youth

The World Inside and Outside Dysfunctional Groups: Distorted Mirrors and Social "Realities"

The world inside some groups and the world outside some groups are sometimes radically different. We are struggling with these concepts as a nation as we try to navigate a new world that is changing before our eyes (don't blink too long!). We are swimming in an era of increased diversity butting against social exchanges that sometimes utilize very rigid mental filters (Selective Attention and In-Out Group Bias. See Side Note A2. Martiny-Huenger, Gollwitzer & Oettingen, 2014). 

Group bias declines as we look at other outside anchors/perspectives.
In extreme cases, that can also lead to the discounting of rights and the value of life.

The problem we face is that once we have selected our friends and our lifestyle we may not be as open to others as we should be. Its an issue in a world where half of society society are "minorities" (...meaning statistic minorities of which ratios change in our future. That doesn't include access to opportunity, wealth and government/business decision making. See Notes A3). 

There are many different causes for these social barriers that include lack of exposure to "other", personality traits, lack of education, self-esteem, racism/bigotry, distorted group values, and comingled factors. Sometimes it could be as simple as mental health issues and an over inflated sense of self being projected throughout social networks to "punish" and cover misinformation  (Lots of grey areas that confuses law enforcement agencies. So many working parts that the truth can become distorted throughout the decision making chain.) 

What is a Distorted Mirror and Social "Realities"?

What we know about ourselves is based on what the world reflects back to us (This isn't always true if we grow up to develop appropriate outside anchors and references matched with internal self-awareness. Its an internal embedded sense of self through repeated sensory environmental interpretation. Psycho-babble. blah blah!). In the case of this group, their past sports playing recreational activities helped to form the groups core identity and in turn how they view themselves through their local network. Somewhat a self enclosed system and the information they share among members is based more in the opinion of "influencers" than anything particularly tangible. See Social Influencer Facebook Games. 

This wouldn't be a problem in most social scenarios but when information is designed to appeal to a particular race, religion, activity, and dominated by a distorted personality(ies) it can sometimes lead (not saying it has reached that level here) to an entire dysfunctional group (i.e. hate groups, gangs, terrorists, anarchists, ultra-nationalists, etc...). The far majority of people don't act on distorted views but it takes one disgruntled lone wolf to change the dynamics. We should remember these lessons from our past and how groups who thought they were "right" have done some horrendous things only to be shocked in hindsight when society condemns them (i.e. distorted mirrors and perceptual reality change.). 

To gain a better understanding you might want to look at The Looking Glass: Perception is Reality and a study on Racial Identity and Looking Glass

Fixing the Distortion with Shock Exposure!

Because this group formed their identities through a small social network within in a homogeneous community they see their friends as an extension of themselves (i.e. shared identity from a consistently similar environment and people.). Their boundaries are lower than healthy groups and members are often required to prove their worth to other members through attention seeking behaviors (Most of the time its good fun but other times it can be directed at individuals and families.)

To understand why its important to encourage members of this group to break out of their mold is because of shock therapy! (Wait....🌟 What? No mice please!) Thus far members have shown an overriding willingness to follow their leadership inching ever so close to sinking into the black hole of hate (Its important to keep in mind not a single member of the group can really say me or my children have done anything to them. Most of them we don't know and the ones we do know would likely say we are nice people. Boundaries were created because we were on the receiving end of someone else's distorted behaviors that intentionally involved/manipulated children with no regard for their health or safety. The crossing of boundaries and intentional misinformation destroyed any faith in the perpetrators ability to trusted in the care of minority youth.) What we can say is at the moment healthier minds have not yet stood up to self correct their social network (Really? Hating a father and kids just because someone told you to do it? 😲 Seriously, you owe it yourself, kids and community to take a more mature stance. Grow up!) Sorry...I digress..... 

To understand why people blindly follow others we have to look at a study that explores the concepts of the psychological propensity toward group aggression and genocide. The researchers set up a study to see who would follow another's direction to kill another person. What they found is that the vast majority (something like 92%)  would press a shock button until a lethal electric shock led to death. Only a small few from the subject pool had a healthy enough self concept to say "Nope! I won't do it! I'm accountable for my own behavior and am a healthy mature adult🙆 ). See Miligrams Study. 

Particularly, I like this quote, "The extreme willingness of adults to go to almost any lengths on the command of an authority constitutes the chief finding of the study and the fact most urgently demanding explanation.'

Kantian Senses and Philosophy of Perception

No one can predict the future 100% accuracy (statistically impossible) but we are able to draw inferences from other group behaviors experienced at other times and places through gangs, cults, extremist circles, etc... There are some shared characteristics between groups but it would be hard for members to see these similarities because of their limited perspective of "other" and themselves. The toxic environment often encourages the "bad apples" of the bunch to move beyond sociably acceptable behaviors and into what could be criminal in nature.

What we can say is that there has been intentional rumor spreading (looks like emotionally manipulate to encourage loose canons to act. A likely prior used offense and defense mechanism of some group members. I have seen what happens when core group members get angry with others. They all jump in like a gang.), false police complaint (corruption of at least one officer), intimidation behaviors (yelling, screaming, middle fingers, public embarrassment, group harassment, yelling out names, calling kids "Nigga Babies" and Muslims "terrorists", ostracizing, and a few other discovered (potential crimes....needs a forensic review.) that may have led to the "cover up" aggression to intimidate/silence the victim(s).

This is an obvious forgery!
I wish it was that easy. 😲

You can sort of get the picture that its a toxic social environment that is unhealthy for kids and adults. What the group doesn't realize is that perhaps their leadership has been feeding them false information to excite them to create separation between their support network and the people who have a legitimate complaint? (Maybe...maybe not?) I would suspect if you pulled each of the members out and asked them, "What did this guy and kids do to you?" they would likely say, "Nothing. They are actually nice. We were told by XXXXX to XXXXX because they are Muslim and XXXX"....or something like that.  In other words, they would struggle to find a real reason beyond blind support and rumors. 

Now...if we were to look at trends of prior patterned behaviors it would appear that artificially heighten emotional states are designed to coordinate aggressive behaviors.  Unless members peal off from their designated leadership they will have little reason to change course. See Group Sync. This will likely be easier if the target family refuses to be intimidated and/or simply lives their lives (not to be controlled or intimidated through dishonesty and group aggression) as a helpful presence to the community. (No matter where they go with this. Right is right and wrong is wrong! Standing up to hate and bullying is important for long term social and economic development of the town. I doubt many of the members understand the connection between societies that engage in hate and overall economic stagnation! See Conflict, Human Dev, and Economy). 

What is the final result of the group's trajectory........

Immanuel Kant was a philosopher and scientist that discussed the issue of predictive processing based on neuroscience (what we call it now) through perception and cognition...... 

(1) the emphasis on “top-down” generation of percepts; 

(2) the role of “hyperpriors”; 

(3) the general function of “generative models”; 

(4) the process of “analysis-by-synthesis”; and 

(5) the crucial role of imagination in perception.

Based on the way we see and interpret information we can come to a couple of conclusions...... 

What we can say is that some of the behaviors are aggressive and likely more theatrical than real (Our monkey cousins do this as well . See Primate Aggression. I guess someone in the group wants something and is using others to ensure they create an environment when it will happen. Yuck!)  It only takes one "lose cannon" to change the scenario for everyone. Since some of the members have shown a higher propensity toward intimidation/aggression tactics they are likely manipulated by false information, pre-existing bias, and a core group of "leadership" trying to rally them for their own causes by inventing the "Muslim" boogieman. Were not invading the town man! We are just going grocery shopping and hanging out. Something isn't making sense to me but am open to different explanations.🤷

Here is my present prediction (It will change as information becomes available. See Fluid Intelligence and Strategic Decisions). Most of the members will eventually learn when the wool has been pulled away from their dazed eyes "see" the distorted beliefs for what they are (Assuming they are capable of that level of development. See Plato's Allegory of the Cave Side Note A4). Since passive supporters are not directly engage in aggression, and more on the side of ostracism (because it shows support is non committal.), they are unaware that their behavior is a contributing factor to another problem of pseudo-ethnic cleansing (I'm still advocating for mandatory mental health for the leadership as a method of accountability and long term problem resolution 💓.)

Eventually everything will be ferreted out because truth will trump distortion (History has a knack for bringing out a proper perspective.). Why? because it is parsimonious, sophisticated, and plausible. Lies are intended to manipulate while the truth (...even the subjective kind as long as it is honestly subjective. Don't spend too much time thinking about it...its not really worth the effort for this article.😏) is designed to throw light on dark behavior. One seeks the best outcome for everyone while the other seeks to best outcome for only a few; regardless of who gets hurt and/or the consequences of its destructive path. See Narcissism and Deceit in Groups

The group will either self-correct or go to the next level. As some group members heighten the emotions of their easily manipulated "followers"  others will peal away from their leadership (at least on the more aggressive antics) based on "good moral conscious and aptitude.". Much of the perceived conflict will eventually pass but they will remain fearful of associating with the targets without a "permission slip" from their leaders (Free one above if you need it! 🙊). The line of reasoning will look like, "I'm not going to jail for you dummies! I will provide silent support instead." What would be more constructive is something along the lines of, "Hey...what you are doing is wrong and not a reflection of what I believe our society should look like! I'm out!"

There is a fairly high chance (28+% without correction) that a few of the male members (based on deep seated feelings of inadequacy) will escalate and cross the bounds from aggressive theatrics to actual aggression. See Big Macho Cry Babies (... likely through the prompting of key female influencers.💁). Because they are confused/ and somewhat fearful of the targets it will lean toward premeditation (We will wait and see if there is de-escalation or further escalation through rumor spreading and aggressive puffery. BTW this isn't innocent talk..it has a sinister purpose and all of it seems to relate around delegitimizing and encouraging aggression.👿)

Continuing the Process of Engagement

Most minorities would be frightened to death by coordinated aggression and leave but why would we hand over our communities and countries to those of miscreant orientation (I'm of the mindset its better to just stick to your values no matter how things turn out. You own yours and everyone else owns theirs. I'm not sure what else there is. )? They are forced to either allow themselves to be ethnically cleansed or stand up to the larger social network that has decided who will and who will not live in their community (now making them a social and legal risk). Refusal to be intimidated and/or have their boundaries crossed will likely be interpreted by some as "arrogant" and "uppity" (Yep...even non-cool people can be uppity in today's world) leading to more anger/rage (I'm just not impressed!😤). 

So the plan is to be visible and present within the community so members gain exposure to further encourage them to think for themselves and make choices over who/what they stand for as a people (While some of the members say they "rule" the town I say I prefer democratically elected leadership. While I might not like everyone we elect I can say we did it together through our agreed upon process. Why I don't like those who circumvent it for personal gain. Dictators, warlords, and sniffy socialites need not apply! See Hegel, Freedom and Advancement). It is their choice to determine their values and where those values will lead them in the future (Fate and choice brings me to where I am now and I have something to say about this. It might be inconvenient but I also believe it to be more reflective how disturbed the behaviors was.) Reflecting back to them another way of "seeing" themselves might lead to group insight...and perhaps self-correcting behaviors. See Cognitive Engagement

At what point will the group members become aware of their own behavior (i.e. what they think about the target as a reflection of themselves)? Their perceptual "reality" is distorted by lack of cultural exposure to others and "openness to experience" See Psychological evaluation of Crowd Personality. Perhaps more accurate reflection/feedback loops can bring other groups in alignment with American values and in turn save them from themselves (See Social Animal). I would suspect they are further unaware of who is using them and who is trying to help them (i.e. will the "leadership" care if a member(s) of the group do something dumb because they were hyped up by hate, smoke, and mirrors? That is called using others and part of mental health awareness.). That is why I'm always open open and respectful dialogue. 💗 Untangling the World Knot of Consciousness

There are two quotes I will leave you with (possibly to be explain later if an interesting topic for exploration.), 

“Let’s put it this way: Kant knew nothing about the platypus, and that should not worry us, but if the platypus is to solve its own identity crisis, it ought to know something about Kant.” Umberto Eco (2000), Kant and the Platypus

and....

The Treachery of Images 

"The famous pipe. How people reproached me for it! And yet, could you stuff my pipe? No, it's just a representation, is it not? So if I had written on my picture "This is a pipe", I'd have been lying!"  René Magritte

Side Notes:

A1: {.....that is not knocking local law enforcement because I have a fondness for them and their profession. I can only say that I met some great officers and I believe with all my heart, wisdom and logic the majority of the officers want what is best for their community; maybe even in a distorted way the "bad apple(s)" as well. Yet, sometimes we skip over important markers that would indicate there is an internal problem and needs some investigation and system adjustment. Hopefully it is a single officer and not an indication of other issues (Hold judgement please...I'm 100% in support of officers and corrections where needed).

Within any department there will be different people with different goals and thus some behaviors may move away from the main mission and purpose of the enforcement function in society toward individual/group goals (We get back to selfishness and distorted views later.) 95% of the officers I met are great people. It only takes a one/few to do damage to the entire field and cause lots of trust problems in society. Where they could have stood up they instead stayed silent (That is not officer empowerment!). 

Law enforcement leadership should think about the central purpose and goal of law enforcement and how focusing on key central values transcends the needs of specific officers. That anchoring of values will help limit the propensity to shield poor officers from their own behaviors as well as enhance focus on the public good (There is a difference between mistakes and intentional mistakes.). Department leaders would be protecting their communities (main purpose) and improving the functioning of the entire department in a way that impacts recruitment, public support, and effectiveness. Again, its important to not make too much of a judgement and/or read too far into what I'm saying here as it can lead to false conclusions about a whole bunch of things. Again, get comfortable with a little ambiguity and its application for societal improvement.

Keeping in mind the need to sort of ensure one social "reality" doesn't distort group perception. If we begin to anchor to other values and perspectives outside of our group we might feel a little upset at first but that leads to insight and doing the "sociably" responsible thing. This is one of the reasons why if we suspect there is a problem we investigate it (using different anchors and evidence based management) to find the roots of the problem. We might also do an internal feedback loop to help officers feel empowered to step outside their internal-social networks to report wrong doing. To further the discussion, we can also consider enhancing our internal affairs departments and ensure we "bump up" any serious problems that seem like they have "teeth" to the FBI, Homeland Security, or State Police where appropriate. 

Side Note A2 {Martiny-Huenger T, Gollwitzer PM, Oettingen G. Selective Attention to In- and Out-Group Members Systematically Influences Intergroup Bias. Social Psychological and Personality Science. 2014;5(8):936-943. doi:10.1177/1948550614541296

What we find with this study is that the more we pay attention to a diverse set of people the more likely we will begin to count outside values as important. We self select our friends, perceptions, and the world around us leading sometimes to lesser outside anchors and limited perspective. 

This can become a bigger problem if we are dealing with groups. When social networks do not accept outside anchor points and other perspectives they begin to devalue others. The more different someone, the more likely their values and rights are discounted. Not only their opinions and lifestyle, but even their very life leading to all types of potential abusive behaviors.}

Side Note A3: There are two publications I want you to look at. One is on racial aspects of religion. See Race & Religion in the U.S.. The group members have misperceptions of Muslims as Arab, terrorists, etc... without understanding that the U.S. has many White Muslims. I'm actually Muslim-Catholic but that might be confusing and further ambiguity angst. In other words, they don't know what they don't know. See Changing Nature Demographics 2021.

The only real way to make it fair to everyone is to create universal justice system whereby everyone is treated by the same principles. We can also use big data of the Information/Digital Age to better ensure we are treating different groups fairly. Its not individual decisions that would be of biggest concern as there are appeals processes but the larger scale data that indicates consistent bias in some law enforcement circles (i.e. acceptable variance in decision making with an eye on metadata outcomes. This is a general comment about the issues we face as a society and not specialized to any specific department. I have departments I love because of their leadership and culture and at least one bad apple that would raise concerns on another.)

Side Note A4: In Plato's Allegory of the Cave the freed prisoner goes back to save as many unaware souls as possible. However, they do not know what the do not know and in turn seem to rid themselves of a new way of seeing the world. Human development and our social structure is a little like that. Most cannot step out of their social circles and chart their own course in life and thus only see the shadows of their limited perception. Let's quote the story, 

"And the final outcome: SOCRATES: And if they can get hold of this person who takes it in hand to free them from their chains and to lead them up, and if they could kill him, will they not actually kill him? GLAUCON: They certainly will." It could be real and it could be metaphorical. Either way, its sort of the way people are sometimes.. 

When we use terms like "nigga" to describe Black people and "terrorist" to describe all Muslims we start seeing a bigger picture of the problem. Sometimes we have to spend some time looking at our own reflection in the mirror to see who is and who isn't a slave still locked in chains . You can't truly be free until you can think for yourself.  Do you kind of get the point? 🤷 All good Karma! Cheers! 🍻

Unemployment Claims Drop Week July 17th, 21'-Michigan Trends Rock! GDP Global Lift?

Looks like jobs are increasing and unemployment is declining. We might also start to see increases in wages as well in a way that improves upon income levels of different sectors of society. If capable of improving upon our labor wearable tech, education and innovation we might also be able to upswing our productivity (matched with improved cluster environments rip for development and investments) and draw additional investments as higher levels of skills, knowledge and abilities increase {..the purpose of creating investment ripe environments that lead the market with research and new products.}. That would have an impact on labor and the availability of highly productive human capital {...from a speculative stand point.}

I took this from the DOL press release below..... 

"In the week ending July 17, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 419,000, an increase of 51,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 8,000 from 360,000 to 368,000. The 4-week moving average was 385,250, an increase of 750 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 2,000 from 382,500 to 384,500." 

If lean in closer to look at Michigan Weekly unemployment claims since the beginning of the year, you will find unemployment claims drastically declining leading to fuller employment {I wonder if 3-4% unemployed for entire economy is fully employment? Meaning....there is just enough wiggle room for labor fluidity but everyone can find a job and wages generally rise.🤔} See Michigan Unemployment 2021 Jan to July

What we really should look at is whether we are digitizing and our labor pool is adjusting. Which industries are laying off and which are hiring? That will lead to a better understanding of how the market is shifting on a state and national level. See US Global GDP Lift Projection. Stronger digital currency and digital GDP will make a big difference. See Govt. Mind GDP and Powell Goes Crypto!

You can also look at what business owners think about 2021. See Guidant Financial 2021 Small Bus Survey You may want to review National and Michigan business applications. See 2021 MI. Business Applications.

Escanaba City Counsel Meeting (July 15th, 2021) Chasing Goose and Letting Loose!

This was an exciting meeting!(It was...and action packed.) There was lots of new things going on and it helpful to take note to understand the changes in the community. New contracts impact service outputs and the general wellbeing of the town. I wrote down some of the main points into a bullet point list below for your perusal. A little easier to read that way. You can always watch the video as well (A rich media channel when compared to press releases alone.). 

Escanaba may someday become an important destination spot for tourism and other activities. Time will tell. What we can say is that that the world has changed and new infrastructure changes and the desire to develop our own internal industries will likely impact towns like this. 

-Upper Peninsula Military Museum. I think this is what they are talking about. I should stop by and check it out. The known/unknown contributions to national development of our military. https://youtu.be/4UkwanMOMP8

-Delta County Prosecutor increase and contract renewal. See Delta County Prosecutor. 

-Delta County History Society. We need to know our history to know where we are going and develop a sense of pride. http://deltahistorical.org/

-Continuation of contract with city attorney. John Bergman I believe. 

-City of Escanaba giving up 911 which likely makes sense from a strategic, cost and functionality perspective. Efficiency and clarity of communication counts. 

You can take a look at the agenda. See July 15th, 2021 Agenda.

Seriously need to check this place out!
Big park and can almost walk to night life.
Tourism might improve with shuttle downtown,
park, marina, mall, events and hotels.

Goose and Bug Chaser 
Chewy!
Works for Treats!
City of Escanaba unofficial contractor!
Takes pats as bonus!

-The Marina slip rentals and tourism is up for the year! I would suspect that tourism will increase because people desire to find locations to take their boat and have funs. Post-Covid world will be a little different than pre-Covid issues. Lots of Geese and Geese poops! (My dog Chewy is a great goose chaser!) 

  They got the microphone working which is awesome! It makes a huge difference in understanding.

Taking break from goose chasing!
Its hard work!

Life Expectancy Drops Biggest Since WWII

 Just read an excellent article entitled, 'US life expectancy in 2020 saw biggest drop since second world war.' in the Guardian. It talks about how our life expectancy has dropped and sort of speculates as to the reasons why....(....most likely they are right from a statistical sense in mortality and COVID). 

There has been some indicators that life expectancy may drop from things like pollution and changes in lifestyle. Life is a total environment thing so there will be some additional contributing factors.

A decline in life expectancy with modern advances in medicine is concerning. We will have to take a look at the numbers after COVID to see if they return afterward. 

Life expectancy is based on a lot things that include a healthy lifestyle, good friends, and great food. (One of the reasons why I like to write about fitness and other things of interest.) Its about a persons total life. 

There is something we often miss and that is education. Educational attainment transforms and changes an peoples quality of life and their lifespan. Take a look at this 2013 study The Effect of Educational Attainment on Adult Mortality in the United States

"Presently, the mortality and life expectancy gaps between U.S. adults with the highest and lowest levels of schooling are most likely wider than ever. Moreover, a sizable share of U.S. adults continues to have less than a high school education or completes high school but no secondary education; these millions of individuals will be at higher risk of death on an annual basis in the coming decades compared to their more highly educated counterparts. There is little question that there is significant room for improvement by enhancing U.S. population health through increases in educational attainment, particularly for the sizable number of individuals who do not complete a high school degree." (Hummer & Hernandez, 2013).

Hummer, R. A., & Hernandez, E. M. (2013). The Effect of Educational Attainment on Adult Mortality in the United States. Population bulletin, 68(1), 1–16.

Side note......

Education changes people's lives and we can often see those differences in subtle ways that impact just about everything we do. If you knew the French fry was going to give you a heart attack would you eat a basket of them every night? It can be a lot more subtle because education changes the way in which we connect concepts and leads to more connections in the brain that process information differently. I'm not an expert in that field but seems correct to me. You can see these differences as well years down the road in life choices. All in all its better to just sort of get kids into school when they are young and pliable to maximize national benefit. 

Driving Between Dearborn and Louisville (Pictures)-Bringing Rural America Back through Cluster Development

Rural America has been declining over the past few decades. Small family farms were crushed by corporate farms and poor policies that favor corporate elite (btw...I'm not knocking corporate elite.) When the government policies changed and globalization took hold the small business owner, small farmer, and small community industries either folded or were incorporated. To save our rural towns we should do two things....

1. Hedge our Internet and virtual workplaces to bring people back to rural locations. 

2. Ensure businesses are willing to start building and selling products from these small towns.

Where communities once had an anchor or two we found that they are now gone. I drove from Dearborn MI down to Louisville KY and changed my Google maps so that I avoided highways. I got to see a lot of the countryside as I drove through farm fields and small towns. 

What I did see is lots of small towns looking old. When I stopped at gas stations I asked what the main industries were. Some still had a company but many said they closed up a decade or so ago. Leading one to believe that there needs to be some method of rejuvenating. 

I'm working on a cluster theory and applying that to Delta County Michigan in an attempt to make a more comprehensive national model that will help understand restore our American communities. Not really for political purposes...but more along the lines of if I have the ability to help I should probably contribute to the benefit of the nation (even if only a couple of people read it.) See Transactional Cluster Theory. 

..................................................................

Kind of a side note here.....

I've spent time living with Arabs and Muslims and have adopted many of their beneficial beliefs. I consider myself more of Muslim-Catholic in terms of how I view religion. I'm culturally a Catholic but sort of blended these ideas into a more spiritual value system. While I'm also Republican in political orientation I am also very Democratic leaning on social issues such as diversity and inclusion (..from a human capital perspective). Take note in how I can't seem to say I'm neither all this or all that! (Sorry its hard to stereotype effectively all people because none of us are truly all this or all that. It doesn't mean I'm confused....🙊😅 but perhaps the viewers inability to truly understand a level of ambiguity.). Thus its a little like understanding how and why people believe the things they do and at what point do they become aware of their limited perspective on important topics of the day (i.e. the need for educational reform and enhancement in the Digital Age.). You can get an understanding of what the World-Knot is and its philosophical implications.

I used to to do some photography so hopefully some of the artistic ones came out well. 

Annie Oakley

Law Enforcement Disclosures in Small Communities (Maintaining Objectivity)

Small towns are places where people know each other and most of the time beneficial. There maybe a few times when these association carry specific risks to the public. Sometimes people misuse those close associations to manipulate their environment (Yes it does happen here and there; hopefully rarely.). At present we have a crisis of confidence in the justice system (Its very sad we do but some of it was earned and some of it wasn't. 😞. We need more checks & balances and/but there are times when public anger is misplaced.) and we want to ensure the general public feels there are safeguards against these potential conflicts. 

(There is an NPR Poll that shows the differences in trust based on community. No matter what our political persuasion and beliefs we should sort of keep in mind that it is possible that people see different things in the same events. See NPR Policing Demographic Poll if you ask me...I believe policing is necessary and the far majority of officers want to do the right thing and act with integrity. However, there are some officers who don't and in a free country like the U.S. our government has the responsibility to raise the trust level as much as possible for both practical outcomes and to reduce societal discontent. Our institutions may make mistakes but as long as they continuously try and do the right thing and evolve to better serve all their stakeholders, we will restore that trust over time. Keeping in mind the difference between optics and fact.)   

Restoring trust in the Justice System means we consistently act with integrity to build neural expectations through multiple positive exposures (Meaning people have positive interactions with police and respect their choices in a way that leads to positive neural encoding of feelings and images.) When there are potentials for conflicts of interest to arise we must disclose them least we turn what would be positive into a negative neural event  (Damaging trust and legitimacy as an enforcement mechanism.) That doesn't mean such disclosures need to be released to the public but we might want such disclosures to have independent oversite (Increasing multi-department transparency. Still not sure how that would work. 🤔). 

The reason we might have a disclosure is to ensure that our social connections don't become part of the problem in building/rebuilding that trust (We have to think of where we are going in this country and why trust in our institutions is important.). In a prior example, we had a group of individuals (speaking in general this time) who utilized their close law enforcement connections to allegedly intimidate others that could have under the wrong scenario caused irreversible harm to the target(s) and the departments reputation ( Immature behaviors compounded problems that could have led to serious injury and/or death. Did/do they care about the risks to others and children? Doesn't seem that...the problem with not encouraging people to get mental health help when they need it...which in this case would be the originators of the problem. Remember....trust is through repeatedly doing the right thing. Here is some marketing research on Brand Loyalty Through Trust. Its interesting that there are interconnections between different fields.). 

The problem was that the officer may have knowingly become an extension of their social group's destructive projections. If we know there is a potential for such a conflict to occur that would cause general doubt (by reasonable analysis by a reasonable person) that could be alleviated by disclosure (Significant conflicts should be reported. Intentionally not reporting could cast doubt on integrity. There may be times when high levels of non report incidents may indicate bigger underlining problems of a department. In other words, the inability of a department to monitor itself and maintain objectivity.). In other words, we want to remove any important conflicts right away so that potential/perceptual corruption doesn't occur 

{Sometimes there real and sometimes they are not. This is why you use an outside agency that the community and police both trust as a method of fair assessment. That is why our agencies should be neutral and universal in their values. i.e. Plato's universal justice. Particularly I like this quote from the article, "Plato saw in justice the only remedy of saving Athens from decay and ruin, for nothing agitated him in contemporary affairs more than amateurishness, needlesomeness and political selfishness which was rampant in Athens of his day...."}

{Sometimes we have failure in "seeing" trends. I say "seeing" because there are facts and then there are the construction of facts. Minorities will construct one way and enforcement officials may construct another way. I'm kind of neutral with construction because I have seen officers do great things and seen officers do corrupt things. Likewise, I have stayed and lived with minorities/majorities for a long time and have a sense of how they interpret information through their symbolism, language, and values.} 

{Thus, I seek to stay focused on possible different explanations and allow the data/details to sort of go where they fit and see which theoretical "pot" makes the best connection between all that information as a plausible and parsimonious explanation. What many officials don't understand is that majority and minority at their essential root beliefs want the same thing but there are individuals who hype up these differences for personal/social gain.  If we didn't listen great...but most of us do listen because we are tied to our "herds/clans"}.

That disclosure would indicate the officer is acting with integrity and letting the (whomever the reporting agency is) know of the potential for a problem of subjectivity to arise. That may also mean department liaisons (i.e. internal investigations) "bump up" any issues in which they are involved that relate to that specific conflict of interest. Integrity starts with the officer first but is often enhanced by the policies and values of the department (When they go array, we should change them!)

On the flip side, those who do not disclose those behaviors, even though it is obviously a conflict of interest, would be liable for not disclosing should it later become an important issue. I don't think we yet have a system like this but certainly it is something Congress should think about when pondering common sense police reforms (Common sense is kind of a misnomer. We know people don't often reason the same. In an AI world, its possible to use language to understand higher order thinking. Commonsense in Natural Language). Finding a way to orient officers and community stakeholders around shared sense of duty and values is based in our language usage. See Duty or Values and Military Honor Codes.)

That disclosure may need to be administered within an outside entity such as Homeland Security, State Police, district attorney, and/or FBI (Perhaps we can get them to monitor each other creating collective transparency. Who monitors the monitor of the monitor kind of thing?🤷.) We would sort of have to figure out a single entity, multiple reporting lines, etc...to ensure the information is present but the concept is valid. It can all be done in the background with no impact on the public and/or investigations (..but it does help put in place an additional layer of protection for the public. Its not a finished idea....but it might be worth further exploration. All changes start with first an "idea".)

Why would we want to do this? In small towns things get messy when personal affairs and policing all get jumbled up. It happens in most work settings. However, when it happens in policing it could impact people's lives....its much more important to be open (People naturally trust those who are open. Here is some old research on Internet and Government Transparency and Trust. I should probably spend some time finding something newer. Its more or less for illustration purposes.). Where there is the potential for conflict of interest there must also be the potential to disclose that for integrity reasons. No one wants these associations influencing how officers think, act, investigate, use logic, "construct" reality etc...in any given situation (Least friendship and social networks become a primary catalyst.).

We want to build transparency wherever we can create it while still providing law enforcement officials the flexibility to catch bad guys/gals and/or help people/victims (...that is the other side of policing that should be enhanced because I suspect it is highly correlated with trust.). Where there are potential conflicts of interest we want to pass the baton to an agency that has more independence and can come to valid conclusions based on a "birds eye" view of the issue. Restoring trust in Law Enforcement does rely in part on ensuring there is healthy separation between those who violate the law and those who enforce it (Its very novel but it works! Ok...its not novel. 😒). 

Sometimes I think about how we can integrate multiple communities into an American brand through mutual societal trust. We really only have our institutions and our values that hold our nation together during difficult times (..as seen during the capital riots, civil war, and other social upheavals where institutional trust declined. That is often a marker of a trend toward future problems that might more effectively handled today. Think about opinion formation from a macro perspective and how those beliefs impact small choices and reinforced behaviors leading to societal change.). Our leaders and officials should maintain our essential American principles by finding win-win strategies among the widest scope of societal stakeholders (There is an actual ethics argument here.). Disclosing could be just one idea to ponder.....

The U.S. works with the OECD to highlight public service and conflicts of interest (They happen a lot and that in turn reduces total trust.). I'm not sure how that works on a practical manner yet. See OECD Public Service Conflicts.