K. Doyle, Ltd.

On Faith, International Development and the Human Condition

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Money is Power

One of the hardest lessons I had to accept since returning to the United States is that popular culture has a distaste for “just” giving money. While I understand that giving money doesn’t necessarily come with the reward of seeing the bridge being built, or the child smiling at her graduation ceremony, IT IS STILL VERY IMPORTANT.

In fact, if someone feels like he/she is “just” giving money, that might simply be a sign that she/he isn’t giving enough of it. At least, I think that’s what Jesus would say (cf. Mk 12:44).

Point of clarification: I’m not proposing that we indiscriminately sell all our possessions and give everything we have to the next person we meet on a street corner, but we could choose to spend it responsibly. We could pay a little extra for that environmentally conscious option on the car, or for clothing that was made by persons paid a reasonable wage (beware of false advertising), or spend a little less on things we don’t really need.

And, when it comes to charity, we can choose to give responsibly to organizations that empower and dignify the people they serve (cf. Poverty, Inc.).

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To be human means to discover myself and to discover that I am part of an enormous human family.

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“Your Faith has saved you.”

Jesus is CONSTANTLY saying this. To everybody. All the time.

Why is he saying this? Shouldn’t it be, “I have saved you!” Or, “My Father in Heaven has saved you!” Well, that’s not what he says. He’s constantly putting the onus back on us. We have to believe in ourselves, to at least cooperate with God’s loving plans for us.

In fact, the invitation often goes farther than that. Every person Jesus says this to had to ASK him for something. Usually healing. We are co-creators of these plans, wanting something and having the courage to ask for it.

This has personal implications, but also social ones. I have a responsibility to figure out what I want and to go after it (this of course, being aligned with an ultimate desire to know and love God). In my interactions with others, especially students, I have to approach with an empowerment mindset - I can’t save anyone. They have to want to save themselves. My prior post on Marvel is a key example of this.

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A human being is a part of the whole called by us 'Universe,' a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.

Albert Einstein

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Freakonomics Radio Podcast: "The Suicide Paradox"

If I were to ask you what’s more common in the U.S., homicide or suicide, what would you say? Homicide is certainly a lot more prominent; it’s constantly in the headlines and in our public consciousness. But the fact is that suicide is more than twice as common as homicide. The preliminary numbers for 2009, the most recent year for which we have data, show there were roughly 36,500 suicides in the U.S. and roughly 16,500 homicides. So why don’t we hear more about suicide? In part because it is a very different type of tragedy. Murder represents a fractured promise within our social contract, and it’s got an obvious villain. Suicide represents –- well, what does it represent? It’s hard to say. It carries such a strong taboo that most of us just don’t discuss it much. The result is that there are far more questions about suicide than answers. Like: do we do enough to prevent it? How do you prevent it? And the biggest question of all: why do people commit suicide? Those are just a few of the questions we address in our latest Freakonomics Radio podcast, “The Suicide Paradox.”

Around 2/3 of the way through this podcast, we learn about the distinction between rates of suicide and homicide in predominantly white vs predominantly black communities in the United States.

It is suggested that African Americans are socialized to perceive their problems or negative feelings as a product of external forces. White Americans, by contrast, are constantly told that the American Dream is for them, that they have all the opportunity in the world. And, as suggested by some experts featured in this podcast, this leads many to internalize feelings of shame, failure and depression. If I have all this opportunity and still feel terrible, then there must be something inherently wrong with me, and there is no hope. Thus leading to greater incidents of suicide for White Americans, and greater incidents of homicide for African Americans, who instead turn their frustrations outward. In Fr. Greg Boyle’s Tattoos on the Heart, he also observes that “homies” are much more likely to end their lives by wandering into enemy territory.

Is it just me, or did Freakonomics bury the lede in a BIG way here? This seems to have enormous implications for the way we empower or disempower communities through the narratives and “socialization.”

See previous posts, “There’s No Such Thing as Free Will” and “Fixed vs. Growth: The Two Basic Mindsets That Shape Our Lives” for more on the power of the mind. Also recommend Thomas Aquinas for further reading.

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Fixed vs. Growth: The Two Basic Mindsets That Shape Our Lives

How to fine-tune the internal monologue that scores every aspect of our lives, from leadership to love.

On the same theme as The Atlantic’s “There’s No Such Thing as Free Will,” but does a better job of emphasizing the main point of the article: research shows that we have as much free will as we believe we have. Belief in our ability to learn and grow means we will learn and grow. And make better, more virtuous choices while we’re at it!

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The moon called me back. He said, 'I'll give you some advice: You gotta live a little lighter, gotta breathe a little deeper... There's your medication.'

“Complicated Creation” by Cloud Cult

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A Rap on Race: Margaret Mead and James Baldwin’s Rare Conversation on Forgiveness and the Difference Between Guilt and Responsibility

“We’ve got to be as clear-headed about human beings as possible, because we are still each other’s only hope.”

Headlines have a tendency to describe conflicts as being about one thing, when they are really about something altogether different (e.g. abortion [less about “choice,” more about “at what stage does a group of cells become a person?”], etc).

I think the same thing is happening in the #BlackLivesMatter conflicts and all discussions about systemic racism in the United States. Three cheers for Maria Popova for resurrecting this important conversation that points to the uneven foundation on which this war is being waged: “What is the difference between guilt and responsibility?”

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Functioning Societies Need

1. Infrastructure (roads, sewer, utilities, communication, health)

2. Rule of law (land titles, democracy, protection)

3. Education (geared toward citizenship)

4. Economy (GDP in proportion to the population)

5. Taxation (fair, inclusive)

To my mind, this list could pretty well sum up the functions of government. It should create systems to support all these things.

As with all posts, I’m open to comment here (and, full disclosure, I didn’t come up with this list - it’s something my old boss used to present on frequently).

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Marvel

I didn’t start this blog with the intention of getting all personal and what-not, but it feels like that might be where it needs to go. For me, and also, hopefully, to lend some credibility to the venture.

In getting personal, I’ll share that one of my past students has been on my mind quite a bit lately. Out of respect for his privacy, let’s call him Marvel and slightly alter some of his personal details.

Marvel was a Philo student (U.S. 13th grade) during my first year in Haiti. He was the biggest guy in school and a star of the basketball team, which is to say, about the size of your average U.S. high school soccer player, minus 6 inches or so. (Our kids were invariably malnourished. I actually didn’t notice how small they were until some kids from a wealthier private school came to play us in basketball. They all had about a foot on our kids in height, as well as several inches in width.)

Marvel was a kind kid (age 20), but I always had a hard time getting him to engage, and that’s saying a lot in a high school religion class. The others weren’t exactly on the edge of their seat, but I could at least get a chuckle when I started singing the lessons. Marvel inspired me to teach them the phrase, “above being pleased.” In retrospect, I don’t think his attitude was so much about pride, as maybe depression or simple exhaustion.

Anyhow, spring semester I was assigned to work closely with our Dean’s office, as I’d be serving as the Dean of Students the following year. I quickly learned that Marvel was at risk of failing his senior year. He was smart enough to pass the state exam (significantly more important in Haiti than earning a diploma), but if he didn’t pull it together for our final quarter, he wasn’t going to walk at graduation or be eligible for university scholarships or the other perks associated with being an alumnus of Ekol Louverture Cleary.

I was in charge of checking in Marvel and six other seniors who were at-risk of failing at a study hall every afternoon during play hour. The others showed, and some of their friends would come, too and spend the hour helping them with homework. Not so for Marvel.

Day after day, I’d take roll and Marvel wouldn’t be there. My stomach would first, sink, and second, clench into a ball of anger. Doesn’t he care about his education? He’s come so far. He’s a great leader in campus work projects and in sports (until his grades faltered). He is a “Louverturian.” He should be graduating. And so I’d go looking for him. He was always in one of two places, on the soccer field, or in his dorm (I’d send a male student after him). He never had any words, but would roll his eyes and walk in what felt like slow-motion to the study hall.

In the end, Marvel didn’t graduate. Along with three of his classmates. But that’s not really the end. 

Two years later, I was gathering stories for the organization’s annual report. Marvel had gotten a job with an agency that had hired over a dozen of our graduates. I went to the location to snap some photos and get some quotes from the alumni. Truth be told, I’d forgotten that Marvel hadn’t graduated and caught him during a break - I’d seen him in the neighborhood since, and I thought of him only as my former student. I got his picture in his perfect uniform and asked my standard quote-yielding questions: “What do you remember most about your years at Louverture Cleary? What did you learn? How have those lessons helped you in your work?”

In response to that first question, he didn’t really answer at all. He said something like, “When I think about Louverture Cleary, I have many regrets. I am sad that I didn’t graduate, embarrassed.” At this point, I wanted to sink into the floor for having forgotten, but I was completely hooked. Every time he hadn’t showed, I thought it meant he didn’t care, that he wasn’t taking it seriously. And here, it was obvious, it mattered. He went on to thank me for trying so hard to help him, and owning all the responsibility for his failure to graduate. Now, I realize he could have been completely full of it and simply decided that I had enough power that I was a good connection to have, but my breath was taken away either way.

Marvel had passed the baccalaureate exam and was now gainfully employed. He’d also learned some of the most important lessons any young person (especially those coming from difficult circumstances) can learn - to accept responsibility for their actions, to understand that choices have consequences, and to say thank you to people who supported you. At least, in that moment he got it. Marvel, I hope you continue to remember those empowering truths.

While I was fairly bowled over in the moment, I haven’t fully appreciated the significance of this event til recently. I mean, parents and teachers are always saying, “you’ll thank me when you’re older,” (at least, they seem to do this a lot in the movies....) but how often does that actually happen??

That third year, I was so caught up in the tasks and being overwhelmed by the conditions in our own neighborhood and the country more broadly, that I wasn’t fully present to those little, miraculous moments. And that’s what he is - a miracle.

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Revisiting 'Pocahontas' at 20

The movie has attracted considerable criticism, but its impact on how Disney heroines are portrayed is notable.

This film is worth revisiting for many reasons listed in this article. My strong affection for Pocahontas comes down to this verse from “Colors of the Wind”

You think the only people who are people are the people who look and think like you. But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger, you’ll learn things you never knew you never knew.

A bit wordy, but the sentiment is worth repeating. And repeating. And repeating.

It is an antidote to the equally brilliant line from the colonists in another song: “They’re different from us - which means they must be EVIL!”

#Genius

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Having a heart for the poor isn't hard. Having a mind for the poor - that's the challenge.

Poverty, Inc.

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Machiavelli said the reason there will be no change is that the people who stand to lose from change have all the power. And the people who stand to gain from change have no power.

Poverty, Inc.

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Interrupting Violence With The Message 'Don't Shoot'

Criminologist David M. Kennedy's strategy for reducing gang violence has dramatically reduced youth homicide rates nationwide. In his new memoir, Don't Shoot, Kennedy outlines how community meetings and interventions have worked to curb youth violence in more than 70 cities.

This book fundamentally shifted the way I think about police engagement in inner-city communities. Provides depth of context for the latest tragedies in law enforcement and the issues facing “the system.”

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The Official Page For The Music of Hamilton: The Musical

The Official Cast Recording Available Now

Perhaps the best celebration of July 4th that a person could ask for. After listening to the entirety while reading the lyrics on this site (in which setting listeners can comment on the lyrics - turns out just about every line is full of allusions to historical fact or contemporary hip hop), I am preparing a case for Lin-Manuel Miranda as the greatest English dramatist/poet since Shakespeare. Perhaps even greater when one considers the fact that he also composed the music... Here’s hoping he gives as much to his next opus.

And God Bless America.

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Democracy in America

What democratic citizenship looked like in Jacksonian America. From Chapter 12:

The citizen of the United States is taught from infancy to rely upon his own exertions in order to resist the evils and the difficulties of life; he looks upon the social authority with an eye of mistrust and anxiety, and he claims its assistance only when he is unable to do without it. This habit may be traced even in the schools, where the children in their games are wont to submit to rules which they have themselves established, and to punish misdemeanors which they have themselves defined. The same spirit pervades every act of social life. If a stoppage occurs in a thoroughfare and the circulation of vehicles is hindered, the neighbors immediately form themselves into a deliberative body; and this extemporaneous assembly gives rise to an executive power which remedies the inconvenience before anybody has thought of recurring to a pre-existing authority superior to that of the persons immediately concerned. If some public pleasure is concerned, an association is formed to give more splendor and regularity to the entertainment. Societies are formed to resist evils that are exclusively of a moral nature, as to diminish the vice of intemperance.In the United States associations are established to promote the public safety, commerce, industry, morality, and religion. There is no end which the human will despairs of attaining through the combined power of individuals united into a society.