High Five Movement

Dear Friends

I cried my heart out the day Trayvon Martin died.

Then I started to read everything I could find about the situation. The history, clinical psychology, personal opinions, historical data and looked within my heart to find out what we can do to make a difference.

This is my humble opinion about this problem and I will share a simple action we can take to make a difference TODAY.

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Remember, 
We are NOT going to find a solution to a problem that started in 1619 tomorrow.
But BEFORE we find a solution, we need to UNDERSTAND the WHY

Next we need to create a series of steps to find a solution to this horrible problem our country is facing.

First step is to understand the "why"
Second step is to look within you and understand how you perceive this problem.
Third step is to create a dialogue between the parties involved with the intention of creating solutions.
Final step is to create public policies to solve this problem.

But WE CANNOT AFFORD TO WAIT ANY MORE

We have to do something NOW

This is a Simple Solution to stop our kids dying NOW

Please note this is NOT about 'Victim Bashing"
This is about 'Victim" Empowerment and Saving their lives NOW

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Mahatma Gandhi once said

"The enemy is Fear

We think it is Hate

But it is Fear"

Scientists have found out that all human beings subconsciously make split second decisions when they see another human being.

Our previous cultural, religious and societal input helps us to make these decisions.


Theses subconscious, split second decisions belong to two categories
a. Is this a friendly person - someone who is NOT going to harm me
OR
b. Is this a person that may harm me

If our subconscious mind decides that it is a person that is going to harm me, our body elicits what is called the "Fight or Flight" reaction


When the Fight of Flight part of the brain is activated - the part of the brain that "reasons"  becomes less active

Just now a large percentage of people in the USA has a negative perception about Young African, Latino and Muslim Men.

The only way we can SAVE THEIR LIVES is to change this perception

And we have to do this NOW ...

So how can we do this ?

Here is one way we can change this perception

Please stay with me for one moment....

What if we created a High Five Movement

A Movement with a Logo like this
(Of significance is that this is an out line of the hand of Doctor Martin Luther King)

Then invite Young African, Latino, Muslim and other Ethnic minorities who are Americans to join in

They pledge to :

• Respect Everyone, Love Everyone and Actively Listen to Everyone

• Adopt a healthy lifestyle

• Go to school and complete their education

• Give back to their community

• Love our country and Love Mother Earth

Proudly wear a cap or a wrist band to show they are active participants of this movement.  

Yes, all the nay sayers will come after us.

But we will start changing the perception and the fear that is associated with a Young African, Latino, Muslim and Other Minorities.

People will start associating the Positive Logo with the person who is wearing it.

And even if we saved One Person from dying - it would be worth our while.

We will also help these young men and women to grow up with a set of values that will help them as well as help society as a whole.
It will Empower them
And that in turn will help them to achieve their dreams

A win win situation

Please Click Here to take the pledge today.  Then take a moment to share with all your friends

Here is our web site   www.PledgeHighFive.org

Thank you


Reference Articles
1. Perception
https://youtu.be/Zj91x5H5ohY

2. How our brains perceive Race  http://billmoyers.com/2014/12/02/science-cops-shoot-young-black-men/

3. Why Police shoot young black men  http://billmoyers.com/2014/12/02/science-cops-shoot-young-black-men/

4. Test your bias  http://www.understandingprejudice.org/iat/

5. An extensive study on the bias against Black kids  http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/psp-a0035663.pdf

6. Historical perspective 
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2017/07/13/presumption-of-guilt/

6. Spider Vs Butterflies
https://www.facebook.com/archdukedostuff/videos/1322171807810676/

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Let us learn about each other

Did you know that we are born with certain traits ?
These traits lead us to have either a Liberal or a Conservative outlook in life.

These same traits are seen all over the world - in the US, The Middle East, Asia and in Africa.

Prof Jonathan Haidt, a Social Psychologist has done a lot of studies on this (see a link to his Ted Talk in the reference section)

According to Prof Haidt, we are born with a basic set of values.

Conservatives seem to emphasize five Values :

• Avoid Harm and Protect the weak 
• Be Fair
• Respect Authority - this is a good trait as long as the folks in a position of Authority are good people.  Otherwise Conservatives can be mislead by a person they respect.
• Group Loyalty - This may lead a person to abandon right and wrong in order to safe guard the interest of the group - just now gun control comes to mind
• Purity - in the eyes of a conservative this is why they find it hard to accept issues like Gay rights and abortions

Liberals seem to Emphasize Five Values :

• Avoid Harm and Protect the weak  
• Be fair
• Instead of authority, they believe in equal power
• Instead of Group Loyalty, they are willing to invite others in - Immigration policies come into mind
• Purity - just now this is manifested as a purity of the food we eat - issues with GMO foods come to mind

This has been the moral truth for centuries.


Each individual looks at life through their own set of values.
And each individual ALWAYS thinks that THEY are right and the other person is wrong - that is our default.

So, why does it feel like there is more anger and hatred among us now ?

Well, that is because something HAS changed...


What HAS changed is that a lot of organizations mostly in the US have tried and (in my opinion) succeeded in defining folks with a different ideology as 'THE ENEMY'

This has created an anger and a hatred that is destroying ALL of us
Both as Individuals
And as a Nation

Scientist have found that the part of the brain that is most active during this time is NOT the "reasoning" part but the 'fight or flight' part of the brain

That is why most of these conversations end up real quickly in arguments and heated fights ...

We are not able to make good decisions if our main emotion is anger.
As most religions state, the best decisions are made when we are calm and neutral

Now that you understand why this is happening to us, let us do something to reverse this.

And Unite the United State of America and the world  ...

Another concept worth visiting 

Value set of a Warrior  and a Caregiver are different

According to Prof Haigt Caregivers value Compassion, Liberty and Fairness.

Whereas Warriors value all 6 equally - That is Loyalty, Authority, Sanctity, Compassion, Liberty and Fairness.

Policy making and the concept of Strict Father and Nurturing Parent 

A Strict Father is the bread winner. So he needs to be strong.  He needs to be strict.  And punish the kids when they do bad things.  The wife’s role is to take care of the family and stay home.  The wife is not an equal partner in this relationship.

Most Warriors (Conservatives) believe in a Strict Father model of parenting.

This would explain why the Conservatives do not support equal pay and a safety net for the poor.  In their mind the poor needs to be punished for not taking care of them selves.

A Nurturing Parent thinks that the kids are vulnerable and they need to be protected.  And both parents have to work together as a team.

Most Caregivers (Progressives) think this way.

That is why they believe in equal pay and safety nets.

In my opinion the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

So what should we do ?
How can we resolve this issue ?

The SOLUTION  is Simple

We need to UNITE and bring people with different political ideologies together 

And here is one way we can do that 

We need to share this knowledge with everyone we know.
One person at a time.

Please click here to learn the 6 steps that you could take to have this conversation.

Yes it is an uphill battle
But it is a battle we can win

We have to have this conversation with one person at a time

Together we can create a ground swell that will be hard to defeat

And that my friends is the only way we will win this battle ...

References
1. TED talk from Prof Haidt
http://www.ted.com/talks/jonathan_haidt_on_the_moral_mind.html

Uniting The United State of America

The Solution to all our problems ?

Recently one question has been in the forefront in my mind...

Why cannot we get public policies that benefit the majority implemented ?

After spending many hours studying the data I finally began to understand the situation.

The Good News is that WE HAVE A SOLUTION !

Here is the summary of my findings :

1. Politics 101 - 95% of the time the person who wins an election is the person who has the most money 

2. Money

Only 0.01% of the people in the US have large amounts of money.

The average income of a working family is only 50K
46.5 million of Fellow Americans live below the poverty line ($1.25/ day)

Politicians need money to win elections.
And just now only the 0.01% and large Corporations have the money.
So they are forced to hob nob with them and cater to their needs.
Otherwise they (the politicians) will loose THEIR livelihood.

They (the politicians) gain nothing by hanging out with us.

3. Customer Service

In addition to the politicians not wanting to listen to us - they do not even have the MAN POWER to listen to us.  Most of the petitions that are sent to their offices go unread.  The ratio of customer service personnel to the number of people they have to listen to in an electorate is something like 100,000 to one - and most of these are minimum wage folks or interns.

4. Media

Main stream media now belongs to 5 Corporations.  Everytime WE donate money, they end up in their coffers - majority of this money then end up with the 1%

5. Us vs Them mentality - this is the scariest fact

The "main stream" media, facebook and other Social media have been very successful in dividing the 99%

Conservatives vs Liberal

Muslims vs Christians

Male workers vs Female workers

Pro choice vs Pro life

Union workers vs Non Union workers  etc etc etc

For the first time in the US we have been brainwashed into thinking that a person with a different ideology is "OUR ENEMY" 

Not a fellow American with a different point of view

We in turn play in to this theme by demonizing folks that have a different point of view.  And this theme gets reinforced.

Scientists are beginning to prove that we are BORN with a set of basic values. We "hear" and "talk" a different language depending on what we believe in.

Here is my ONE PAGE blog on this topic

http://unitingtheusa.blogspot.com/2014/11/let-us-learn-about-each-other.html

Two practical examples I came across recently -  

a. Some Conservatives who truly believe in GMO labeling are unwilling / scared to sign a "Move on" petition

b. A person who desperately need medical care is refusing to sign up for "Obamacare"  

"We the people"  need to understand what is actually happening to us.
Then we need to take steps to reverse this situation.

The Solution -  We need to UNITE and bring people with different political ideologies together 

And here is one way we can do that 

We need to share this knowledge with everyone we know.
One person at a time.

Please click here to learn the 6 steps that you could take to have this conversation.

Yes it is an uphill battle
But it is a battle we can win

We have to have this conversation with one person at a time

Together we can create a ground swell that will be hard to defeat

And that my friends is the only way we will win this battle ...