Social Justice

Check out this absolutely marvelous and insightful video…

Empathy… That’s what will save us all.

Make everyone you know watch it. EVERYONE! In schools in homes in organizations at board meetings… everyone everywhere.

This is what philanthropy is. This is what nonprofits/NGOs promote. And this human tendency – to be empathetic – is how we change the world…how we secure gifts of time and money to change the world.

Watch it. Use it. Remember it. Share it. Tweet it. Text it.

P.S. Check out a few new things that I’ve posted in my Free Download Library.

• New ways to think about strategic planning.
• Training tool to help your volunteers do face-to-face personal solicitation.
• An overview of emotions, the very most critical thing you need to know for fundraising.

I think this is a marvelous quote: “Justice before charity.” Pope John XXIII said that.

I’m a proud donor to the planned parenthood movement. So is my life partner, Tom. He’s a feminist and social justice advocate, too.

Reproductive justice is part of leveling the playing field for women and girls.

Here’s some amazing information:

99% of sexually active American women between the ages of 15 and 44 have used birth control at some point in their lives.

Why? So they can plan their pregnancies. Why does that matter? Planning parenthood helps you stay in school and get an education and get a job. Planning parenthood helps you take care of the children you have already. Planning parenthood can help more women run for office and then we can elect more women. Planning parenthood can help protect a woman’s health. Planning parenthood is smart for the economy and for families and for boys and men.

Here are the facts about that planning:

• 65% of women who use contraception say the main reason they use it is because they cannot afford to take care of a baby.
• 51% of women say that birth control use allows them to complete their education.
• 63% of women say birth control use allows them to take better care of their families.
• 27 million women have already benefited from the Affordable Care Act (ACA) by using birth control (preventative healthcare) without having to pay the co-pay. Yes, some people cannot afford to pay the co-pay!

Planning parenthood is smart. And it’s justice.

This is a marvelous book – What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets, by Harvard professor Michael J. Sandel. Sandel is an important political philosopher. He teaches a course called “Justice” at Harvard, which is now available to view online.

The book’s theme: “Today, the logic of buying and selling no longer applies to material goods alone but increasingly governs the whole of life. It is time to ask whether we want to live this way.”

Sandel gives us an exciting (yes, exciting and very scary) overview of the evolution of economics. He takes us into today’s era of “market triumphalism,” which says that everything that the market does is peachy keen. The new norm (and new normal) is driven by an economic exchange process only. Nothing else matters. There is no fundamental value to anything. The market is what matters.

Sandel explains the evolution of economic reasoning. He explains the demise of Adam Smith’s concept of the “invisible hand.” Smith’s concept of economics stated that the markets have no impact other than the efficient exchange of goods.  My how surprised Smith would be to watch economics and markets today.

Here’s a terrifying description of economics by economist Greg Mankiw: “There is no mystery about what an ‘economy’ is. An economy is just a group of people interacting with one another as they go about their lives.”

So that means the buying and selling of children is okay, as long as each side is satisfied. Paying for the sterilization of drug addicts (to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS) is the greater good. The killing of endangered species is okay if we earn some money to save other species. As Sandel notes, according to Mankiw, “economics is about not only the production, distribution, and consumption of material goods but also about human interaction in general and the principles by which individuals make decisions.”

Apparently, in the olden days – and perhaps still today – economists claim that economics has no moral basis and doesn’t create any kind of moral conundrum. Hmmm… But think about incentives, Sandel tells us. Incentives are “interventions that the economist (or policy maker) designers, engineers, and imposes on the world. They are ways of getting people to lose weight, or work harder, or pollute less.”

Sandel quotes researchers Levitt and Dubner about the joy economists have with incentives. “The typical economist believes the world has not yet invented a problem that he cannot fix if given a free hand to design the proper incentive scheme. His solution may not always be pretty – it may involve coercion or exorbitant penalties or the violation of civil liberties – but the original problem, rest assured, will be fixed. An incentive is a bullet, a lever, a key: an often tiny object with astonishing power to change a situation.” 

Coercion. Violation of civil liberties. Exorbitant penalties. Are these always okay in every situation in our society?

The market now operates in every sphere of life…the markets have invaded every area of life – and Sandel gives us very specific examples…from family life to friendship, sex and procreation, health and education and welfare, nature and art… Nothing is safe from the market. Everything can be seen – and is manipulated – by economics.

Sandel is careful about moralizing – although it’s clear that he is very concerned. What he wants us to do – as a society – is stop embracing market triumphalism without questioning it. What Sandel wants us to do is actually think before we act. Talk before we accept. Examine before we embrace.

Of course we disagree about acceptable norms. Of course different people have different beliefs. But the bottom line is – a smart society does not follow blindly, willy nilly. Smart people look before they leap. We have to examine and explore and question and argue. That’s what a healthy society does.

As Sandel says, “once we see that markets and commerce change the character of the goods they touch, we have to ask where markets belong – and where they don’t. And we can’t answer this question without deliberating about the meaning and purpose of goods, and the values that should govern them.”

Sandel observes: “At a time of rising inequality, the marketization of everything means that people of affluence and people of modest means lead increasing separate lives…. You might call it the skyboxification of American life. It’s not good for democracy, nor is it a satisfying way to live.”

And, finally, Michael Sandel asks you and me: “Do we want a society where everything is up for sale? Or are certain moral and civic goods that markets do not honor and money cannot buy?”

Read this book, What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets. Check out Sandel on YouTube. Amazing. Insightful. Thought provoking. Scary. And very sad.

How about you? How do you feel?

Read this great article by Robert Reich: Syria and the Reality at Home in America. Starving children. Unemployed people who aren’t even looking for jobs anymore because there are no jobs. But let’s spend money on Syria. As Reich says, “a decent society would put people to work….lift the minimum wage….make sure people have enough to eat and places to live and…” And by the way, our deficit – that panic problem – doesn’t exist much. Read this article!

In the United States, it’s easier to get an assault weapon than it is to vote. Read Barbara Streisand’s article. That would be funny if it weren’t so pathetic, so terrifying, so appalling. Just imagine: “Since the beginning of 2011, 19 states have passed 25 laws and two executive actions restricting voting.” By the way, we owe a special thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court for allowing this to happen.

And if you think that the financial crash – caused by the ego and greed of Wall Street and its various playmates – is past, with no worry for the future… Well, wow. That’s a fantasy world. Aided and abetted by that very same street and a weak U.S. Congress and a weak U.S. Administration. Just check out this article from Matt Taibii.

And if you really want to be amazed and terrorized and stunned – and fall out of your chair laughing at the irony… Read this marvelous “Dear Stupid, Stupid, NSA” by David Meyer of Business Week. Ah, the irony.

Wow. When will we learn? When will we stop misbehaving? When will we enforce consequences? When will we launch preventative measures? When will we focus on what is most important? When will we just…

Hell, I don’t know.

Money makes the world go ’round.

Is money inherently bad? Of course not. But it can be used badly. It can be used for good things, too.

So much money  results from privilege. And privilege is inextricably linked to things like race/ethnicity and gender and sexual orientation and education and and and …

Have you read Michael Edwards’ marvelous book, Small Change: Why Business Won’t Save the World. It’s a must-read for everyone. Fundraisers. CEOs in the for-profit and nonprofit sectors. I wish books like this (and Sandel’s What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets) were required reading in all high schools in the world.

Another important book is The Self-Made Myth: And the Truth About How Government Helps Individuals and Businesses Succeed by Miller and Lapham. And how about reading my piece, “Philanthropy’s Moral Dilemma,” posted in the Free Download Library on my website.

Now I’ve seen a new piece by Michael Edwards: “Beauty and the Beast: Can Money Ever Foster Social Transformation.” This is a great analysis about money and philanthropy and fundraising and democracy and economics and… Also check out the new website, Transformation – Where love meets social justice.

Then take a look at Paul Light’s piece about “Driving Social Change,” in the Nonprofit Quarterly. Check out Light’s eponymous YouTube video and book.

For dessert, read The Self-Made Myth: And the Truth About How Government Helps Individuals and Businesses Succeed. And read Robin Hood Was Right: A Guide to Giving Your Money for Social Change, by Collins, Rogers, and Garner. This is one of my all-time favorites.

It’s really about time you and me and our society and our various communities understand this stuff. As citizens and community members, we need to see and understand and accept.

I’m sitting here in my hotel room in Paris. I’m presenting at the French fundraising conference. Always interesting to be outside the U.S., talking with new people, appreciating different cultures, honoring the beauty and reality that people experience life differently.

Yes, people experience life differently – based on culture and race/ethnicity,  gender,  sexual orientation,  physical ability, faith, socioeconomic status, etc. All that produces discrimination. Every country has some form of discrimination. And we certainly have lots of discrimination in the U.S. So government has a significant role in ensuring that this discrimination is prohibited and compensated for.

But in the U.S., mostly the guys win. And the whites mostly win. And so do the heterosexuals.

I want to yell and scream and cry at the infamy – yes infamy of the U.S. Supreme Court and Texas and New York and and and … Shame on you. Shame on you.

In just one U.S. week – several actions will live on in infamy for many of us:

• The U.S. Supreme Court struck down a vital portion of the Voting Rights Act. Essentially because it is old- fashioned. “Gosh,” said 4 white guys and a black guy, “U.S. voting districts don’t try to make it hard for people of color to vote. Gosh. Not any more.” Well that’s untrue. 
• New York State did not adopt a bill of rights for women. Wisely proposed by Governor Andrew Cuomo. Includes a woman’s right to choose in NY state – even if the  U.S. Supreme Court (mostly men) strikes down Roe versus Wade.
• And Texas. Well, there is always Texas. Another law against women. But a female legislator filibustered for 11 hours. And citizens demonstrated. And maybe (or maybe not) the law didn’t get passed through the roll-call vote before the legislative session ended. So maybe the rights of women won. But what a shame that the bill was proposed and required a filibuster in the first place!

And that’s not the end for this infamous week and these infamous men (and some women in the state legislatures): The U.S. Supreme Court compromised affirmative action. “Because there’s just not enough discrimination against people of color and women to warrant any special consideration anymore.” It’s not as if affirmative action (and that silly little part of the Voting Rights Act) made any difference at all in these past decades. Wow.

Apparently, since we elect women to the U.S. Congress and state legislatures (a paltry few compared to dozens of other countries) – and because we elected a black president – well, that means that racism and sexism aren’t very powerful in the U.S. anymore. And birth control and the right to choose for women… Well, that just isn’t that important.

There’s one more opportunity for the U.S. Supreme Court to make this one hell of a big week: marriage equality. The Supremes still have that one to decide.

I am so angry. I am so disappointed. I am so tired of fighting for basic human rights for people of color and women and homosexuals. But fight I will. And so will so many many many others.

You know the phrase, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Well, it takes a government (and my taxes and yours) to build (and sustain) a business, to create a community, to survive as a world.

Read The Self-Made Myth: And the Truth About How Government Helps Individuals and Businesses Succeed. Marvelous. Insightful. A wake-up call to all of us to change the silly talk in the U.S.

The story of the U.S. is the myth that each individual is responsible for “pulling him/herself up by the bootstraps”…the myth that you get what you deserve… As authors Brian Miller and Mike Lapham note, the self-made myth asserts that “individual and business success is the result of the personal characteristics of exceptional individuals, with little or no outside assistance.” In other words, you or I succeed or fail totally because of our own individual selves. The contributions of society are irrelevant.

The contributions of society are irrelevant? I went to school and college in public schools and a public university. Government finances the public schools. And when I was in college, government significantly financed my college education. The early immigrants (that would be all the original settlers of the U.S.) moved west – indiscriminately killing Native Americans – to grab land provided by the U.S. government.

And how about luck? If you were born white and male, you already have a leg (or a bootstrap) up on those who are not white and those who are female. The same holds true for being heterosexual. Or other factors like your financial inheritance, your neighborhood, your parent’s education, the era in which you were born. And so much more.

People like Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney and Fox news and the Tea Party – and all the other hyped up fact deniers – sell the self-made lie.

But the truth is, no man is an island, as John Donne said. I know (and so do you!) – for a fact – that “built-together” is the truth. And any honest individual knows the same thing. Just look around. Just pay attention. Stop the absurd rhetoric. Stop the inappropriate and distracting political chatter that fosters unemployment, increases the gap between rich and poor, destroys the middle class. Stop the injustice. Stop the class warfare.

The Self-Made Myth tells stories of major businesses – some you’ve heard of and some not. Stories about the Walk Disney Company and Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream. Stories of young entrepreneurs and a technology business that we all use but don’t know about. All these stories – all these storytellers – give explicit examples of the built-together reality. All of these stories and storytellers deny the self-made myth. So do Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, Sr.

How ironic that those who are the most hurt by the self-made myth often vote for the “fact deniers,” the promoters of the stupid myth. Voting against one’s self interest…because you believe the self-made fantasy. 

So much of our public policy debates revolve around the conflict between the self-made myth and the built-together reality. It’s time to stop this absurdity. Read this book and get inspired. Then go speak out. Take action. Make change.

Or else, we could limp along and watch our country crumble. We could try Marie Antoinette’s approach. You remember. “They don’t have bread? Well, let them eat cake.” Oh. Wait. That’s what we do so much now.

Is this the society you want?

In April, I spent several days at the Planned Parenthood Federation conference in Washington, D.C. What a marvelous experience.

President Obama joined us and spoke. The only sitting president to have done so. His remarks remind us all of basic human rights for women.

At the conference, I met women and men who provide excellent healthcare around the United States…from breast exams to birth control, testing for sexually transmitted infections, quality science-based education for youth, and abortions.

Over and over, research proves that Americans want comprehensive sex education. Over and over, research proves that Americans want to plan their families and know the full range of options. Over and over, research proves that when women control their own sexuality – including choosing when to have children – families are stronger economically.

And Planned Parenthood is always here…celebrating 100 years in 2016! Planned Parenthood cares no matter what.

Did you know that it was clergy of many faiths who joined up with Planned Parenthood back in 1916 to help women? Yes, the clergy. And at the PPFA conference, various clergy speakers said such beautiful things:

• Religious freedom does not mean stopping others from choosing. Government cannot privilege one religion over another. (And here’s my comment: The conservative, fundamentalist religions promote laws – government intervention – from birth control to marriage equality. I thought we had a separation of church and state in the U.S.)
• The New Testament talks about the beauty of sexuality and spirituality. We must exercise our own sexuality wisely. And, because life is previous, let’s not create it carelessly.
• For people of faith, it’s time to reclaim churches, mosques, and synagogues. It’s time to take back god from the fundamentalists.

And here’s one of my favorite statements from a religious leader speaking at PPFA: Our society – each of us – must commit to the moral agency of women.

So why are we fighting this battle again?! And the battle seems more aggressive and vicious. State by state, pockets of elected officials and radical citizens are adopting laws that reduce women’s rights. State by state, fundamentalist officials and citizens seek to control my life and yours.

A colleague said to me this week, “This is the last breath of a dying culture.” Fighting against birth control and abortion (and fair pay and so much more) is an attack against the basic civil rights of women. Fighting against marriage equality is an attack against the basic civil rights of our gay and lesbian community members.

The last breath of a dying culture. A culture that still believes in patriarchy. A culture that believes in passé traditions like male dominance, white supremacy, heterosexual primacy. An old fashioned culture with old fashioned beliefs that just don’t work anymore. And these are beliefs that the majority of Americans do not accept.

That’s right, the majority of Americans support birth control and access to abortion, equal pay for women, no more patriarchy, marriage equality. Our younger community members have no problem with interracial marriage and life partners.

But that old culture…it’s gasping. The vicious attacks – the viciousness of the attacks – is a last gasp. Know that, you who fight so viciously. Know that you are in the last throes of an old culture. You are losing. The rest of us will win.

Martin Luther King Jr. was right. That the arc of justice – while moving painfully slowly sometimes – does move towards justice.

Basic human rights for women will triumph. Basic human rights for people of color will triumph. Basic human rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered friends and neighbors will triumph.

Always, there will be people and movements that will fight for social justice.  Planned Parenthood is one of them. We provide extaordinary healthcare. And we fight for social justice. Forever.

This is an amazing video. For your personal and professional life and for my personal and professional life. I collected so many important tidbits… About the purpose of research. About the the concept of connection … which is, of course, relationship building … which is an essential part of fundraising and board development and nonprofit management and life.

Ms. Brené Brown describes herself as a research storyteller. She studies vulnerability, courage, authenticity, and shame. Her work has been featured on PBS, NPR, and CNN.

Her research and her stories can help us understand how and why people do or don’t connect. Her research and stories can help us as human beings – which helps us as professionals, which helps us as fundraisers… By the way, you’ll find a number of YouTube videos from Ms. Brown.

Today, January 22, is a very important day for many of us around the world…the day of the U.S. Supreme Court’s momentous ruling in Roe versus Wade. A triumph for so many U.S. women and their families.

I’ve been a donor to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America for years and years and years. I’m a proud board member of Planned Parenthood of Southern New England (PPSNE). And my life partner and I just changed our will to include PPSNE.

“Care. No matter what.” That is the promise of the Planned Parenthood movement worldwide. It’s a promise made every day to the women, men, and young people who rely on their personal right to make their own decisions.

Family planning is a deeply personal and often complex decision. None of us knows the personal situation of another. As we in the Planned Parenthood movement say, “I am not in her shoes. Ultimately, decisions about whether to choose adoption, end a pregnancy, or raise a child must be left to a woman, her family, and her faith, with the counsel of her doctor or health care provider.”

An issue yesterday, still today…and tomorrow, too.

• Watch this 90-second animated video, Not In Her Shoes. The video gives some great tips about how to encourage people to have an authentic conversation about difficult issues.
• Watch Forty Years Safe and Legal.This 4-minute video honoring the 40^th anniversary of Roe v. Wade features archival footage, historical photos, news clips, and new interview footage with Sarah Weddington and Cecile Richards.
• Read Gail Collins’  great column in the New York Times. Watch this episode of the  NBC show Parenthood, which prominently and sensitively featured Planned Parenthood. Read the Salon article about the amazing Parenthood episode. Read this MSNBC article about the public’s strong support for abortion rights. And read this eye-opening report by the Guttmacher Institute about restrictions on abortion access across the United States.

Save and legal is the key. That’s what the U.S. Supreme Court decided on January 22, 1973. Thank you for that decision.

And now what? Continued vigilance. Continued commitment. Safe and legal forever and everywhere.