The Iranian “Spring”: Will We Ever Learn? Once again, we are witnessing the ancient truth (going back to Plato). It seems that humankind is doomed endlessly to re-live an age-old story and then promptly forget it. The root cause of the Arab Spring was desperation, coupled with a failure of leadership. Iran represents only a variation on this common theme.Every organized society is, in effect, a “collective survival enterprise.” Our basic needs lie at the heart of our implicit social contract. Any regime that does not understand this biologically-based “common good” and act accordingly is ultimately doomed.
A few summers ago, my daughter Sarah was bound for Denver. Sarah had committed to serve in the AmeriCorps’ City Year program. Before she left, I helped to pack up her car. She had a few meager belongings, mostly clothes and books. She had sold off almost everything else she had owned. She was off to more than a grand adventure; this journey was meant to jumpstart her career as an educator. Moments before she left, I took a photo of her at Kerry Park, overlooking the city of Seattle. In the photo she is holding her City Year badge and beaming with pride. She wanted to know if her passion for teaching was a passing fancy or her true heart’s desire. Soon she would find out.
It’s been a brutal winter across much of the United States, but with the arrival of February and lengthening days, surely we can begin to seek harbingers of Spring.
From South Africa Bernadette Erasmus writes about Sivuyile “Siv” Ngesi whose diverse talents have seen him making waves in the South African entertainment industry.
Jim Florentine’s Son Opens For Him at Book Release Party, Impractical Joker “Q” Does Q&A at Friars Club, Corinne Fisher Shares Her Experience With Bill Burr And Seinfeld, and Some Editorial Thoughts About Dressing Respectfully
This month’s column is about use of digital tools in emergency situations and then digital strategy as a leadership tool. In this case as a response, taking advantage of the immediacy and ease of rapid deployment of digital devices, instinctively, by a generation described by some as, “born with a phone in their hands.” How these tools, digital devices and online resources enabled communications, coverage, and the creation of a nationwide movement -in a matter of days-- is a testament to the coming of age of Digital Reality.
