January 26, 2019

I Am A Citizen Of The World - Diogenes

Diogenes Looking for An Honest Man
Attributed to JHW Tischbein


I am a citizen of the world.
Diogenes of Sinope

404-323BCE


Friends,

People often refer to our political "leaders” here in the U.S. when in fact our politicians are “followers.” They follow, in descending order: their wealthy patrons; the polls and votes of the people; and activist groups that are powerful enough to threaten their money, polls and votes.

Democrats are the lesser of two evils. Both major parties are “broken.” That is, broken to the bit and saddle of crony-consumer capitalism. Voting is a necessity. But the only real power the people have to influence politicians to do humane, responsible things beyond what serves the wealthy and powerful, can only be had through activist groups that vie for control of the saddle and bridle.

Power to the people! Power to support progressive, non-political groups that take the politicians by their vote-sniffing noses and pocket books, and make them do the will of a reason- and evidence-informed, activist public!

I support the following efforts in my home country and globally:
  • Bringing about greater economic, social and legal equality
  • Improving the quality and spread of cross-cultural, science and critical thinking education
  • Strengthening the protection and conservation of the environment
  • Assisting refugees
  • Reducing racism and diversity intolerance
  • Strengthening globalism over nationalism, pluralism over theism and tribalism

I do so by making recurring financial contributions, monthly where possible, to the following organizations. I kindly ask you to join me in supporting these and other similar groups. JEL

American Civil Liberties Union

“For almost 100 years, the ACLU has worked to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States.”

American Association for the
Advancement of Science

“AAAS works to advance science throughout the world for the benefit of all. We advocate for STEM access for students and for diverse, inclusive workplaces. We promote science’s place in our national conversation and evidence-based policymaking. And on the topics that matter—like climate change, habitat loss, and species extinction—we fight to make sure the experts have a say. Help us:
  • Advocate for science's place in society and policy making
  • Build and strengthen a diverse and inclusive community of science professionals and enthusiasts
  • Inform members about the latest science news and research
  • Empower the next generation through STEM education for all"

Arts & Letters Daily

Arts & Letters Daily is a web portal which links to a diverse array of news stories, features and reviews from across the humanities, each introduced with a short blurb or teaser. The site is owned by The Chronicle of Higher Education. (Wikipedia)

Brain Pickings

“Oh hello. My name is Maria Popova. I am a reader and writer, and I write about what I read here on Brain Pickings — my one-woman labor of love. Drawn from my extended marginalia on the search for meaning across literature, science, art, philosophy, and the various other tentacles of human thought is a record of my own becoming as a person — intellectually, creatively, spiritually — and an inquiry into what it means to live a good life.

“I have previously thought in words for The New York TimesWired UKThe Atlantic, and Harvard’s Nieman Reports, among others, and am the author of a very long book titled Figuring. Founded in 2006 as a weekly email that went out to seven friends and eventually brought online, the site was included in the Library of Congress permanent web archive in 2012. Here are some reflections on my most important learnings from the first decade of Brain Pickings. For more about the ethos and the human behind this labor of love, here is my On Being conversation with the wonderful and generous Krista Tippett:
Brain Pickings remains ad-free and is supported by readers.”

Citizens’ Climate Lobby

“Citizens’ Climate Lobby organizes by establishing local chapters in congressional districts. Working as a team you’ll experience the profound difference people can make by empowering and inspiring their elected representatives, local media, and community. CCL is a non-profit, nonpartisan, grassroots advocacy organization focused on national policies to address climate change. Our consistently respectful, nonpartisan approach to climate education is designed to create a broad, sustainable foundation for climate action across all geographic regions and political inclinations. By building upon shared values rather than partisan divides, and empowering our supporters to work in keeping with the concerns of their local communities, we work towards the adoption of fair, effective, and sustainable climate change solutions. In order to generate the political will necessary for passage of our Carbon Fee and Dividend proposal we train and support volunteers to build relationships with elected officials, the media and their local community.”

Climate Reality Project

“Our mission is to catalyze a global solution to the climate crisis by making urgent action a necessity across every level of society. The Earth is facing a climate crisis, driven by fossil fuels. At Climate Reality, we’re here to make urgent action a necessity. In politics. In business. In every aspect of our lives. Everywhere. Urgent action to cut greenhouse gas emissions and speed the global shift to renewables. Urgent action to halt the Trump Administration’s radical fossil fuel agenda. Urgent action to make world leaders strengthen and honor their Paris Agreement commitments. Led by former US Vice President Al Gore and CEO and President Ken Berlin, we do it by empowering everyday people to become activists, equipped with the tools, training, and network to fight for solutions and drive change planet-wide. The result is over 17,000 Climate Reality Leaders mobilizing communities in over 150 countries. Branches in ten critical nations and regions around the Earth. Over 80 activists chapters (and growing) pushing for practical clean energy policies across the US. Together, they add up to a powerful movement growing by the day. One by the people. Of the people. For the planet. Join us.”

CuriosityStream

CuriosityStream is a global nonfiction subscription video-on-demand streaming service. It exclusively delivers nonfiction documentaries and series about science, technology, history and nature. Launched on March 18, 2015, CuriosityStream is headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland. CuriosityStream offers its users over 1,800 original and licensed titles and about 600 hours of nonfiction media worldwide. On December 8, 2015, Amazon Prime began offering CuriosityStream as part of its add-on subscription service. Amazon-CuriosityStream is a separate subscription from CuriosityStream's main SVOD plan in that it will only permit access via Amazon Prime's platforms and is only available to Amazon Prime members. On November 1, 2017, it was announced that CuriosityStream would partner with VRV (streaming service), an aggregate provider of streaming content, to allow access to CuriosityStream's content through their service. On November 8, 2017, Comcast began offering the service, in CuriosityStream's first MVPD distribution deal. On December 7, 2017, Sling TV began offering the service as an add-on option to their customers. On June 26, 2018, CuriosityStream formalized its first international distribution deal with Starhub, expanding its reach dramatically. On July 11, 2018, CuriosityStream began being offered as an add-on channel on YouTube TV. (Wikipedia)

Figs in Winter

“Massimo Pigliucci, the creator of Figs in Winter, is a philosopher who subscribes to the radical notion that his profession ought to make us better human beings, not merely more learned ones. The title of the site, ‘Figs in Winter,’ comes from a quote by Epictetus, in Discourses III.24.86, where he says that we should enjoy things in life when we have them, because to hope for them once they are gone is as foolish as to pretend figs in winter.” (Subscription: $1, $3, or $5 per month.)

Friends of the Earth International

“We campaign on today’s most urgent environmental and social issues. We challenge the current model of economic and corporate globalization, and promote solutions that will help to create environmentally sustainable and socially just societies. We are the world’s largest grassroots environmental network, uniting 75 national member groups and some 5,000 local activist groups on every continent. With over 2 million members and supporters around the world, we campaign on today’s most urgent environmental and social issues. We challenge the current model of economic and corporate globalization, and promote solutions that will help to create environmentally sustainable and socially just societies. Our decentralized and democratic structure allows all member groups to participate in decision-making. We strive for gender equity in all of our campaigns and structures. Our international positions are informed and strengthened by our work with communities, and our alliances with indigenous peoples, farmers’ movements, trade unions, human rights groups and others.”

National Center for Science Education

“NCSE promotes and defends accurate and effective science education, because everyone deserves to engage with the evidence. Since 1981, NCSE has worked to ensure that what is taught in science classrooms and beyond is accurate and consistent with the best current understanding of the scientific community. NCSE recognizes that well-established areas of science that are culturally controversial, in particular climate change and evolution, are challenging to teach. Many teachers avoid or water down their coverage of these topics out of fear of conflict. NCSE helps train teachers and community volunteers in approaches that have been proven to reduce conflict and help learners overcome even deeply held misconceptions about evolution and climate change. NCSE also helps local communities block legislation and other efforts that would result in the miseducation of students on these critical topics. For details, see What We Do.

RefugeePoint

“Using private funds, RefugePoint was founded in 2005 to identify refugees who fall through the cracks of humanitarian aid. Initially providing life-saving care to HIV+ refugees in Nairobi, Kenya, the agency grew quickly, adding a range of services to support those with the most urgent needs. Over time, RefugePoint developed a unique, full-service response model for assisting urban refugees and facilitating their self-reliance. Simultaneously, the organization saw that tens of thousands of resettlement slots were going unused annually and built a unique resettlement program that now partners with the UN Refugee Agency in 28 countries in Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. RefugePoint has directly assisted over 54,000 refugees to access resettlement and has worked in partnership with others to guarantee access for thousands more. Learn more about our impact. Instead of asking, ‘how can we feed and shelter more refugees longer?’ RefugePoint asks, ‘what are the long-term solutions that will enable refugees to lead healthy, dignified lives and become contributing members of society again?’ Those are the solutions that RefugePoint works to expand through our three tactics: direct services, field building, and systems change.”

Sierra Club

“The Sierra Club is the most enduring and influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. We amplify the power of our 3.5+ million members and supporters to defend everyone’s right to a healthy world. Today, there’s a serious set of challenges ahead: a warming climate, unprecedented levels of pollution, and powerful special interests undermining basic protections. There’s no time to waste in coming together for new solutions – which is why the Sierra Club is bringing people together to build the most powerful and effective environmental movement the world has ever seen. We know actions speak louder than words. That’s why we’ve built a national community of volunteers, advocates, and grassroots activists who show up when and where it counts. Our supporters have the tools and resources to make themselves heard in nearly every district in every state across the country. We work with other partner organizations, nonprofits, and campaigns to build a diverse, inclusive movement that represents today’s American public. We know that environmental issues can’t be separated from social justice – because we all breathe the same air and share the same land. The Sierra Club also works with and supports companies who know that strong values are part of smart business. And we help people enjoy the earth we’re protecting. Each year, Sierra Club volunteers lead over 15,000 trips annually, from extended trips across the world to afternoon hikes not far from home. John Muir and a group of friends banded together in 1892 to ensure that the Pacific coast was protected and accessible to everyone. Since then, our scope has evolved to ensure that we’re protecting the natural and human environment, but our purpose is unchanged: to bring people together to defend our natural resources and everyone’s right to enjoy them.”

Southern Poverty Law Center

“Fighting Hate, Teaching Tolerance, Seeking Justice. Monitoring Hate Groups. Exposing Extremists. Legal Aid. Since 1971.”

“The Southern Poverty Law Center is dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of our society. Using litigation, education, and other forms of advocacy, the SPLC works toward the day when the ideals of equal justice and equal opportunity will be a reality. We monitor hate groups and other extremists throughout the United States and expose their activities to the public, the media and law enforcement. We’re dedicated to reducing prejudice, improving intergroup relations and supporting equitable school experiences for our nation's children. We’re seeking justice for the most vulnerable people in society.”

Wikipedia

“Wikipedia is a multilingual, web-based, free encyclopedia based on a model of openly editable and viewable content, a wiki. It is the largest and most popular general reference work on the World Wide Web, and is one of the most popular websites by Alexa rank. It is owned and supported by the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit organization that operates on money it receives from donors. Wikipedia was launched on January 15, 2001, by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger. Sanger coined its name, as a portmanteau of “wiki” and "encyclopedia". Initially an English-language encyclopedia, versions in other languages were quickly developed. With 5,791,987 articles, the English Wikipedia is the largest of the more than 290 Wikipedia encyclopedias. Overall, Wikipedia comprises more than 40 million articles in 301 different languages and by February 2014 it had reached 18 billion page views and nearly 500 million unique visitors per month. In 2005, Nature published a peer review comparing 42 science articles from Encyclopædia Britannica and Wikipedia and found that Wikipedia's level of accuracy approached that of Britannica. Time magazine stated that the open-door policy of allowing anyone to edit had made Wikipedia the biggest and possibly the best encyclopedia in the world, and was a testament to the vision of Jimmy Wales. Wikipedia has been criticized for exhibiting systemic bias, for presenting a mixture of ‘truths, half-truths, and some falsehoods’, and for being subject to manipulation and spin in controversial topics. In 2017, Facebook announced that it would help readers detect fake news by suitable links to Wikipedia articles. YouTube announced a similar plan in 2018.” (Wikipedia)

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