Here's a question for you, posed on this rainy day, here, in Wisconsin: say there was a God of Locality. You are about to come into this world and you get to decide: which country would you like to be born in? The God of Locality will make sure you get your wish.
It's an interesting question to ask yourself, because it doesn't necessarily lead you to stick with what you know and love best -- your home country. In all my travels and from all that I've heard, I do believe that people really love their home country and would readily choose it as home for life, provided that it offers some economic opportunity and doesn't trample on their human rights. So if you were asked -- where would you like to live now, most people would say "here!" [Again, don't forget the caveat: so long as you can secure a livelihood for you and/or your family, and you're not thrown in jail for speaking your mind or looking different.]
So back to the first question -- where do you think you'd like to have been born?
Yes, I know -- you can't shake that bias. It's that strong. You're going to say -- the country I now live in! It's the best!
This morning, just before breakfast on the porch...
... Ed and I listened to a TED talk. It's a little dated I suppose (2014), but the person (who is a policy analyst and government/municipality consultant from I believe the UK) presented findings that he and his research team compiled on a country's "goodness." They ranked all the nations of the world based on their compassion toward their own citizens, and importantly -- toward all peoples of the world. At the top of the list aren't necessarily rich countries, or happy countries, or beautiful countries. But they're good, demonstrating an outwardness and kindness toward all of us, even if we don't live there, or don't look like or act like their nationals.
Why create such a ranking of countries? Well, listen to the TED talk. It's only 17 minutes. Here's one reason to listen -- you'll get an answer to the question of which country, by their complicated matrix, is the most "good" country.
[If you don't have 17 mins, and, too, if you want an update to the original TED talk, you can look up good countries on WIKI. The countries have shuffled a bit in recent years. Nations that were in the top five still remain in the top sector, but their ordering has been shifting just a little. The US, on the other hand (a hint here: it's not in the top five) has changed positions significantly.]
Simon Anholt (the primary investigator and TED talk speaker) challenged us to think beyond our own back yard and to press our governments to strive toward improving our country's ranking on the good country index. Or, in the alternative, I suppose you could ask a God of Relocation to place you in any country that ranked high on the goodness scale. But since we love our homes, the more realistic admonition is to prioritize goodness and let your leaders know that it's important to you.
Idle thoughts. People stick to their home turf. Though here's a thought: if your home turf is down there on the goodness scale, well, from the bottom, there's only one way to go: up.
In the evening, I go over to my older girl's home to bring Sunday supper.
It's a challenge to have our few minutes together. For one thing, it's cold now. And wet. In addition to the food, I bring a few segments of a kid fence to their deck. We're thinking it may help Sparrow identify boundaries. It does... Until it doesn't anymore. He just cannot accept distancing: it makes no sense to him. All his life he could run to me and I would catch him up and hold him high in a big hug. And now, there's a fence.
Distraction: let's play ball. Sparrow's way.
And now Snowdrop is out and I never realized what a sweetly soft voice she has until I tried to understand her recount of her issues of the day, as spoken through a mask.
Despite the challenges, it is a superb few minutes. The kids make me laugh and dance and move and forget everything else that's floating through my head these days.
But it is cold. Autumn in Wisconsin is cold. No surprise there. We're ready for it. I think.
It's an interesting question to ask yourself, because it doesn't necessarily lead you to stick with what you know and love best -- your home country. In all my travels and from all that I've heard, I do believe that people really love their home country and would readily choose it as home for life, provided that it offers some economic opportunity and doesn't trample on their human rights. So if you were asked -- where would you like to live now, most people would say "here!" [Again, don't forget the caveat: so long as you can secure a livelihood for you and/or your family, and you're not thrown in jail for speaking your mind or looking different.]
So back to the first question -- where do you think you'd like to have been born?
Yes, I know -- you can't shake that bias. It's that strong. You're going to say -- the country I now live in! It's the best!
This morning, just before breakfast on the porch...
... Ed and I listened to a TED talk. It's a little dated I suppose (2014), but the person (who is a policy analyst and government/municipality consultant from I believe the UK) presented findings that he and his research team compiled on a country's "goodness." They ranked all the nations of the world based on their compassion toward their own citizens, and importantly -- toward all peoples of the world. At the top of the list aren't necessarily rich countries, or happy countries, or beautiful countries. But they're good, demonstrating an outwardness and kindness toward all of us, even if we don't live there, or don't look like or act like their nationals.
Why create such a ranking of countries? Well, listen to the TED talk. It's only 17 minutes. Here's one reason to listen -- you'll get an answer to the question of which country, by their complicated matrix, is the most "good" country.
[If you don't have 17 mins, and, too, if you want an update to the original TED talk, you can look up good countries on WIKI. The countries have shuffled a bit in recent years. Nations that were in the top five still remain in the top sector, but their ordering has been shifting just a little. The US, on the other hand (a hint here: it's not in the top five) has changed positions significantly.]
Simon Anholt (the primary investigator and TED talk speaker) challenged us to think beyond our own back yard and to press our governments to strive toward improving our country's ranking on the good country index. Or, in the alternative, I suppose you could ask a God of Relocation to place you in any country that ranked high on the goodness scale. But since we love our homes, the more realistic admonition is to prioritize goodness and let your leaders know that it's important to you.
Idle thoughts. People stick to their home turf. Though here's a thought: if your home turf is down there on the goodness scale, well, from the bottom, there's only one way to go: up.
In the evening, I go over to my older girl's home to bring Sunday supper.
It's a challenge to have our few minutes together. For one thing, it's cold now. And wet. In addition to the food, I bring a few segments of a kid fence to their deck. We're thinking it may help Sparrow identify boundaries. It does... Until it doesn't anymore. He just cannot accept distancing: it makes no sense to him. All his life he could run to me and I would catch him up and hold him high in a big hug. And now, there's a fence.
Distraction: let's play ball. Sparrow's way.
And now Snowdrop is out and I never realized what a sweetly soft voice she has until I tried to understand her recount of her issues of the day, as spoken through a mask.
Despite the challenges, it is a superb few minutes. The kids make me laugh and dance and move and forget everything else that's floating through my head these days.
But it is cold. Autumn in Wisconsin is cold. No surprise there. We're ready for it. I think.
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