By Jim Selman | Bio
We've
been assaulted lately by political pundits and statisticians telling us
what will happen this week. It is easy to roll over and assume they
know what they are talking about. So why bother to vote at all? Just sit
back and watch the process on TV. This is a particularly easy
rationalization for cynics and those who've become resigned that they
don't make a difference anyway. Most of the hype and hysteria seems to be aimed at younger voters. It is assumed that we older voters[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Leadership
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By Jim Selman | Bio
I cannot remember having experienced or even
having read about a time when there have been so many “extremes”
co-existing in terms of political points of view and ways of
understanding the world. All seem to simultaneously have the quality of
being both ‘life threatening’ AND intractable. Whether we’re discussing
climate change, social justice, lifestyles, civil rights, the economy,
our political process or the price of oil, everyone seems to have a
strongly held point of view without much evident interest in learning or
working toward some common resolution of our differences. It would seem
collaboration is fast becoming extinct—an endangered competence.[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Leadership
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By Jim Selman | Bio
We’re all witnessing the horrifying disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
Most of us are running the gauntlet of emotions from sadness to anger.
There is a lot of handwringing as the Gulf Coast girds itself for yet
another devastating blow. It is not clear if this will be worse than
Katrina, but that possibility looms large. We can rebuild after a
hurricane. The damage from an oil spill of this magnitude can last for
decades—or for all eternity. No doubt[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Leadership
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By Shae Hadden
Jennifer Correiro, executive director of TakingITGlobal, sent me an update of her activities at Davos last week. As a Young Global Leader,
she has been involved in an initiative to bring recommendations from
teenagers in over 20 countries to the Global Redesign Initiative of the
World Economic Forum. More than 2,000 people between 8 and 25 took part
in an online forum or attended one of 30 town hall meetings during the
past six months to share their perspective on issues from healthcare
and climate change to values and governance. Key suggestions in the
report presented on January 27th at Davos were: [ Read More]
Written by eldering at Leadership
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 By Jim Selman | Bio
Over the past few years, I have written about
how life in our society is increasingly becoming a 'spectator sport'. I
am again reminded of this as I listen to week after week of pundits
second-guessing President Obama and other leaders as if their points of
view are a) true, b) somehow contributing to a civil public discourse,
and c) honest and not contrived to produce controversy or provoke
conflict and drama.[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Leadership
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By Jim Selman | Bio
One of the things I appreciate most about the Internet is
being ‘surprised’ when I stumble onto something or someone that I didn’t know
existed. This weekend a friend mentioned a new PBS series called “Justice”
presented by a Harvard professor Michael J Sandel.
A few minutes on Google and I was drawn into a number of online lectures with
students and other audiences on the topic of ‘what is right’ and the importance
of critical thinking in a civilized and democratic society. One blog concluded
that, while his topic is justice, the real point to his teaching is
‘citizenship’. [ Read More]
Written by eldering at Leadership
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 By Shae Hadden | Bio
I’ve
been glancing in shop windows recently as I wander my new neighborhood.
There seem to be more sales and discounts now at the retail outlets
than ever before, as if lowering a ticketed price will lure consumers
in to buy when the prevailing mood is one of restraint and caution.
Experts argue over whether our market economy is going to limp along in
its current form or be remade or redefined. Scarcity thinking seems to
predominate consumer behavior. Meanwhile, what I don’t want us to lose
sight of are the barter and gift economies that co-exist (and continue
to evolve) alongside the regular buying and selling of goods.[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Leadership
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 By Jim Selman | Bio
New
York is a consumer paradise. That’s one of the reasons it is a shopping
mecca for so many people from around the world. Folks who can afford it
want to have an apartment here, the ‘Big Brands’ want to have a store
on 5th Avenue, and the rest of us want to look in the store windows and
buy stuff. New York, of course, doesn’t have an exclusive on being a
magnet for shoppers—most big cities have their own version of a street
lined with designer stores overflowing with opulent offerings. As I
travel from city to city, I find myself wondering[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Leadership
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By Jim Selman | Bio
A good friend of mine is a Canadian that grew
up in Lebanon. His family still owns a bit of land that is situated
between two of the refugee camps. It is a bleak scene by all accounts.
I asked him what he learned growing up in that kind of environment. He
said, “I learned it only takes a very few people to screw it up for
everybody”. I had the same impression as I watched the ‘9/12 tea party march on Washington’ this past week.[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Leadership
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