Ted Hulick’s Post

I've been re-reading some of Teju Cole's essays in preparation for a lecture this week. It struck me that in all of the discussion and helpful advice sharing around narrative and its impacts, one tangible action that is rarely mentioned is a little personal digging into the back story behind the narratives that we create. I am certainly guilty of creating communications with only a surface to middling understanding of the topic I am going to communicate about, and I don't think I am alone in this. We talk about sharing context with our audiences to educate them a little, but we don't talk explicitly about educating ourselves as a first step to the former. I wonder how different our stories would be if we started the process of creating them by spending some time diving into the complex details? I suspect that having that knowledge as creators would change the fibres of the stories in a way that would help the project of using our stories to engage in long term social justice rather than short term saviourism... Here's the quote that got this train of thought going for me, but I recommend the whole article, it's 12 years old now, but it's as relevant today as it was then (sadly). "The White Savior Industrial Complex is a valve for releasing the unbearable pressures that build in a system built on pillage. We can participate in the economic destruction of Haiti over long years, but when the earthquake strikes it feels good to send $10 each to the rescue fund. I have no opposition, in principle, to such donations (I frequently make them myself), but we must do such things only with awareness of what else is involved. If we are going to interfere in the lives of others, a little due diligence is a minimum requirement." https://lnkd.in/exJ7UAUR

The previous - & potentially future - administration led to a massive increase in attacks on science & scientists. Climate Science Legal Defense Fund continues to stand with researchers under attack by agents of disinformation & anti-science bad actors. Help us help them: csldf.org/donate

Warning: this post is both personal and political. Feel free to pass over it. In my day job, I run a charitable nonprofit that cannot and does not take partisan political positions. We work with a diverse array of stakeholders nationwide to advance electric mobility, and there are a ton of reasons folks support that work (jobs, economic opportunity, clean air, climate change, national security, and more) And yet. I feel compelled to point out that the current President has led a once in a generation investment in electric mobility and clean technology, passed an infrastructure bill after years of dithering by prior leaders, and has hired some of the smartest and most capable agency leaders in recent memory. His opponent, by contrast, has pledged to undo as much of this progress as possible. Not for any coherent policy reason, but simply because he'd like to feed on fear and anger to ride his way back to power. I have donated to the following groups. If you have any capacity to give, please consider donating as well. I also encourage you to do something harder: find someone in your life who holds different political opinions, and talk with them. Strive to understand their point of view. If we can't find common ground and understanding with the people closest to us, there's not much hope for the nation as a whole. Thanks for reading! https://joebiden.com/ https://swingleft.org/ https://dccc.org/

This is why dark money is a threat to our constitutional republic. Pushing the Christian Nationalist agendas such as Project 2025 and the 2024 GOP Platform, is the exact opposite being patriotic! From the research: "A network of ultrawealthy Christian donors is spending nearly $12 million to mobilize Republican-leaning voters and purge more than a million people from the rolls in key swing states, aiming to tilt the 2024 election in favor of former President Donald Trump." Attention: U.S. Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) U.S. Department of Homeland Security ----------------------------------------------------------------- In my LinkedIn analytics, South Africa dominates interest in this post. Considering the deep ties between Russia and South Africa, their tolerance of operational Russian resources, regarding intelligence and influence operations, I highly suggest that you take the appropriate actions. Attention: National Security Council, The White House U.S. Department of State Office of the Secretary of Defense Office of the Director of National Intelligence The Joint Staff USSOCOM

How to Teach Kids Financial Responsibility: Building Economic Maturity Learn how to instill economic maturity in children to prevent irresponsible financial decision-making in the future. Discover the importance of teaching them about capital base, saving, investing, and philanthropy. Protect their wealth and educate them about the dangers of becoming a target due to their financial success. #FinancialResponsibility #TeachingKids #EconomicMaturity #SavingMoney #InvestmentTips #WealthProtection #Philanthropy #FinancialEducation #MoneyManagement #SecureFuture

Only one organization on earth defends the philosophic foundations of a free society & the values of the Enlightenment: The Ayn Rand Institute. Stand for Reality, Reason, Enlightened Self-Interest, Individual Rights & Laissez-faire Capitalism and donate today: https://lnkd.in/gdbuuAGq

We cannot fully understand the workings of the stabilizer without diving into the most devilish corners of it. There are quotes. Mathematics battles over the soul of the mathematician. Geometry good, Algebra vile. And conversations who is right. People love to argue. I like utility, and they are knowledge tools. I will say: only a woman who wove a nation back together using threads understands the effort. Your disrespect of the Great Work is ignorance.* * and returned dresses to the public domain, yes? In a way that nourishes charity? In a nation of 50m, until forever? ** we are allowed to excel but not by cutting down others *** so Landsraad, you await the next broadcast until possible. It is a public service.

Asa has happened before without consequence, the U.S. is once again guilty of war crimes. Now it relates to the participating in the bombing of Gaza, according to all the agencies in place internationally to judge and condemn them. With Kemela Harris prayerfully at the helm, many atrocities with footprints leading back to the US might be avoided. This includes preventing the policies of the Heritage Foundation's 2025 document. It means stopping Trump and his blind followers. If your hegemonic, fear-based hypnosis is preventing you from realizing the true histories and or from understanding why the Gaza genocide, if unmitigated, will ultimately guide human consciousness downward, please listen to real voices from people in Gaza on DemocracyNow.org. (Warning: The imagery today of doctors treating injured children on the floors of bombed out hospitals is especially hard to watch.) Please vote in 104 days and start telling others. Stop Trump,;stop what Chomsky says is the most dangerous organization in the world ( the right-wing GOP;) stop corporate power's control of both parties; stop racism, anti-Indianism, and anthropocentric destruction of all life forms. Use the dehypnotizing technology CAT-FAWN. https://lnkd.in/g4Y5mDR And remember that neutrality is always on the wrong side. Use the worldview chart at KindredMedia.org

Friends, please consider this gentle pitch. The principles of liberalism undergirding our country's Constitution let us strive towards an ideal: a fair system of cooperation, one that allows liberty to flourish in a pluralistic society. On the balance--and despite the recent rhetoric of certain politicians and academics--we have made considerable progress towards that ideal. (Robert Frost, impatient with each age's pessimism and doomsaying, wrote, "It is immodest of a man to think of himself as going down before the worst forces ever mobilized by God." But here we are, fretting that it is so for our age.) We make serious mistakes if we let momentary fears lead us to abandon, or even to dilute, the ideals and principles that--while they haven't immediately delivered us Utopia or Nirvana--enabled our ancestors to strive over the years to improve our common lot. Our ancestors made great strides towards our ideals, winning liberty for many millions who didn't previously enjoy it. When it comes to realizing our country's promise, we can't expect the instant results that our consumer-oriented society and its commercial messaging have taught us to demand. This is a representative democracy of hundreds of millions of people pulling in various directions; it isn't a Starbucks menu--you aren't going to get exactly what you want and walk out the door in under five minutes. We must remember our role as citizens of a country with a living system of government, one that requires our constant care and involvement. We have to set aside the consumer mindset. We can't expect the journey to realize our ideals to be convenient or easy. To the contrary, history teaches it is anything but easy. But it is crucial. The continuing quest to satisfy our ideals is just that--an endless effort. It takes place on dangerous terrain, requiring constant vigilance. We seek to realize our ideals, knowing we will never achieve them perfectly. So be wary of those who promise a "happily ever after" storybook ending, one that somehow transcends history and human nature. There is no ending to this work. Because the Foundation for Individual Freedom and Expression pushes back against the drumbeat of doomsaying, I am proud to work for this organization. FIRE's work reminds us that the First Amendment plays--and has played--an indispensable role in our country's arc towards equality and a fair system of cooperation, an arc resulting from the efforts of brave people, mostly forgotten, who have fought, struggled, and sacrificed for it over the years. The country we live in didn't fall out of the sky: Those people won us what we have at great cost to themselves. It is up to us to preserve what they won and pass it on with whatever improvements we can achieve. Please consider supporting FIRE in its fight for principles that matter to all of us who desire a better union.