I Am A Citizen Of The World - Diogenes
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 they 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 policymaking
- 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 Times, Wired UK, The 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:
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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