The barbaric attack of Russia on Ukraine came as a powerful shock to many of us. When the war exploded on our screens it seemed incomprehensible and irrational. The wanton destruction of urban neighbourhoods very similar to the worldI grew up instruck me as almost unbelievable.

Meanwhile, the narratives coming out of Russia suggested their dictator had become captive to an absolutist ethno-nationalist narrative with moralistic overtones that were being used to justify unspeakable violence.

The war in Ukraine has cast a shadow over 75 years of comfortable Western beliefs about civilisational progress, the universal attractiveness and eventual victory of liberal democracies, and the general superiority of the Enlightenment over tribal forms of political organisation.

Russias attack on Ukraine represents a defining moment in history for a variety of reasons, not all of them obvious. This is not only a war between competing political systems, values, and ideologies the situation confronts us with profound questions about human nature. We have to consider who we are, what we are capable of, and where we are going.

Liberal democracies have created themost successful civilisationsin human history, but perhaps we have become too complacent? We have accepted an optimistic view of ourselves while ignoring the less flattering aspects of human nature that have always been there and may yet shape our fortunes.

In many ways, we are trapped in the 21st century with palaeolithic minds.

A historical perspective

We should not have been quite so shocked by Ukraines situation. Taking a broader historical perspective, Russias aggression is neither unusual nor surprising. It fits perfectly into the pattern of human history over thousands of years, which is characterised by incessant conflict be it tribal, religious, racial, or ethnic.

Decades ago in a prescient treatise, Arthur Koestlersuggested something was badly amisswith Homo Sapiens.

Koestler argued that human history is uniquely marked by incomprehensible patterns of gruesome intra-species violence and that this could only be explained by some fatal flaw in the evolution of the human brain that, unless corrected, would lead to the demise of our species.

The historical horrors Koestler observed are being replayed in real time on our screens every night. Putins regime fits Koestlers fear perfectly, as do thereligious warsin Europe which lasted for hundreds of years and led to the deaths of nearly 30 per cent of the local population. The revolutionary ideas of the Enlightenment that inform our successful Western liberal democracies liberty, individualism, rationalism, tolerance eventually grew out of the exhaustion and despair produced by historic horrendous bloodshed.

In a sense, the war in Ukraine is about two conflicting visions about human nature.

What we might be witnessing (and not only in Ukraine) is the grisly conflict between manifestations of the collectivist, tribal proclivities built into our palaeolithic brains versus the more recent civilisational values emphasising individualism, rationalism, and tolerance.

Are we Enlightened creatures capable of managing our affairs without recourse to violence? Or has our nature been permanently shaped by the irrepressible tribal dictates of our Stone Age background?

Many humans enthusiastically follow the latter, embracing their deeply-rooted collectivist tendencies.

The palaeolithic mind

Tribal characteristicswere shaped by evolution when loyalty to the group, belief in shared narratives, cohesion, and effective coordination offered significant survival benefits over chaos. Accordingly, evolutionary psychologists suggest that the human brain evolved, not so much to optimise the rational discovery of reality and truth, but rather to facilitate the maintenance of tribal cohesion.

Putins war may be seen as a warning for Homo Sapiens. One of the major achievements of psychologyover the last few decades has come with achieving empirical insights into human nature, including the defining cognitive, emotional, and social characteristics of our species.

The picture is not entirely flattering.

There is plenty of evidence that humanity has universal and deep-seatedtribal inclinations, cognitiveshortcomings, gullibility, a tendency towardauthoritarianism, and a predilection for moral absolutism which is readily exploited by politicians like Putin, Orban, Erdogan, and Trump. The same qualities are found in authoritarian left-wing populist movementssuch as Antifa, Black Lives Matter, Woke ideology, Critical Race Theory, and Cultural Marxism.

Tribalism

Intense group competition has been a defining feature of human evolution. Loyalty to the group presents survival benefits. As a consequence, selective evolutionary pressures shaped the human mind to preference this behaviour. The consequence of strong group loyalty is the converse suspicion of other groups.Discrimination against outsiders, the need to seeksignificance within group identity, and the desire for shared group narratives are all followup behaviours that have not (and will not) disappear even with the rise of rational individualism.

Partisan bias (based on ancient group preference) is a feature of liberal democracies. There has been a marked increase in polarisation, both on the political left and on the political right. Research shows that the tendency for tribalism isa natural and nearly ineradicable feature of human cognition that no group not even ones own is immunefrom.

In more autocratic societies, the result can be the widespread acceptance of what may seem to outsiders as consensual group delusions re-enforced by propaganda and social coercion. This is what we are seeing in Putins Russia.

Gullibility

Another feature of palaeolithic thinking is the built-in tendency forcognitive shortcomingsin the service of promoting consensual beliefs. How could so many Russians believe Putins absurd narrative about Nazis in Ukraine threatening national survival of such an extreme nature that it necessitated preemptive war? This is less surprising if we consider thatthroughout historyevery civilisation has believed fictional stories that served the purpose of group integration.

One of the most important adaptations in our evolutionary history is the emergence of a symbolic ability to preserve ideas inside fictional realities and to use language to share information with others by way of telling stories. Shared beliefs improve group cohesion which is beneficial in small groups where communicators intimately know each other.

The tendency to believe brings with it a measure ofgullibilitythat has always been exploited by politicians, advertisers, and powerful institutions. Even today we have a ready ability toaccept fake information. Putins true believers are not so different from followers of other tribal movements like fascism, Marxism, or Woke ideology. There is a well-established pattern of cognitive distortions and heuristics such as the confirmation bias, the illusory correlation effect, fluency effects, the Dunning-Kruegereffect, and others that are more likely to promoteconsensual agreementrather than the rational discovery of reality. Putins propaganda is effective not only because he dominates the media, but also because his message exploits common failures of human inductive reasoning.

Moral absolutism

Absolutist morality is where the values of the group become unquestionable and all efforts to promote them are virtuous and justifiable regardless of truth. This kind of moral certainty justifies all manner of horror including genocides in the ends justifies the means approach to politics. Moral absolutism offers certainty as well as significanceto followers of variousradical political movements.

National Socialists believed in the inherent superiority of Germans, Marxists believe in unquestionable virtue of destroying class enemies, religious radicals see nonbelievers as things to be converted or erased, Woke activists revel in calling out and destroying the lives and careers of those who question their dogma. Moral certitude blinds us to reality and denies the legitimacy of disagreement and the need foropen discussion, which is a foundational value of classical liberalism.

Consider the absurd slogan silence is violence seen at BLM rallies asserting that withholding opinion is morally deplorable because it does not actively affirm the group. Moral absolutism is often justified in terms of Utopiannarratives that promise a glorious future for the group that justifies every sacrifice. The dramatic promise of a thousand-year empire (Nazism) or a perfect communist utopia (Marxism) or Putins Novorussia have a powerful emotional appeal that liberal incrementalist ideologies have great difficulty matching.

Autocratic leadership

Autocratic leaders like Putin are a quintessential feature of the human predisposition to tribalism, and often become the symbolic embodiment of their cause. Traditional belief in divine rulers has given way to intense personality cults in countries like Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea. They oftenpersonalise complex issues and ideas, making people feel as if their election solves existential threats. Leaders need to display strength, consistency, and an uncompromising attitude to satisfy the craving for simplicity and moral certainty by their followers. Disrespect for the truth is a common feature, replaced by the repetitive invocation of tribal narratives. Putin is not unique in this: Trump also lied repeatedly, as did HungarysOrban,Erdogan,and others. Followers concur, as long as the propaganda they receive is comforting and consistent with their views.

Conclusions

The Ukrainian war serves as a reminder of the powerful tendency for our tribalism to be too easily aroused for political purposes.

At the most general level, the dramatic confrontation between diametrically opposed visions of human nature collectivism and individualism will continue and perhaps escalate. The archaic tribal imperatives of the human mind shaped by our evolutionary past remains with us. Despite the unprecedented achievements of Western liberal civilisation based on the Enlightenment, we cannot be certain that these hard-won values will endure and be powerful enough to overcome our human vulnerability to evolutionary tribalism marked by gullibility, autocracy, and moral absolutism.

Which human political system will triumph? The outcome is by no means certain, but we can take some comfort from the past victory of liberal democracies over fascism and communism. The results of the war in Ukraine will either affirm the superiority of our system and our optimistic vision about the perfectibility of human nature for the time being, or it will signal a return to autocratic tribalism in an important part of the world.

Joseph P Forgas is a social psychologist and Scientia Professor at UNSW. He published numerous books, includingThe Psychology of Populism: Tribal Challenges to Liberal Democracy, and has received theOrder of Australia for his work.

The rest is here:
Humanity: stuck with palaeolithic minds in the 21st C - The Spectator Australia

By Sandy MacDonald

(June 2, 2022) Remember when California was the self-proclaimed enlightenment capital of the world? Steve Martins 2017 Broadway hit Meteor Shower, set in the chic SoCal hamlet of Ojai circa 1993, harks back to that era when relentless self-improvement did battle with unalloyed hedonism.

The two couples depicted in the comedy represent the eras polar extremes. Or do they? Amid the sleek luxe living room captured in scenic designer Peter Waldrons period-perfect set, we find the well-named Norm (Jeremy Webb) and his perky wife Corky (Mollie Vogt-Welch) working on their interpersonal skills.

At the slightest hint of what today we would label micro-aggression, Corky demands that Norm enact with her a relationship-righting ritual which starts with pacifying hand gestures and ends with the vow I honor your feelings. Apart from a few peculiarities in their past (the most horrifying of which has convinced Corky that she suffers from exploding head syndrome), these two appear normal to a fault. The playwright is clearly urging us to mock along.

Theatre Workshop of Nantuckets Meteor Shower, 7 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday through June 18, Bennett Hall, 62 Centre St. http://www.theatrenantucket.org for tickets.

To read the complete story, pick up the June 2 print edition of The Inquirer and Mirror.

Read more from the original source:
Meteor Shower a thrilling, edge-of-your-seat comedy - The Inquirer and Mirror

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

The pandemic has spurred the Great Resignation phenomenon, and it is still on.Many workers have continued to resign and switch jobs, and the pandemic reportedly has changed what matters to employees and what they want from their jobs leading to a disconnect between leaders and workers.

GenZ and younger Millennials are speaking up about what they want their workplace to look like and feel like something that no other generation has done.

Many GenZ workers got their first job during the pandemic, so they expect flexibility and remote work as the standard option. In addition, they view jobs as experiences that they can end if they no longer need or feel connected to them, said Dr. Ximena Hartsock, founder ofBuildWithin.

This D.C.-based company identifies, trains, and manages tech-related apprentices.And, they have always been presented with a buyers market, in terms of jobs which has led to job-hopping, which is unlikely to go away and puts pressure on employers to lead with an employee-centric and value-driven culture, Hartsock insisted.

This new generation is putting needed pressure on employers to make the workplace more empathetic. Perhaps the Great Resignation will transition to the Great Enlightenment.Mark Pierce, CEO ofCloud Peak Law Group, said he believes that employees arent feeling valued or that their working location puts them at a disadvantage. He said thats a primary contributor to the Great Resignation.

Whether employees are working in-person, fully remote, or hybrid, its important to ensure that everyone feels welcome and valued in their roles, Pierce stated.

He noted that focusing on company culture and giving employees autonomy are solutions.It can be easier to focus on employees who work in the same way that you as a leader do most often. If youre in the office a lot, youll likely be more in touch with employees who work in-office frequently, and vice versa if you work remotely, Pierce observed.He added that micromanagement becomes amplified when performed remotely, making it even more bothersome for employees than when they worked in the office where employers did so in person.

Giving employees autonomy shows that you as a leader trust them to do their work without needing to intervene, Pierce insisted.It also frees you to focus on the most important tasks at hand, rather than simply monitoring employees.

APew Research Center surveyfound that low pay, a lack of opportunities for advancement, and feeling disrespected at work are the top reasons Americans quit their jobs last year.Released in March 2022, the survey also found that those who quit and are now employed elsewhere are more likely than not to say their current job has better pay, more opportunities for advancement, and more work-life balance and flexibility.

A few factors are driving the Great Resignation, but one that stands out is that most workplaces simply arent doing as much as they could to support the health and wellness of their employees, advised Logan Mallory, vice president atMotivosity.

This company helps employees remain engaged remotely and in the office.This means offering support for mental health and workplace options that support overall health and wellness, such as flexible working hours or the ability to work remotely, Mallory stated.

When employees see that their employers truly care about them as individuals, theyll be much happier, more engaged, and less likely to resign.

Pavel Stepanov, the CEO of Virtudesk, added that COVID confronted many workers with the question of what it means to have meaning in their lives.Stepanov said Generation Z, a group with a different mindset and culture, has entered the workforce.

Further, the cost of living increases and housing and homeownership are becoming more unattainable for young people.So many factors are contributing to the Great Resignation. However, this isnt just a brief trend anymore. Whats looking to be a long-lasting shift is changing culture and economic environment, Stepanov stated.

Also, the culture of Gen Z has also proven to be very different from Gen X and Millennials, where they strive to attach more meaning to what they do and strive to have a strong impact on the world.

He continued:This, coupled with the hardship of COVID in the last two years, is having people demand greater job fulfillment when they enter or participate in the workforce. People want to stand out, be different, and make change where they are, and many jobs have been designed not to deliver that feeling of purpose.

See the original post here:
Generation Z Sparking The 'Great Resignation' As Employers Realize Shortages - Seattle Medium

Cabinets of curiosities were all the rage in the 18th century; before modern museums existed, private collections of natural phenomena were the true markers of status. One of the largest belonged to Albertus Seba, a Dutch pharmacist and zoologist. He eventually published a four-volume book, Cabinet of Natural Curiosities, a stunning, exhaustively detailed document of exotica that became a touchstone of taxonomy and symbol of the Enlightenment.

Sebas book inspired Nederlands Dans Theaters house choreographers Sol Len and Paul Lightfoot, along with Crystal Pite and Marco Goecke, to create a ballet: Kunstkamer. The Australian Ballet artistic director, David Hallberg, secured it for the premiere performance outside the Netherlands, and it isnt hard to see what attracted him to it. Its a bold, expansive work, and fiendishly complicated the kind that challenges a dance company to reach out for new modes of expression. A status marker.

Tempting though it is to catalogue the various choreographers stylistic quirks, Kunstkamer actually works best when viewed as a cohesive whole, a meditation on connectivity and our desire for meaning. It has an often dizzying array of moods and textures, from flippant humour to aching romanticism, and it moves between them with lightning speed. But even its violent shifts feel beautifully integrated, the infinite variety seemingly bursting forth from a singular artistic vision.

It opens, after a haunting series of projections, with Hallberg himself, returning to the stage as a dancer after retiring in 2019. After a graceful frontal split, he turns to the audience and simply says: Ouch. Hes an extraordinary presence throughout, with hooded eyes like an owl and limbs like a brolga. Hallberg is brilliantly matched by guest artist Jorge Nozal, hunched over like a pantomime villain, his face a white mask straight out of German Expressionism. Together they create an unsettling image of spiritual oscillation, a toggling between light and dark; the whole ballet seems to emanate from their uneasy dynamic.

So much of the movement, especially in the first act, is jittery and jagged, the dancers elegant lines interrupted by angular extremities a turned-out foot or a tilted head. Hands are constantly flitting around the upper body, before slapping down hard on the outer thigh. Animals are evoked, either directly or obliquely, but even here organic movements are stymied, contracted. Its really only in the second act that the choreography loosens, allowing for some heart-wrenching romanticism. A theme emerges gradually, of a wildness barely contained, the sounds of breaking waves a reminder of a vast untameable world outside.

This is most evident in the extraordinary group work, with long lines of dancers undulating in waves. Bodies look controlled like marionettes, faces contorted into exaggerated laughs or screams but they also break out into moments of pure lyricism and an individuated longing.

Several principal artists shine in solos or pas de deux. Callum Linnane is wonderfully sensual and commanding; Brett Chynoweth is, as always, daring and vivid; Amy Harris is gorgeously supple and poignant. The elevation of Lucien Xu from the Coryphes and Lilla Harvey from the Corps de Ballet is a lovely surprise; its terrific to see them given a chance to shine, and they rise effortlessly to the challenge. But best of all is the corps, thrumming with energy. Len and Lightfoots dense choreographic language is worlds away from the demands of traditional ballet but it also feels completely innate, as if contemporary dance were this companys natural home.

The set design, by Len and Lightfoot themselves, is magnificent, towering and severe. Three massive dark grey walls fold in and out, like pages in a giant book, doors opening everywhere like lift-the-flap insets. The monochrome costumes (Joke Visser, Hermien Hollander) are striking, the one flash of red hinting at the colouring process that followed Sebas initial black and white illustrations. The music ranges from the baroque formalism of Purcell to the dreamy ambience of lafur Arnalds, all played superbly by Orchestra Victoria under the expert baton of Nicolette Fraillon. And the lighting design (Tom Bevoort, Udo Haberland, Tom Visser) is astonishing, creating corridors and pools or throwing menacing shadows.

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Kunstkamer is a pinnacle of Hallbergs tenure so far, a convincing indication of future directions. It allows for individual excellence, but it ultimately champions the interconnectivity of the whole, the way that divine individuality subsumes itself into the group, species into genus. This is contemporary dance as Regency fever dream. Like Sebas cabinet, full of awe and awe inspiring.

More here:
Kunstkamer review this fiendishly complicated ballet is astonishing - The Guardian

Education is good! Everyone in the world, except people like the Taliban, agrees to that. The question that remains is: where do countries, particularly countries like ours that lag far behind in literacy, place it in their priority list? Cases have been made for education as a means to achieving gender equity, a means to improve quality of life (read: Pakistans generational shift, May 22, 2022), or something more noble like achieving enlightenment. Today, let us consider a baser motive, the economic case but supported by numbers analyzed specifically for the Pakistani context.

Unicef recently presented an investment case for out-of-school children (OOSC) to the Planning Commission of Pakistan based on a number of government and non-government data sources. While the data may not be the most recent and some exact numbers today may differ a bit, the trend is unlikely to have changed. The standout number is that each additional year of education raises wages by 6.85 per cent. Broken up by genders, that gain is higher for girls than for boys.

Analyzed for education levels, it shows that completing primary school increases ones salary by 3.3 per cent over those that have not finished primary school. Similarly, completing secondary school raises wages 8 per cent over those who have only completed primary school. Finally, completing tertiary education raises wages 24.2 per cent over those with a secondary education alone.

People earning higher wages means higher income tax revenue for the state and a population that is less dependent on social safety nets. But how much does the government and do parents have to spend (invest) to enable those higher future earnings? Does the investment still bring an economic net-gain?

On average, completing primary-level education brings an additional lifetime income of $6,559 and at a cost of $752 to the government and $376 to parents the lifetime income gain far outweighs the investment that has to be made by the government and by parents. Completing a lower secondary education brings an additional lifetime income of $7,690 at cost of $1,254 to the government and $627 to parents a modest increase in income for a modest investment.

The increase in income makes a big jump at the higher secondary stage; Income increases by a whopping $18,394 for small investments of $502 by the government and $251 by parents. This sudden change in the scale of the net-gain at the higher secondary level is in-line with the bifurcation in quality of life between those with and without a higher secondary education found by the LEAPS study, especially for women.

Finally, there is an even bigger leap in income for those who complete tertiary education. The lifetime income of people with a tertiary education goes up by $41,247, enough to afford a modest house outside major cities, for a modest investment of $6,053 by the government and $3,026 by parents.

Clearly, the biggest gains are found at the higher end of the education ladder, but in order to get there one has to get past the prerequisite primary, lower secondary and higher secondary levels. All of these income gains assume the quality of education schools are imparting right now. Quality improvements in school education will further add to the dividends education pays.

How do we maximize the economic benefits of education when we have a finite amount to spend? How many more new schools do we add at each level every year? Or should we spend more on reducing student attrition from one grade level to the next? Maximizing the economic benefits of education presents an optimization problem.

However, one thing is certain, whatever we are spending right now is not enough. Some recent back-of-the-envelope calculations showed that at our population growth rate, our number of OOSC and the rate at which we are currently adding new schools we will not reach the capacity to put all children into schools even in the next 50-70 years. At present, we are barely keeping up with population growth, making OOSC a forever problem.

Although it is clear that investing in education yields a net economic gain, that gain is far from instantly visible. That gain comes with a delay that is too long for politicians that have to face elections at least every five years, if not sooner.

Whats more, we know that increasing levels of educational attainment set society up for a virtuous cycle, where each generation gets educated more than the previous. We need to decide for how long we want to let children languish out of schools, whether we want to take many generations, or whether we want to do it in fewer generations by making bigger investments now and taking bigger leaps to achieve the literate and skilled population we desire.

The economic case for education should be the easiest to make to the voter: Vote for us, and we will make your childrens lives better than yours; this is what every responsible parent wants. Instead of selling education reform to voters that way, politicians are selling it to voters with every other slogan but this one. The PTI pushed its big idea, the Single National Curriculum (SNC), as a massive social engineering project that would bring about a society of equals. Such a society, in which there are no elites, ordinary folks and poor folks, has never existed, at least not in the last few centuries. It was nothing but poorly thought-through Utopian fiction, especially in a status-obsessed society like ours.

The PML-N / PDM government is now trying to put lipstick on that pig and is talking about rebranding the SNC as the National Inclusive Curriculum. I appreciate that the PML-N / PDM appears to have given up on the obsession of one single curriculum for public and private schools, but it has not given up on the idea of a national project. It is selling its version as one that will impart a strong inclusive identity, historical and national pride, true historical lessons and progressive and democratic values.

While I am on board with championing progressive and democratic values, every parents primary concern is an education that will give their children a fair shot at upward mobility. I am happy with the language, mathematics and science lessons my children receive at their public school, but I really wish they got some more of that righteous state indoctrination said no parent ever! And yet, that is what this government, too, is offering us.

As everyone in Pakistan has recently discovered, the IMF, multilateral financial institutions and foreign governments have no appetite for subsidization of the cost of fuel, utilities or any other consumption for a country that is not willing to put its own house in order. The currency of everything we import is the mighty US dollar, and we do not produce and sell enough of anything in the international market to earn enough (the Pak rupee is just monopoly money only usable inside the country).

The good news is that international financial support is available for our forever problem. The Qatar Fund for Development recently offered to provide support to put one million of our 18-20 million OOSC into schools, which would reduce the size of the problem by a healthy 5 percent. To this end, the MoFEPT signed an MoU on the sidelines of the Doha Forum 2022. We may even managed to scrounge together foreign donations that cover a few more percentage points of the OOSC number, but at the end of the day this is our challenge, our problem, and has to be a priority reflected in our own budget.

The writer (she/her) has a PhD in Education.

Originally posted here:
The forever problem - The News International

The Plateau command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it has seized over 2,000 kilogrammes of drugs in the state from January to date.

Umar Yahuza, NDLEA commander in the state, said the confiscated drugs included cocaine, cannabis sativa, tramadol and other illicit substances.

We have recorded tremendous successes from January to this moment; we have seized over two tonnes, almost two and a half tonnes of illicit drugs, he said.

The breakdown is as follows, out of this almost two and a half tonnes, we have seized cannabis sativa which on the street we call ganja or wee-wee. It accounts for the largest seizures; it accounts for over 1,986 kilogrammes, thats almost two tonnes.

Then we have the psychotropic substances, which includes drugs like pentazocine, tramadol, diazepam, and so on. This group of psychotropic substances from January to this month, we have seized over 231 kilogrammes.

Cocaine seized from January to date, accounts for 233.3 grammes, we have another drug of methamphetamine. We have seized 126.2 grammes of amphetamine which gives us a grand total of two tonnes 341.986kg of illicit drugs seized in plateau from January to this moment.

Similarly, Yahuza said the command had arrested 290 suspected drug addicts and peddlers in the state within the period under review.

He added that his men also arrested suspects with other prohibited items and have handed them over to relevant authorities for prosecution.

As for the suspects we have arrested so far this year, we have 267 males, 23 females, which gives us a total of 290 suspects, he added.

And these people have been charged to court and they are at various stages of prosecution. Added to that, in the course of our activities, we have come across people with other prohibited items.

For example, we arrested this young woman with about 2500 fake currency dollars, and she was handed over to the Nigerian police force for further action.

On efforts to curtail the influx of illicit substances into the state, the commander said much is being done in terms of public enlightenment and sensitisation to garner the cooperation of the public.

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NDLEA: Over 2000kg of illicit drugs seized in Plateau within five months - TheCable

We all know sky-high inflation is making it hard for many households to get by. What you may not know is that this is a problem even for those at the northern end of the economic spectrum.

A new report from San Franciscos LendingClub finds that 61% nearly two-thirds of consumers said they were living paycheck to paycheck as of April.

And an eye-popping 36% of people making $250,000 or more said they too are barely making ends meet.

Earning a quarter of a million dollars a year is more than five times the national median and is clearly high income, said Anuj Nayar, LendingClubs financial health officer.

The fact that a third of them are living paycheck to paycheck should surprise you. These high-income earners have an average FICO score of 758. They are creditworthy, but they have higher financial obligations and are more likely to leverage their capital to finance their lives.

This is a cloud on the economic horizon because consumer spending accounts for about 70% of U.S. economic activity.

The more households scraping to get by, the more risk we face that spending will be reduced, thus impacting the bottom line of businesses and hiring plans.

The trend also suggests many Americans will be running up debt and chewing into savings to survive, which will have consequences down the road as bills come due or retirement approaches.

If even people with relatively high incomes are on the ropes, the danger of a recession becomes even more pronounced.

My advice: Make a budget, understand your expenses relative to your income, live within your means as best you can.

Thats not always easy during an economic downturn.

But as the Enlightenment philosopher Voltaire said, its important to cultivate your garden. Which is to say, look after your affairs.

And for the rich now finding themselves in the same financial boat as the rest of us, I cite the words of New York philosopher John McClane.

Welcome to the party, pal.

Continued here:
Even the rich are living paycheck to paycheck - KTLA Los Angeles

Image credit: Vector8DIY, via Pixabay.

On a new episode of ID the Future, we offer the third part of an interview with Miracle of Man author Michael Denton. The Australian biologist and MD explores with host Eric Anderson some of the bioengineering marvels of the human lungs and, more fundamentally, some of the many things about chemistry, the sun, and planet Earth that had to be just so to allow our respiratory and circulatory systems to work not merely as well as they do but at all. Download the podcast or listen to it here.

Its fine-tuning for creatures very much like ourselves. Denton provides a scientific underpinning for a theistic humanism far beyond the nihilistic implications of so-called secular humanism, writes German paleontologist Gnter Bechly. The book deserves to become a game changer that will spark a new enlightenment and re-enchantment of the cosmos in the 21st century. The new book isavailableat Amazon and other online retailers.

Read the original:
Miracle of Man: Fine-Tuning for Blood and Breath - Discovery Institute

Rob Howe, System High

At System High, President and CEO Rob Howe is aiming to raise the bar on national security. Hes looking beyond just cybersecurity, urging a more holistic and wider-ranging approach to securing diverse federal assets.

We caught up with Howe to talk how that vision might play out in support of federal agencies and the GovCon community.

Whats the big challenge youre looking to solve?

One of the most critical challenges facing national security is the escalating theft of technologies that degrades our military and Intelligence dominance. Unfortunately, we as a country continue to remain more reactive than proactive in our efforts to slow down these activities.

That said, we need to help the national security community leaders understand that being compliant with traditional security requirements is not enough to defend and defeat current and emerging adversarial threats.

How can agencies and GovCons move beyond a compliance mentality?

The solution is to adopt a new mindset, one that incorporates critical thinking and analytical problem-solving, while encouraging innovation and developing a more collaborative community of interest that shares best practices to preserve our U.S. warfighting and intelligence overmatch.

How can we begin to move in that direction?

We have some very creative people out there that are helping protect and insulate their individual organizations from these threats, but were not getting out there and sharing those best practices. As important, we must look at employing integrated lifecycle protection approaches that go beyond compliance that are constantly evaluated and refined for maximum effect.

How does System High bring that to life?

We design, deliver and execute lifecycle protection services, and solutions specifically designed for each organization or program. There is no one size fits all, because each effort has its own unique characteristics, technologies, capabilities and missions.

System High has been highly successful in helping develop and employ these overarching lifecycle protection strategies across the national security community.

What does that look like in action?

First and foremost, our continued success starts with trust and credibility. System High is a global force of experts who have established a strong reputation of protecting some of our countrys most important national security efforts. Our people develop strong mission partnerships with our clients by fully understanding and embracing their mission needs and requirements. They act as force multipliers to develop and execute strategic solutions that enable customers to predict and prevent current and emerging threats that may jeopardize their missions.

We achieve this by leveraging what we call proactive protection. These offerings encompass an overarching menu of support tailored for each customer to strengthen the secrecy, surprise and superiority of their technologies, capabilities, programs and missions.

Our support includes traditional security, program protection, enhanced protection methodologies, cybersecurity, counterintelligence, counterinsider threat, supply chain risk management, and classified IT destruction, just to name a few.

What differentiates your approach to security?

First, we strive to attract the best in the business and offer an environment where the best come to get better. People are always our priority. Whenever we make business decisions, the first question asked is: How will this affect our people? And if the answer is not favorable for our folks and their families, then we look for other ways to achieve a win-win solution.

In addition, our business model is fixated on being proactive in everything we do. We have a culture of being proactive, in providing service and solutions that no one else can deliver. And proactive protection is our only business area. We are not distracted by other business areas that could dilute our vision, offerings and investments.

Whats driving your growth strategy?

A critical aspect to our success has been the amazing partnership developed through the acquisition of System High by Enlightenment Capital in 2018. Their engaged support and guidance have added the necessary rigor to enable us to effectively scale for future growth.

We are also laser focused on identifying innovative ways to serve our customers. To that end, the System High Analytical Research Center is an incubator we use to solve complex national security challenges by continuously seeking improved methodologies, tools and capabilities. We expand this capability by developing strategic partnerships to ensure our customers have access to the best talent and solutions industry has to offer.

Whats the biggest challenge that you face?

The war on talent is magnified when competing for professionals with the necessary security clearances, coupled with the ability to think critically to predict and mitigate risk.

We continue to be instrumental in developing the next generation of protection professionals across traditional and emerging protection disciplines and domains. Our proactive protection training and mentoring, combined with our Burn Blue culture, has resulted in developing multidisciplined, critical-thinking subject matter experts that are the best in their respective fields.

Additionally, were launching a formal career vision and succession plan that will illuminate the value of professionals joining the System High family. We want to help them find a mutually beneficial, exciting path that incentivizes them to stay at System High for their entire career.

On a personal note, what makes this work exciting for you?

I spent 20 years in the Air Force, and I have been in GovCon for 23 years. Ever since I was a kid, my focus was always protecting those who couldnt protect themselves. System High is a perfect fit for me, because we are focused on protecting our national security better than anyone else. We are motivated every day to ensure we are steps ahead of those that would want to do our country and our allies harm in any manner.

All that said, I have been blessed to be surrounded by amazing business leaders and protection trailblazers that have decades of experience and protecting some of the most sensitive activities that ever existed. It makes every day an adventure for me.

The rest is here:
System High's Rob Howe is Raising the Bar on National Security with Innovation, Collaboration - WashingtonExec

Chris Blattman

What if I told you that investing roughly $500 for therapy, plus providing a little cash, helped some of the most troubled young men in West Africa reduce their crime and violence by halfand the results continued for at least 10 years.

In their follow-up study, Chris Blattman and his colleagues calculated almost 350 fewer crimes per participant over the decade.

Thats ~$1.50 per crime averted, he exclaimed in a tweet last month.

It was the most unexpected project of my life, he said. And, now its changed the way cities tackle violence, from Bogota to Chicago.

In 2009, he flew with his wife Jeannie to Liberia for 2-week spring break as she did research on reintegrating ex-fighters from the war. Chris studies violence and wondered what he could do in the capital city (Monrovia), so he called up Johnson Borh.

He was a combatant in the war and now ran some kind of NGO. He seemed to know everyone and be able to go everywhere. So I asked him to show me around how the crime and drug markets worked.

Johnson obliged. One day they would learn how phones get fenced, another day they talked to the pickpockets. Chriss favorite was the drug den run by Charles Taylors former anti-terror squad chief.

But every time we go to one of these shady places, theres a guy on the corner shining shoes or selling clothes out of a wheelbarrow, or something else pretty basic. He spots Borh, gets excited, and comes to give him a hug.

He asked, How do you know Borh? Each time he heard the same response:

I used to be like them, and theyd point to the drug den or pickpockets. But then I went through Borhs program.

After the 6th time this happens, Chris made Borh tell him all about the program. Its called STYL: Sustainable Transformation of Youth in Liberia.

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Chris, an economist and professor who studies global conflict at the University of Chicago, sat down with Borh in bar for two afternoons and they wrote down exactly what he does with the men during the 8-week program designed to transform their lives.

When his wife got back from jungle mining adventures, Chris says, What does this look like to you?

Shes a psychologist and says, Oh, this looks like CBT. Cognitive behavioral therapy.

Id never heard of it, said Chris. But its a common method of behavior change for lots of things, like anxiety.

For 15 years, through trial and error, Borh and colleagues had adapted it to address aggression and crimeand toward adopting a mainstream social identity.

He and his organization, NEPI, recruited the most dangerous men in the city. People who led lives of violence.

They met in abandoned buildings, in groups of maybe 20, for a couple of hours a day. Johnson trained some counselors, and they eked out a living on the program.

Partly, they would learn and practice behavior changes, like managing anger and difficult social interactions. But they were also trying on and practicing a new identity. NEPI encouraged them to stop dressing and acting tough. Get a haircut. Look like the 99% of Liberians who were respectable.

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So we partner with NEPI. We go out, run a pilot, measure impacts, and it looks really promising, explains Chris. We also try giving the men $200, to see whether it helps them solidify the new identity and behaviors.

They watched closely, because they were worried about the men buying drugs or investing in guns.

Things looked really good. So I recruit my coauthors to help run a large-scale study. We scaled up, raised a million dollars, and ran a huge randomized controlled trial with 999 of the toughest men in Monrovia.

They followed up one month and one year later and found an impressive impact had endured.

Crime, violence, and antisocial behaviors were slashed by about 50% among those who received the CBT and the cash. Receiving the therapy alone seemed to fade a little in its impact over time.

Most of the evidence pointed to the economic assistance as being a big key to helping the men entrench their behavior changes, and avoid a return to crime.

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That was almost a decade ago. Would any impacts last?

I was pessimistic, said Chris. We surveyed experts in advance. Almost all expected CBT Only or Cash Only to have no effect whatsoever after 10 years. For Therapy plus Cash, one-third of the experts predicted no effect at all. 2/3 predicted steeply diminished impacts.

But we saw HUGE sustained impacts. Crime & violence still down by about 50% from CBT+Cash.

On thefts and robberies alone, they report ~34 fewer at both 1- and 10-year points. Interpolating, this means ~338 fewer crimes per participant over 10y$1.50 per crime avoided given $530 the cost.

(And thats not counting all the other bad behaviors averted.)

The program is such a success that people have begun replicating Borhs ideas around the world. Even Chicago adopted it as a main response to the 2016 gun crime spike. Its called READI.

There are big lessons here, says Chris, who is the author of a new book, Why We Fight: The Roots of War and the Paths to Peace.

Gun violence is spiking in the Americas and cities need solutionsand theyre searching especially for ideas that dont involve coercion.

All the evidence suggests CBT-informed programs are fast, effective, hyper-targeted, non-coercive ways to reduce violence.

The fact that CBT works suggests deeper insights into why we fight as human beings, and what could make for a more peaceful world, said Chris. These are programs of socializing, and in them I see a microcosm of what the sociologist Norbert Elias called The Civilizing Process.

Its the big theme in Chriss new book, Why We Fighthow, over centuries (or 8 weeks), societies have found ways to build more peaceful norms and institutions because violence is so awful.

At the same time as violence is curtailed, social scientists observe the slow invention of manners, habits of self-control, more sympathy and consideration for others, and a more rational and forward-looking mindset.

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In Why We Fight, I walk through the why. Some of the credit goes to a gradual cultural enlightenment, some to checks and balances, some to the development of the state. But much of it is due to the ways we socialize every generation to be more peaceful. Some of our patience, restraint, empathy, and consideration is imbued in our genes, but mostly it is learned and reinforced. Self-control is a habit. So is looking ahead to the future, controlling your anger, recognizing your biases, or trying to see the world from another POV.

Some people just need a little remedial help to acquire these skills & normsChicagos shooters, or the street criminals in West Africa. People like Borh show us how social workers can remake their own societies, and that peace is the product of this peer to peer socialization.

Chris Blattman is the Ramalee E. Pearson Professor of Global Conflict Studies at the University of Chicago, in the Harris School of Public Policy and co-leads the universitys Development Economics Center and the Obama Foundation Scholars Program.

MULTIPLY The Good By Sharing This Prescription for Crime on Social Media

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They Gave Cash and Therapy to Men Engaged in Crime10 Years Later, Surprising Success - Good News Network