Mr. [],
I appreciate your opinion. I did, after all, impose mine unsolicited! I also appreciate that you are into diet science and are an athlete yourself. As am I, a competitive runner, a martial artist, a weightlifter, and for ten years now, also a vegan!! You and I have met, although it was several years ago.
So, I reply to you, sir, not to be combative, nor disharmonious, nor in bad faith. Rather, it’s just that, on ethical grounds, and as a communicator I feel obligated to be clear, and I want you to know that neither your agreement, or disagreement, is my goal here. This is peaceable dialog, and I thank you for your time in reading, and conversing with me regarding this important matter. As you may imagine, as a journalist, a mathematician, and these days as an educator, I see all sorts of major red flags w.r.t. the politics, quantitative science, and role-modeling amid the national dialog and am very careful about how I put my arguments and inputs, as not to make the communication problems worse. This approach comes in handy in teaching as well. There is much good dialog, and there is much bad, as you know, regarding this topic.
I just wish to reiterate, there are nuances to this issue, and there are coherent caveats which should accompany the various valid points regarding precautions, that you kindly offered to me. In other words, it is a complex and important subject, and one must be clear in their direction. And yes, I’d be happy to volunteer with your organization, when times are more accommodating for public assembly, if I have not relocated my family to a more welcoming community by then, which is a decision I will likely be forced to make, to reduce the political exposure of me and my family members in this red county.
As an educator, in my classrooms (when they were in-person), I welcome and make room for all opinions as long as they are civil and made in good faith. Generally, I favor freedom to think and speak critically in all venues. Our civil behavior (or lack thereof) is the model upon which young people (among others) model their own behavior. That’s how we all learn, as lifelong learners.
Regarding your accusation that I’m an “armchair quarterback,” I should clarify: I am not a layabout. I am civically minded. Now I have witnessed what this elongated reaction has done to the secondary students who cannot afford private school and whose parents are not in a position to effectively home-school. I have donated most of my adult life to civics, volunteer work, grassroots support, public education in one form or another, and inter-agency cooperation. I am a forty-five year old single dad. Many, upon hearing of my non-traditional family structure, tune out immediately. If that is your inclination now, feel free to go ahead and do so. Otherwise, here’s the full position, regarding the politics of emergency response:
Continue reading (1/31/2021) COVID-19, Martial Law and Suspension of Civil Rights, Social Manipulation of Special Interest Politics, & “Tech Company” Surveillance