Sam Simon's blog

It appears that we want our protests to be neat, clean and smell nice.

Isn’t it ironic, if you are a billionaire or a multi-national corporation with enough money to “Occupy” neon bill boards over Times Square, TV ads, direct mail  to millions of people, or sell cancer producing cigarettes -- the Courts will guarantee your “free speech” rights.

The Jewish New Year is a time of deep introspection focused on one’s relationships with others and with the Divine.

Some of the most meaningful moments in our lives catch us by surprise.  So it was, when last Thursday I sent out a reminder to my contact lists that Intersections and its Prepare New York partners were launching a 9/11 Ribbons of Hope initiative.   Everyone was invited to come down to Battery Park to put a thought, prayer or just a word on a Ribbon and hang it along with those from thousands of others from all over the world on our mesh panels creating a palette of colors and a tapestry of hope.

I am reading Practical Wisdom by Barry Schwartz.  In the book he discusses the impact of “framing” or context on how people make important decisions.  He uses the example of the Prisoner’s Dilemma and what has become known as the “The Wall Street Game” versus the “The Community Game.”

My interest in the intersection of people in positions to impact the world through their decisions and the values they use to make decisions is rooted in my own personal history as a former smoker.  

“What would Jesus cut?” is the title of an op-ed piece in the Washington Post on Friday, August 4, by Michael Gerson.  It seems to be prompted by the advocacy campaigns of two different coalitions, the “Circle of Protection”, which is a broad group of Christian organizations, including the Reformed Church in America (Intersection’s parent organization, the Collegiate Church, is affiliated with the Reformed Church), the National Association of Evangelicals, the National Council of Churches, among many.   The other is something called “Christians for a Sustainable Economy” or “CASE”.   CASE lists Timothy Dalrymple, P.J. Hill, Kelly Monroe Kullberg, Eric Teetsel, Mark Tooley and Wendy Wright as “Co-Authors/Co-Founders”.  Their affiliations are listed “for identification purposes only”, and represent mostly conservative academics, authors and think-tank thinkers.

The opinion pages of newspapers and the blogosphere are awash in analysis and reactions to what just happened in America, economically and politically.  Everyone from Secretary Geithner himself, George Will, Paul Krugman, Roger (No Relation) Simon of Politico and everyone else, it seems, has something to say.

Perhaps like many in our country, I have been trying to think about the Debt Ceiling crisis in some larger framework than my own intuitive personal political philosophy. The debate that is playing out most publically seems to be about how to impose restraint on a seemingly endless and voracious government appetite.   It has for me become a reason to reflect on the question of our individual and collective responsibility to each other and to future and past generations.

I have come to know and admire my friend Carol Hexner, who is a very active and key member of the Values and Leadership Roundtable.  An extremely talented executive coach, Carol is also a person of deep inner faith and consciousness.   She has become a valued colleague and mentor to me in our work at Intersections on Power and Values and especially the Leadership and Values Roundtable.
 

I have been thinking a lot lately about the issue of the Federal deficit, taxes and values.   Not surprising given the political debates taking place in United States and the approaching show-down in Washington over raising the US debt ceiling.