In the world to come I shall not be asked, ‘Why were you not Moses?’ I shall be asked, ‘Why were you not Zusya?’Rabbi Zusya

February 2014

  • Today’s Issues

    Surely, you’ve heard that the Congressional Budget Office study of the impact of raising the minimum wage to $10.10, would, by 2016, reduce employment by about 500,000 jobs. But it would also lift 900,000 families out of poverty and increase the wages of 16.5 million low wage workers. It’s become ammunition for the right and justification for the left. But beyond that it illustrates how many contemporary issues are not either/or, neither all good nor all bad. Most policies have positive and negative consequences, and whether or not they are constructive depends on placing both sides in context, the way costs/benefits analyses do. Issues have a down and up side. In societies as complex as ours, it is doubtful that any decision, law or policy will be one without the other, will exist without some trade-offs. That’s an old idea, several disciplines have been teaching it in any number of courses for decades. Yet given the nature of today’s political culture using facts to bolster the user’s agenda and today’s media, sounds bites and 140 characters messages, issues tend to be simplified to the point of distortion. Increasingly media sources want attention getters even when those bend, alter, exaggerate, minimize, warp and twist the facts that gave rise to them. And so it’s up to us to remember that with the minimum wage as with almost any issue in today’s economy, it is imperative to avoid seeing them in categorical terms.

  • Good But…

    Everyone it seems praised CVS for their decision to stop carrying tobacco products by next October, even the American Cancer Society highlighted the move on their home page for a time. Industry experts, however, say that the strategy is less altruistic and more of a savvy marketing ploy indicating that CVS is trying to distinguish itself and stand above its competition by promoting its brand as a health care hub in a field that is increasingly relying on self-service. Indeed the reactions and press coverage do give every indication of this being a most successful public relation and marketing move, and begs a question: If their motives and concerns about health were genuine, would their decision mean that in the future we could expect that all products with high contents of sugar and sodium to equally be removed from their inventory? It’s not difficult to surmise that’s rather unlikely. Of course it’s obvious that their motives do not lessen the good removing tobacco products from their shelves can do. Nevertheless, we ought not to be fooled by the seeming altruism of their decision.

  • Death of an Actor

    The evidence points to Philip Seymour Hoffman having died of an overdose. Since his death was announced, and for days afterwards, stories and segments abounded, all related to his struggle with addiction and the loss of a great artist. No matter the subject linked to his death, what was forefront it seems was the compassion that colleagues, critics, the public or all involved expressed towards what cut short a promising life and career. People die of an overdose every day, and we label them, criticize them, condemn them, ignore them, whatever will convey our distaste and negative view of addiction. True, we may not know them, but then we really didn’t know Philip Seymour Hoffman either. Yet because we think we knew him we are willing to grant him understanding, and look upon his addiction with compassion. And in the same way his death opened the opportunity for us to know the new face of contemporary heroin addiction, let’s hope it will guide us away from our double standard of having compassion for actors who overdose but not for the nameless others. Let’s hope it takes us towards a greater understanding of addicts and addiction wherever they may be.

Subscribe and Be Notified of New Posts

* indicates required

Intuit Mailchimp

We will never sell or share your information, we promise.