A previous version of this digest may or may not have been dated October 6th, eight days ago. Which may or may not mean that last week's "This Day in History" was incorrect. Well, somewhat incorrect. Anwar Sadat was assassinated on October 6th, 1981, but that was NOT one week and 34 years ago today.
The editors of this digest apologize for this misprint. We are low on funding, so all writing is done voluntarily, and we're stuck with who we've got! As always, happy Wednesday and happy reading!
This Day in History
1947– US Pilot Chuck Yeager becomes the first person to break the sound barrier. Yeager, a WWII fighter pilot seems a bit like Matthew McConaughey's character in "Interstellar," a maverick pilot who loved to fly. He later piloted test rockets, and retired as a Brigadier General. The big takeaway here is to go see "Interstellar" if you haven't already. I thought the movie imagined a very interesting scientific future.
Imagine
In the spirit of breaking the sound barrier, a feat many thought would never be accomplished as the drag would tear apart the plane, today I want to imagine what a better world could look like. There are many problems to solve, and much work to be done, but none of it is possible if we don't imagine.
And so with that in mind, today's first link is a story about someone I am lucky to know personally and professionally (from Yahoo). I met Khari shortly after I moved to New York in 2010. As you can read, and as I can attest, Khari imagines better outcomes for America's students. It seems simple, and we must do more than dream, but if we can't imagine something better, we'll never build it.
Big Steps
The world's largest problems require big ideas and bigger action. Fortunately, there were serious signs of progress recently when Pope Francis, President Obama, and Chinese President Xi Jinping drew attention to the serious threat posed by climate change (from Medium).
In particular, China's commitment to curbing carbon emissions is impressive. We often imagine the negative economic impact of using less coal and oil, but we don't often imagine a cleaner energy future. The economic fear and uncertainty clouds our ability to see something different. Fortunately, there are American businessmen, like oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens, thinking big (the Pickens Plan).
When Others Dream
Although many Americans enjoy a standard of living like few people in all of history, we often forget that there are people all over the world imagining what it is like to have what we have. Even things we take for granted, like zoos, are powerful cultural symbols of prosperity (from New Republic).
We would do well to remember during our ideological battles at home that the majority of people with whom we share the planet are imagining our reality. In order to improve the world we must remember how lucky we are, and imagine how helping others attain what we have achieved will make the world better for us too.
Cultural Evolution
Today's final article imagines a slightly different recreational future. While the evolution of cultural phenomena may not seem like a huge deal compared to the dire threat of climate change, it is important to keep in mind how much cultural ideas shape our actions and our interactions with the rest of the world. Levi jeans and rock and roll were powerful weapons in the arsenal that brought down the Soviet Union!
While some trends have withstood the test of time - people have been drinking beer since we first discovered how to brew it millennia ago - other cultural mainstays are more recent. Imagine America without basketball, which didn't exist until Dr. Naismith had some kids throw a ball into peach baskets in 1981.
The recreational trend du jour is smoking pot, an activity that has been overly criminalized for decades to the detriment of our society. Lately however, both the societal and political winds have shifted, and I anticipate that within a decade marijuana will be legal (or at least decriminalized) almost everywhere nationwide. Someone has to profit off this, and it looks to be either Willie Nelson or the Santee Sioux (from Mashable). A marijuana resort they're calling it, and while the details are still fuzzy (and may remain that way!) it looks to me like the perfect get away for those feeling too stressed about the threat of climate change.
Hotty Toddy Hound
Who has two paws and major swag? Rebel does, that's who! Hailing from Vicksburg, MS where he lives with his human Kristi, Rebel is...well he is very appropriately named!
You'll find few pups with Rebel's love for his team or his love for Cheetos, which he considers one of the primary food groups along with Alpo and squirrel. Squirrel is a delicacy Rebel rarely enjoys as he struggles to catch them, so instead he makes up for it with an abundance of Cheetos. Fortunately, Rebel is a Golden Retriever, so the Cheetos dust blends in well with his natural "fur-tone," and his human keeps his swag nice and clean for him so he'll be well dressed for game day. Big thanks to Kristi for sharing Rebel!
Truth or Dare
The truth is I don't think you've shared the opt-in form yet, which makes the other half of the equation quite simple: I dare you to share it!!
I did get some good pushes, questions, and articles via the feedback form last week, so thank you to those who replied. In particular there were some good links shared about gun violence that I will certainly use in a future digest, but didn't quite fit with the theme of this week's digest, unless of course I'm asking you to imagine an America in which there are fewer gun deaths!
