Patterns
“I think if this country gets any kinder or gentler, it's literally going to cease to exist.” Donald Trump, March 1990
Patterns
By the time you’re reading this, the fate of the American people for the next 4 years might well have been determined, but late Thursday night when I’m writing this, it’s looking like Biden has 27 paths to a narrow victory, whereas Trump has only 4 ways he can win. I’ve been glued to the terrific New York Times’s interactive election map for the last 24 hours, and something truly remarkable is standing out. See if you can see what I’m seeing.
Here’s a county-by-county map of Illinois, a ‘blue’ (Biden) state:
And, here’s one of a ‘red’ (Trump) state, Texas:
And, here’s a third, Pennsylvania, at this stage on a knife-edge and undecided, but the pattern I’m seeing still holds true.
Can you see it? If you get down to the county level, the entire country is, in fact, ‘red’. Except where the population centres are — they’re ALL blue, and hence swing the entire state’s outcome. I haven’t found a single city over a quarter million whose population overall has voted for Trump. What we’re seeing, I think, is not a South vs North, or Coast vs Midwest divide, but a pretty clean division between urban and rural populations, almost everywhere. While we get a bit of that in Australia, it’s nowhere near as clean cut.
Question: What ‘false distinctions’ do you make in your world, that could be re-examined with fresh eyes?
Humans
From the New York Times, to Humans of New York. If you don’t know it, HONY is a famed photojournalistic blog by Brandon Stanton. He began in 2010 by photographing a vast diversity of ordinary people and inveigling himself into their personal lives, by asking basic questions: “Who are you?”, “What are you doing?”
For my birthday last week, my niece Gabriella gave me Stanton’s new book, simply called “Humans” which chronicles 10 years of travels around the globe, replicating the same format. Each page contains a photo, with a direct quote from Stanton’s conversation. Many are notable, some are earth-shatteringly moving, all are very human. The book is a genuine compendium of human experience, of the everyday kind. Highly recommended, online or in print.
Question: Which easily overlooked person, either colleague or customer, has a fascinating story to tell you, if only you asked?
Ageing
I’m officially in my mid-50s, as of last Thursday. If I was Danish, the government would write to me and inform me that I’m now in my ‘third phase’, so I should start preparing, with their assistance, for the physical, mental and material supports that I’ll slowly need to put in place over the next 20, 30 or more years. Yes, that’s confronting to me, because I don’t feel old in the slightest, but my experience of my own older relatives, and my clients who lead aged care and healthcare organisations, tells me I should adopt the Danish mindset.
Theirs is quite a contrast to our own society, where we idealise youth, deny ageing, and resist help and support. In Denmark, attention is paid to late retirement (keeping people active, economically and mentally), economic status (yes, via pensions, but also other income sources), health (as well as healthcare), lifelong learning, social connectedness, independent living and, I love this one, entrepreneurship.
Question: What preventative steps can you begin, well before you think you really need them, so you’re well prepared for a decline in your capabilities?