ANS -- Kareem’s Daily Quote

Here is an opinion piece by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.  I didn't know he writes, but this arrived in my email today.  There were several pieces, but I am sending just one of them.  

--Kim

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more March 18, 2025 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Mar 18 ∙ Preview   READ IN APP   Upgrade to paid for post voiceover What I'm Discussing Today: Kareem's Daily Quote: Anne Frank's cheerful optimism is inspiring, but there's a hitch to this quote. Kareem's Daily Quote How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. Anne Frank (1929-1945), died at 16 in a Nazi concentration camp Through her diaries written while hiding from Nazis for two years, Anne Frank has become an international symbol of hope and optimism, despite her tragic death at sixteen in a Nazi concentration camp. Her quote here is an inspirational call to action that most people can embrace. However, what does it mean to "improve the world"? That question is where sunny optimistic slogans meet the harsh reality of the real world. The Nazis thought they were improving the world: They were ridding the world of inferior people. Lynch mobs thought the same thing: They were imposing social justice on uppity Blacks, thereby restoring natural order. Billionaire industrialists convince themselves, and others, that because they employ many people, whatever they do improves the world. Politicians, judges, and others in power justify their corrupt behaviors with the soothing mantra that they, too, are improving the world. Musk and his cohorts refer to anyone who disagrees with them as NPCs, a gaming acronym for non-player character. They convince themselves that they are improving the world because those whose lives they are destroying aren't real people, just stick figures to be manipulated. Their self-delusion is so complete that they are beyond reason. It's a game of fake virtue that anyone can play. The dismantling of the Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C. hit me hard. Republicans threatened to withhold crucial funds for the city in order to bully the mayor into ripping up the pavement that featured the words Black Lives Matter. Why spend the money to do that except to insult, not just Black people, but the up to 26 million Americans who marched in support of BLM in 2020? This is a gauntlet thrown to the ground by Trump's GOP that dissent will not be tolerated. How did this action improve the world? (FYI: It cost $610,000 to destroy.) It would be easy to say that it's all just a matter of point of view: One person's ceiling is another person's floor. It's all just a friendly disagreement between two equally valid sides. But it rarely is. Evidence and logic usually favor one side more than the other. Yet so many people ditch evidence and logic in favor of a knee-jerk reaction that favors their biases. Examining evidence and employing logic requires rigorous research and thought. The process makes one feel overwhelmed and anxious, while just shouting a thoughtless opinion feels smart and virtuous, even though it is the opposite. But, as the saying goes, it is better to feel good than be good. Of course, we should strive to feel good by doing good. There are so many ways—large and small—to improve the world. I often ask myself, "What can I do today to make someone's day better?" Chat with a neighbor. Sign an autograph. Lend a beloved book to a friend. Those are the small ways. But I don't think doing those small actions alleviates my responsibility to do the larger things that improve the world. To do whatever it takes to promote the American ideal that all people are created equal and deserving of equal opportunities. And fighting those who are marginalizing people and punishing dissenters, while enriching themselves at the cost of the U.S. Constitution. I don't need to wait a single moment to do that...