A blog that explores life and national development “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.”—Thomas Jefferson
Great things are going on in Escanaba. You can tell from the
meeting that things are moving forward. The park is getting some enhancements,
people are seeking to enhance cultural events in the area (matched with new
tourism and if lucky Amtrak train per Delta County Commissioner Meetings). The
main water replacement is an important issue, and we have some of the best
water in the area. Delicious!
You may also notice the new fashion statement with the orange vest. In Paris they may walk the runway and in Escanaba we strut our stuff working for the community. Orange is one of our favorite colors. You can also accessorize that with a shovel and gloves. We are the Paris of Bay De Noc!
May 15th, 2025 Escanaba City Council Meeting Agenda
-Native species in park and island discussion.
-The Upper Peninsula Arts and Cultural Alliance to get a National Endowments for the Arts Grant for up to $30K.
-Michigan's Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF)One of the benefits of exploring hypothetical situations it
that it can highlight through a devil's advocate approach some areas where
improvement can occur. In our running example, there was a default in justice
and intentionally few to no backstops due to presence of hate and corruption. People
connected by employment and social networks to a few officials (not
representing all or the majority) were able to misuse institutions in order to
enrich themselves. Targeted group behaviors revealed a network of corruption
that ran unchecked for years creating numerous victims that could have been
protected/avoided.
What makes this example so interesting is that despite the
harm, the open awareness of such corruption, and community understanding of clan-like
preferences there were no backstops in local courts nor was there much attempt to do the right
thing (closed system). Investigations into friend/clan networks were blocked while investigations
into whistleblowers were opened. Instead of standing for certain values shared
by all of society there was a willful choice to not only reward the people who
caused the problem but also ensure that victims had no recourse (open and implied threats of violence common).
Some of the behaviors were based on financial incentives,
some in hate, but all related to social corruption where people made choices,
knew about and intentionally undermined trust in our institutions. Numerous
signs were brought forward but each was eventually ignored and the local system
continued forward running against those values that people (and generations before) hold to be sacred.
Freedom of religion, freedom of speech, human/civil rights, and even the Constitution
were not of particular value to some decision makers.
(We have seen these things during the dark side of human
nature such as courts being used in the deep south to extract wealth, oversees
where ethnic cleansings are normalized, when discussing certain religious
minorities, eradication of tribal/minority populations, etc. People who look back on these
things are horrified at human choice. All of those incidents started with
certain undermining of societal values, scapegoating, and moral bankruptcy.
People may have known it was wrong but due to pressures did it
anyway!)
Patriotism and societal values were not seen through merit
or loyalty but through the lens of hate and the open acceptance of corruption.
That same lens also allowed for major crimes that ranged to sexual exploitation
of underage females (allegedly eventually committing suicide) all the way over to
secret "hit lists" for widespread targeting’s. Open knowledge of such
misuse of authority was not a deterrent and the risks to the community due to
the poor values of some decision makers led to even more harm against other
victims (...negligence on official complaints that were brought forward to help the community).
In these instances, people must make choices. Protect the community from unchecked hate and corruption that has caused so much chaos or risk serious physical, social, and human/civil rights violations. The community stood up where some officials could not. Those who swore loyalty to a higher cause continued to stand for their principles, protect people and encourage adaptations to the closed system to bring it back in line (It is not about jail time it is about institutional integrity and values). Trust declines and perpetrators are rewarded. It limps along because of the lack of moral conscious of some decision makers. Ones beliefs in our social contracts are highly dependent not on the meaning of the words but on what position one holds, what religion they follow, their skin color, their politics, and who is friends with whom.
Public Service Motivation and Willingness to Report Unethical Behaviors
*This is a hypothetical philosophical thought experiment so take with a grain of salt. It is meant to discuss certain topics so feel free to have a different opinion.
Oxygen is a precious commodity when fighting fires and there is only so much a truck can carry at once. Oxygen usage can be a sign of physical exertion and different types of physical attributes will determine how much oxygen a firefighter would use. A study of 6 firefighters helped determine how much oxygen is used based on fitness attributes that can be used for planning operations.
-Strong firefighters should be used for upstairs
operations.
-Fast firefighters should be used for ground operations.
-Medium to large loads should use a shoulder strap.
-Small loads should be hand carried up and down the stairs.
You may read the study at Research on optimal strategy of different fire rescue tasks based on oxygen consumption
While the study doesn't necessarily say this we might consider that conditioning includes weight and speed training for stronger utilization.
Tang J, Zhang X, Wang Z, Liang T, Liu W. Research on optimal strategy of different fire rescue tasks based on oxygen consumption. Front Physiol. 2025 Mar 24;16:1548031. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2025.1548031. PMID: 40196719; PMCID: PMC11973316. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11973316/Thinking about values and accountability we can find ways to enhance and support with thoughtful diligence our most important values we all share. While the vast majority of people do the right thing we can learn to be more thoughtful when they don't. I present two examples for learning of which one is used in a long running thought experiment (These are theoretical discussions of possibilities only.).
Example 1:
A teacher reported physical abuse of kids at a detention center. The teacher was eventually dismissed. Allegedly, parents were afraid to report, other guards were afraid to report, and there were numerous other complaints. While eventually there was greater scrutiny over the alleged misconduct it went on for years and it was against children with some people's knowledge. Initial internal investigators found the claims were "unsubstantiated". Let us further the example and say more kids were harmed. These kids who may now grow up to cause more problems instead of being helped. The sins of our past continue to haunt us over and over for decades because we are not wise enough to see the error of our ways.
Example 2:
A group of corrupted officials went out of their way to try and remove/pressure people they did not like from "their" community. Hate rumors, putting kids at risk, taking advantage of the elderly, misusing official positions to financially reward friends, mistreating veterans, and a long-steming history of negligence for the misbehaviors of the past and misbehaviors that occurred after whistleblowers came forward. Victims had no recourse that didn't include additional aggression, targeting and misuse of authority to advance the network and in group's goals.
What happens if someday the unsubstantiated claims were substantiated? Would the failure to objectively investigate, failure to protect victims and failure to correct indicate that something is wrong? How does declining trust play into this?
Standing up for certain values has little or no support in some circles and that is why such behaviors continue on for a long time creating victim after victim. However, there is hope as people begin to create awareness of some of the underlining problems and some of the potential solutions. Supporting and encouraging good officials to move up in authority and appropriate checks and balances can help. Belief and diligence of our central values is important for our future as a people. Those who support those values may not always be appreciated but they have long term value to society. Society being the ultimate stakeholders.
*This is a theoretical thought experiment discussion so take with a grain of salt and feel to have an alternative opinion. This is for discussion only.
