Weekly Reader: Stop the World, I Want to Get Off

     I intend the phrase in a humorous way, but it is also a sincere recommendation to follow the recommendations in a Washington Post story  on June 28—America’s Workers are exhausted and burned out—and some employers are taking notice. Yes, I did my best to take some time off just before the July 4 holiday weekend—it did take me two days to complete the already scheduled Zoom meetings but I must say that by the end of the week I felt better and diverted my mind from work responsibilities.

    So I not only recommend that you take some time off but that you recognize that your staff is likely also exhausted and burned out and that this may be a good time to honor your staff by giving them some additional time off after dealing with 15 months of stress. As you can see from the article, some businesses are giving their staff “Wellness Days” or paid “relief days” and continuing pandemic benefits such as increased time off and childcare or eldercare benefits as well as embracing flexible work schedules and continuing remote work. Other businesses are avoiding meetings on Fridays or limiting critical Friday meetings to end by noon. Just saying…

    Second, Senate Democratic leaders announced agreement on Tuesday on plans for $3.5 trillion reconciliation budget package to expand Medicare benefits, boost federal safety net programs and combat climate change and to deliver on President Biden’s major economic priorities. On Wednesday, Senate and House Democratic leaders revealed some details about the elements of this “human infrastructure” package. The package addresses every major category from President Biden’s American Families Plan including investments in child care and pre-kindergarten, paid family and medical leave education, workforce development and expanded child tax credits that will begin providing a monthly check to most families with children today.

    Many of the programs including the expanded child tax credit will be extended temporarily so a future Congress would have to decide whether to further extend them or make them permanent. The proposal includes some program changes that would go beyond what President Biden has proposed, including expanding Medicare to cover dental, vision and hearing benefits. The Senate Budget Committee, chaired by Senator Bernie Sanders, must now produce a budget resolution that includes “reconciliation” instructions to other Senate Committees. These other Committees would then draft legislation detailing how the $3.5 trillion would be spent and how revenue would be raised to pay for the package. This would lead to a reconciliation bill that would allow Democrats to circumvent Republican opposition to the bill. It would require all 50 Senate Democrats and a Democratic majority in the narrowly-divided House to pass the bill. The bill also includes the creation of a civilian climate corps to add jobs to address climate change and conservation. It is also expected that the bill would contain additional investments for child care, home care and housing and possibly a path to citizenship for some undocumented immigrants and labor rights legislation. Sen. Sanders said: “What we are talking about is the most consequential piece of legislation passed since the 1930s” and stressed that it would “deal in a very significant way with the long-neglected needs of working-class Americans.”

     Links to the NY Times and Washington Post articles are at the end of this post.

     Third, it seems clear that the dangers of climate change are a major driver of the reconciliation bill now being developed by the Democratic House and Senate along with the more modest bipartisan infrastructure bill now being developed. A powerful opinion column in the New York Times on July 14 highlighted how essential and how urgently these expenditures are needed. We Can’t Afford to Shrink the Infrastructure Bill  by Jake Bittle in the NY Times on July 14 states:

     Fourth, OK, it is time to stop beating up on critical race theory and to focus on the positive. Thanks to a guest essay in the NY Times, we have a blueprint to help raise children who are not racist. How to Raise Kids Who Won’t Be Racist by Melinda Wenner Moyer offers clear and evidence-based advice on how “parents can pick up the slack” if schools don’t provide consistent education about racism and discrimination. As she states, “Even though we don’t want them to, children do notice differences in race and skin color. And that means that attempts to suppress discussions about race and racism are misguided. Those efforts won’t eliminate prejudice. They may, in fact, make it worse. So-called color blind parenting—avoiding the topic of race in an effort to raise children who aren’t prejudiced—is not just unhelpful, it actually perpetuates racism. That’s because racism isn’t driven solely by individual prejudice. It’s a system of inequity bolstered by racist laws and policies—the very fact that opponents of teaching critical race theory are trying to erase.”

    Ms. Moyer continues, “Racial awareness and prejudice continue to develop during the preschool and grade school years….Children learn from what they see. They notice that in American culture, race and power intersect in a clear way….Parents should explicitly challenge these wrong assumptions and explain the role of centuries of systemic racism in creating these inequities.” She cites studies that show that white children whose parents talk with them about race become less prejudiced over time, compared with children whose parents didn’t have such conversations. She also asserts that children of color also benefit from conversations about race and racism. A study found that these children develop a strong sense of identity and pride, and they fare better in terms of self-esteem, psychological health and academic success. Her conclusion—“racism won’t end until parents—and children—see prejudice, recognize its perniciousness and unravel the system that fuels it.” You may want to wait to read Ms. Moyer’s forthcoming book “How To Raise Kids Who Aren’t Assholes”—yes, that is the correct title

    I know that some of you are used to five stories in most regular editions of The Reader, but in the spirit of stopping the world, at least for a short while, I stopped with four really important stories. There are plenty more stories in the Reader’s archive, so I may save one of the best for next week. I hope you enjoy and maybe learn something from the wisdom of other people.

     Finally, since I believe firmly that there is so much to learn from Broadway musicals, I give you the words of the genius Stephen Sondheim in Children Will Listen from Into the Woods to remind you of the power of the words of Melinda Wenner Moyer above on how to raise children:     

And happily ever after, I wish.

Jim Schuyler 
VACAP