EthicalStL.org

This talk will discuss polyamory (consensual non-monogamy) as a type of relationship structure that exists today. Topics include the myriad of non-monogamous relationship structures, the ethics of polyamory, negotiation and con-sent, time management, how polyamorous structures can exist in an ostensibly monogamous world, and a personal perspective on a poly-amorous life.lt;brgt;lt;brgt;David Wraith is a Saint Louis native, writer, filmmaker, performance artist, activist for peace, and a co-founder of Sex Positive St. Louis (sexstl.com). He's a poly-amorous queer heterosexual and has spent much of his adult life advocating for women’s reproductive freedom; gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights; and people living with HIV. He blogs at lt;a href="http://www.davidwraith.com" target="_blank"gt;www.davidwraith.comlt;/agt;.

Thirty-six years ago, in 1978, Missouri voters rejected by state-wide referendum the anti-union "Right to Work" proposal. In 2014 we are again faced with the prospect of another such referendum. Dennis Roach will explain what the "Right to Work" law is as well as dis-cuss his thoughts on democracy and the role of unions. What is the relationship be-tween political and economic democracy? Can we have one without the other? Dennis will also discuss his extensive experience with union activism and the role it played in his personal development. lt;brgt;lt;brgt;Since 1991 Dennis has been an active member of the Ethical Society, twice serving as a member of the Board of Trustees and acting as an adult advisor for the Youth Group for many years. Professionally he is an engineer and currently designs control enclosures for industry. In 2012 Dennis was elected to serve as the Democratic Committeeman for the Bonhomme Township. He began his working life in a factory. Prior to becoming an engineer, Dennis was active in local IBEW 2352, instrumental in establishing the Labor Studies Center at Forest Park Community College, and chaired the Citizen's Committee Against the Right to Work in 1978.

How people look, dress, talk, and so on can give us valuable clues to their personality and identity, and to some extent judging others by their appearance is efficient and helpful. But appearances can also lead us astray, particularly as generations and cultures change. How can we become more aware of our own and others' automatic judgments, and better affirm the worth and dignity of every person?

This year Easter falls very near Earth Day, which is appropriate, as most tradition-al religious spring celebrations are variations on the themes of the cycle of life and our appreciation for the renewal of the growing sea-son and the warmth and good feelings that brings. In this era of looming climate crisis, our Core Value to cherish this earth and all the life upon it requires that we not only appreciate nature but also be willing to change our lives as necessary to en-sure a healthy environment for future generations. This platform will explore some ways of doing more to cherish our earth - paradoxically, by doing less. ETHICAL EXTRA CREDIT: Try to use less unrenewable energy to come to platform this Sunday—bike, walk, carpool, take public transportation, carjack a Tesla (okay, not that last one)...

Sara Edgar is an Organizer for the Beyond Coal campaign with the Missouri Sierra Club. The Sierra Club is the oldest and largest grass-roots environmental organization in the country. She will discuss the detrimental impacts of burning coal on our health, climate, and economy and our opportunities to transition to a clean energy future.

At the Ethical Society, we tend to highlight the positive goods that can come from cooperation. So in this address, we'll look at how com-petition too can be ethical, healthy, and helpful, and sometimes yield the best results. Note: This platform topic was suggested by Steve Harris, winner of last year's silent auction "platform address" item.

St. Louis falls 30% below national average in retaining college graduates in the region after graduation. If St. Louis were able to retain even a small percentage of non-native graduates it would result in a huge influx of knowledge workers entering the local economy every year. In order to keep these "knowledge workers" in St. Louis after graduation the region needs to act as one big campus attracting, en-gaging and eventually retaining the graduates through cultural connections, internships, and eventually jobs. By convincing more graduates to stay in the region through identifying connections to the community during their undergraduate education St. Louis will invigorate its workforce, improve its global reputation as a city of intellect and attract even more students and young college graduates to the region. lt;brgt;lt;brgt;Peg Weathers is the Assistant Vice President for Community Relations at Saint Louis University where she works to strengthen the university’s connection to the community through outreach initiatives and joint projects involving the University and the greater community. Previously, she was Executive Vice President for Grand Center, Inc. where she launched and managed successful efforts for the creation of the Grand Center Community Improvement District and the Grand Center Tax Increment Finance District. Peg has been involved with politics at the State and local levels, serving as Deputy Campaign Director for Bob Holden's 2000 Governor's race and working on Francis Slay’s first mayoral campaign in 2001. She was an appointee in the Clinton Administration, 1993-2000, as the Director of Scheduling and Advance for both the Secretary of Transportation, Federico Peña, and the Secretary of Energy, Bill Richardson. Peg is on the Board of the National Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse-St. Louis. She holds a B.A. in Speech Communication and a M.A. in Radio, TV, Film from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

"What on Earth is wrong with kids today?" is the perennial cry of every adult generation—along with "Get off my lawn! What are the changes and issues related to young people that we as a society should actually be concerned about, if any? And how can we get beyond the battle of generations fed by our youth-obsessed culture, beyond either idealizing or condemning, so that we can all appreciate the good and deal clearly with the challenges of every stage of life?

February's platform addresses are on aspects of diversity—the different experiences that individuals and groups have in our region and our country. The term "white privilege" refers to the fact that whites (and people who are assumed by others to be whites) receive special advantages and benefits in American society. How does white privilege work? How can we understand it alongside the fact that many whites also suffer negatively due to sexism, poverty, plain bad luck, etc.? And how can whites understand white privilege not as something merely to feel guilty or defensive about, but as a reality with which we need to grapple to further ethical development?

Dr. Deborah Cohen is a historian of the United States and Mexico. Her first book, Braceros: Migrant Citizens and Transnational Subjects in Postwar United States and Mexico, examines the bracero program to show how this migration and its inherent tensions and contradictions produced a particular kind of subject imperfectly aligned with either nation. She holds a Ph.D. in History from the University of Chicago and has published in the Journal of American Ethnic Studies, Clio (a French Feminist journal), Hispanic American Historical Review, and Estudios Sociologicos (Mexico City). She and Lessie Jo Frazier co-edited Gender and Sexuality in 1968: Transformative Politics in the Cultural Imagination, a volume about gender in the many social movements occurring in 1968, and are completing Beyond '68: Gender, Social Movements, and Political Culture in the 1968 Mexican Student Movement and its Legacies, a book that uses women's participation in the l968 movement as a unique window onto the broader social, political, and cultural tensions and shifts occurring since the 1940s. Her other specialties and interests include Feminist Theory, Critical Race Theory, Queer Theory, Postcolonial Theory, and the growing field of Transnational History.