This is an old episode that's dear to my heart that has meaning, compassion, and thoughtfulness. Indeed, somewhat uniting and certainly not divisive. Considering everything, I thought it was a good idea to release it again. I hope you also find meaning in the words MLK spoke.

Every now and then, we need to remind ourselves of our humanity and needed humility. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Dr. King was a philosopher, minister, husband, parent, and activist for social justice.  His focus on racial equality for African Americans is known the world over.  But there's even more to Dr. King than social activism, many of his messages and speeches also focused on various aspects of interpersonal and international relations, the destructive nature of  egos gone awry, and the importance of taming our worst interpersonal emotions and desires.

I realize I frequently discuss liberal democracy, voting, encouraging voters to research the issues, and decide on which candidate and political party supports the ideal our democracy is important and actually is quite fragile in today's hyper polarized political environment.  I discuss some various aspects that you may consider important for people of the United States as we consider who we are as a country during this critical point in time.  Thanks for listening.

The goal of my podcast is to discuss interesting topics either in solo episodes or with guests and guest-hosts. Sharing thoughts on different issues, especially those that are humorous, thoughtful, and thought-provoking, meaningful, insightful, and even heartwarming at times.

*LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/stewart-devine

**Comments and/or opinions expressed by the host and guests are their own**

You can listen to and subscribe to, "It's Not All Bad," that's available from the following platforms and others wherever you listen to your podcasts:

*Amazon - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/c30a8c47-7e48-4bed-8ffb-402079d82a4d/it's-not-all-bad

*Google Podcasts - https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy82MDYwNGQ2MC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw==

*Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/its-not-all-bad/id1574392751?uo=4

*Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0X6Gn9zC85iEyfKbNmpINM

Being aware of what we say and do are important.  Of course, this word "aware" is now often associated with the new word, "Woke," and it's thoroughly weaponized to the point many people are offended at others who are "aware" or "woke" to slights and even injustices.  This is especially true concerning racial and ethnicities, gender issues, religion, and even against people who have physical and emotional challenges.  This short episode is about this topic.  I find peace in being aware or woke to the plight of others.  I hope this is the same with many of my listeners.

In theory and often in practice, liberal democracy principles exist in various Republics, not just in the United States.  The right to vote is what citizens expect and deserve as part of a kind of citizens' contract with the government in those countries.  In fact, the right to vote is codified in many constitutions as a matter of law.

However, liberal democratic principals have always been under fire and pressure from would be autocrats, authoritarians, war lords, strong men, and those who would enrich themselves and their families.  One element in pressuring the downfall of liberal democracies is a charismatic leader  gaining followers and convincing them that their interest lies best in a single individual who will fix everything, including bringing back some unrealistic resemblance of the past.  You know.  Thinking that all was so wonderful a decade, two decades, or even centuries past.

As we all know, we humans have a great capacity for good and an equal (and sometimes greater) capacity for the opposite.  Suspicion of the other, racial and ethnic animus, distrust of immigrants, fear, and all manner of grievances are ingredients of a perfect toxic stew to turn citizens against each other.  Indeed, some of these would be leaders foment division of a country's electorate to perpetuate their thirst for power.

Often these leaders will lie, target low information voters, weaponize programs of social equity or justice, and even attempt to dilute the voting franchise as a means to divide the country.  And guess what; it's worked in the past, it's working now, and will continue to do so if people remain complacent.  

A call to action is for citizens to exercise their right to vote in local and national elections, learn about government, review various issues and proposals on the ballot, become a high information voter, and avoid going in the direction of negativism that would-be autocrats seek and foment.

On today's solo episode, I discuss these topics and more.  I also play a short audio clip from an episode of a well known television series that first aired on January 24, 1963.  I've viewed this entire episode (season 4, episode 24) at least 5 times over the past 20 years.  Indeed, it's quite haunting in its relevancy to today's political environment in many countries who exercise liberal democratic principles.

As always, The goal of my podcast is to have interesting guests at time to share their thoughts on different issues, have guest co-hosts to discuss various topics (especially those that offer humor), and even share short episodes in which I discuss thoughtful and even heartwarming issues.

You can listen to and subscribe to, "It's Not All Bad," that's available from the following platforms:

*Google Podcasts - https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy82MDYwNGQ2MC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw==

*Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/its-not-all-bad/id1574392751?uo=4

*Breaker - https://www.breaker.audio/its-not-all-bad

*Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0X6Gn9zC85iEyfKbNmpINM

*Pocket Casts - https://pca.st/beu5r0lv

*RadioPublic - https://radiopublic.com/its-not-all-bad-WDjRy7

Even with all of the chaos and destructive human behavior in our world, there's still beauty when we stop, reflect, observe, and look for it.  This isn't pie in the sky nonsense.  Just as humans need ambition or at least are ambitious, we need goodness, kindness, and compassion to sustain the essence of who we should be.  It's still around us in so many extremely and almost imperceptible ways, but also in obvious large measure as well.  Join me in this short episode to do a reality check on human foibles of human destructiveness and human kindness.  Maybe it's not possible to have one without the other, but compassion for others is still at play when we look for and accept it, and contribute to it.

The goal of my podcast is to discuss interesting topics either in solo episodes or with guests and guest-hosts. Sharing thoughts on different issues, especially those that are humorous, thoughtful and thought-provoking, meaningful, insightful, and even heartwarming at times.

*LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/stewart-devine

**Comments and/or opinions expressed by the host and guests are their own**

You can listen to and subscribe to, "It's Not All Bad," that's available from the following platforms:

*Anchor - https://anchor.fm/stewart-devine

*Google Podcasts - https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy82MDYwNGQ2MC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw==

*Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/its-not-all-bad/id1574392751?uo=4

*Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0X6Gn9zC85iEyfKbNmpINM

*Pocket Casts - https://pca.st/beu5r0lv

*RadioPublic - https://radiopublic.com/its-not-all-bad-WDjRy7

It's always a challenge to remain positive because of the constant drumbeat of hatred, world domination, disease, and mistrust of others.  But it's important for all of us to avoid the trap of thinking that only someone else - not you - can make a positive difference.  When you truly self-reflect and search your heart, you know YOU can bring a smile to someone's face, you can - and probably - have helped others without expecting or even wanting praise in return, and you may have even accepted the truism that you are important, even if only in a small way, in being here on this earth for a reason and it's not just to get a college education, to work at a job, or to make money.  There's so much more and starting with compassion and thoughtfulness is the beginning, middle, and there is no end.

The goal of my podcast is to discuss interesting topics either in solo episodes or with guests and guest-hosts.  Sharing thoughts on different issues, especially those that are humorous, thoughtful, and thought-provoking, meaningful, insightful, and even heartwarming at times.

*LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/stewart-devine

**Comments and/or opinions expressed by the host and guests are their own**

You can listen to and subscribe to, "It's Not All Bad," that's available from the following platforms and others wherever you listen to your podcasts:

*Amazon - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/c30a8c47-7e48-4bed-8ffb-402079d82a4d/it's-not-all-bad

*Google Podcasts - https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy82MDYwNGQ2MC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw==

*Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/its-not-all-bad/id1574392751?uo=4

*Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0X6Gn9zC85iEyfKbNmpINM

*Pocket Casts - https://pca.st/beu5r0lv

*RadioPublic - https://radiopublic.com/its-not-all-bad-WDjRy7