The dead all leave something behind.

Better a trail of good deeds

than a pile of coins

The world remembers virtue--

and no one can steal it.

Rumi

Translation: Haleh Gafori

Top Three Most Lethal Atrocities

 This is excerpted from the book Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker.

In the Chapter "Long Peace," the author explains the historical myopia and the availability heuristic, which hinder a fair assessment of the current status of humankind in terms of violence.

There is a table on page 195 where 21 major atrocities executed throughout human history are listed. These events are ranked based on death toll adjusted for the 20th century:

• Number one is the An Lushan revolt (8th Century) in China during tang dynasty. The actual death toll of 36 million is equivalent to two-thirds of the empire's total population and one sixth of the total world population (~ 429 million in 2018).
• Number two: Mongol conquest (13th Century) with 40 million casualties (~ 278 million now).
• Number three: Mideast Slave Trade (7th-19th Centuries): 19 million casualties (~ 132 million now).

CMU Faculty Recitals: Saariaho, Perkinson, and Bach

 I'm dedicating this post to a far-gone event I attended in April.

Throughout the years, I have enjoyed faculty recitals at Carnegie Mellon University so interesting. The series has been very educational, and intricately selected works opened new horizons and introduced new artists to me. 

The last event I could attend was the solo cello performance by Angela Park.

The repertoire for that musical evening was eclectic:

1.  Kaija Saariaho: Sept Papillons for Solo Cello (2000)
2. Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson: Lamentations Black/Folk Song Suite for Solo Cello (1973)
3. J.S. Bach: Cello Suite No. 6

Jafar Panahi won the Palme d'Or

Jafar Panahi won the Palme d'Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival. His latest movie "It was Just an Accident" was competing during the 78th annual of Cannes Festival. 

As an Iranian, this news filled me with joy and pride. He has been a symbol of civil resistance in Iran. This is the second time an Iranian film director has won this prestigious prize.

Huge respect for Panahi: Panahi the artist, the campaigner, the activist, and the human.

Pedram

5/24/2025

House of Waters

 "House of Waters" performance was fantastic. A combination of Jazz, Rock, and World music. The program was part of Jazz Poetry month, organized by City of Asylum. Participating poets were Rania Mamoun, Solfia Elhillo, Nathan Osorion, and Haleh Liza Gafori (who has translated a collection of Rumi's poems)

Top-notch artistry.

5/17/2025

 

If you are never solitary, you are never religious

Alfred North Whitehead 

Book Review: Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now

 Do you feel you have been shafted by high-tech social media companies? The book is written by computer scientist Jaron Lanier. He is one of the founding fathers of virtual reality and a Silicon Valley resident. So, these words and his viewpoint are more thought-provoking. 

In the preface, he uses the example of cats as a species with a behavioral pattern we should aspire to in our online lives. Cats behave independently in an untameable fashion, which makes training techniques futile. This is what we should consider when facing the chaos of the Internet, specifically social media.

First of all, this is not a self-help "Key to Maximum Productivity" type of book. While it is snappy, the book tackles a complex matter that requires multidimensional analysis. In terms of the flow, it is well-written and provides some inside knowledge from a reference figure who has lived in Silicon Valley. Actually, Lanier is himself among the founding fathers of the technology.

Briefly, ten arguments are mentioned in this book against the use of social media:

1- Being against your free will:

Through ads, social media platforms attack our privacy and ultimately undermine our free will. 

This argument is closely tied to the second argument, as the compromised personal information is used to modify users' behaviors. These two arguments are fundamental critiques. I found them valid and definitely concerning. However, despite all these hazards, could a dignified approach harness the capabilities of these platforms? The free public platforms have some inherent flaws that expose users to data piracy. The compromised or exploited data has been used for several ominous plots: from elections to marketing purposes. If this trend grows at this pace, the cybersecurity and political manipulation will definitely outweigh all positive social aspects of these platforms. 

2- Being a behavior-modifying tool: 

Herein, Lanier uses the acronym BUMMER for the first time. BUMMER stands for "Behaviors of Users Modified, and Made into an Empire for Rent”. As a constant customer, I found this point very valid. In most extreme stance, Lanier says: 

"the core of the BUMMER machine is not a technology, exactly, but a style of business plan that spews out perverse incentives and corrupts people."

3- Making you into an asshole (Unhealthy relationships): 

There are dangerous behavioral changes such as aggression, arrogance, a fetish for axaggeration which is a cover for inner insecurity. Top social media influencers have reportedly confessed that being too nice to others is a disadvantage in this fierce "competeitive fishbowl" business model. Also, the book describes some herd behaviors that switch from solitary/pack behaviors to group behaviors. The pack setting makes social media users predisposed to thinking and acting in a areactionary fashion; more focused on peers or enemies. Rather, an unaddicted educated mind may opt to act more proactively with more awareness of his/her surrounding environment. 

4- Truth sidelined: 

What if one day you find out that the bulk of the likes, reviews, reposts, and comments (and all other sorts of interactions) are fake interactions from fake followers? This is well well-documented that the platforms are fertile soil for such fugazi entities and ghost cyber ninjas, appearing in times of need (political campaigns, election seasons, hot debates, etc) and disappearing when they are not needed, just to reappear with a handy justification to fool the followers/audience. In my limited personal experience, I have stumbled upon a lot of these accounts, and my wishful thinking gradually tailed off, and I was consigned to the grim machinery behind the social media. Actually, we all came to believe that we share these online ecosystems with gazillions of android entities. The ecosystem is polluted, and the truth is subdued. 

5- Context-less:

Limited time, limited space, and a rush to interact jeopardize several interactions on social media. To make matters worse, interspersed ads add to the fuzziness and make the platforms susceptible to a miscarriage of the simple messages. And when they somehow manage to conduce a message, it is dissociated from its context. 

Here, I have a critique. True, this shortage of time and characters are not helpful. However, for the most part the problem lies in the users' approach and how they want to use the tool. The logic is there, but not satisfying. This argument is rather subjective and does not hold a strong sinew.

6- Being against empathy: 

Seeing other people's views in an abridged version compromises our perception and feeling of a matter or situation. These brief encounters devoid of context are just deluding us about participating in a communal discourse. Hence, we are left with some dubious pretexts as to why fellow citizens did what they did. 

7- Hinders happiness:

This argument is again subjective but stronger than #6. On social platforms, people are ranked based on their statistics revolving around popularity and size of their social circles. This triggers a ceaseless appeal to posession of social contacts no number of "friends/followers" can satisfyingly put an end to this craving. Also, a more serious side effect is that it reduces concepts such as friendship or human interaction to numbers and records. 

8- Undermining economic dignity:

Reliance on the "Gig economy" does not provide stability. A minority of entrepreneurs become extremely wealthy in the mould of the 19th century's "Gilded Age". However, overall risk has been radiated out to ordinary people (customers).  

9- Negative and even nefarious when it comes to politics:

Up to a certain point, social media had a positive impact (for example, online activism against abject poverty). However, after the financial power of the social media companies skyrocketed, it began to negatively impact political decision-making. There are plenty of examples in recent history: the Myanmar Rohingya crisis deterioration which coincided with Facebook's arrival and inundation by waves of unadulterated misinformation. Another example: India and fake posts (on Facebook's WhatsApp) on child abductions, destabilized parts of India (unfounded rumors).

A more recent example is post-Assad Syria, where cyber activities on platforms in the middle of an information void. 

Thedore, the UN reports social media as a massively deadly weapon sue to "shitposts"

10- Corrosive effect on spirituality: 

For BUMMER citizens, virality is equivalent to truth. To trust these platforms, you should give your cognitive power over to that system. You need to trust the wisdom of BUMMER and its algorithms. As mentioned in argument #4, the social media platforms have not defined "seeking truth" as their goal.  

Place me on Thy Right Hand!

Ingemisco, tamquam reus:

Culpa rubet vultus meus:
Supplicanti parce, Deus.

Qui Mariam absolvisti,
Et latronem exaudisti,
Mihi quoque spem dedisti

Preces meæ non sunt dignæ:
Sed tu bonus fac benigne,
Ne perenni cremer igne.

Inter oves locum præsta,
Et ab hædis me sequestra,
Statuens in parte dextra.

Dies irae (XII - XV)

Translation:

Guilty, now I pour my moaning,
and my face blushes with guilt;
Spare, the suppliant, O God.

Thou who didst absolve Mary [Magdalene],
and hear the prayer of the thief,
hast given me hope as well.

Worthless are my prayers and sighing,
Yet, good Lord, show mercy,
Lest I burn in everlasting fire.

Give me a place among the sheep,
and separate me from the goats,
Placing me on thy right hand.

Picture: 

Verdi Requiem, Carnegie Music Hall, 3/2/2025

اصلاح طلب - اصول گرا: کارگزاران فصلی

 بودن در فضای کلابهاوس و توییتر و ... عمدتا بیهوده و فرسایشی و به یک اعتیاد خانمان سوز تبدیل شد.

اما حداقل فایده ای داشت  وآن هم پیگیری صحبت های بزک نشده بعضی کنشگران یا تحلیلگران بود. در کنار آن زمان پرورش یک خط فکری مستقل بود. این که در فضای بلبشو و اغتشاشات فکری که افراد زیادی هم پز روشنفکری می دهند و رفتار کاسب مسلکانه دارند، انسان فضای ذهنی و رفتاری خودش رو تعریف کند. نوع کنشگری خودش را تعریف کند و مفاهیم ذهنی خودش را بازتعریف کند. والبته در این خطر دایمی هم هستیم که با موج سازماندهی شده از اراجیف، افکارمان منحرف شود. 

یک مساله که برای من حداقل در این زمان مشخص شده است اینست که در خلا فلسفه و اخلاق ، کنش سیاسی تبدیل به یک کاسبکاری ساده میشود. حال این کاسبی به فراخور فصل رنگ و بوی خاصی میگیرد. یک عده کاسب تعریف می شوند و عده ای در ۱۸۰ درجه تضاد ظاهری، عملا همان سودجویی و پوچی مفهومی و اخلاقی را دارند. آن ها کاسب تحریم و این ها کاسب رفع تحریم هستند. آن هاجیب برهای تابستان هستند و این ها زمستان ها دزدی می کنند. 

انتخابات ریاست جمهوری ۱۴۰۳: کاسبکاری به نام دمکراسی

 پزشکیان رو انسان سالمی دانسته ام.  این که گفتم پزشکیان درگیر فسادها نبوده حداقل در قیاس با  بوستان کاندیداهای گزینش شده بود که الحق در آن ویرانه ایشان چهره موجهی محسوب می شد.  کلا یه سیاستمدار مدل اوایل انقلاب  هست، همون روحیات جهادی و  شلختگی سیاسی و گرایشهای چپ اقتصاد. بعد از تجربه امثال احمدی نژاد و شبه خصوصی سازی هایی که سیستم به خورد ملت داده، من همین شخصیت رو قابل قبول می دونم و صادقانه برام عجیبه که شورای نگهبان تایید کرده.  در هر صورت موضوع بحثم و دغدغه ی من اصلا این شخص و شخصیتش نیست.

من زاویه دید مشارکت کنندگان رو می‌فهمم و خیلی مشکلی ندارم.  فکر کنم خیلی ها از جمله خودم هم با همین منطق در طی این دهه ها رای داده اند؛ نه به برنامه ی مشخص، نه به وعده ی مشخص، نه به یک ایدئولوژی مشخص. یک جور سازش به امید خیر بزرگ تر، یا شاید هم به امید دفع افسد به فاسد رای دادیم. الان هم اتفاقا اگر این ابزار تحول، این اسب تروا در قالب انسان پاکدستی مثل پزشکیان ظهور کرده بود که قابل قبول بود و احتمالا دلیل رای خیلی از بدنه رای ایشان هم همین استدلاله یا بهتر بگویم همین امیده.

در تمام دوره هایی که خودم رای دادم یادم نمیاد جز خاتمی،  اقبالی به کاندیدای انتخابی داشتم. هیچ کدوم شخصیتی نبودن که بعدا بتونم از شخصیتشون یا عملکرد حواریونشون دفاع کنم. همیشه یک انتخاب برای دفع شر بزرگ و انتخاب باامید تغییر بوده.  

 هر تحولی از دل یک فلسفه و رشد جمعی می جوشه و اگر در تاریخ به بار میشینه نتیجه اینه خاک حاصلخیزی برای پذیرش وجود داشته، اتفاقا قسمتی از ناخالصی های رفتاری هم انعکاس بستر زمانه خودش هست. مشکلی بوده، روشنفکری، سیاستمداری، کنشگری پروژه اش رو با محوریت اون مشکل تعریف وی کنه. آیا جریان اصلاحگری الان چنین فلسفه ای داره؟ چنین نقشه ای داره؟ چنین هدف بزرگ تری طراحی کرده؟ برای این قهر اجتماعی برنامه ای داره؟ اصلا افول اقبال عمومی  رو به رسمیت میشناسه؟ 

وقتی میگفتم نباید از جلیلی یک هیولا ساخت بحثم عاشق چشم و ابروی  جلیلی بودن و طرز فکرش نیست. مشکل من روشه. مشکل من روش سلبیه. مشکل من فاشیسمه. مشکل من این غیرسازی رایج در سیاست است. هیولا سازی از یک شهروند برای ما عادی شده و همش ر این امواج کارمون رو جلو می بریم. شعار ایران برای همه ایرانیان که توی همین کشور رای آورد، محورش بر پذیرش و مدارا بود و واقعا هم در عمل مدت محدودی اعمال شد. ولی خب کارهای جذاب تر از جنس “دگرسازی” و قبیله گرایی و فحاشی و سیاه و سفید سازی هست. از این حیدری نعمتی ها هرگشایشی در بیاید، توسعه و تمدن جز آن گشایش ها نخواهد بود. برعکس ابزاری برای مشروع و موجه جلوه دادن همگی شکست ها و بدقولی های آینده است. کمینه کردن انتظارات است. این شمر و هیولاسازی از کاندیدای رقیب حتی اگر موجه و مستدل بوده، توجیه گر گنگ گویی ها و شلختگی کاندیدای خودمان نمی شود.  ترجیحم همیشه نشاندن حرف بر کرسی با روش ایجابی بوده. وگرنه جنگ و دعوا حیدری نعمتی فقط سرگرمی های دوسه هفته ای در گرماگرم انتخابات و با هدف جلب توجه هستند و نه بیشتر. 

همین ها رو به خورد مردمان دادیم که اینجور به هم بی تفاوت شدن. اتمیزه شدن جامعه نتیجه هوشمندی سیاه عده ای بوده است که در کنشگری های ستاد های انتخاباتی هم پررنگ دیده میشده و می شود. در مجموع برداشت من اینست که کارگزار و وزیر و بوروکراتی که  در قالب کمپین ظاهر میشن  ذهنیت توسعه رو ندارن؛ نه در فرهنگ ، نه در اقتصاد، و نه در دیپلماسی.

 توسعه از دید تک بعدی من رو مشکوک می کنه به این که با یکسری پیمانکار طرف هستم که سودش در جوش خوردن یک معامله هست و افق دیدی ورای اون نداره. نمی تونم قبول کنم که یک کنشگر جدی که دنبال اصلاح جدی هست، این حجم گسستکی رو در این کشور نبینه. خلاهای بزرگ قانونی رو‌نبینه. برای مسایل کلیدی و پایه ای جوابی ندارن، اسمش رو میذارن مسایل جانبی و تفننی. دو مقام عالی در تاریخ جمهوری اسلامی در حصر هستن و کوچک ترین اراده ای برای حل مساله وجود نداره. دویست سال هم بگذره این قضیه نرمال نیست.  این ها سمبل خوبی  هستن از اخلاق مدیریت  کنونی؛ مساله ای که میتونیم حل کنیم مهم هست، مساله ای که کالری سوزوندن و لابی و نوآوری میخواد، مساله تفننی و حاشیه ای هست. آقای روحانی اومد و شعارش رو داد و حداقلی از اراده رو نشان داد و خنثی شد. جای آسیب شناسی داشت ولی آن زمان همه مست شیرینی برجام بودن و این مسایل “تفننی” و “درجه دو” فرض شدن. حال آن که اس و اساس زمامداری در داخل است. هیچ دستاورد خارجی برروی بنای سست اقبال و مقبولیت داخلی، گره گشا نخواهد بود. در این زمینه مثال زیاده و این مورد حصر بدترین مثال از ظلم نیست ولی متاسفانه دم دستی ترین هست. من اصلا هم نمی گم مسایل محدود به یکی دو موضوعه. خط سیری مملو از زخم های باز به جا مانده که کسی حتی دغدغه ترمیم آن ها را هم ندارد.

مشکل من اینه که مطمئن نیستم پشت این قبیل کمپین های روزنه گشایی و کلا در ذهنیت جبهه اصلاحات/اعتدال یا هرچی اسمش خواهد بود، برنامه کلان تری با دغدغه توسعه وجود داشته باشد. اخلاق اصلاح و اخلاق توسعه از آموزش و فرهنگ فردی شروع میشه. تو روشنفکر فیلسوف ماب تحلیلگر ما که مدعیه نبض جامعه تو دستشه، آپشن نقدپذیری قفله. صبح انتخابات توییت زده که  “دور دوم نخواهیم داشت “ خب فردای انتخابات کوچک ترین اشاره ای به اشتباهش هم نمی کنه.وارد کارگروه تشکیل کابینه می شوند و بعد از ۴۸ ساعت اعلام می کنند که رییس جمهور اختیار چندانی در انتخاب وزرا ندارد!  بی وقفه هم مشغول تئوری سازی و ترسیم خط مشی هستن. حالا به گذشته که نگاه کنن می بینن که هزار تا پیش بینی و طراحی اجتماعی کرده اند که همه غلط بوده اند. دردناکتر آنست که عده ای از این کنشگران، قدرت استمزاج از مردمی که ظاهرا در بینشان زندگی می کنند را هم از دست داده اند.

نه! یه مواقعی بد نیست خودمون رو نقد کنیم و صدای اعتراض متمدنانه رو بشنویم. بین کوکتل مولوتف و ادای ناشنوایان رو درآوردن، من دومی رو صدها بار اکت خشن تری می دونم. 

(از گفتگوهای ایام انتخابات)

Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi

Verdi's Requiem is considered one of the greatest choral works arranged on Requiem text, a Catholic funeral mass.

Originally scored for double chorus, four soloists, and orchestra. With the vast musical scale and formidable force, the performance requires concert halls rather than churches. 

Directed by Dr. Susan Medley

I attended this concert on March 2nd.  

Brandon Setta

I know him from Nothing and then there was his road to a solo career.

There's something in his voice, the tunes of the guitar, and the general vibe that makes him different.

In the pool of commercialized industry behind the shoegaze genre, it was refreshing to hear an authentic delicate sound. Be it a shoegaze sound, or an acoustic singer-songwriter, or whatever. The feel of the music is what matters the most. There you find the real McCoy amongst gazillions of fake acts. 

Much respect, Brandon! Huge fan here! 

Words and idioms: Oubaitori

 Pronounced Oh-Buy-Toe-Ree

Well, it's a weird thing to stumble upon a springy theme on these cold dark days. But anyway, let's jump into it:

Oubaitori is a Japanese idiom concerning nature.

Springtime in Japan is described as a riot of colors. Obubaitori is inspired by four trees of Cherry, Apricot, Peach, and Plum. In unison, they blossom and amalgam a colorful picture of diverse colors and smells.

 On the human level, Oubaitori reflects the diverse nature, mindsets, and sensations while we coexist.

Oubaitori mentality has an air of individuality and giving meaning while we persist in our individual values. This is a pearl of pleasant wisdom specifically in the current "Us vs. Them" climate. Maybe it can help us eschew all the hostility toward the ever-threatening existence of "them". Instead of being inured to tribal hostility and conforming to the hot xenophobic trends, the nature of Japanese spring may somewhat remind us of the collective imperfection that makes a whole palatable. 

Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI)

I stumbled upon this metric in the economy named the genuine progress index (GPI). I explored a little bit to see how it was constructed and what sort of domains it covers. 

The formula to calculate GPI is below, along with a brief explanation of what each component means.

GPI = Cadj + G + W - D - S - E - N

• Cadj = personal consumption with income distribution adjustments
• G = capital growth
• W = unconventional contributions to welfare, such as volunteerism
• D = defensive private spending
• S = activities that negatively impact social capital
• E = costs associated with the deterioration of the environment
• N = activities that negatively impact natural capital

It's important to note that assigning monetary values to non-market goods and services and assessing the impact of social and environmental factors involves a degree of subjectivity. Therefore it is possible that there are some intersubjective variations in GPI calculations.

Assigning Monetary Values in GPI Calculations

Determining the monetary values for non-market goods and services in GPI can be tough. The calculations can be a bit of a puzzle, and economists use several methods to crack it. One way is through market price estimation where economists look at the prices of similar market goods as stand-ins for non-market ones. In cases where there's a direct substitute (or similar good), this is typically the most ideal case.

Economists could also go straight to the source, asking people directly about their preferences or observing consumer behavior in surveys and revealed preference methods. Surveys can often reveal consumer sentiment about the value additions and deductions from any given good.

Another approach to assigning monetary value involves shadow pricing. Shadow pricing happens when we estimate the economic value of non-market goods by looking at the costs or benefits associated with their use or depletion. For instance, think about the cost of environmental degradation or the loss of biodiversity. Even though there may not be a direct economic cost there that contributes to a good, there is still value lost that can be at least tracked, if not measured one way or another.

Last, economists may choose to layer on assumptions when looking at market transactions. They may choose to analyze a price from the lens of what that good's price or cost could be due to non-market factors or how a price is derived from a hedonic pricing angle. For instance, the price of a home may be based on the size of the home, age of the home, or neighborhood. Understanding these factors may attribute value to other comparables, and this strategy can be used across different types of goods.

GPI vs. GDP

GDP increases twice when pollution is created – once upon creation (as a side-effect of some valuable process) and again when the pollution is cleaned up. By contrast, GPI counts the initial pollution as a loss rather than a gain, generally equal to the amount it will cost to clean up later plus the cost of any negative impact the pollution will have in the meantime. Quantifying the costs and benefits of these environmental and social externalities is a difficult task.

By accounting for the costs borne by society as a whole to repair or control pollution and poverty, GPI balances GDP spending against external costs. GPI advocates claim that it can more reliably measure economic progress as it distinguishes between the overall "shift in the 'value basis' of a product, adding its ecological impacts into the equation." 

The relationship between GDP and GPI mimics the relationship between the gross profit and net profit of a company. The net profit is the gross profit minus the costs incurred, while the GPI is the GDP (value of all goods and services produced) minus the environmental and social costs. Accordingly, the GPI will be zero if the financial costs of poverty and pollution equal the financial gains from the production of goods and services, all other factors being constant. The following is from the website investopedia.com

Advantages and Disadvantages of GPI

Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) measures the economy holistically by considering economic indicators that the GDP doesn't. For example, it accounts for negative externalities, such as pollution and crime, and other social breakdowns that compromise the economy and the welfare of the people it serves. These events create large societal costs from the resulting damages.

Benefits to society, such as volunteerism, housework, and higher education are significant contributions to society but were largely ignored because they were difficult to quantify.
 And as no consideration is given in exchange for these types of services, they are not included in the GDP. However, to account for their impact on the economy, the GPI prescribes values to each.

Accounting for these activities and events that ordinarily have no assigned values can be problematic. Including them requires values to be assigned, and these values can differ based on who is ascribing them. This level of subjectivity can make it difficult to compare GPIs.

Also, the broad definition of GPI allows for different interpretations and calculations. These inconsistencies can make it difficult to get an accurate accounting of factors and compare GPIs. They also make it difficult for GPI to be adopted as the economic standard of measurement.

Pros

• Includes environmental and social factors not considered in the GDP

• Assigns values to societal contributions, such as volunteering

• Quantifies an overall impact in a single, simple number that may be easier to compare over time

Cons

• Makes it difficult to compare GPIs due to subjectivity

• Allows for different interpretations and calculations due to broad definition

• May result in assumptions (at least for the non-monetary variables)

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Ebola vs. COVID-19: public health lessons from Liberia

There is a plethora of literature, addressing public health policies regarding COVID-19. The following paragraphs are excerpted from an article by Anfaara et al. published in Social Science and Medicine, January 2025

"Like elsewhere in the world, care work is gendered, with women bearing the brunt of caregiving during disease outbreaks or health emergencies. However, in Liberia, we argue that the inadequacies of the health system and past political administrations further exacerbated the care burden on women. While this aligns with our theoretical framework, it is noteworthy that despite both governments (Sirleaf and Weah) representing the elite ruling class in Liberia, our participants seem to credit one administration for being more responsive to disease containment. For instance, our participants perceived the Sirleaf administration's willingness to include grassroots organisations and other major stakeholders in Ebola management as a collective effort and a critical reason for the success of Ebola containment. This is probably because, during the initial crisis stage of Ebola, the Sirleaf administration created the National and County-level Ebola task force to brainstorm and initiate strategies to mitigate the spread of Ebola before the arrival of international support. Women's groups, in particular, were invited to be part of the national Ebola response, and there was regular Ebola messaging and communications from the government during this period; as well, on multiple occasions, Sirleaf called for an "all-hands-on-deck" approach to Ebola containment (WHO, 2015; BBC, 2014). Study participants observed that similar strategies were not fully implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Certainly, the Weah administration implemented some of the post-Ebola disease management strategies to contain COVID-19. These included early surveillance, implementing a state of emergency, and restricting local and international travel (Babalola et al., 2022). Yet, participants perceived the administration's approach to COVID-19 management as unitary due to its exclusion of grassroots community-based groups in its response strategies and the government's promotion of alternative COVID-19 remedies. It is possible that the Weah's administration promotion of an alternative solution to COVID-19 containment (see News Public Trust, 2020) may have undermined vaccine uptake and reinforced conspiracy theories about the disease. This experience is not unique to Liberia; in fact, many studies have shown that leadership by positive examples reinforce scientifically proven disease management strategies while negative examples erode trust (Kutor et al., 2022; Nyenswah et al., 2016)."

 

"Refugees aren’t generalities or stereotypes. They are suffering children with desperate parents struggling to find a better life. And for those who survive the dangerous struggle and enter the U.S., their children are taken away and tortured. . . .

 

Families are being torn apart forever. Intentionally. This is one of the most stark, clear choices a Christian can make: Defend torture of children, or support Christ. You can’t do both. You cannot be a Christian and support what the government is doing to families and children."

Jim Meisner Jr, The US Immigration Crisis is a Test for Christians, Patheos, June 30, 2019 

One wonders how America’s right-wing evangelicals live with their choice to support such inhumane treatment of anyone, much less children, some of whom are babes in arms. It is a most monumental failure of Christian imagination not to realize that their Lord and Savior could never countenance such atrocities. Any Christian leaders who do not actively oppose this onslaught on humanity as a grievous sin against the demands of their faith commit an outrage of unfathomable proportions against the Gospel of Jesus Christ and every canon of decency that we know.

Hendricks, Obery M M. Christians Against Christianity: How Right-Wing Evangelicals Are Destroying Our Nation and Our Faith (pp. 101-102). Beacon Press. Kindle Edition. 

 Complacency in the face of popular pain breeds demagoguery.

Charles Dunst, Defeating the Dictators