issues-in-maryland.yaml

title: Letter to a friend (TODO create identifier for friend, and myself)
comments:
  - We need a way to talk about the structure of the myutu document.
    This is separate from comments which can simply be included using the
    standard YAML comment syntax (and I don't think these get parsed, so they
    should only be notes on why the YAML doc was written a certain way).
  - We need tags and also links. We have no standard syntax for either.
  - We need a type system for entities, see Clojure's core.spec, which is
    mindful of semantic web ideas, among others.
author: glass.bead.person/dav
description:
  An old friend with an upper-middle-class lifestyle and I had a conversation
  about "what can be done" given the current state of America and the increase
  in intolerance.
myutu:
  seed premise: maryland and california are "doing OK"
  support: 
    - I am aware of concrete reports of increases in discriminiation (including
      violence) to women, Jews, apparently Muslim, and other people
      <citation-needed>. My perception is that we are in the midst of the
      largest slide backwards in terms of tolerance and inclusivity since I
      became aware of the popular political landscape.
    - Maryland and California may not have experienced a backslide in the
      acceptance of racism and other forms of discriminiation, as has happened
      in strongholds of <trumpism>. Things do seem worse where Trump had
      greater support.
    - cf. Southern Strategy
  counterclaim-refinement:
    - claim: Maryland in particular has a history of racism that profoundly
        affects Baltimore schools
      support: link to Gabe's description of the history of Baltimore and
        schools
      note: personal relationship exists between recipient and Gabe (this plus
        initials would be enough to identify)
    - The democratic agenda (and aid agendas in general) have suffered from a
      lack of evaluation and assessment. This provides a rational basis for
      Gov. Hogan's
      - Lack of willingness to fund Baltimore schools
      - desire to have an oversight committee
  related:
    - Issue of daughter's tendency to assert superiority is a common impulse
      and runs counter (or at least orthogonal) to systemic well-being. What do
      we do with that? I appreciate the impulse to at least keep it humble.
  potential actions:
      - Write a letter to both the Mayor's and Governor's office explaining
        your situation and asking for guidance. You may mention the needs of
        your own well-resourced daughter as well as the needs of others you
        wish to highlight.
      - Position within Exelon as a large company in Baltimore (and other
        cities with severe urban poverty issues like Chicago - also a very
        similar racial history there, originally being a *great* place for
        people of color), there is an interest in making sure the community for
        employees is a good one.
        - This is distinct from the issues surrounding energy / climate, but
          could potentially be synergetic.