By Hannah

We met up at Blake’s house, a two-story in a residential neighborhood of Bowling Green. It was a Thursday evening unlike any other… Well, it wasn’t all that crazy.
Days before, Blake, Andrew, and I had met up for a few minutes to work out details of our collaborative supper. We talked about who would bring what piece of the meal, and what was going to make this project go smooth and swift. I think our main goal was to get everything planned out so that later in the week our dinner would be a calm and welcome environment for discussion and understanding. Not a bad goal, I think. Ultimately, we learned each other’s faces and exchanged numbers, communicating something about a willingness to reach out when it came time to see each other once again.
Because of this positive, face-to-face pre-interaction, I think our dinner went better than it could have gone without the interaction. It created a connection between some members of the group so that we had a comfy start before we would all eventually be corralled into sharing heavier thoughts and opinions amongst the group – a daunting task, yet, the main point of the supper.
Thursday came, and I travelled with Camille, a bright, freshman girl whom I had met at the beginning of the school year in my dorm. She agreed to accompany me because she thought the dinner would be an interesting experience. On the drive over to Blake’s, we talked about our aspirations for the future, which was founded in the academic and social obstacles of the now. Camille had just decided to drop her pre-medicine track and go for an engineering major. She is still interested in service industries, such as healthcare, but is switching gears for a bit. So, Camille and I had our heads wrapped around education and careers before we even stepped foot into the beautiful home in which we were destined to spend a couple hours conversing around a kitchen table.
We arrived a bit early and were greeted by Blake and his mother, Stacy – a nurse practitioner with three young adult children. Throughout the meal, she was not shy about sharing her observations and did a great job contextualizing our conversation in a more “grown-up” way. Overall, she was the pragmatist, and helped guide the rest of the group’s theorizing back down to earth.
We each contributed to the meal: Blake with mac n’ cheese and apple pie, Camille with baked beans, Andrew with the most exciting food, fried chicken, and I with chocolate cake, which Andrew had heartily requested. It was a fine meal for college students who were used to neither creating meals nor eating foods outside of their dorm rooms and dining halls.
As we ate, we talked about the neighborhood we were in, and what it was like years before, as Blake and Stacy’s family had been situated there for 12 years. This spurred us into talking more deeply about each of our own neighborhoods and their demographic makeups. Later on, we discussed the concept of a neighbor, and how each of us interacted differently with the people living in our communities. This brought up the question, “Do we owe our neighbors anything? And if so, do we owe them more or less than the people who are not our neighbors?” We defined and redefined the term neighbor to exclude and then include people who were beyond a certain proximity of us and outside the communities with which we associated. Andrew brought up the point that we might feel a stronger bond with the people closest to us, but that we should not prioritize them any higher than the people who are living across the globe from us. We all had a slightly different opinion on how much we should be involved with the lives of those around us. It was nice to hear the extremes and the middle grounds all represented on this particular issue. Hearing these diverse perspectives made me see how much experiences can shift your stance on socially and politically charged issues.
Once we began thinking globally, I think all of our brains started awakening to the many possibilities of ways the discussion could continue because we all became at least somewhat more vocal.
Technological advances and growing communities were the next topics we discussed. With healthcare being central to and Stacy’s profession and Camille’s probable future, we spent a considerable amount of time thinking on the ways technology had been detrimental and beneficial to the many communities, including the overall global community.
Blake is a film major who seemed to be very involved with film/theatre projects taking place at Western Kentucky University. In the few hours I knew him, he seemed to me passionate about people and their inner workings. At least, he tended to talk about how individual’s problems fit into the wicked problems we were discussing.
Andrew is a math major. He plans to teach mathematics at the collegiate level. As you would expect, he liked thinking about the logistics of solutions and how they might not “add up” to solving all parts of the problem.
The largest portion of our discussion had to do with the educational industry and where it was headed. As college students and a mother who had two in college and one who would probably end up there soon, we had given thought to this topic and felt our opinions had weight because of our experience. It was also interesting that Camille and I had discussed education earlier in the evening. That probably helped us communicate our opinions more clearly over supper. Andrew enlightened us with statistics on the educational crisis in The United States, and he and I were able to compare our understanding of the academia in other countries.
We also talked a bit about the different cultures we were a part of or simply knew about because of second-hand experiences. A few of us had in common that we had gotten close with some exchange students (Blake’s family even hosting one) and all of us had some exposure to young adults like ourselves who were very obviously of another ethnic background. What everyone shared on this topic was fun to hear.
By the time we were cleaning up the table, we were quite comfortable with one another and had transitioned into telling funny memories of our grade-school teachers. I think we all left feeling jovial.
Although we didn’t solve any wicked problems, I think we all learned about a perspective on a topic that we had never heard proposed before. Our conversation was very relaxed, and so it was an easy space to share. At the very least, we grew in our empathy for people and in our knowledge of problematic circumstances. We each came out of the supper better equipped to contribute to humanity, and I think that is where this type of deliberation does the most good. This type of deliberation surely did not help much of anything about our world, but it did help us grow as individuals striving to be citizens and community members every day.
In class we read a lecture by a professor at UC Berkeley named Robert Hass. At the end of his lecture, “Green Fire, the Still Point, and an Oak Grove: Some Reflections on the Humanities and the Environment,” he included this quotation:

This is the world our students are inheriting. They are going to need a sense of urgency and patience and a sense of complexity and everything they can learn about the processes of the natural world, if we are going to protect what our science tells us is at the core of life, the richness and diversity of the gene pool. The task may be beyond us. Wildlife biologists these days often have meetings with titles like, “Which Species Can We Save” or “Which Species Are We Willing To Save.” But we have to act as if we can accomplish it. We have to act as if the soul gets to choose.

This quotation correctly appropriates an urgency to the significant, or wicked, problems that society has not been able to successfully address. Hass is focused here on a scientifically pronounced issue we are faced with, but that does not mean his observations cannot translate into how we are tackling other wicked problems. A central theme of my Kentucky kitchen table and the citizen and self class is that we are responsible for change needed to better society. During the meal, we had discussed what citizenship meant to each of us, and came up with the idea that it may be different for everyone, but is grounded in a sense of community welfare. Hass is similarly saying that we are the determining factor of the state of our world. But just our empathies will not spontaneously act outside of us; we must both allow them to work through us and believe that “the soul gets to choose” for what and whom we become impassioned. That change in us – our developing understanding of other people – will be what changes the communities in which we live.

By Andrew

This past Thursday, I rang the doorbell of a stranger while holding a bucket of fried chicken. Before you stop reading, this isn’t as awkward as it sounds. It was the beginning of my Kentucky Kitchen Table, an interesting experience with some equally interesting people. I, along with Hannah and Camille, participated in a dinner hosted by Blake and his mother Stacy at their home in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Sitting around the dining room table with my fried chicken and heaping helpings of mac-n-cheese, baked beans, corn, and chocolate cake, we began our dinner with some timid introductions. Blake is a film major at WKU with a great interest in film production, and his mother Stacy is a nurse practitioner. They have lived in the Bowling Green area for around 12 years, and Blake has a brother who also attends WKU. Hannah is a social psychology major with an interest in performing research, and her friend Camille recently transitioned to an engineering major. After some brief talk about where we are from, including the coincidental realization that Camille and I grew up in fairly close towns, we started our conversation with a big question: What does citizenship mean to you?

I decided to get the ball rolling by describing my friendly neighbor ideal of citizenship within a community, where each member of the community is active in helping improve the community and helping each other. I added that this also means letting others live their lives in peace, unless their actions are harmful to the community. Everybody else seemed to have a similar definition, and Stacy emphasized that what we believe is harmful to the community is subjective. We then discussed how this is often the cause of debate within a community, as debates are often about problems that don’t have clear cut solutions, which we call wicked problems in our class.

From here, we transitioned to a conversation about how well we knew our neighbors/members of our community. While all of us knew some of our neighbors, we all agreed that we didn’t know all of them, including some of the next door neighbors. However, for some of us this wasn’t always the case. For example, Stacy said that during her childhood on the family farm, she knew everyone from the surrounding farms very well, and either Hannah or Camille commented that they knew all of the kids their age that lived close by. Blake commented that now he didn’t see kids outside as much anymore, and that nobody seemed to be around the neighborhood, especially on weekends. We thought that perhaps this isolation among people was due to an increase in technology.

While speaking about other people in our community, we switched topics and talked about people we knew who had very different backgrounds from ourselves. I had a hard time thinking of somebody as I realized that I don’t surround myself with very diverse people. Hannah talked about an exchange student she knew from South America. She described how one of the most peculiar things about him was how intense his work ethic was for school work. He and those that he traveled with all seemed to have this strong desire to work really hard on their school work, showing how different education is portrayed in different cultures. Blake also mentioned a German exchange student from high school who somewhat lacked a sense of humor. Stacy then remembered a man from the Middle East who is still here in Bowling Green. He is a friend of Blake’s brother, and he was taking classes to become a translator at WKU, but when his country fell into war, he couldn’t continue to receive money from his parents. So now he lives with the Baptist Campus Ministry, while trying to learn to drive so he can get a job. However, even under such circumstances, he was very respectful, and at a meal at Stacy’s house, he would even stand up when an adult male walked in the room and introduce himself. We find this odd in our culture, but to him it is just a sign of respect.

After some more food, we continued our conversation with a question of my own. I wanted to know what everyone’s thoughts are on the increasing price of a college education. I pointed out how it has changed the way that colleges operate, as they act more like businesses than they used to, causing things like grade inflation.  I also mentioned how much harder it is to get a sustainable job without getting a college education. I continued to point out a couple characteristics of the problem, and then Stacy asked us if we knew the root cause of the issue. We didn’t have an answer, and we agreed that this is due to the wicked nature of the problem.

From there we changed topics to a conversation about obligation to those in our communities. The first aspect of the question was whether we have any obligation. Stemming off of the citizen conversation earlier in the meal, we all seemed to agree that we have some sort of obligation to help those within our communities live their lives peacefully. Then Blake asked if we felt the same obligation to somebody who wasn’t in your actual neighborhood or town, but halfway around the world. I felt that there was an obligation, depending on how close your relationship is to the person or community you are helping.  However, I also brought up that some people help those far away from them while ignoring those closest to them in need. Stacy asked us if we thought that was common, and we all seemed to agree that while everybody doesn’t do it, it can be easier to send money or aid to a distant place rather than spend your time helping locally. Hannah said she thought that in a capitalist culture like ours, that we would be greedier about our money, but Blake and Camille pointed out that often people would rather lose some money if they can be lazier.

To finish up the meal, we then talked about how often we sat down at meals like that with our families. Stacy told us how she was required to sit and eat dinner with her family at the same time every day, and how she tried to continue that with her family. She pointed out that with the scheduling of activities, it became hard to find a time that worked, and that practice slowly faded away. I talked about how I regretfully didn’t often eat with everyone in my family. While we all in the same area during meals, often the television was on, and the focus wasn’t on conversation. Blake mentioned how he wishes his family sat down and ate together more often, even though he didn’t like it when they still did it. He said that as he got older he started to appreciate that time together, and that sometimes he just wants that time back with his family.

After this, we decided that we needed to go, and we cleaned up and headed out. Thinking back on the meal, I find that I really enjoyed it. While I am not too socially anxious, I often don’t like to put myself in situations where I don’t know anybody, since I hate awkward conversation. However, I found that some prompted questions in addition to food helped get rid of those awkward silences, and created a meaningful conversation that helped me get to know everyone a little bit better. The idea behind the Kentucky Kitchen Table reminds me of Nussbaum’s article, “Socratic Pedagogy: The Importance of Argument.” While this wasn’t a Socratic town hall debate, the concept behind such a debate is reflected in the way we conversed at our meal. The ability to listen to respectfully hear the point of others in a constructive way and speak for yourself to obtain a constructive result (which happened to just be a thoughtful conversation) is central to our democracy, especially in local government. Meals like this are a great way to teach this core aspect of democracy, and I was amazed after leaving the meal at how natural it felt. Perhaps such meals need to happen more often in our communities. A central point of our class is how do we get along with each other, and such conversations are may be the key. The nature of the situation gets rid of that tension between people, and brings out a peaceful conversation that feels like it can resolve any conflict.

On Friday, April 7, 2017, I along with five others attended our Kentuckys Kitchen Table assignment. Our group had dinner at WKU’s campus Chili’s in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The people in our group included Anne and her friend Jill. Anne is an environmental health sciences and philosophy double major from Frankfurt Kentucky. She wants to work with water quality in the future. Jill is a recreation administration major from Louisville, Kentucky, who plans on working for the national park system. Hannah invited her friend Thomas to join her for the dinner. Hannah is a chemistry and biology double major from Madisonville, KY. She plans on going to dental school. Thomas is from Brandenburg, KY. He is majoring in exercise science and plans on becoming a clinical exercise physiologist. Mahesan, who is the friend I brought with me, is a biology major and chemistry minor. His parents both work in the healthcare profession, which has had an impact on him wanting to become a doctor. I am a senior accounting major and I plan on becoming a CPA for a public accounting firm. My family lives in Owensboro, KY, but we are originally from St. Louis, MO. While each of us at the table was a member of the Honor’s College we all had diverse backgrounds that helped to make a memorable conversation.

Our conversation started with us introducing ourselves and speaking a little bit about ourselves. At around this time the server came to the table and we learned that Anne is vegetarian and Jill is vegan. We then had an interesting and informative conversation on dietary choices and lifestyles, how people should work with dietary restrictions, and even other dietary choices and food allergies. After speaking about dietary choices, we talked about the required question of what citizenship means to us. One of the main themes in our conversation was that citizenship is about our personal choices to help those around us and working daily to be an individual who is concerned about what is happening around them. The point was made that most people have a desire to think of themselves, but also a need to connect with others. This could help make a case for deliberation and town hall forums. These settings are a more personal form of being involved in citizenship than say voting. They have the potential to allow others of differing viewpoints to connect and learn from each other. If we can put a face to a cause or viewpoint we can sometimes bring our walls down to see from other perspectives. I brought up that I believed most people are naturally good or have good intentions. One rebuttal to this was that humans are very self-interested and as an infant our minds are naturally a blank slate that is written upon by our upbringing and experiences. This makes the case that people’s good intentions may vary greatly depending on their experiences.

The next question we asked was what we think are the best things in the world, or what is good in the world today. I mentioned that in my economics class we had been viewing overall rates of poverty worldwide and per these statistics recently the global standard of living has been on the rise with less people in poverty. The rebuttal to this was how do we truly know that the statistics are accurate and that globally there have been many social justice and human rights violations. These human rights violations can be evidenced by Syrian chemical weapons attacks or many country’s oppressive treatment of women and persecution of the LGBT communities. This theme relates closely to the wicked problems readings, which consisted of the wicked problems handout and Carcasson’s article on dealing with wicked problems through deliberative engagement. We talked about how these human rights violations are wicked problems since they are difficult to end, but we can seek to minimize them to the best of our abilities. Like the bridge metaphor, the shape of the world (our side of the bridge) is rather dangerous. We do not want to be here with the atrocities happening worldwide. We want to be on the other side of the bridge where people’s human rights are protected and the world is a safer place. One way is for countries to openly talk about these issues and work together to help alleviate them. Not only should representatives of countries deliberate, but it is important for people to deliberate and help alleviate these problems locally. Working together on both fronts may help drive the metaphorical car (us) across the bridge.

A key social justice and human rights issue we talked about was sex trafficking and the prevalence of sex trafficking in Bowling Green. We talked about the factors that go into this complex problem. Due to Bowling Green’s large number of refugee populations, its location near a busy interstate, and lack of resources to fight this issue it has become more prevalent. We discussed how there are organizations that are seeking to help people escape and recover from sex trafficking experiences.

Another key theme we discussed was the role of rapidly advancing technology in the wicked problems of society and our lack of deliberative engagement. We talked about how it was normal in previous generations for families to eat together for dinner daily. We were a more familial and less individualistic society and would discuss life with each other. It seems that nowadays we are always on the move. Our smartphones, tablets, wireless headsets and other mobile technology have enabled us to just grab a quick bite to eat then to spend time to enjoy our meals. Even when people enjoy meals together they are tempted to have their cell phone’s out on the table. It’s almost as if we need to be prepared for when someone may text or call, instead of just enjoying the company of a friend or peer. Humans are social beings, but we are turning to text based, online, and even online video technology to fill these needs. This reliance on technology is not necessarily a negative thing, as technological advances have also benefited society. For the purposes of this class we agreed that text-based and other communications cannot fully substitute face-to-face deliberative engagement. For example, there is still an awkwardness factor on skype conference calls. It is also easier to misinterpret textual communication, especially when trying to express multiple viewpoints. In this situation, face-to-face communication allows for necessary social ques, tones of voice, and inflections. There is also a personal sense of being in the presence of others in face-to-face communication. These factors contribute to effective deliberations.

Related to the rapid evolution of technology and individualism is the treatment of the elderly in society. Thomas shared some of his experiences of working with the elderly. He mentioned that oftentimes those in elderly living communities are put into these care facilities after having just lost a spouse or loved one. Many are also placed into care because they are becoming unable to take care of themselves.  What they need most during these times is the love and support of family members. Many times, though, these elderly individuals rarely receive family visitors. We discussed the emotional and physical toll that loneliness and stress has on the elderly. While it is heartbreaking to hear of the neglect that the elderly often experience, there are countries and programs that seek to help the elderly stay connected. One such program in Finland seeks to offer young adults reduced rent at a senior home. In this way, the younger generation can spend time with the older generation. The experience of an elderly individual spending time with a younger person alleviates their loneliness. It also allows the younger generation to draw on the knowledge of the previous generations.

I learned many important things from our Kentucky Kitchen Table. I learned the importance of seeing the world in a human perspective. I am very used to viewing the world in my limited knowledge through statistical trends. When many people are involved I tend to think in a way that distances myself from the situation. I learned that whether the world is less in poverty than years ago, there are still large amounts of human rights violations occurring worldwide. Many countries are still struggling and dealing with wicked problems. Often countries or foreign aid go into a country, but do not reach their intended destination and attempts to help other countries can end in worse results socially and economically. I started to realize the prevalence of wicked problems in our world. The point we had made in class and the readings about wicked problems being caused by those who intend to remedy them started to resonate with me. Oftentimes a new politician comes along and vows to remedy America’s problems, but does not realize the unintended policy consequences that worsen the issue. In these types of situations if our representatives could reason through deliberation instead of polarization, we could come up with better plans to help alleviate societies problems.

I also learned from our conversation of the treatment of the elderly. It never occurred to me the stress that many elderly in elderly living homes are going through even before they come into the facilities. I learned to empathize with their situation and put myself in their shoes. Thomas brought up the point of how people would feel if they were 90, recently lost their spouses, and were put into a home where there is a chance their familys will not visit them often or at all. In the class and readings on empathy we had talked about having the correct balance of empathy to understand that each other’s points of view are valid without making someone’s situation our own. I feel like empathy is useful when deliberating, because deliberation requires listening to opposing viewpoints. Listening to opposing viewpoints often requires empathy.

To sum up our conversation themes, we first touched on dietary choices, lifestyles, and food allergies and being empathetic in regards to that topic. We then talked about citizenship as the individual ways we seek to help the world around us and how deliberation seeks to solve local and global problems and help the world around us. Relating deliberation to citizenship is an important aspect of the class. The next topic we touched on was the state of the world as it relates to wicked problems of human rights violations. One such human rights issue is sex trafficking, which is a more local issue than many are aware. There was some debate on if human beings are naturally good and the rapid advancement of technology was discussed. We ended with a discussion on elderly people being neglected by family and the importance of empathy and sympathy for them at that stage of their lives. To sum up what I learned from the dinner, I learned about the prevalence of wicked problems in our society and the difficulty there is due to polarization to talk about these problems. I also learned the importance of empathy in the context of wicked problems and the need for it to truly listen when deliberating. Overall, I enjoyed our Kentucky Kitchen Table meal. I found it energizing to have a meaningful discussion around the dinner table and realized that I should try to have memorable meals with my loved ones and friends more often.

 

By Anne

On April 7, 2017, our group had our Kentucky Kitchen Table in Bowling Green, Kentucky. We visited the local Chili’s, with a group of 6 diverse students. While enjoying our food, we talked about everything from the situation in Syria to vegans. While our conversation over dinner may have seemed random, it provided insight into the way that many people view their role as citizens, and how we can make small changes in our lives to make a lasting impact on the wicked problems surrounding us.

The names of the participants were Ryan, Anne, Mahesan, Jill, Thomas, and Hannah. Of the group, all of us were students but there were a variety of ages. Additionally, we talked a lot about our hometowns from around the Kentucky and Tennessee area, and even learned that one of the group members, Thomas, never had a true hometown because he grew up with a military family who constantly moved around. Ryan is from Owensboro, Kentucky, but was born in St. Louis. He is an accounting major working on his CPA. He brought along Mahesan, who is a Biology major and Chemistry minor. Mahesan wants to become a doctor. Hannah is from Madisonville, Kentucky, and is also majoring in Chemistry with a double major in Biology. She plans on going to dental school. She brought along Thomas, who is from Brandenburg. He is an exercise science major who plans on becoming a clinical exercise physiologist. I am from Frankfort, the capital of Kentucky, and I am double majoring in Philosophy and Environmental Health Science. I plan on working with water quality. I brought along Jill, who is majoring in Recreation Administration and plans on working for the National Parks. Our group was truly diverse, and hails from a variety of different backgrounds.

The first question that we asked to get our conversation was, “Beyond voting, paying taxes, and following laws, what does citizenship mean to you?” While it was difficult for us all to think of the answers, some people talked about how much it means to them to be empathetic toward other people in order to truly be a good citizen. To do this, some people suggested that we treat others like we care about them, while others suggested that you simply “be a good person.” Additionally, we talked about how there is an importance to building a community where people care about one another, notably a community in which neighbors would work together to solve a common problem.

Finally, we talked about the importance of communication with others. Technology was deemed as one of the main obstacles against effective communication, whether it be from miscommunications online or the lack of communication face-to-face. However, someone did mention that, while communicating online, we tend to disclose more about ourselves, and in that sense, we form closer relationships with other people. I, and others, agreed with this notion. Regardless, we decided that people seem to be naturally good and will be as good of citizens as they can be with the resources they have, regardless of their natural communication or social skills.

The second question brought up during the dinner was, “What do you think are the best things about our world today?” Immediately, everyone began thinking of the worst things in our world today, and noting the exceptions to the worst things as some “good things” about our world. Ryan talked about how the overall standard of living, economically, has gone up in the United States over the past few years. However, Jill mentioned that just because the technical standard of living has increased doesn’t mean that people are any happier. People in our society can be pretty lonely and unhappy, although compared to some other countries in the world we are quite fortunate.

We also brought this idea into thinking about the situation in war-torn countries such as Syria. As a country, Syria has more problems than the US in terms of basic human rights and standards of living. When considering this, we talked about the wicked problem of fixing these conditions for the inhabitants of Syria, as well as the wicked problem of whether it would be better to focus on raising the standard of living, and in that way impact human rights, or whether the country should focus on getting its citizens basic human rights which would than impact the standard of living. Many people in the group expressed that they felt hopeless and helpless in being able to solve this wicked problem. As a problem, it seems too big for any one person to put a dent in. However, we talked about how making small changes in your own community to be more accepting of refugees and people in general can make a large impact if everyone does it. This invokes the thought of the “Why Bother” reading which we read in class, which talks about the large impacts a community can make if they band together.

An example of this was brought up by Ryan. He talked about how one of the big issues in Bowling Green is the sex trafficking rings which have been found here. These organizations often prey on the abnormally large refugee population which Bowling Green houses. These refugees sometimes have little choice in what they do to survive, and are vulnerable to these types of organizations. To combat this wicked problem, a faculty member named Dr. Thrasher helps out at a local organization named Hotel, Inc., as well as providing a place for sex trafficking victims of Bowling Green and the surrounding area to recover and find a place in the world. This is a great example of one person doing their part to help remedy the issues that they care most about.

Another example of an issue brought up was the overall treatment of elderly people in our society. These people are often ignored and forcibly put into nursing homes, where they sometimes subjected to unfair treatment and an environment which is not conducive to creativity. Thomas talked in depth about how if we all treated elderly people with more respect it would be a better world. Personally, Thomas volunteers at a nursing home, and tries to do his part in keeping the local elderly people company and helping them to, in turn, have good end-of-life care. He did mention, though, that his efforts do not help with the systematic bias that happens in the nursing home system. More affluent people will always get better care.

From this conversation, there were several themes: that doing your small part can make a difference, that having empathy for your fellow citizen can make the world a better place, and that while the world may seem like a hopeless place filled with wicked problems, we can all make a difference in our own ways. These relate heavily to some of the things we have talked about in class.

The first reading I would like to talk about is the empathy reading. We talked a lot about empathy as a route to being an impactful citizen. Empathy, as discussed in the reading, involves knowing that you know nothing about another person’s struggles and accepting that they are struggling, even if you don’t believe them. Relating to empathy, we talked about how it is important to be empathetic to your neighbors and peers as a good citizen. In doing this, we said, society as a whole will be better. While empathy seems to be a small thing to do, it can make a large impact when we all validate each other’s feelings by empathizing.

Another reading which related to our conversation was the reading, “Why Bother?” In this reading, the author talks about how if everyone approached the environmental wicked problem by making small personal changes that we can all solve the issue together. In our conversation, we related this concept to the wicked problem of the war in Syria and the surrounding areas. By doing small things such as calling Congress about accepting refugees into the US and by donating some money to the cause, we can do our small part to solving the issue. Wicked problems such as this do not have one cause or one solution, and so it is important to keep trying to contribute to the solution, even when you might sometimes feel hopeless.

Overall, I learned a lot about the different ways we all try to be good citizens. While we all have different ways of getting over the “bridge” of solving the problems in our world, we all try to cross it by using our own talents to do good. While Thomas volunteers at nursing homes and Dr. Thrasher works with sexual assault victims, I will be right here in my corner of the world, working on purifying the world’s water supply.

While we all approach citizenship in different ways, there is no one “right” way to be a good citizen. While our efforts may sometimes seem fruitless in the complicated problems our world faces, when citizens band together as a community we can make a noticeable difference.