Circles of life

(9/2022) The other week, those of us raising children sent them back to school. Ours entered an all day program for the first time. Buses to and fro, new clothes, lots of supplies and apple slices. Between coming home from the hospital and attending the first day of school, we make the most of giving our kids room to grow, and understand how things work.

We start with little things at home, sensory toys, toys that do something, being gentle with each other. Kids push boundaries—swinging a toy around to see what happens, how it feels. It's fun until it hits mom, dad, sister, brother, the dog. It’s all fun and games until someone says ouch, or barks at you. We know our children need guidance to learn how their actions impact others. We teach counting to ten, thinking before we speak, listening and trying to see things from another point-of-view. These are guideposts on the path to social salvation.

Kids go to school beginning to understand there are other people in the world. Home is the starting point for modeling our social norms, school is the next arc in our social circle. Teachers, bus drivers, cafeteria staff, custodians, office and administrative staff. It would be ridiculous to expect people of any age to learn in an environment without rules for behavior. School is invaluable for early lessons on how our behavior affects other people, and theirs affects us. It is our connected societal circle of cause and effect. Kids come up against new things everyday. When things don't go their way, their first reaction to frustration is often a tantrum. Adults can do that too. Telling a story of something terrible that might have happened is an easy way to get your audience frustrated with Other People. The Other People have no idea they are being set up. A circle that leads nowhere.

When we send our kids to school our vision is of them becoming responsible fellow Americans. They will have productive jobs, healthy households, raise families of their own. Their destiny is to excel in leadership in the private sector and in our government. Only those poor souls in the land of Other People would stoop to false accusations and conspiracy whispers.

Yet here we are in the twenty-first century, arguing over property rights vs personal rights. For every breath of clean air one of us needs, there's a fossil fuel stock someone else clings to. As points-of-view each is true, but their facts are forever at odds. It seems that leadership is at a loss to talk about common ground. So what we hear on the airwaves is shouting about what is real vs imaginary. Conspiracy theories vs solutions for real issues.

There is so much about so little in the array of sentences typed into social media accounts. Sentences with random accusations. Someone did something the writer feels is evil, traitorous, treasonous, and obvious. Aimed. At. You! Beware, and ready to argue, shout and fight it, whatever "it" is. Attacks start with words. Words become threats of assault on, even murder of, individuals and their families. Real dangers to our neighbors are being manufactured before our eyes. All of this is a distraction from the people who are getting things done.

Our Congress has come through a contentious time of negotiating the details of the H.R.5376 - Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. This will improve parts of our economy that impact every one of us Americans. Whether we like it or not, we are not immune to the impact of the needs of others. The supply chain effects each of us. Food, clean water, and fuel to keep our circles of modern life connected, all need management.

In Frederick County the H.R.5376 - Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 can affect any of our lives. A common example is a tax credit for electric cars.

A concise outline of the H.R.5376 target areas for boosting our economy can be found at www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/5376

All legislation is tedious read. It is worth it when Representatives listen to each other, and reach consensus. If you never read another one, this one is a great example of a circle of consensus. Grown ups let us attend to blusterers. They focused on getting something done. The following eight titles are the areas covered in the Inflation Reduction Act.

• Title I - Committee On Finance
• Title Ii - Committee On Agriculture, Nutrition, And Forestry
• Title Iii - Committee On Banking, Housing, And Urban Affairs
• Title Iv - Committee On Commerce, Science, And Transportation
• Title V - Committee On Energy And Natural Resources
• Title Vi - Committee On Environment And Public Works
• Title Vii - Committee On Homeland Security And Governmental Affairs
• Title Viii - Committee On Indian Affairs

The non-profit sector, fills many gaps that the rest of us don't take care of. The Inflation Reduction Act incorporates tax credits and loans as scalable support to meet a variety of needs. The Nonprofit Infrastructure Investment Advocacy Group (NIIAG) is a coalition of more than 50 organizations (independentsector.org). NIIAG issued the following statement about the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act.

"The Inflation Reduction Act is an important step toward addressing climate change, and we applaud its small but significant funding for parts of the Nonprofit Infrastructure Investment Advocacy Group’s (NIIAG) policy agenda. Investments in resilience, clean postal vehicles, preserving and expanding outdoor recreational spaces, and addressing other infrastructure failings of the past…There is still much work to do."

After a success, it is a little easier to take a breath, count to ten, and think about the next arc in our circle.

Learning to play nice with others is an investment that lasts a lifetime, for a person and a country.

Read other Good Day Good Neighbor's by Dorothea Mordan