Josh Morgan

You know, a lot of us who were kids in the 80s were told the myth that a stranger in a van was around every corner waiting to get us. Wild that it's actually a problem now and the gov. is the one doing the kidnapping.

We need trust to reverse polarization & pull our communities from a socioeconomic tailspin.

This isn't just a societal issue. You & I need trust to be happier, healthier, & smarter in our daily lives.

Like @roderickstruth.bsky.social says, you & I have to start somewhere.

What do you think?

Q: What else can be done?

A: Create space around the positive. Don't devote yourself to fighting the negative.

🏅 Get involved in at least one cause you care about.
🫂 Live the Golden Rule. Support your loved ones and cheer their wins. ("Who can I celebrate today?")
🩼 Ask for help when you need it.

Q: What can be done to reverse the decline of trust among Americans?

A: We need shared wins & shared resources.

📚 Support public education. libraries, & media. Private institutions and mass media push fear to create competition.
🗳️ Support local leaders who offer their values, not fear of others.

Line chart showing 46.2% of Americans who said "Most people can be trusted" in 1972 versus 25.2% in 2024.

Line chart showing a decline of social trust among White Americans from 1972 to 2024. The same chart shows historically low trust among non-White Americans during the same period.

According to 2024 GSS data from @norc.org, social trust among Americans has dropped 5-6 percentage points in the 2020s.

Only 1 in 4 Americans now say "Most people can be trusted."

Race continues to be the most significant factor, with White trust declining and non-White trust even more rare.

seastersjones keep your mangos in th... @ArcticMangoes People often mistake socializing regularly for community. If there's no commitment to care, there's no community, no matter how fun the socializing is.

[FINALE] Awakening Compassion at Work - Monica Worline (Replay) (POY 68) - The Plural of You Monica Worline has co-authored a book about the benefits of compassion at work, and about how we can make our workplaces better for everyone.

I have decided to end The Plural of You podcast—for real this time. There are several reasons why I’m ending it, mostly because I think I’ve reached the ceiling of what I can do with it.

Before I go, I thought I’d share the conversation that shaped my beliefs about helping people the most.

Trump's military parade has sponsors including Coinbase and the UFC. Yes, I'm sure my grandfathers served specifically to prop up the corporatocracy we have today. Thank you, Mr. Trump.

The Effect of the 2020 Black Lives Matter Protests on Police Budgets: How “Defund the Police” Sparked Political Backlash Abstract. This article investigates whether a core political demand of the 2020 Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests was realized: “defund the police.” Origin

The Black Lives Matter / "Defund the police" protests in 2020 had no effect on police budgets in Democrat cities but *increased* those budgets in Republican cities—the opposite of what they were going for. Yikes. doi.org/10.1093/socp...

Quote from Alex Forsythe: "The more we expand the [Little Free Pantries] locally, the stronger the safety net becomes and the more we start thinking about community care as a whole."

We shouldn’t need to supplement our social safety nets with things like Little Free Pantries, but here we are. Alex Forsythe, who stewards these pantries, sees a world where everyone has their needs met. We all rely on people like her to catch us when we fall through society’s cracks.

Let's talk about community safety nets 🪢 With social safety nets stripped, where can people in need turn to? Alex Forsythe shares her experience with Little Free Pantries in Alabama.

I’d like to introduce you to Alex Forsythe. With social safety nets stripped, where can people in need turn to? Alex shares her experience with a network of Little Free Pantries in Alabama. Check out our conversation in my monthly newsletter.

I can't believe caring about Palestinian children is now considered anti-Semitic. What a world we live in.

Small screen capture of a spreadsheet with 11 columns and 420 text entries.

I've been writing an encyclopedia of American social issues because I haven't seen one written since the 1990s. I'm up to 420 (heh) social issues affecting Americans and have written entries for about a third of them.

Below is a preview of my list, broken into 11 categories.

Americans’ Trust in One Another Americans trust each other less than they did a few decades ago. We explore why this is, and why some are more trusting than others.

@pewresearch.org published a data-rich essay about social trust among Americans. They point to education, income, and geography as primary factors in the decline of trust. Their state-by-state map is also something I haven't seen before. Interesting and well done.

Here's an article related to my recent writing on toxic empathy. Just bewildering.

@roderickstruth.bsky.social isn't just wise. He's also humble, especially when talking about his book. 😅 You can hear the whole conversation this month on The Plural of You.

3D charts. Ew!

Quote from Roderick Douglass: "This only ends one way: either climate change or revolution. It's probably going to happen in the relatively near future, if not our lifetime then the next generation. This is go-time. We really need to prepare."

@roderickstruth.bsky.social is a wise person. Being prepared doesn’t mean giving up all of your comforts to be an activist. It means starting with what you have to help the people around you, especially your loved ones and neighbors.

Roderick’s book, Starting Somewhere, is full of wisdom like this.

Organizing for awkward people 📣 Community organizing can be intimidating for many of us who are aspiring helpers. Roderick Douglass wrote a book to share his wisdom about it.

I’d like to introduce you to @roderickstruth.bsky.social. He’s a community organizer from Binghamton, New York. He also wrote a new book titled Starting Somewhere: Community Organizing for Socially Awkward People Who’ve Had Enough.

My chat with Roderick is in my newsletter and podcast.

I wrote recently about how "toxic empathy" is spreading in American culture. Looks like coverage of the issue is picking up steam.

YouTube video by Jamyang Pelsang - Film Fight Fanatic Jet Li vs. Yasuaki Kurata - Fist of Legend (Original Cantonese and Mandarin Re-Sound)

Hard choice for my favorite, but Jet Li vs. Yasuaki Kurata from Fist of Legend may be it.

What is the meaning of life? 15 possible answers – from a palliative care doctor, a Holocaust survivor, a jail inmate and more I asked some well-known names for their thoughts on the ultimate existential question. Their answers were fascinating, funny – and could help us frame our days on Earth

What is the meaning of life? 15 possible answers – from a palliative care doctor, a Holocaust survivor, a jail inmate and more

In Praise of Empathy: Why “Toxic Empathy” Won’t Last - The Plural of You A subculture is emerging that claims empathy is “progressive,” “sinful,” and “parasitic.” What can aspiring helpers do to outlast the fad?

I recently stumbled onto what I call a "Toxic Empathy" movement in our society, led by Elon Musk. Musk and other far-right grifters are pushing the narrative that empathy is no longer a desirable skill. I couldn't shake my disgust, so I wrote a blog post about it.

Quote by Melanie Hood-Wilson: "Privilege is one of those things you don't notice until you don't have it."

“We all have privilege,” @melaniehood-wilson.bsky.social told me. She said it is the “height of arrogance” to assume we don’t.

Some have labelled privilege a dirty word. For us as empathetic people, it shouldn’t be.

Being aware of what advantages you may have can help you help others.

That section radicalized how I think about national politics. Great book!

@peter-metsopoulos.bsky.social Thank you, Peter. I went in and corrected some of the auto-generated text based on your comment.

You can help stop racism. Here's how. ✊ Too many Americans think they can't—or won't—do anything about racism. Melanie Hood-Wilson is building communities to help reach them.

I’d like to introduce you to @melaniehood-wilson.bsky.social. She consults on programs and projects around the country that relate to teaching, learning, diversity, equity, and inclusion.

My full conversation with Melanie is available in my monthly newsletter and podcast, The Plural of You.

I'm in shock. I've gone down the rabbit hole of the "toxic empathy" subculture online and I don't want to believe it.

Empathy as positive skill seems to be under attack.

For all the talk about America's decline, I'd say the labeling of empathy as a bad thing would put us on the fast track.

Check out @5calls.org, too!

Photo of a Rode PodMic, Scarlett Solo audio mixer, and an XLR cable

My old USB mic of 10 years died. Time for an upgrade.