The Age of Unenlightenment

Madagascan Golden Hognose Snake (Leioheterodon modestus), Réserve de Berenty, Amboasary Sud, Madagascar. Photo by Bernard Dupont. CC BY-SA 2.0

Dear ones,

If the past two weeks have shown us nothing else, they show the reality of our interdependence. Nothing can work without the cooperation of everything else.

No one can rule without the consent of those they seek to rule.

The dysfunction and chaos in the federal government is the logical result of decades of dysfunctional and chaotic leadership in the private sector and in public institutions nationally. Leaders no longer seem to think that it behooves them to know the broad scope, that they need not consider their impacts or the volume of resources required to achieve their visions. Instead, leadership has become an echo chamber of out of touch executives and sycophantic boards that feed each other's delusions and cover for one another's mistakes. Quarterly earnings reports guide tiny despots bent on widespread disruption for narrow gains. We've all experienced this lack of responsible leadership in the workplace and institutions of higher learning. It's one of the reasons why Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies existed in the first place.

As for DEI, it is a policy framework that seeks to implement but does not constitute a civil rights mandate enshrined in law. I have been advocating for its demise as presently employed since before the COVID-19 pandemic. Overwhelmingly leaders from minoritized groups have found that institutional DEI practices increase the amount of uncompensated and unrecognized labor that is expected of us while harming actively harming our advancement and reputations in the workplace, and that the policies that emerge do not protect us.