In her TEDtalk, Dr. McIntosh’s description of a hypothetical, imaginary line of social justice above which is unearned advantage (privilege) and below is unearned disadvantage reminds me of another hypothetical, imaginary line that I have been using for years to guide my life.
I don’t remember who to credit or where I learned the analogy…
In her TEDtalk, Dr. McIntosh’s description of a hypothetical, imaginary line of social justice above which is unearned advantage (privilege) and below is unearned disadvantage reminds me of another hypothetical, imaginary line that I have been using for years to guide my life.
I don’t remember who to credit or where I learned the analogy of using the airline pilot’s system of correcting flight course drift to an imaginary line. The essence is that when the plane drifts off course due to outside forces like wind, the pilot makes a conscious decision to turn the plane back on to the correct course - the imaginary line - thus always moving forward to the desired destination.
In our household we call this the squiggly path. You are never off the squiggly path. When you realize the current direction your life is taking is not in line with your desired destination, it is time to make a correction. You make a conscious decision to turn your life back towards that imaginary line and keep moving forward towards your desired destination.
Whether it’s losing weight, managing your career, raising children, selecting college classes, planting a garden, being kind - respecting the squiggly path and making the necessary corrections along the way will get you where you want to end up.
Seems to me that Americans (and people around the globe) are beginning to see the hypothetical, imaginary line of social justice and are working to make course corrections to get us where we want to be. And that’s a good thing. Not an easy thing. But a good thing.
I like your analogy, and it's something I wish was accurate. It seems to me, however, that like most analogies, it neglects the completely corrupt, hateful and immoral people who populate the party of Trump. The only way this Squiggly Path works for the Trumpery sort is if we accept their destination as desirable which, of course, it is not!
In her TEDtalk, Dr. McIntosh’s description of a hypothetical, imaginary line of social justice above which is unearned advantage (privilege) and below is unearned disadvantage reminds me of another hypothetical, imaginary line that I have been using for years to guide my life.
I don’t remember who to credit or where I learned the analogy of using the airline pilot’s system of correcting flight course drift to an imaginary line. The essence is that when the plane drifts off course due to outside forces like wind, the pilot makes a conscious decision to turn the plane back on to the correct course - the imaginary line - thus always moving forward to the desired destination.
In our household we call this the squiggly path. You are never off the squiggly path. When you realize the current direction your life is taking is not in line with your desired destination, it is time to make a correction. You make a conscious decision to turn your life back towards that imaginary line and keep moving forward towards your desired destination.
Whether it’s losing weight, managing your career, raising children, selecting college classes, planting a garden, being kind - respecting the squiggly path and making the necessary corrections along the way will get you where you want to end up.
Seems to me that Americans (and people around the globe) are beginning to see the hypothetical, imaginary line of social justice and are working to make course corrections to get us where we want to be. And that’s a good thing. Not an easy thing. But a good thing.
Thank you for this… Golden Rule part two!
As a pilot this strikes home with me. I'll use this idea to keep my life on course. Thank you.
Fabulous thinking.
If I may, I'd like to adopt this great analogy into our household. Just brilliant!
Squiggly line. Perfect. Thank you.
I like your analogy, and it's something I wish was accurate. It seems to me, however, that like most analogies, it neglects the completely corrupt, hateful and immoral people who populate the party of Trump. The only way this Squiggly Path works for the Trumpery sort is if we accept their destination as desirable which, of course, it is not!
Two great posts in a row
Cannot help but embrace this way of thinking 💙