21 minute read
The Fear Right Here
BY PATRICIA SANDERS
When people hear that I’ve been traveling for the past four years, they’ll usually ask me two questions. First: What’s your favorite country? I never know how to answer that one. I love them all.
The second question tends to be: Weren’t you afraid? That’s easier to answer: Yes. Of course.
But the truth is, I don’t think travel is any more frightening than everyday life. Just being alive is terrifying. It’s why we work so hard to create stable, safe lives for ourselves, and why we usually stick to what’s familiar. It’s why we buy six different kinds of insurance, and wear a helmet when we ride a bike, and leave the chain on the door when a stranger knocks.
Part of the reason I went traveling in the first place was that I realized this. I figured, if life is always going to be scary and basically unpredictable, I might as well spend it seeing the world. Fear didn’t go away, but when I accepted it as a fact of life and stopped trying to fight or avoid it, it turned into a passport.
When Franklin Delano Roosevelt said that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself, he was speaking from personal experience. He had contracted polio twelve years earlier, which put him in a wheelchair. He surely had gone through the terror of not knowing whether the disease would kill him, or how it would affect his life and career. Then, just before his inauguration in 1933, he had nearly been assassinated. FDR knew fear.
I think President Roosevelt’s phrase meant much more than just encouragement toward positive thinking. I think FDR was pointing to the fact that fear – when we fear it, and think of it as something unmanageable and overwhelming, that we need to avoid at all costs – develops enormous destructive power.
OPINION The Fear Right Here
When he used that famous phrase, Roosevelt was trying to coax Americans to step up to the challenges of the Great Depression. He felt that fear had paralyzed Americans, and he was attempting to stir them up into positive action that would help lift them out of the economic morass. Fear can paralyze, and paralysis can destroy an economy, a career, a relationship or a life.
Fear can also spiral into paranoia, and it can spur people to violence. This, I believe, is the risk that America faces now – and not only America at large, but every city and community within it, even Globe-Miami. It’s already happening on Facebook pages and in Twitter feeds.
Many Americans have noticed the divisiveness and polarization in politics and society – and most (60%, according to a recent Canadian research study) feel pessimistic that we will ever be able to unite enough to address the country’s challenges.
Fear is ripping us apart. We’ve become so afraid of each other that we’re destroying our communities. And well on the way to destroying our democracy.
The tragedy is that this fear, like most fear, is unfounded, unnecessary, and blown way out of proportion. It’s being stirred up by social media platforms and their advertisers, which profit from getting our attention.
When people are afraid, their attention becomes heightened and they will set aside other priorities in order to learn more about the source of their fear. They will listen to people who validate and encourage their fear. And they’ll obey people who claim to have a solution to the supposed threat. That’s how fear becomes an effective method of control. That’s how it becomes real.
Much of the scary or appalling material we see on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other platforms isn’t true – it’s made up of messages tailored to each of us individually, intended to get our attention and keep it. Often that’s done through fear and outrage.
Social media creates a nightmare full of our own personal demons, and it’s so terrifying that we don’t know how to wake up from it. No one can get our attention away from it or talk us out of it, because our screens are full of it. We’re mistaking our Facebook feeds for reality. And mistaking reality for something terrible.
The documentary The Social Dilemma describes how artificial intelligence systems at Facebook, Twitter and other platforms are propagating fearinducing opinions and misperceptions. These platforms have no real agenda, apparently, except to maximize ad revenue. It’s happening automatically, through these algorithms. And the executives at the tech companies that own these platforms are making too much money to want to change things.
But in the process, they’re irresponsibly creating a state of fear that makes Americans brittle, guarded and, at worst, prepared to engage in violence against one another.
Because of this social media–induced fear, Americans of both political parties are becoming more and more suspicious of one another. Democrats believe Republican policies “are so misguided that they threaten the nation’s well-being” – and vice versa. Republicans feel the same way about Democrat policies.
The Canadian study concluded that “at its current level, polarization threatens the stability of American democracy.”
Fear doesn’t have to be a killer. It doesn’t have to drive us over the edge. Fear that is accepted as the price of life on earth – the price of living in a diverse, free society – loses its cutting edge. It turns into courage and openness and trust. Fear, accepted, makes possible community and democracy. It’s possible to say, “I’m afraid, I’m not sure I can trust you, but I’m willing to talk to you and find out if that’s really true.” That’s essentially what I did four years ago when I flew off to Bangkok. I gave the world a chance, and it changed my life.
But social media is teaching us to let fear be our master. To give ourselves up to misunderstandings, manipulation, division and violence. To stop thinking, and keep scrolling. To share memes instead of understanding. To like outrageous posts instead of loving one another.
We always thought that America’s greatest enemies would come from overseas – from Russia, China or the Middle East. Turns out we don’t need any help to bring America to its knees.
The call was coming from inside the house.
And the answer isn’t complicated: Put down the damn phone. The Social Dilemma features interviews with executives, designers and engineers from tech companies, as well as psychologists and researchers to explain why social media is so addictive and so threatening to our society. The Social Dilemma is currently showing on Netflix. If you don’t have Netflix, information is available at www.thesocialdilemma.com.
FDR campaigning and shaking hands with farmer, C.M. Camp, en route to Warm Springs, Georgia October 23,1932. Courtesy of National Archives.
“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” – John F. Kennedy
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Shop Local, Continued from page 1
With Black Friday and the 10th Annual Small Business Saturday just around the corner, this is the time to step up and shop local.
So take a stroll in the Historic District and discover a world of hometown enterprise. Show them some love this season and you’ll find it coming back to you a thousand fold.
Strolling the Historic District
High Desert Humane Society
High Desert Humane Society 150 W. Mesquite, Globe/669 N. Broad Street, Globe
The HDHS has been finding forever homes for the area’s dogs and cats for decades. They operate two facilities: one for dogs on Mesquite Street and one for cats on South Broad. They do great work on behalf of our homeless furry friends, including the very successful Trap, Neuter and Release program for feral cats. Show them love this season by donating to the TNR program, dropping off dog or cat food, or adopting a furry friend this holiday season. United Jewelry
United Jewelry 135 N. Broad Street, Globe
United Jewelry, owned by the Bernstein family, has been serving the community for over 75 years. The shop offers not only a large selection of watches, fine jewelry, and gifts, but also musical instruments, accessories and more. They offer layaway, gift wrapping and engraving will have extended hours during the Christmas season.
Hollis Cinemas 161 N. Broad Street, Globe
The pandemic has hit theaters especially hard, and Hollis Cinemas was just recently able to reopen. Prior to that, they have offered popcorn and pickles on Fridays for pickup which was a big hit with the locals. Hollis has socially distancing protocols in place, so you can still enjoy big-screen entertainment this holiday season. Thinking of a stocking stuffer? Consider a gift pack of tickets from Hollis Cinemas.
Knotty Fox
Knotty Fox Workshop 101 N. Broad Street, Globe
This local business is a craft shop specializing in custom, one-of-a-kind rustic pieces, hand-carved signs, furniture, art and more. They even made the custom pizza peel for Bravo! They will be hosting Black Friday specials and a special Knotty Fox Holiday Photo Op. The Photo Op will take place on December 3 from noon to 6 p.m. Bring your family to snap a photo on their specially
designed Western boardwalk!
Bouquets on Broad
Bouquets on Broad 610 N. Broad Street, Globe
Every event and occasion is made better with flowers and Bouquets on Broad is where to go. Christie Cothurn, owner and certified florist never closed shop even this Spring when the pandemic forced the temporary closure of many businesses. “We were considered essential”, she says. Funerals. As a family-owned flower shop, Bouquets on Broad is passionate about supplying fresh, long-lasting floral arrangements. This holiday season try saying it with flowers. Where you can also find an array of holiday gifts as well. And if you want to just pick up some fresh flowers to brighten your day, you can do that too! She is offering 25% off on Nov. 28th, National Small Business Day.
Hollis Cinemas Pickle Barrel Trading Post
Pickle Barrel Trading Post 404 S. Broad Street, Globe
It’s hard to overstate just how much is packed into this one shop. Their tag line, “You Won’t Believe What’s Inside,” has held true since they opened over 15 years ago. They have an excellent online store as well as their flagship store on South Broad, where they offer everything from Native American artisans to yard art and Southwestern books and music. Covering all price points and interests, the Pickle Barrel Trading Post has been a destination stop for both locals and visitors since opening. They welcome the entire family, including well-behaved pets.
Shop Local, Continued on page 7
Farmers Market Wednesdays 11am–1pm
Reevis Mountain Farms, Bert's Breads, May's Honey and more!
Simply Sarah
Est 1996
The Cobre Valley Arts Center 101 N. Broad Street, Globe
The Arts Center will be hosting their Annual Festival of Trees this holiday season where they invite community members and organizations to decorate a small tree to put in one of the many windows throughout the Center. The CVCA has served as an anchor for social and cultural events for over three decades while also representing the arts - from live theater to fine art and the local quilters guild. Although the pandemic has curtailed many events and theater productions this year, they remain open to visitors and their gift shop offers a wide array of items from books on our area to fine jewelry and crafts from local artists. Support the arts and visit the Center this season.
Turn the Page 101 N. Broad Street, Globe
Specializing in vintage Western and rockabilly apparel for both men and women, this shop carries Wranglers - including kids’ sizes - and is the only place where you can ask for special order sizes. Owner Cindy Phillips shows off the latest Scully Western shirt, which Willie Nelson recently sported in his current album. Cindy will be offering holiday specials and helping you dress to impress this season, whether that’s in a pair of wranglers and a Scully shirt or a vintage attire. Pretty Kind Boutique
Pretty Kind Boutique 364 N. Broad Street, Globe
This thoroughly modern, eclectic clothing store seeks to offer something for everyone to feel pretty. As they say, “Pretty Kind, where kindness is always in style.” The shop, which opened in September, is the newest retail business to open on Broad. The name of the shop came from a quote by Britt Nicole: “We get so worried about being pretty. Let’s be pretty kind. Pretty funny. Pretty smart. Pretty strong.” The owners, Erika Flores and Sarah Alexander, plan on hosting a Black Friday sale with prices dropping throughout the day, and they offer a free t-shirt with purchases of $100 or more. Look for the Small Business Saturday Pretty Kind patio event coming soon.
Splash of Copper 656 N. Broad Street, Globe
Owner Lori Trobaugh Luipold spent over four years on the road working art shows before coming home last year to open her own shop in downtown Globe. She now works with more than 50 artists and craftsmen,
representing a range of Arizona copper art and decor,
Splash of Copper
and hosts a slate of craft classes at the shop, from wreath making to holiday cards. You can register and pay for the classes through the shop’s Facebook page. There will be specials throughout the store on Black Friday. The store is open seven days a week and will offer extended holiday hours in December.
Simply Sarah 701 S. Broad Street, Globe
We welcome you and yours to explore a truly unique and extraordinary Boutique. Celebrating and elevating the daily experience for over 2 decades. We offer a well curated collection of exceptional quality goods with global panache. Clothing and jewelry and accessories, toiletries, gourmet goodies, garden and one of a kind artisan treasures. Offering tidings of comfort and joy,
Simply Sarah
this holiday season and everyday!
Kino Floors
Your Hometown Jeweler since 1920
Fine Jewelry and Watches by Bulova snd Citizen Guitars and Accessories
Offering layaway, engraving and gift wrapping
Holiday Eats When downtown, also check out these local restaurants and eateries: Bloom, Bravo, Farleys, La Casita, Vida e Cafe, Nurdbergers, Copper Hen, Leonard Paul’s Pizza, Los Robertos and La Luz.
Kino Floors 401 N. Broad Street, Globe
Kino Floors offers a huge selection of home furnishings, accessories and flooring in their large showroom. If you don’t see exactly what you want, they can work with you through their online catalogue of Ashley furniture to get that perfect piece. This holiday season they have a sale on all holiday accessories and gift items running through Christmas! u
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Executive Order: Local Response
Child care was defined as an essential service in Executive Order 2020-12, and according to the Arizona Department of Economic Security (DES), more than 500 child care providers have continued to offer safe child care services through the pandemic.
“I never closed,” says Sylvia Ducharme. “I have parents that work for the police department and for Haven.”
Sylvia works three shifts a day: morning preschool, afternoon daycare and overnight, for parents on the graveyard shift. Her in-home preschool in Globe is licensed, accredited, credentialed, fivestar-rated and filled to capacity. Sylvia has been serving the community for 25 years and has seen a decline in the availability of DES-certified providers.
“When I started, there were a hundred in this area,” she says. “Now we’re down to five.”
Headstart Miami
The Miami Headstart center closed for in-person operations last spring and is currently delivering services virtually. It serves 31 children (down from 50 before the pandemic) through toddler and preschool classes and also offers a homebased service. Every family was loaned an iPad. Teachers employ Dojo Classroom, online learning games and a daily live video conference. The first weeks were “rough,” says Pam Trobaugh. She cites connectivity issues and lots of training for staff and families.
“Headstart looks at the whole child – not just academic or social, but support for the family,” says Pam. “We help the parent teach the child.”
Her team focused on helping parents and grandparents, as caregivers, deal with the changes and handle the strong emotions their young ones were experiencing, as well as their own. They also provided strategies and resources to help families with older children who were attending school online and figuring that all out for the first time.
“Our little ones were low on the totem pole in terms of getting attention,” Pam says.
Copper Rim: Back to School
“Some kids did regress over the six months,” says Misti Harmon, referring to the gap in learning services for preschoolers. “And others gained because their parents were really committed.”
Born and raised in Globe, Misti Harmon has worked for the Globe Unified School District (GUSD) for 25 years. She’s a full-day preschool teacher and Assistant Director of the preschool program at Copper Rim. Kids have returned this fall, with reduced class sizes and a few other changes.
Harmon says social distancing is the hardest rule to implement. Although licensing doesn’t require her students to wear a face covering because of their age, the school encourages it because it is a public school space.
“The mask-wearing is easy compared to keeping them socially distanced,” says Misti. “If you want to play with your friends, you have to wear your mask.”
Hand sanitation for preschoolers is nothing new. Her class had previously established routines of washing hands before entering or leaving the classroom.
“We are not taking the germs inside or outside,” Misti explains, in a way small children understand.
Ideally she would like a return to how things were.
“Not the big class sizes,” she says, “but being able to interact with people and families, building those relationships.”
Family events like the Thanksgiving Feast potluck and March track and field day are still on hiatus during the pandemic.
Miami Little Vandals Preschool: Reduced Services
At Miami Little Vandals Preschool, only the students with special needs, about 10, are onsite. Prior to the pandemic, 58 preschoolers were receiving services.
“Once the District makes the decision to return in person, we will bring all preschool students back,” says Sherry Dorathy, MUSD Superintendent and director of the preschool program.“We really want and need the kids in school.”
The children that do come to Miami Little Vandals preschool wear their masks and “act as though nothing has changed.” The school continues to make improvements.
A Good Investment
From preschool teachers to PhDs and politicians, there is general consensus that access to high-quality child care has a huge positive impact on the lives of children and families – especially lowincome ones – and produces long-term benefits for society.
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Misti Harmon has worked for GUSD for 25 years and is a full-day preschool teacher and Assistant Director of the preschool program at Copper Rim. Photo by LCGross
“When I started, there were a hundred providers in this area,” says Ducharme. “Now we’re down to five.” Photo by Patti Daley
“The quicker you find a developmental delay and address it,” says Pam Trobaugh, “the better off…for everyone.”
According to Nobel prize-winning economist James Heckman, Director of the Center for the Economics of Human Development, public investments in quality early childhood programs (ages 0-5) return about 13% per year. These benefits are measured in improved health, school success, reduced crime, increased income and increases in the mothers’ income.
The Miami Headstart center closed for in-person operations last spring and is currently delivering services virtually.
One question remains: who should pay for it? Despite low pay for child care professionals, high-quality preschool costs a lot – sometimes in excess of instate college tuition. For an Arizona family, preschool can cost up to 17% of their income.
“You have to pay for the quality,” says Trobaugh. “Many parents can’t pay, and that’s why Headstart and then Early Headstart began.”
Headstart is a comprehensive preschool program enacted by President Lyndon Johnson as a weapon to fight the scourge of poverty.
“We don’t intend to lose generations of our children to this enemy of the human race,” Johnson declared in 1965.
Since then, tens of millions of children have been served by Headstart nationwide. But three generations later, a quarter of Arizona children live in poverty, and nearly two out of three Arizona children don’t attend preschool. The Headstart Globe center closed two years ago.
“Minimum wage raised statewide, which raised the cost of providing daycare,” Pam explains. “But our agency didn’t get an increase.”
With a lack of available preschool spots, families rely on grandparents, older siblings and, increasingly, mothers who are leaving the workplace.
Some families find just the right place. At Sylvia Ducharme’s in-home preschool, five 4-year-olds occupy themselves with puzzles at a table. Next, they play a memory game. There is a lot of washing of hands and faces, along with squabbles to resolve. Sylvia listens to the children with patience, and she expects patience from them when she’s talking. Her voice has a cheerful authority.
In the midst of a disagreement between two children over a toy, Ducharme tells one, “She didn’t take it.” She explains to her young charge, “You’re sharing it.”
An Economic Imperative
Early childhood education “is absolutely critical to our economic recovery, so parents can go to work,” says Arizona State Senator Kate Brophy McGee, during a September 2020 panel discussion titled “What’s Next for Early Childhood Education in Arizona?”
Access to safe, quality childcare is a problem nationwide and for nearly half of all Arizona communities. The pandemic has compounded the problem. According to Siman Qaasin, President and CEO of Children’s Action Alliance, nearly half of all child care centers closed during the shutdown due to the cycle of start and stop, staff shortages, cases of Covid-19, and lack of PPE and cleaning supplies. Many of these centers may not reopen given decreased revenues and increased costs of taking care of children. Governor Ducey announced in August that $88 million from CARES Act funds would support child care programs through the pandemic. Siman calls this “a drop in the bucket.”
“It breaks down to about $20K per center, for six months and counting,” Siman says.
In Arizona, federal money for child care assistance is distributed by the DES through the Child Care Assistance program. The DES reimbursement does not cover the full cost of preschool, and the shortfall must be paid by parents, absorbed by the provider or, in effect, subsidized by the other parents. This is not a sustainable business model for providers, and it is largely responsible for the dearth of child care in our state and region.
Also participating in the September panel, Representative Lorenzo Sierra (District 19) stressed that the child care sector was already under strain after the state lost millions last year in federal grants to support low-income families. u
