Day: November 26, 2017

We Can’t Forget Puerto Rico

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We Can’t Forget Puerto Rico

D. S. Mitchell

Two months ago Puerto Rico was hit by a Category Five hurricane. Maria devastated the island.  More than half of the island continues to be without power and hundreds of thousands of residents are fleeing to the American mainland, in what has been described as an “extraordinary exodus.” The early sense of desperation seems to have morphed into resignation.

On October 3, 2017 President Trump visited Puerto Rico and tossed paper towels to a crowd of needy fellow Americans and bragged about how well the administration’s response to the disaster was going. But now two months after the disaster there is little tangible evidence of real progress. Simple things like, running water, and traffic lights remain unavailable to most of Puerto Rico’s 3.4 million citizens. Early on, the Pentagon dispensed emergency troops to the island. Those emergency troops are now beginning to pull out, except for those working on the island’s demolished power grid.

Tens of thousands of jobs have been eliminated. Thousands of small businesses remain closed and may never reopen. Two months after Maria, a significant number of Puerto Rican hospitals are still running on emergency generators. FEMA officials report that the conditions on the island are so bad that they are being forced to continue to focus on Phase I, the emergency response phase-providing potable water, roofing tarps, in other words the bare necessities, 60 days after the event.

The storm’s official death toll is 55. Forensic researchers believe that number will increase dramatically, probably into the 100’s when all bodies are recovered. The morale of the islanders has remained low as services remain unavailable and scandal has developed around  the dysfunctional and debt-ridden power authority.

The chief executive of the power authority quit this month as details emerged of a $300 million contract with a small White Fish, Montana company. The contract was canceled when irate islanders learned the power authority had agreed to pay $319 per hour to visiting linemen while comparable contractor’s were being paid as little as $42 per hour.

White Fish Energy has reportedly agreed to resume work in Puerto Rico after the government of Puerto Rico made a partial payment on work done. There is an investigation now underway in the Congress into White Fish Energy and why such a small company was given such a huge contract without a bidding process. Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke is from White Fish, Montana and the connection between the Secretary and the CEO of White Fish Energy has come under scrutiny.

It is estimated that 2,ooo Puerto Ricans have left the island each day, headed to the mainland where they will use their American citizenship to resettle with relatives in New York, New Jersey, California and Florida. By the end of 2017 it is expected that over 300,000 immigrants will have entered Florida. Rick Scott declared a state of emergency to handle the wave of immigrants.  The influx already rivals the Cuban immigration during the 1980 Muriel boat lift.

Governor Ricardo Rossello has asked Congress for $94.4 billion in aid to help the island. So far Congress has approved $5 billion. The underlying question is what leadership role the federal government will play in Puerto Rico’s reconstruction. What is obvious is that there needs to be a comprehensive recovery plan from the Trump administration, and so far it seems that the administration has moved on.

President Trump impressed Puerto Ricans with his rudeness and his scornful critique of the Mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulin Cruz.  His tweets were considered insulting and divisive.  One tweet, “They want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort” was particularly hurtful. It is agreed that Trump has a sworn duty to support  Puerto Rico. Puerto Ricans are American citizens trapped in an unprecedented emergency, but Trump does not seem to grasp the enormity of the situation or his responsibility to the people of Puerto Rico.

Calamity Politics is a progressive political on-line news magazine.  Join the Resistance.

Dar

Tools To Change Unwanted Behavior

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Tools To Change Unwanted Behavior

D. S. Mitchell

Habits affect us in every aspect of our lives, home, school, work, church. It could be nail-biting, thumb-sucking, over eating, procrastination, avoidance.  Each one of us has habits we wish we could break. How do we escape these unwanted behaviors, when often we do not understand the basis of the behavior?

New York Times reporter Charles Duhigg has written a book that examines the structure of habit, its underlying causes, and the impact of habit on our careers and our personal lives, entitled “The Power Of Habit: Why We Do What We Do In Life & Business.”

The first part of Duhigg’s book investigates the “habit loop.” The habit loop comprises the “cue” (the situation that stimulates the habitual behavior), the “routine” (the behavior or activity) and the “reward” (the emotional satisfaction resulting from engaging in the behavior).

The key to stopping an undesirable habit is to break down this self-perpetuating loop, according to Duhigg. Breaking down the loop is the key to altering behavior. If you don’t understand the “why” (the reason) for the action it is hard to escape the behavior itself.  As Duhigg writes, “Once you break a habit into its components, you can fiddle with the gears.”

Duhigg also takes a look at the habits of successful organizations. As a business owner, the habits you instill in your staff  go a long way in determining the success of the venture.  He looks at organizations as big as Target and as intimate as the structure of NFL teams. It is the owner’s job to create positive habits in the staff.  If as an owner, you notice a way to replace a bad operational habit with a good one, you have the ability to improve productivity and employee happiness.

Duhigg details four steps to changing any habit. 1.) Pinpoint the “routine” (the habit)  2.) Examine the “reward” that the behavior provides 3.) Isolate the situations that “cue” the unwanted behavior 4.) Develop a “plan” to change the behavior.

Lastly, Duhigg says, “You have to actually believe in your capacity to change for habits to permanently change.” With the tools and examples provided in “The Power Of Habit” you should be able to take control of habits you thought were unbreakable. In business and life the ability to change unwanted behaviors is a valuable asset.

Many years ago when I was taking a graduate psychology class I participated in a stop smoking study. The study was very simple. Each participant kept a “smoking journal.”  We were required to make a note of the emotion experienced when we felt the desire to have a cigarette (the cue/trigger), the action itself (the behavior), and how we felt after the cigarette (the reward).

We were required to journal for six weeks. At the end of the six-week period we met with the study designer and talked about our experience, and designed a plan to stop smoking based solely on the journaling information. This all took place forty years ago, but even now I can remember how amazed I was with my reactions to the journaling experience. First, the journaling made me intently aware of the behavior.  Second, I became aware for the first time the situations that triggered the habit. Third, I became aware of the reward. And, lastly, with the information I had learned about the behavior I was able to create a plan to change the undesirable activity.

If I had not participated in that study I may never have been able to quit  smoking, but with the isolation of the “behavior loop” it was easy. In fact, by the end of the six weeks I had stopped smoking and have never smoked again. So, like Duhigg says, break the loop.

Calamity Politics is an on-line news magazine that openly promotes a progressive political agenda. Please join me for comment and opinion as I dissect the political scene in the era of Trump. Join the Resistance.

Dar