Steve Lainez joined Learning Life in October 2016 as a partnership development consultant helping with outreach to potential partners and funders for our new Citizen Diplomacy Initiative (CDI) established this year. CDI engages lower-income American families, starting in Washington D.C., in live internet dialogues and project collaborations with youth and families in other nations for their mutual education and empowerment. The following Q&A offers readers a closer look at Steve.
Where were you born and raised?
I was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up just outside of the District in Silver Spring, Maryland. I am the son of immigrants from Guatemala and El Salvador who were looking for a better life.
What’s your current and/or past line of work?
The kind of work I currently do did not come about in a straight line. In fact, I had very little idea what I wanted to do with my life when I graduated from John F. Kennedy High School in Silver Spring. Thus, I delayed college and traveled through Central America for a year. When I returned from my travels, I enrolled at the University of Maryland at College Park, where I majored in history and minored in French.
After graduating from college I again decided I needed to travel and lived abroad in Paris, France for nine months. When I returned from Europe, I started working for a national nonprofit organization in Washington D.C. and, since then, have worked in government or nonprofit organizations for the last twelve years. I truly enjoy working with people – especially in underserved communities – to help improve their lives
What do you want to do with the rest of your life?
Good question. At the moment, I want to continue to work for an organization that is helping underserved communities. I’m also a lifelong learner, so I want to continue to learn new skills. For example, I’m currently learning Portuguese and also want to learn to code (computer programming) and play an instrument, either the piano or guitar. My long-term goal is to someday lead an amazing organization that is doing great nonprofit work, and/or start my own business with close friends or family.
Is there a life experience you have had that has particularly shaped you as a person thus far? If so, what is it, and how has it shaped you?
One of the most transformational life experiences I had was my year-long trip through Central America after high school. Shortly after graduating from high school, I embarked on a road trip with two of my uncles that took us from Washington D.C. to Central America. I traveled through several U.S. States, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.
This trip was impactful because it revealed to me the vast income disparities that exist in these countries. During this journey I also experienced first-hand the reach of globalization as so many cars, clothing, cell phones from the U.S. poured into these countries, and could be found even in small, remote towns I visited.
That trip taught me more than any classroom or textbook could have. It helped inform my interest in learning about the world, and helping people who are underserved by and have little voice in their governments. This trip paved the way for me to eventually pursue a career in the government and the nonprofit sector, and to become civically engaged as a volunteer.
Why did you choose to volunteer with Learning Life?
I believe in Learning Life’s mission to spread learning in everyday life, and am especially excited to help build the Citizen Diplomacy Initiative (CDI). Many of my life experiences, values and passions have been informed by growing up in a bicultural Latin American family as well as my travels, and learning about cultures. CDI provides these experiences to families that might not have had a chance to speak to someone from another country, or learn about a new culture in such a direct and intimate way. That is why I believe in Learning Life’s vision of making CDI an international bridge builder and means of cultural exchange for families across the world.
What is the most beautiful place you have seen on Earth, and why is it so beautiful?
Another good and tough question. I’m going to have to give two answers and even that is difficult because there are so many unique and beautiful places in the world that I have had the privilege to visit. The two that stand out are:
1) The Grand Canyon in Arizona is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. Considered one of the natural wonders of the world, it is incredibly immense. The Canyon goes down several hundred feet and stretches out to the horizon for as far as the eye can see. It is also filled with bright earth colors which vary as you descend further down into the Canyon. Looking down into the Canyon from its top, you can barely make out the Colorado River, which looks like a serpent cutting through the rock, and people looked like ants walking among the rocks.
Seeing this great natural phenomenon made me realize just how inspiring, powerful and spiritual nature is and humbled me to think of how insignificant I was next to such a gigantic natural formation.
2) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The picturesque city of Rio (also considered a natural wonder of the world) is an amazing mixture of urban development and nature. They city densely mixes large and small buildings, hills, mountains, and the ocean. The many beaches that border the city are beautiful with their white sands, clear warm water and rocky cliffs at certain points. Finally, the people of Rio, known as Cariocas, are warm, friendly and very diverse. Many Cariocas are a mixture of African, European, Asian and Native American, making Rio one of the most diverse cities in the world.
Three Deeper Take-Aways from Trump’s Ascendance
On November 8, 2016, Donald Trump was elected President of the United States of America. Many people across the world are still processing that news. Following the election, news discussion naturally focused on how the political parties, politicians, and voters think/thought or acted. There are, however, three take-aways that reach deeper into the social dynamics that made Trump’s election possible.
Disconnection Has Consequences
As we will learn with a Trump administration, for better or worse, politics matters. Politics matters because how people feel about their government determines whether they vote, and who they elect.
The trouble is, in the United States as elsewhere in the world, there is often a big disconnect between the life of government and the lives of ordinary people. This, ironically, is despite modern government’s substantial impact (or lack of impact) on everyone’s everyday lives, affecting everything from our jobs, wages, taxes and retirement, to who we work, play, fight or live next to, to the food we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe.
No one is intimately informed and engaged in all aspects of their government. Nonetheless, there are degrees of disconnection, and most people in the world are largely disconnected from their governments. Among the many consequences, according to political research, are that the disconnected:
Know relatively little about their government, and all the good, or bad it does. This is especially true in wealthy nations where large governments do so much.
Are less likely to vote, but when they’re inspired to vote, they are more likely to be swayed by sensationalist TV ads, rousing rhetoric, vague promises, and facile solutions. This is because the disconnected have a less clear and coherent sense of their own political interests, and the extent to which different politicians and parties align with their interests.
Are more likely to dislike, even hate their government, no matter how much good or bad their government does. Distance breeds distrust.
The disconnection accordingly helps explain the historic distrust many Americans have for all kinds of institutions, including Congress, corporations and news media. Thus, it’s not simply the dysfunctions of institutions, but the disconnection of citizens that explains all the distrust and hatred.
Homophily is Reshaping Our World
Among the most significant social forces silently shaping our world is homophily. Homophily is the tendency of “birds of a feather to flock together.” This natural animal inclination can be helpful in a world where you need little more than your flock or clan to survive and thrive, but it is problematic in our diverse yet interconnected modern world.
Homophily means that when we can, we move into like-minded communities. It also means that we seek information that confirms our prejudices. At least two developments are reinforcing these problematic human tendencies.
First, the rise of the internet, smartphones, and profit-seeking algorithms that deliver all the content (and ads) we like and disappear all the content we don’t like is making it easier for all of us to surround ourselves with voices that affirm rather than challenge our own views.
Second, rising mobility and wealth across the world is making it easier for more people to move into what some sociologists call “lifestyle enclaves” where people share similar tastes in food, decor, hobbies, conversation, even pets.
These twin developments are nice because commonality brings comfort. The trouble is that lifestyle accords considerably with politics (for instance, Republicans are more likely to own dogs and Democrats to own cats), and homogenous political communities are like echo chambers that intensify the views of their residents, making it harder for them to understand people with different lifestyles and beliefs.
When we see that we are nestled in what we might call “echo enclaves,” it becomes easier to see why so many were shocked by Trump’s election.
Inequality Matters
If Bernie Sanders had won the Democratic primary, he, not Trump, would likely be President now. Why would a socialist Jew with a funny accent win against “The Donald”? For similar reasons why a black man with a funny name became President twice: he’s an outsider who inspires hope, and speaks to mounting inequality. Hillary Clinton made inequality a part of her campaign message, but so did Trump. Yet Trump was perceived as an outsider, Hillary was perceived as the ultimate insider.
As the astute political observer, Walter Lippmann, noted nearly a century ago, there is a difference between the “the world outside and the pictures in our heads,” that is, between reality and our perceptions. Perceptions are built on selections from, or fragments of an often very complex reality. In some ways Donald Trump is in reality more of an insider than Hillary Clinton: until Obama was elected, only white men became U.S. President, and wealthy businesspeople have long had disproportionate power. But this fragment of reality is not the one that the critical mass of American voters fixed upon in this election. They fixed on the reality that Clinton is a political insider, so this time, a business insider trumped a political insider.
Yet Trump won with the overwhelming support of less wealthy, less educated white Americans, many of them, like most people, disconnected from government, living in echo enclaves, and angry at the picture of increasingly privileged elites thriving while so many stagnate. There is plenty of evidence that income and wealth inequality are increasing in a number of nations, including the United States. This long election campaign demonstrated that that inequality helps fuel resentments that can ignite into violence.
There is no simple solution to these problems this presidential election brings to the fore. However, connecting people meaningfully to their government, nurturing dialogue and relationships across echo enclaves, and tackling inequality can help bridge the divides this election has brought to light.
P.S. Learn more about what Learning Life is doing to nurture dialogue across divides through our Citizen Diplomacy Initiative.
How Women Fare in the U.S. vs. Other Nations
The United States came close to electing its first female President in 2016. How does the United States compare with other nations regarding women’s role in politics, education and the economy? Find out with these five facts.
1) 26th in economic participation
The United States ranked 26th out of 144 nations for which data was available regarding economic participation and opportunity, according to a 2016 World Economic Forum (WEF) report. The report measured economic participation and opportunity by labor force participation, wage equality, earned income, and proportions of managers and professionals who are women.
2) First in education
The United States placed first out of 144 nations in educational attainment in 2016. However, more and more nations are enrolling girls and boys equally in school, rather than reserving education more for boys, so more and more nations are scoring close to the USA at 1.0 (1.0 is perfect equality, 0 is perfect inequality). Significantly, beyond primary and secondary school, women are surpassing men in university education in a growing number of nations, including the United States.
3) 73rd in political empowerment
The United States placed 73rd among 144 nations in political empowerment, which is measured by the proportion of women in the national legislature and key government positions, and the number of years with a female head of state (president or prime minister) in the last 50 years. The U.S. ranked 41st in the percentage of women in key government positions, but 82nd in women legislators in 2016.
4) 45th overall
The United States ranked 45th overall among the 144 nations the WEF studied in 2016 for their gender gap in politics, economy, education and health.
5) 73% of Americans see a woman president in their lifetimes, but…
A recent Pew Research Center survey found that 73% of American adults believe that they will see a female U.S. President in their lifetime. This belief carries for large majorities of men (75%), women (72%), Republicans (64%), independents (75%), and Democrats (85%). However, only 38% of American adults actually hope for a female president in their lifetime.
Two New U.S. Families Join Citizen Diplomacy Initiative
On Sunday, October 9, 2016, two new American families joined Learning Life’s Citizen Diplomacy Initiative (CDI) )in a live dialogue with a family in Senegal. The families posed questions to get to know each other then learned more about our developing international photovoice project.
“What time is it where you are?” “What type of food do you eat?” “Where do you go to school?” “How long does it take you to get to school?” “What do you do for fun?” “What holidays do you celebrate?” “Are you happy living in the place you are?” “What do your children want to do when they grow up?”
These were some of the questions the families posed to each other, and their answers revealed both differences and commonalities. For instance, on differences, the Diagne family is Muslim, as are 90%+ of Senegal’s 14 million people. This means they celebrate very different holidays, like the recent Eid Al-Adha, a four-day Muslim religious observance in which, following tradition, many Senegalese slaughter a sheep and shared its meat. On similarities, the families learned that they share a taste for some American musicians, like Beyonce. They also like to dance, which led, as in previous CDI dialogues, to live demonstrations of each other’s preferred music and dance (videos of some of these dances coming soon!).
This U.S.-Senegal live dialogue was a first for two American families living in Washington D.C. One D.C. mother, Janelle, brought her two daughters, Bianca (11) and Kristin (7) to the dialogue. Another mother, Sharon, brought her daughter, Kennedy (11) along with three young cousins. (Also in attendance were Learning Life volunteers, Emilie, Alisse, Carolyn and Steve.) Here are some of their written responses to our survey following the dialogue:
“We connected and nobody felt uncomfortable. All of us had fun. Their language is way different than ours.”
“They do just about everything we do: work, go to school, make clothes, dance, etc.”
“After speaking with the family, they are very similar to my family. However, they seem more friendly than Americans. I don’t know much about the history or political climate, [so] will ask during the next session.”
As in previous CDI dialogues, the participants in Sunday’s session expressed strong interest in continuing the dialogues.
After a preliminary “get to know you” dialogue like this one, Learning Life moves participating families toward a project intended to develop participants’ knowledge, skills and interest in local and international affairs. The first project is a international “photovoice” album that will gather the participants’ photos in answer to the question “what is the past, present and future of your community?” Learn more about this project here.
Stay tuned for news of our upcoming dialogues and developments in our Citizen Diplomacy Initiative!
Thanks to Learning Life volunteers, Emilie Mondon-Konan and Alisse Palmer, for translating participants’ words from English to French and vice versa during the dialogue. Thanks also to Carolyn Rider, who helped take photos (some displayed on this page) and video of the dialogue.
What’s your current and/or past line of work?
