Bill Passes Allowing Concealed Guns in Bars and on Campuses & Trump Orders Elections "Fixed" to Break Democracy
April 1st, 2025
What I’m Discussing Today:
Kareem’s Daily Quote: Sacrifice is a core ideal in our culture, but too many of us get the concept wrong.
Trump signs order seeking to overhaul US elections, including requiring proof of citizenship: Another attempt to rig elections by limiting voters who disagree with the GOP.
South Dakota governor signs bills allowing concealed handguns at bars and colleges: What can go wrong when arming students and bar patrons? Sadly, studies tell us exactly what will go wrong.
Trump issues executive order to eliminate ‘anti-American ideology’ from Smithsonian: Yes, the museums will now feature only displays that tell us how infallible straight White men in history were—and therefore must still be.
Trump Demands Congress Defund NPR and PBS ‘IMMEDIATELY’ in Late-Night Meltdown: Big Bird, the well-known communist agitator, is put on notice.
Finland is again ranked the happiest country in the world. The US falls to its lowest-ever position: This forces us to rethink what happiness is—and why it’s on the decline in the U.S.
What I’m Reading in Mysteries & Thrillers: A Small Town by Thomas Perry is a dark suspense and The Case of the Felonious Faire by Drew Hayes is a funny and fun mystery.
Kareem’s Video Break: The best definition of “peace and quiet” I’ve ever seen.
Kareem’s Sports Moments: Parkour makes my stomach clench and my heart pound. Yet, I can’t stop watching.
Johnny Mathis: “It's Not for Me to Say”: Mathis just announced he’s retiring from giving concerts after 70 years. This one’s for you, Johnny. But mostly for us.
Kareem’s Daily Quote
Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968), Baptist minister and civil rights activist
Man, Dr. King could be a real downer. I mean, he’s not wrong, but that quote challenges people to rise above obsessing over their daily lives of pursuing personal goals in careers and relationships to take on the additional burden of seeking justice. Who’s got the time for sacrifice? I’m okay with people who choose not to sacrifice; it’s people who brag about sacrifices that aren’t really sacrifices who bug me. It diminishes those who really do sacrifice for the greater good.
Part of the problem is that we’re not all on the same page when discussing sacrifice.
Lots of successful people—including professional athletes—have a lot to say about sacrifice and how necessary sacrifice is to achieve your goals. Even I have a quote about it from my past: “I think that the good and the great are only separated by the willingness to sacrifice.” I would modify that today to say, “The good and the great are only separated by the intensity of their dedication.”
Mostly, references to sacrifice are inaccurate virtue signaling. Not at all what Dr. King meant—or most religions and philosophies—but rather some twisted version that makes people feel virtuous while still being self-serving. I hear contestants on competitive reality shows like Survivor or Top Chef tearfully complain about how much they sacrificed to be there, leaving family behind, quitting jobs, etc. Same with elite athletes who’ve just won a championship crowing about all they’ve given up. Not going to proms or vacations so they could practice their sport.
That isn’t sacrifice!
It’s substituting one experience for another that they think will benefit them more. For them, the end goal is success, so nothing that is done in the pursuit of personal aggrandizement is a sacrifice, merely a beneficial choice. It’s a clear indication of how clueless people are about the true meaning of sacrifice when they are a contestant on The Bachelor looking for sympathy for all their “sacrifices” to come on a TV show, live in a mansion, and become minimally famous for achieving nothing. It’s just as disingenuous to sign a $10 million contract with a sports team and proclaim all the sacrifices you and your family made to get here.
I’m especially put off by people who demand sacrifice from others—usually in the form of money—in order to enrich themselves. Evangelical preachers who fly around on their private jets and politicians who hawk products and beg for donations while sitting on millions or billions of dollars aren’t saviors—they’re what we need to be saved from. FYI: MLK’s net worth at the time of his assassination in 1968 was about $50,000.
True sacrifice is when one chooses to give up something precious in order to do something that doesn’t directly benefit them but does directly benefit others. Sacrifice for the greater good has many levels: from sacrificing one’s life—like Dr. King, Gandhi, Malcolm X, and Jesus—to sacrificing free time to help those in need within their community. Parents sacrifice constantly for their children because they love them. If we can learn to extend that feeling of love to a larger “family” of neighbors, towns, country, and the world, then we are sacrificing in service of a just humanity.