Persistence: Conversation with Stan Smith

Wild and Precious Conversations

Persist! It’s those little efforts we make that, over time, move mountains. Today I get to share the first part of a two part conversation with Stan Smith, social worker and adjunct professor of social work at USC (University of Southern California).

So, awhile back, I asked Stan about children as possibly the most vulnerable members of our society.

He responded with: “We are the vulnerable ones who are afraid of that vulnerability.”

I start this episode off with that exchange, and we go from there. It’s obvious that Stan has taught for a decade because it didn’t seem to matter what question I threw at him, he answered with a depth and grace that I am really honoured to share.

This episode is divided into two parts. Today, we mainly tackle what we as a society should provide families and children so that they can thrive. What should that framework look like?

* At around the three minute mark, Stan notes that what we might value is not necessarily what we make rules and regulations around because the stuff we value isn’t necessarily stuff that can be commodified.

* Unlikely adoptions are shared, where families end up with more children than were planned for, and what a positive outcome that can be.

* How having enough abundance, enough affluence, makes it sometimes more difficult to see the cracks in society.

* At around the 19 minute mark: “Think about it, right? Because that is in essence what a civil society is trying to do, right. Is create a commons for which children have certain basic needs met.”

* At around 28 minutes, I ask, “what if we just flip that script and when we see somebody suffering and it could be a welfare region suffering — instead of wanting to punish them, we ask them what they need and we give it to them.”

* We end with: “If somebody points a finger and says, this woman went into a job interview and she committed abuse while doing it, that's one perspective. Another perspective was she didn't have enough resources.”

Another perspective…

Next week, we continue this wild and precious conversation. Thanks for listening!

Notes:

* Dare mo Shira Nai — Nobody Knows — I mention this movie in the introduction to this episode. It’s a 2004 movie set in Tokyo. Four kids are living alone in an apartment as they try to figure out how to survive.

*

Onward. We persist.

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