By instinct, I’m an optimist. And I am painfully aware that optimists can easily engage in self-deception and wishful thinking.  So I admit to being an optimist but claim to be afflicted by pragmatism and an awareness of the need for skepticism. Skeptics have warned that the Scandinavian model cannot work for us for two reasons.

Life inside prison should reflect the positive aspects of what goes on outside.

Guidelines addressing Internet safety, digital citizenship, and media literacy.

Scandinavia is not crime free!  The common denominator for all human societies is that some people violate social norms designed to protect the majority, and each society determines some level of punishment for those who choose to break the law. 

They were concerned that the 21st century movement wouldn’t have same impact or same physical presence. I remember adamantly reminding them that the conversations about equality, equity, and human rights were thriving online and that revolutions were beginning across the world as a result of the connectivity of social media.

Global affairs are our business! What happens in any part of the world is likely to affect us, and our response to that reality is either going to be helpful and well informed….or it isn’t.