THE LOOP
Brenda

Churchill and the Bengal Famine

For those of you who don't recall, Courtney's loop last Wednesday revolved around the topic of "Celebrity Idolization" and the importance of "see[ing] each of your role models for everything they are, instead of just the perception build up around them."

 

For today's loop, I'd like to revisit this topic and make my own connection/extension on the topic. Courtney gave the hypothetical example of Mark Zuckerberg and Richard Branson...well, I bring you all the example of Sir Winston Churchill and a side of him you may not have known. 

 

I think it might be fair to assume that many praise Churchill for the countless accomplishments he was able to achieve during his lifetime: he was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955, he was appointed the Privy Council of Canada in 1941, he successfully led Britain to victory over Nazi Germany during the Second World War, and was the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953.

 

So how exactly is Churchill a good example of the dangers of Celebrity Idolization? Well, for those of you who may not know, Churchill played the main "hidden" factor in the 1943 Bengal Famine in British India. With the help of his loyal friend, Fredrick Lindemann, he influenced the closure of the shipping ports to India and guided the rejections of Canada's and the United States' offer to send food when the famine was at its worst. Three million people ended up dying in the Bengal Famine of 1943. But what led Churchill to help commit such an unfortunate and ghastly event? The answer: Churchill hated Gandhi and India. A hatred that, again, claimed three million innocent lives. Kind of hard to believe this is the same man who successfully led Britain to victory over Nazi Germany during the Second World War huh.

 

Overall, I hope this brief example can help shine a light on last week's loop devoted to Celebrity Idolization and the importance of digging into who you choose to idolize.  

 

Cassidy

Good News!

I don't know if you're anything like me in this way, but it seems that as I've gotten older it's become easier to be deeply affected by the many difficult things happening across the world. From natural disasters to political/racial tensions to humanitarian crises and everything in between, it just feels like the presence of social media has made it easier than ever to be consumed by the pain and negativity and hurt across the world. 

 

Which makes Branden Harvey's Good Newsletter that much more important and necessary. What started as a podcast (Sounds Good with Branden Harvey) has turned into the Goodnewspaper (a subscription newspaper filled with good news and stories), the Goodnewsletter (a weekly email filled with good news and stories), and an online community of hundreds of thousands of positive world changers.

 

The Goodnewsletter has become my favorite part of every Tuesday. It's an awesome way to hear about the amazing things that incredible people across the world are doing on a daily basis and it's a welcomed respite from the onslaught of not-so-good-news that we get from the more mainstream outlets.

 

In this week's Goodnewsletter, the Good team recounted the heroics of one woman in the Barcelona attack, the ways that Israelis are risking their lives to save Syrian refugees at the border, and how a group of Australian researchers made a breakthrough in curing children of peanut allergies

 

If you want a little extra good in your inbox every week, go to https://www.goodgoodgood.co/goodnewsletter to subscribe. I also highly recommend the Sounds Good podcast if you're into that sort of thing. In fact, a friend and former co-worker at Invisible Children, Jedidiah Jenkins, was on the podcast last year. That episode (http://soundsgood.libsyn.com/jedidiah-jenkins-the-adventure-of-curiosity) might get you hooked on the podcast in the same way it did for me.

 

 

Hauson

Phubbing

Phubbing -  the practice of ignoring one's companion or companions in order to pay attention to one's phone or other mobile device.

To be honest, I am definitely guilty of doing this subconsciously from time to time but it didn't really stick out to me until my recent trip to Hong Kong. Through people watching (and constantly having to maneuver around people who are on their phones), I was able to see a bigger picture where we seem to be a little too "addicted" to our devices nowadays. While cellphones were originally designed as a verbal communication tool, it has now become a multimedia tool allowing us to easily access the internet and a never ending list of apps at our fingertips. To reduce my cellphone usage, I have been getting into the habit of leaving my phone out of sight during meals and when I am spending time with my friends and family. I challenge YOU to do the same and start paying more attention to your surroundings as well as the people physically around you.