St. Louis STRONG

At what point does eating chocolate cake transform from an enjoyable experience to a nightmare? At what point does binge watching Netflix ruin your day? At what point does the number of municipalities go from providing value to destroying it?

“Virtue is more to be feared than vice, because its excesses are not subject to the regulation of conscience.” ~ Adam Smith

Basic economics, basic…

Kindness as Strength

“Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” ~ Mark Twain

Human instinct separates people into in-groups and out-groups. We categorize by the degree we perceive others as a friend or foe. In modern times, politics clearly model this type of behavior. Political parties (and the fractures with in them) have become a form of cultural unity. Yet, this unity arises from a…

Whodunnit? St. Louis Awareness Test

When tragic events occur, the first question posed by those trying to make sense of the fallout is, “how could this happen?” The question typically holds a tone of disbelief. How could the shooting of an unarmed teenager by an officer occur, ignite a media firestorm, and set a region on fire? How did an American city come to look…

Where’d you go to high school? I went to Marquette, my mom went to Normandy, and my dad went to Parkway West. That means I’m from Chesterfield, my mom is from Wellston, and my dad is from Ballwin. Yet, in reality my family is from St. Louis. These municipalities exist as glorified neighborhoods.

An arm chair exercise will put in perspective the glorification of these municipalities. Kinloch has a…

“If you treat an individual as he is, he will remain how he is. But if you treat him as if he were what he ought to be and could be, he will become what he ought to be and could be.” ~ Goethe

At St. Louis Strong we approach reunification as cynical idealists. What does that mean though? We set lofty goals and expect that unforeseen complications will stunt the height and prolong the time it takes…

The Only Choice: The Region's Distorted Market

All parents attempt to choose what is best for their children. Each parent’s checklist typically includes: strong schools, safe neighborhoods, and comfortable housing.  My grandparents on my dad’s side moved to the Parkway School District to raise their six children. My mom’s parents lived in North. She and my aunt attended Normandy, which even then was in decline. Both sets of grandparents made…

Each individual and every collective group goes through what Joseph Campbell calls ‘The Hero’s Journey.’ It is a ‘monomyth’ that can be found in almost every myth, our most popular  movies, and our favorite books: Star Wars, The Lion King, The Odyssey, The Wizard of Oz, Harry Potter, and many more. Below is an outline and account of St. Louis’s potential odyssey.

Everyday World – Status Quo

Call…

Who are you Lou?

Who are you?—a deceivingly benign question. The more important question to ponder: how do you answer? How do you identify yourself? Does this identity align with how you subjectively act? Does it align with how others perceive you? The same questions stand posed to the St. Louis region. Soon others will demand an answer from us. Will we just speak, act, or both to indicate who we are? A test run:…

What is Enlightenment in St. Louis?

Preventable catastrophes and disasters typically earn the ‘wake-up call’ title.  Such a response implies a moment of realization—an enlightenment. A break in experience  as we know it has occurred. Before we were blind and now we can see. Yet, the glaring rays of our dawning reality prevent us from clearly grasping our orientation within the moment. A wake-up call is the first step towards…

As the president of one of my old college groups, I often joked, “we succeed as a team and we fail as me.” While I was more expressing bitterness towards the fickle nature of group politics, like all jokes, a bit a truth made it stick. At the time I hadn’t completely embraced the sentiment. I was still too focused on trying to change the minds of others or changing our circumstances. Only by…

“Blessed are the hearts that can bend; they shall never be broken.”  ~ Camus Imagine having everything that holds meaning to you stripped away. Start small and build up: Cardinals tickets, Blues jersey, Ram’s Super Bowl towel, toasted ravioli, your smartphone, your car, what you call home, your clothes, your religious texts, your friends, and your family. What is left? You on an island—alone.…