I believe that we could benefit greatly from a broad, grassroots conversation about the ground rules that we believe ought to govern human lives, interactions and comunities. Medium is a platform that allows us to engage, albeit to a limited extent, in such a conversation and I am grateful to have that opportunity. I have an academic background in political science, religion and education, and my work has spanned military intelligence, teaching (in both secular and Jewish settings), local government, human services and writing. As a gay man, a father and a grandfather, living in my personal 'field of dreams' (Hawai'i) I have many divergent interests--politics, religion, social justice , conservation and the environment, the people and cultures of the Pacific, love and interpersonal relationships as well as history and socisl justice. My writing will reflect all of these, and underlying them is a single theme: respect for the overwhelming diversity within humanity and within nature--a respect that is manifested in our conviction that all humans should be, to the extent possible, afforded equal opportunity and all species should be afforded, minimally, the right to survive.