The answers were well thought out, professional, and involved the tactical and practical actions that students could take to avoid harm. We were reading the list of suggested tactics which included: drop everything and run; get into a classroom and block the door; and hide. But there was at least one thing that we think should’ve been added to the list: “Vote!”

We admire the students for refusing to be silenced about violence. But there are issues beyond gun-control that can make a difference. They have to do with the not-so-subtle ways that our children are influenced about the value of life itself.

Whether it’s the old time western shoot-em’-ups or gangster movies of the ‘40s and ‘50s, American movies have always been violent. People are shown being shot without a care.

But in the 80’s and 90’s things got even more bloody with a fascination for violence against teenagers in chain saw massacres and horror movies. Now the victims were innocent and young, not just the old “bad guys.”

Imagine being young and impressionable and being submitted to that kind of “entertainment.” How can movie actors walk with the student in protest, and then take money to perform in movies that cheapen life?

But wait! Then comes the video games that quickly go from Pac-Man to you-are-the-shooter. The games have become wildly popular with teenagers. This experience of easily blowing people away is now becoming available in virtual reality. Should we be surprised about the increased instances of violence when “reality” is in the name of the experience?

We were in our friendly neighborhood pizza parlor last week. It’s just a couple blocks from our local high school.  Video games were screening and screaming. They were vying for teenage attention, shooting one person after another, without consequence, and the player was pulling the trigger.

Then comes the constant news feeds that are deliberately designed to get our attention with headlines that feature death and destruction and other threats to our lives. This comes to us daily on all platforms and inundates our young people with messages that de-value life.

We’ve all heard that most young people know that this is all “fantasy” and that they can easily distinguish this from “reality.” But what about the mentally depressed, isolated, and psychologically imbalanced? They are constantly and visually exposed to this violent avenue to demonstrate their frustration.

What about the impressionable, unstable, and risk tolerant aspects of the still -developing teenage brain? And what about the reduction in mental health funding? Now let’s add to that the “copycat factor,” and you have a real “hot mess!”

Certainly, reducing easy access to firearms is a big part of the answer. Invoking parental responsibility can significantly reduce the instances of school shootings and other atrocities.

But don’t we have a responsibility to hold the entertainment and video game industry to task as well? We’re not advocating censorship, just good judgement and sensitivity. When entertainment producers deliberately go after teenage dollars with violence that diminishes the value of life, shouldn’t their actions be subject to public scrutiny?  We think it’s hypocritical to stand with the students while making money depicting violence and devaluing life.

We work with students every day. Many of our events are in schools. We owe it to them to speak out against this ominous trend in teenage “entertainment.” Let’s show them why life is precious. Let’s get them into the parks. Let’s show them the wonders of nature. And let’s teach the values of empathy over enmity.  Let’s all agree to set good examples for others to follow, especially our youth whom we know emulate what they see.

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

The post Has Life Become De-Valued in America? appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.

You can’t get a driver’s license without knowing the rules of the road, but you can vote without knowing the rules of the government – unless you are a naturalized citizen! Then you have to know the divisions of government, what they do, and how they check and balance each other. Why should native-born Americans know any less?

As we get further into the information age, we have become more and more inundated with a constant din of information and noise. Is it any wonder we have such short attention spans? Is it any wonder we want to hack everything so we can get the process without the principles?

We may think that all this access to information is making us smarter, but isn’t it just dumbing us down with over-generalized sound bites, sensationalized headlines, and simplistic explanations? Just having access to information doesn’t make us smarter. There needs to be a learning process that involves deductions, analysis, and validation in order to improve our intellect.

In the last election, we had two candidates, one at each extreme of the political spectrum. Each one addressed two very different crowds. But what both crowds had in common was a simplistic view of what the president could do legally. And it was wrong! Neither candidate could actually deliver what they promised without breaking the law. Nonetheless, both candidates got votes …and one got elected!

Why? Is it because we’ve grown so impatient that we want simple answers that sound good to us and we don’t know enough about how the government works to realize they are impossible to execute?

Are we now living in a country whose citizens think that they are voting for a cure-all candidate who can exercise extra-legal power to “get the job done”? If so, what’s to stop future candidates from pandering to this uninformed “populism?”  As long as we don’t make knowledge of basic Civics a requirement, nothing!

Many folks who preferred a candidate who was not on the final ballot simply didn’t vote. They were not willing to cast their vote for the “lessor of two evils.” “That’ll show ‘em!” they may have thought – But without their vote, they got 4 years with the “greater of two evils.”

Hostile governments know what Jefferson warned us about. They know that we are likely to take action without fact checking. That’s why they spent millions on Facebook ads and tweets. They know the ads and tweets will get passed on before they are verified. Why? We’ve become impatient and want simple answers fast! This enables them to spread distraction, polarity, and chaos. This enables them to divide and (possibly) conquer.

The evidence is mounting that US election, the Brexit vote, and the Catalan succession votes were all at least influenced by foreign ads that played on simplistic cure-all themes.

Most of the world’s democracies are parliamentary systems where the prime minister is elected by the legislature, not directly by the people. So, to change government you just vote for the opposition party so that you can presumably cause a vote of non-confidence and form a new government, more to your liking. But in practice, fragile coalitions must be formed because the multi-party system may not allow a clear majority in those legislatures.

In the US, our founders wanted to allow us the ability to vote for legislators of one party and a president of another. The problem is, however, that the decision you make on election day lasts 4 years! Even more reason to have an educated population.

So, if this sounds like a plea to bring back Civics class, it is – to save our democracy, to save our economy, and to save what really makes America great, diversity!

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

The post Is Tech Dumbing Us Down and Making Us Vulnerable to Mob Rule?  appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.