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Steve Nelson

Steve Nelson is a retired educator, author, and newspaper columnist. He and his wife Wendy moved to Erie from Manhattan in 2017 to be near family. He was a serious violinist and athlete until a catastrophic mountain bike accident in 2020. He now specializes in gratitude and kindness.

http://www.stevenelson.substack.com

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Foundering Ship of State

March 11, 2024 Like 0 Steve Nelson

The largely ceremonial and usually useless State of The Union (SOTU) speech finally lived up to expectations. It was a surprisingly accurate assessment of the state of our ever-more tenuous union. I don’t write to join the nearly unanimous praise…

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Courts Won’t Save Us

February 29, 2024 Like 0 Steve Nelson

Wednesday’s Supreme Court decision to hear Donald Trump’s absurd immunity case is disheartening. Among rationale observers there is little doubt about the lack of merit to the appeal. Many believe it is evidence of a Court in service of Trump’s…

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Male Violence

February 19, 2024 Like 0 Steve Nelson

A great many of the problems that plague our nation and the world are rooted in a propensity for violence. The vast majority of these problems are created by or perpetuated by men. Men who turn too easily toward violence.…

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Love the One You’re With

February 10, 2024 Like 0 Steve Nelson

Let me just put this right here: I would prefer an embalmed Joe Biden propped up in a wingback chair to Donald Trump on his best day – if there is such a thing. The brouhaha brought on by the…

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Uncomfortable Truth

February 3, 2024 Like 0 Steve Nelson

We Americans have a serious incapacity for introspection. The so-called retaliatory strikes in the last 24 hours are a case in point. A disclaimer to at least limit angry responses: I don’t intend to minimize the impact of rabid fundamentalists…

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Fear the Idiotocracy!

January 20, 2024 Like 0 Steve Nelson

There are many legitimate concerns that we are drifting – perhaps plummeting – toward autocracy. Certainly Donald Trump’s declaration of dictatorial intent is a flashing warning sign. There are also legitimate concerns of a steady drift toward theocracy, given the…

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Heroes and Holidays

January 15, 2024 Like 0 Steve Nelson

In the world of important diversity and justice work there is a regular admonishment against the Heroes and Holidays approach. And here we are, on a Hero and Holiday occasion – MLK Day. The admonition arises from the notion that…

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Autocracy or Meritocracy?

December 26, 2023 Like 0 Steve Nelson

During a fascinating podcast with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes, colleague Rachel Maddow made an interesting point, supported by multiple historic references. She observed that autocrats or fascists like Mussolini and Hitler didn’t sway the masses because of their charisma or potent…

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Whose Speech Is Free?

December 11, 2023 Like 0 Steve Nelson

Reading about or watching the news these days is like the old game that asks you to find “how many things are wrong in this picture?” In the matter of Elise Stefanik vs. the Ivy League, perhaps too many wrong…

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Who Politicizes Identity?

November 19, 2023 Like 0 Steve Nelson

Recent New York Times columns by David Brooks and Pamela Paul identified what they believe is a chasm between “liberalism” and “progressivism.” Their theses are echoed throughout the media, often in allusion to stultifying political correctness on college campuses. Typically,…