AI COVERS

More to come...

I woke up to the new year both excited and exhausted. As I normally do, I was contemplating what I wanted to bring into 2026 🤔

Well the two things I can't stop thinking about are how the world is doing both politically and economically and how AI will affect both. I'm also trying to practice detachment to things I can't control because frankly all this chaos is making my nerves a bit crispy. 

So my solution is to use my writing and visual skills to express myself by posting AI Covers.

Basically, I am going to spend the next year using magazine covers as snapshots of conversations I believe these publications should be fostering with our leaders and fellow citizens. You might ask why in a time of digital communication (videos & podcasts) am I focused on this? Well because covers of magazines are the pre-meme original way to draw the masses attention to a topic. They shaped my ideas when I was young and I think they and the articles that accompany them are very important. 

I will be tagging these magazines on social media so that it is clear I am the creator in case the ideas spread and also I want to be upfront these covers are not real but AI/Joy-generated from the ideas I want to write about. My hope is to foster conversations about the various ways AI will be affecting every industry and our world. 

Which leads me back to the origins of this blog: Good Capitalism. 

We are living through the most exciting times of existence. I'm so thrilled to be alive to see it! AND... we have not shown we are very good stewards of each other and our planet so I can't sit by and do nothing. This is me shouting into the void that is our Universe and hoping my voice can be heard. What the hell might as well give it a go 😜 before we are taken over 🤖

GOOD CAPITALISM or ... Goodbye World

A few years ago I began to see the writing on the wall, so I started this project.

A little background... after Covid hit I had gotten laid off and was looking for the opposite of what I had just spent the last few years doing: working in the land of private equity. 

What's a fresh change from PE? ESG: Environmental, Social, Governance.

The recruiter said I was the unicorn she had been looking for: someone who had basic knowledge about sustainability, cared about the planet, and yet could talk the PE finance world verbiage. 

My expertise though was not on the data side, it was talking to c-suite finance guys and exploring with them why they might care about green house gasses, supply-chain labor policies, and DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) initiatives. 

A change had perked up their interest in ESG, institutional investors were much more likely to hand over their millions to partners who can explain their labor policies, keep their employee retention rates high, and keep them away from the bad press about their carbon footprints. Not to mention if they wanted to do global deals they needed to start working on tracking and making transparent sustainability disclosures that the European Union require. 

What I was perplexed about and then understood quickly is why the principles of ESG are controversial at all? Politics. Also, profits and PR for those who want to milk the idea of do-gooding. But mostly politics!

Which is ridiculous because ESG is a risk mitigation strategy and it's not about the blue or red teams, it's all about the green! The planet and profits go together. Ask the insurance companies who now have to pay out for the blue state CA's wildfires as they recover from the red states' hurricanes. 

Anyway, the project started because I wanted an easy way to tell my friends, family and skeptics what ESG is really about.  

[ READ AFTER YOU FINISHED SLIDEDOC ABOVE ]

What prompted me to take a week off work and finish this project up was the urgency you read about: AI 

And I want to share a little story that makes this so darn surreal...

When I finished up the project I did what we'll all be doing soon, checked it with ChatGPT (shhh don't tell Gemini-- I don't want either to know everything about me 😜). Here is what it started with:

Good Capitalism 2025 project is a powerful, bold, and compelling call to reframe ESG through the lens of urgency, humanity, and systemic risk. You've successfully distilled complex ideas into an engaging, almost conversational style, which is a major strength.

Nice, right?!  

Well then in a moment of meta perfection, this is the #1 thing it told me I needed to improve on: 

It wanted me to point out more emphatically the THREAT IT IS!! 

I mean ....

                  

            🎤

_____________________________

Thanks for your time... and be careful out there! 🤗 💚

This project is on its own site, you can follow at GOOD CAPITALISM

We're Going Back...

An Assault on Our Nation

I don't hate guns. As a kid my Dad let us shoot bb-guns and even his 22-shotgun. So I get the rush. I get the fun of shooting a can off a fence and for those into hunting I get that it can be a family tradition and a bonding experience. I know several humane and decent people who eat what they shoot and though not my thing I understand the primordial urge to hunt for prey.  

What I don't get is how we went from the NRA and gun owners wanting to encourage firearm education and responsibility to a free-for-all of anyone under any circumstance owning weapons of war? 

I loved lawn jarts but we don't sell those anymore because they caused a lot of injuries and took out many an eye. Three children died from lawn jarts so they were banned, can't be resold and also can't be used in public spaces. So for fucks sake, how are we allowing our kids to be slaughtered and terrorized at school and not at least agreeing on the basics of gun safety? How can anyone look at this girl on a school bus fleeing horror and not think we have a problem?

Firearms are the #1 cause of death for children and teens. It used to be auto accidents but we made cars safer, enacted seatbelt laws and did other things to focus on the issue. In contrast, we have put more guns out in the country and have numbed ourselves into accepting that school shootings are a way of life. That active shooter drills aren't causing anxiety in our kids. That politics is us against them when it should be all hands on deck to save lives. Children's lives!

This is not even touching on the suicide and homicide and violence that more guns have brought to our streets. Those stats might be overlook-able to gun lovers since they think it won't affect them. But how can we sit by and let someone's hobby and fun become the number one killer of our kids?

And for those who like to cite the 2nd Amendment I ask if they have indeed read it:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

WELL-REGULATED!! That's how it starts. And the right is tied to being part of the militia to secure the state you reside in. Not to mention this was ratified in musket times. It in no way implies that anyone can own weapons of war for their own fun and pleasure. As a matter of fact it reads to me as this right comes with the responsibility to protect your own state and the citizens within it. 

So here is my solution: anyone who wants to own an automatic/semi-automatic/war-like gun needs to be trained, licensed (the regulated part) and on call for state emergencies (the security of the State part). I think this is not only grammatically aligned with the Constitution but is in the spirit of what our Founders had in mind.

Our military and police are not just handed weapons- they are trained in their use, when to use them, how to store them and the consequences of firing them. There is a reverence for what they can do and the responsibility for caring one on your person. They pledge to protect the public/country from harm. That is what we need from gun owners now. 

If you won't defend your State and the children that reside in it, you have forfeited this right. 

Creating YOUR Year ... 🎊 🖌️

Me Mapping Creating Your Year 2022 from Joy Meredith

2021 😳 ... amiright?!!

I have much much higher hopes for 2022, but as always I need to map it out to really see and live into it. So join me 😊

Happy Mapping & Cheers to a Happy Happy 22! 

Prove Me Wrong: Civil Debate Not Hate

Prove Me Wrong from Joy Meredith

Royalty clashed all over TV and social media last week. It started with Meghan and Harry and our queen of TV, Oprah. Then it bounced back over the pond and exploded with Piers Morgan (often considered a royal PITA 👑).

This exchange led to Piers leaving the show:

The attempt for Alex (GMB's weatherman) to try to explain things from Harry and Meghan's perspective could have led into a fruitful dialogue- but it didn't. When asked about Piers' departure from the show Alex said he hadn't wanted him to leave just to listen.

I disagree with Piers' take on many many things but it does no good to have him go off and echo to his supporters when it just divides us more and nothing gets accomplished. He's a powerful voice and I've appreciated it when used to support gun control, which he strongly advocates for, or when he's called on politicians to be open to the urgency of the climate crisis. 

Ignorance needs to be called out, people do need to be held accountable for their words and actions and I'm all for ostracizing truly evil people so they can do less harm if necessary. This is not that. 

Of course we all love to think we're right (myself, very much included) but if we're not simply open to being proven wrong that doesn't make us smart and superior it makes us uninformed and ideologically stuck. 

And, if we keep dividing ourselves into pools of only people we agree with we will have a hard time uniting to fight real battles to come. If we can't civilly discuss royalty and race how are we ever going to get to the even touchier topic of religion and our environmental crisis. 

Truly strong people and ideas do not fear scrutiny and challenges- that's how things can be proven solid and correct. We need to be able to talk about politics, princesses and problem solving without righteousness but instead a resolve to listen and consider what others are saying. If not, things will get even more tribal and more toxic and we'll be in real trouble. 

So above is my attempt to come up with a solution 💡📺

Because what our world needs now is less bullying and bravado and more honest debate without all the hate 

🤓... 🧐

[btw: I'm pro-Queen, pro-Meghan & Harry and think the main problem is Rupert Murdoch (and the likes) and money-grubbing tabloids that use race as a way to stir things up and make profits. But who knows, maybe I'm wrong 😬]

911Cam: See the Emergency

911Cam: See the Emergency from Joy Meredith

PROBLEM 

The Jetsons lead us -at least me and my generation- to believe that we'd have flying cars and robot housekeepers by now. Even as far as technology has come much of it has yet to be developed; not because it's not ready but because we haven't harnessed and deployed it with the urgency it warrants. 

If I have to wait on mobile-modernization, can we at least take on the currently solvable problem of accurate emergency information getting to our first responders?!

At a time when we can amazingly see NASA's Perseverance actually land on Mars, and have millions of Zoom meetings a day, we are still way behind in utilizing these technologies to protect and save our own citizens.

SOLUTION

The solution is to have 911Cam data-transfer (updated E911 / NG911) available to anyone who calls for help. The technology is already available. The stumbling block is federal funding and the leadership to shepherd a big endeavor from an old territory hot-potato to an innovation success. In the past, states/counties have had to fight for extra funding and support to role out any upgrades to their 911 system. There is no reason why we as a nation shouldn't support this as both a homeland security step and at a minimum as a public service provided to keep our citizens safe and alive. 

OPPORTUNITY

Since we are in the middle of handling one of our nation's biggest challenges with COVID-19 we should take this as a prescient warning that we have failed at adequately building infrastructure to deal with national emergencies. The good news is we are now ripe for taking on big challenges. 

911Cam is a perfect test project to unite many government agencies (federal, state and local) in bringing together resources, innovation and leadership. There are other natural disasters,  defense challenges and domestic threats to our safety, security and wellbeing ahead. Now is the time to show what our government, technologists and leaders can do. 

We spend billions on fighter jets that never fly a mission- we can spend some of that on infrastructure for our emergency services. And if we are to thrive as a nation and reclaim our status as the clear global technology leader we need to take on big projects and not just on Mars... but on Main Street. 

So here is me, just Joy-Citizen imploring our government to rally the resources and resolve to build a 911 system that allows every citizen who needs help to be seen.

I refuse to believe that Hanna-Barbera has more imagination and vision then our leaders (at least in the "real world"). 

We might not be ready for flying cars but if we can send video from Mars and communicate with colleagues around the world we can certainly get a 911 Operator our identifying information, our location and video of our emergency. 

911Cam life-saving technology is coming and the leaders who move to make it happen will be seen as national Heroes who will be ready to solve even greater challenges to come. 

Who will answer this call? 

Full disclosure: Jetsons was supposedly set in 2062 but no one told us that, and you get my point 😉

The Nobel Question: Will You Be Remembered for.. Destruction 🧨 or Peace? ✌️

 

We are in surreal times... the Trump administration, the pandemic, half the nation upset with the other half over their denial regarding what's true (or not) about both.

You need not be American to partake in the battle over what's going on in the US, as is captured in above Q&A clip with former Prime Minister of Australia, Malcolm Turnbull, getting into it with The Australian's editor, Paul Kelly. News Corp & Rupert Murdoch's influence in Australia is as hot a topic down under as is Fox News' here. 

Which reminded me of one of my favorite stories of all time.. how there came to be The Nobel Peace Prize: 

When Alfred Nobel's brother, Ludvig, died the obituary accidentally named Alfred and stated  Le marchand de la mort est mort 

("The merchant of death is dead"). 

It went on, "Dr. Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday." An inventor with 355 patents he was most well known as the creator of dynamite. 

Appalled that this is how he would be remembered, his last will specified that his fortune be used to create a series of prizes for those who confer the "greatest benefit on mankind" in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace. 
119 years later a Nobel Prize is known as an honor and as a contribution to humanity.

I bring this up as a reminder to us all, but especially the Murdochs, Trumps and all GOP leaders, and any (D) & (I)s as well, who are sowing discourse for the sake of money and power. 

Are you bringing our country together or dividing it? Are you taking a principled stand or just riding a populist wave that is built on people's pain and fear? 

If this COVID has taught us anything, it is how lucky we are to be alive in a time where science and available advancements bring us hope. But also, that today's technology paired with some of our fellow-citizens' lack of belief in this science and willingness to cooperate as a nation can also have disastrous consequences as well (hello, climate crisis!). 

Even with the fantastic recent news of vaccines on the way, none of us knows what the upcoming year will bring. Or the year after or after that or for the rest of the years of our lives. We only have what we stand for. What we foster. Sure it's great to be rich and powerful, but it might also be the time to ponder what our obituary will say? What legacy we will leave behind for our kids and our country?

As relevant as it was those many years ago is the question: 

Are we looking to blow things up and cause more destruction 

or bring our nation and our world together and create peace?  

 What do we Prize?