2019-02-09 Incarceration

Empathy Cafe: Bridging Political Divides with Empathy Circles

Date: Saturday, February 9, 2019 at 10 AM – 12 PM PT

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Topic:

  • How do you feel about the high incarceration rates in the USA and what can be done about it?

  • And you can talk about whatever is alive for you or on your mind..

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Cafe Facilitator: William Filler

Producer: Edwin Rutsch

VIDEO

Bridging Divides Empathy Circle: Incarceration

(VIEW: Video on YouTube and on Facebook

We are creatures of habit. So, yeah, this is part of my sort of, practice. And I feel again as I said in the beginning extremely grateful to meet new people from all over the world and hear and interact and also see how they react and what they’re feeling. You know I’m really happy about it.

I really don’t wish for much more. I hope… I share Edwin’s aspirational views for where it could go. And so I’d love to see it expand. But you know, I’m just feeling very appreciative, and appreciative for the little culture of empathy that we’ve created right here right now.

― Bill

I appreciate the opportunity to practice actually what I would like to try one day here in Poland with some of my colleagues, friends.

Well obviously for me the language skills I kind of worry and sometimes I have problems with understanding you especially when you use some words, metaphors. But I appreciate the opportunity to practice actually what I would like to try one day here in Poland with some of my colleagues, friends. And I have just one question sometimes some speakers sounds like they are kind of cavernous. It’s more like drumming than voice, than a human voice, it’s drumming than speaking. For me it’s very difficult to understand. I don’t know if it's a microphone setup some of us have or something.

Yeah, it’s kind of problem, obviously bigger problems to me as I have difficulties with understanding you. But yeah I appreciate the opportunity to talk to you and try to reflect you and especially today this talking about restorative practice was very fruitful to me, kind of open minding listening to you.

― Carolina

One thing I forgot that came across my mind while we were speaking about time, the time this takes, is this idea came to me that, what do we do in our society? We send all the old people off on vacation, off to retire in Arizona, off to this community, off to that community. Those are the people that have the time throughout history, being the peacekeepers, being the listeners, the nurturers.

We just separate them out and then we take the people who need them over years and years and years and haven’t had the old people and then they can’t cope and so we send them off to prison. It’s like there’s this...bringing more connection between all the generations I think is a big key here. Is a big important piece of this problem. Anyway so that came to mind while we were talking about where do we get the time for empathy. Anyway, that’s all I have on my mind.

― Jyoti

Ok, then, see, for me the first thing is the audio. That is true that I have a microphone up here. And then I think if we’re farther away it probably becomes, you pick up more room sounds. I have been thinking about getting one of these microphones you can bring up close. So having good technology is definitely something to kinda work on. Or getting closer to the microphone, that kinda helps too. So thanks for bringing that up.

― Edwin

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