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'Embracing risks is essential to achieving success in today's world.' To what extent is this true?

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'Corporations, more so than governments, are the key to a sustainable future.' What is your view?

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'Contemporary music contributes nothing of value to society.' How far do you agree?

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To what extent is the globalization of culture overrated?

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Has social media made political participation and activism too superficial?

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'Every man for himself.' To what extent does this describe your society?

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Can any society ever be truly harmonious?

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Elon Musk may be forced by a court to go through with his purchase of Twitter, raising questions about how his approach to risk-taking in business might play out on the platform.

Why it matters: Musk's high tolerance for risk at his companies, including Tesla and SpaceX, has reshaped industries and intersected with a vast number of employees and consumers.

Driving the news: Newly public texts between Musk and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey give us a glimpse into Musk's potential vision for Twitter.

Across several messages,Musk made clear he wanted to reshape Twitter by hiring chieflyengineers and coders.

That approach has worked for him at Tesla and SpaceX. But Twitter isn't a hardware company. Its product is human communication itself.

And risks taken on the platform have consequences for everyone who touches the public square.

Risk on the roads

What's happening: Local news stories about Tesla crashes bubbled up as the carmaker rolled out its self-driving features.

These are a patchwork of driving assistance features that are currently in beta mode and available to about 160,000 Tesla drivers around the U.S. and Canada.

"Most other companies that are developing self-driving technology are testing their cars on public roads too, but they're doing it with trained safety drivers behind the wheel, ready to take over in case there's a problem," Axios transportation reporter Joann Muller notes.

"But in the case of Tesla, this is just software that's downloaded into your car overnight and you get no special training. So you don't know when someone is driving a Tesla by you, whether that software is engaged or who's driving the car. And so that really puts everyone at risk."

Where it stands: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA) released data this summer identifying 392 reported accidents as of May 2022 involving cars operating with assisted driving features.

273, or roughly 69%, involved Teslas.

In 2021, the agency opened an investigation into Tesla's Autopilot system and expanded that investigation nearly a year later.

It's digging into whether Tesla's driver assistance systems increase the risk of car accidents. And if NHTSA finds they do, the next step would be a recall to correct the problem.

NHTSA said it cannot comment on an open investigation, and Tesla did not respond to requests for comment.

Risk on the factory floor

The culture of risk at Tesla reportedly seepsinto the factories, too.

A 2019 Forbes investigation looked at California'sOccupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) violations at major automakers from 2014 to 2018.

Forbes reported Tesla had accumulated three times as many violations as its 10 largest competitors combined in that period. The violations were for incidents like major factory floor injuries ranging from severe bone fractures to severed fingertips.

Tesla's autoworkers are not unionized. Unions in auto plants are historically an important lever for workers to use to guarantee safety. It's been widely reported that Tesla has quashed several unionization efforts in their plants.

Risk in space

SpaceX builds risk into the way it builds its rockets, testing them and learning from failed tests and explosions to make better rockets.

"What SpaceX has been able to do is normalize experimentation, normalize failures in a controlled way," says Casey Dreier, chief advocate and senior space policy adviser at the Planetary Society and a longtime SpaceX watcher.

Why it matters: NASA is relying on SpaceX to get people to the Moon. That means "it's tacitly endorsing its risk-taking behavior in the industry," Axios Space reporter Miriam Kramer says.

"SpaceX's Starship is key to NASA's Artemis program to deliver people to the surface of the Moon. The rocket hasn't been to orbit yet, but SpaceX already has a contract with NASA to use Starship as a lunar lander."

"Industry experts aren't convinced it'll work, particularly before 2025, when the first landing is expected."

What to watch

The stakes are high when it comes to who will own and run Twitter. As long as the platform functions as a global public square, engineering it comes close to engineering society. Risks gone wrong there could have consequences for everyone who touches Twitter - which includes governments, activists, journalists, and millions of everyday people.

Go deeper: Listen to the new season of How It Happened: Elon Musk vs. Twitter.

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He's taken big risks in space, on the roads and now online.

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The Titan Sub and the Risks of Unregulated Deep-Sea Tourism

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Wealthy adventurers are seeking extreme experiences in space and deep below the ocean-areas with big risks and little regulation.

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LOS ANGELES: When Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings declared in 2016 "we love people sharing" accounts, the company had a commanding lead in the streaming business and four years of blistering growth ahead of it. No one had yet heard of Disney Plus or the streaming wars.

But after the platform lost subscribers early last year, Hastings called time on this breezy attitude towards password sharing, which has given rise to an estimated 100 million Netflix freeloaders around the world.

In recent days, the company has launched password crackdowns in the US, UK and more than 100 other countries.

In the US, it has told customers that if they want to share their password, they must pay US$7.99 a month to add a person outside their home, or US$6.99 if they are prepared to have an account with adverts.

BUSINESS IS SLOWING DOWN

The crackdown plus the new push into advertising reflect the tough realities of the streaming business model that Netflix pioneered. In the boom times, investors were willing to overlook eight- or nine-figure quarterly losses as long as subscription growth was strong.

Now, however, new sign-ups have slowed and competition is intense. In the US, the average household has 5.5 streaming subscriptions, notes Jennifer Chan, global strategic director at research group Kantar.

"Overall household streaming penetration hasn't changed very much since the end of COVID-19," Chan said. "So the focus for streamers now is on retaining their current customer base and becoming the priority subscription so that consumers aren't cancelling - and if they are, how do you win them back".

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Commentary: Netflix is taking a necessary risk in tackling its 100 million freeloaders

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Widespread password sharing is incompatible with subscription growth in an intensely competitive market, says the Financial Times' Christopher Grimes.

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Disruptive Innovation: A case study of AirBnB

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Nowadays, a lot of firms lead to generation of disruptive innovation. Existing dominant players and products eventually lose their position…

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Free solo climber Alex Honnold prepares to achieve his lifelong dream: scaling Yosemite’s 3,200-foot El Capitan without a rope.

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What is Google up to in the world of Energy? : Think Smartgrids

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A lui seul, le groupe originaire de la silicone vallée, incarne la menace d'un secteur en proie à une Uberisation prochaine.

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The Global Impact of Taylor Swift: A Musical Trailblazer and Cultural Icon

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Over the past two decades, Taylor Swift has transformed from a budding country artist into a global superstar. Beyond her chart-topping music career, she has made an indelible mark on the world in…

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The Promise of Digital Activism & its Dangers

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The Promise of Digital Activism & its Dangers

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On the day I was scheduled to interview for a position with the White House National Security Council, I found out that my interview would have to be rescheduled due to the toppling of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Even as activists in Tahrir Square were using Twitter and other social media to mobilize a large-scale revolution for democracy and human rights, Mubarak had "shut down" the internet and jailed Egyptian bloggers to crush dissent. Since then, I have been fascinated by the role of social media as an organizing tool, even as I remain cautious about the role of government censorship and surveillance capitalism. From the subsequent uprisings in the Middle East to the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements in the United States to the role of social media in the Ukraine-Russia information war today, it has become apparent that social media is a powerful tool for both those who seek to enhance and those who seek to limit freedom.

Through the Council on Foreign Relations' roundtable series, I was fortunate to speak with Brooke Foucault Welles, associate professor at Northeastern University and coauthor of #HashtagActivism: Networks of Race and Gender Justice, and Meighan Stone, former adjunct senior fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations and coauthor of Awakening: #MeToo and the Global Fight for Women's Rights, about how marginalized groups use their social media platforms to advocate for societal improvements. While Foucault Welles focuses on digital social justice activism in the United States and Stone focuses on women's rights activism around the world, both authors observe striking commonalities in their work; namely, that while digital activism has the potential to create transformative and concrete change, there exist a plethora of factors that can limit hashtag activism's efficacy.

Foucault Welles provided some insights as to how hashtag activism influences mainstream media coverage, representing a "transformative opportunity to inject new narratives or to change the narratives and the way we talk about things." The activists at the center of these digital campaigns are incredibly important. While some not familiar with social justice campaigns might believe that movements like Black Lives Matter erupted spontaneously during the summer of 2020, Foucault Welles reminded us that this is not the case. In fact, activists tend to operate in digital networks that overlap with social justice movements that have a presence "on the ground," allowing activists to learn and develop effective strategies to spread their message. As a result, each subsequent movement grows larger and gathers steam more quickly.

When it comes to the international #MeToo movement, Stone said that while the gender gap in technology access remains persistent, young women all over the world are making " concrete legal, economic, and political wins" through their online activism. The global #MeToo movement is both transnational and hyper-local. While activists around the world were inspired by Tarana Burke's movement that American celebrities later popularized as a hashtag, they also focused on specific issues to their communities. Stone brought up the example of young women activists in Nigeria who digitally organized the #NorthNormal campaign in order to push all Nigerian states to adopt the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act, which comprehensively addresses violence against women. Hyper-local campaigns have also spread transnationally, as in the case of Loujain al-Hathloul, the women's rights activist whose imprisonment and torture at the hands of the Saudi regime sparked international outcry. Al-Hathloul was released last year.

Despite the power of hashtag activism to change national and international conversations, significant backlash to these online campaigns presents enormous risks to activists. This backlash is certainly not unique to digital activism; Foucault Welles noted that "As soon as any marginalized group starts to have some inroads to power, you get the backlash." Stone agreed, and questioned whether there were any social movements that were not met with backlash. The real question, Stone said, is whether activists decide to endure that backlash or not. While the backlash activists experience is very serious and threatening, it should not be taken as "evidence that the movement is unsuccessful or should stop." Even though backlash in authoritarian regimes is particularly severe, such as the imprisonment of women's activists in Saudi Arabia, backlash presents a problem in democratic countries like the United States as well. In addition to suppression of academic freedom and speech on questions of race (as with bans on " critical race theory" in the classroom and libraries), recent state and local restrictions through legislation, school board policies, and other measures now target LGBTQ+ children and their families. Such restrictions on expression, including self-expression, reflect both the power of civil rights progress as well as the significant retaliation social justice activists face.

Recently too, we have seen a surge in both online and offline activism in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Russian activists have found creative ways to organize protests against Russian President Vladimir Putin while Ukrainian activists have used the internet to find evidence of Russian war crimes. As a testament to the crucial role large tech companies play, some have observed that Russia's usual disinformation campaigns, on display during Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea, are not as effective this time around. Tech companies have implemented new policies and devoted more resources to countering Russian disinformation. Twitter's ban on ads in Russia and Ukraine and Facebook parent company Meta's creation of an operations center staffed by Russian and Ukrainian speakers are some examples of how tech companies have tried to combat Russia's disinformation war. Conversely, others have described these measures as haphazard, inconsistent, and inadequate to confront the magnitude of Russia's disinformation efforts. Moreover, experts have increasingly called attention to coordinated disinformation campaigns on TikTok and TikTok's failure to adequately contain the problem. As one report notes, "Over 180 Russian influencers on TikTok are involved in a seemingly concerted propaganda campaign using the caption 'Russian Lives Matter[.]'" Another report indicates influencers on Russian TikTok are being paid to promote propaganda from the Kremlin.

Digital activism is not as simple as someone clicking "retweet" on Twitter-which all too often involves enormous risk to the activists themselves or can result in spreading disinformation. Foucault Welles reminds us that digital movements depend on the extent to which a few powerful companies are willing to defend free speech, even in the face of immense pressure from national governments. What current tech companies are doing to limit Russian disinformation could prove instructive in other areas. Tech companies could devote far more resources to combating targeted harassment of women's rights activists and journalists, and when national governments are responsible for disinformation or harassment campaigns, tech companies could use strategies similar to the ones they are currently using in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The United States government could also do more to support digital activism by reevaluating its partnerships with authoritarian regimes and directing more aid to women's rights organizations and digital rights groups.

Watch the full roundtable here: Social Justice Movements and Twitter: Digital Revolutions in the United States and Abroad

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The Promise of Digital Activism-and its Dangers

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Social media can be a powerful tool for digital activists-and for the governments trying to silence them.

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Coachella is back. But have festivals escaped the problematic legacy of ‘boho chic’? | CNN

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Coachella and festival fashion was once one and the same. But its “boho-chic” dress code fell out of favor years ago, with uncomfortable instances of cultural appropriation that have now seared into the popular imagination.

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Xinyao

The term xinyao (新谣) refers to a repertoire of Mandarin songs composed, written and performed by young Singaporeans. Its roots can be traced back to the late 1970s, where many students in secondary schools, junior colleges, polytechnics and the Nanyang University began writing songs in Mandarin to express their thoughts and feelings. It was also influenced by the campus folk song movement in Taiwan in the 1970s.

The term xinyao was coined at a 1982 seminar organised to discuss locally composed schoolyard songs. The term xinyao is short for 新加坡年轻人自创歌谣, which means "ballads created by young Singaporeans".

Geographic Location

Many xinyao songs were composed in the context of school campuses, and contain specific references to places and events crucial to Singapore as a young nation, as well as collective memories that the public could identify with.

Xinyao songs are also played on the radio and performed at festivals, school campus and concert grounds. There are also music cafes that feature budding local songwriters and xinyao songs.

Communities Involved

Xinyao started out with student groups from junior colleges, polytechnics and universities. Singaporean Chinese singers and songwriters continue to celebrate and promote xinyao songs. Fans, listeners and audiences also make up the Xinyao community, with youths of each generation who are proficient in the Chinese language as the core group of followers.

Associated Social and Cultural Practices

Xinyao is characterised as songs expressing coming-of-age musings and aspirations, friendships and social opinions, with the guitar as the main instrument of accompaniment.

The heyday of xinyao was in the 1980s, where various competitions and performances were held, and TV programmes featuring xinyao musicians and songs were screened. The xinyao movement also produced many notable singers and song writers, including Eric Moo (巫启贤), Billy Koh (许环良), Liang Wern Fook (梁文福) and Roy Loi (黎沸挥).

Present Status

The xinyao movement started to decline in the 1990s but has experienced a revival in more recent years, with several local movies, musicals and documentaries based on xinyao being made. One of the more notable moments in recent years, is the xinyao concert held in July 2014 at the Bras Basah complex, where more than 1,000 fans braved the rain to listen to familiar xinyao tunes.

The Chinese newspaper Lianhe Zaobao and the Committee to Promote Chinese Language Learning (CPCLL) have also introduced annual nationwide xinyao competitions since 2016, and it can be seen from the winning entries that xinyao has the creative potential to be continued. There had even been cross-ethnic participation in xinyao, where non-Chinese Singaporean students have taken part in competitions, and expressed their love for xinyao.

References

Reference No.: ICH-019

Date of Inclusion: April 2018; Updated March 2019
References
Chan, B. "Xinyao Reunion" The Straits Times, 6 June 2014.

Chan, B. "1,000 fans brave rain at Bras Basah for xinyao singers" The Straits Times, 6 July 2014.

Dairianathan, Eugene & Chia, Wei Khuan. "Shuo Chang: Giving voice to and through Xinyao, a musical practice in Singapore", Journal of Multi-Disciplinary Research in the Arts. 2(1), 2010.

Guan, L. "The changing face of xinyao over the years" The Straits Times,, 2 September 1994.

Kong, Lily. "Making music at the margins: a social and cultural analysis of xinyao", Asian Studies Review 19(3): 99-124, 1996.

Lee, J. "Students show their love of xinyao" The Straits Times, 22 Feb 2019.

Liang, Wern Fook. 新谣: 我们的歌在这里 ( Xinyao: Our songs are here). Singapore: Composers & Authors Society of Singapore Ltd (COMPASS), 2004.

Soh, Peiwen. "Complicating nostalgia: That girl in pinafore's nostalgia for Xinyao". London: King's College London Undergraduate dissertation, 2015. http://www.academia.edu/13294394/Complicating_Nostalgia_That_Girl_in_Pinafores_multiple_nostalgias_for_xinyao. Accessed 30 October 2017.

Yan, Ruyan. "新加坡派" 的文化糾結--梁文福詞曲作品中的認同與雜糅 ("The Cultural Entanglement of "Singapore Pie": Identity and Hybridity in Liang Wern Fook's Works of Lyrics and Songs"). Masters Thesis, Tainan: National Cheng Kung University, 2011. http://www.airitilibrary.com/Publication/alDetailedMesh?docid=U0026-2208201121513300. Accessed 30 October 2017.

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The term xinyao (新谣) refers to a repertoire of Mandarin songs composed, written and performed by Singaporeans.

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Last Friday, Simone Biles took a major risk at the U.S. national gymnastics championships: She attempted a "triple double" in her floor exercise - a move never before landed by a woman in competition. Though she initially stuck the landing, she stumbled onto her hands afterwards, clearly frustrated by her failure. Two days later, Biles landed the move, winning the championship and making history.

Simone Biles waves from the podium after winning the all-around gold medal during the 2019 U.S. ... [+]
Getty Images

While her latest feat was remarkable, Biles is no stranger to innovation. She was also the first woman to "land a double twisting double somersault off the balance beam," according to Nick Zaccardi at NBC Sports, and if she performs that and the triple double at October's world championships, both moves will be named after her (in addition to a floor tumbling pass and vault that already are).

Besides her innate athletic ability, Biles' willingness to take risks in the face of failure has undoubtedly helped her become one of the greatest gymnasts in history. Her mentality is one that extends beyond athletics - and applies to the corner suite, as well. As Julie Chapman, CEO of 501cTech, told Columbia Business: "Being a leader is inherently risky... I don't think you can perform at a high level in any part of your life if you're not willing to take risks." Learning to embrace risk, however, is not easy; here are three ways leaders can become more comfortable with doing so.

1. Abandon Expertise

As individuals advance in their fields, they develop experience and wisdom. Although this expertise generally serves as an advantage, it can also hamper risk-taking, and in turn, innovation. "Leaders and managers stuck in the expertise trap," wrote Sydney Finkelstein, a professor at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, "don't just blind themselves to new ideas-they stop experimenting and taking risks, which ultimately leads to their downfall, because they're seldom learning anything new. It's important to push the limits of your comfort zone, even if there's a danger you'll fall on your face."

One telling example comes from the dramatically different fates of Facebook, which was started by college students in a dorm room, and MySpace, which was managed by business experts at NewsCorp. "[I]t is clear whose risk tolerance paid off," wrote Srini Pillay in the Harvard Business Review. "While this does not give high-risk strategies carte blanche, it does point out how risk mitigation can make you fall into a blinding prudence trap and how taking risks can lead to a big payoff."

Indeed, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has become synonymous with his appetite for risk, once saying: "You are going to make a ton of mistakes, you don't get judged by that. The biggest risk is not taking any risk. In a world that's changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks."

2. Start Small

There is no question that risk is intimidating. A recent report on women's leadership from KPMG found that fewer than half (43%) of women are "open to taking the bigger risks associated with career advancement." To make risk more palatable, leaders should test potential outcomes by taking a series of incremental steps before making major decisions.

In his book Great By Choice, Jim Collins recommended that leaders begin with "low-cost, low-risk, low-distraction experiments." Only after receiving empirical validation, he wrote, should a leader then concentrate their resources into a higher-risk move - a decision that he calls "firing the cannonball." According to Collins, this ability to turn small and proven ideas into great successes is more important than sheer innovation.

To support his theory, Collins dissected the development of the iPod. In 2002, though the new technology had been well received, it only accounted for 3% of Apple's net sales. Based on this limited success, Apple further tested the product's potential by launching the iTunes store. It was only at this point - after receiving more validation - that Apple decided to open up the iPod and iTunes to Windows users. This story, wrote Collins, "illustrates a crucial point: a big, successful venture can look in retrospect like a single-step creative breakthrough when, in fact, it came about as a multistep iterative process."

3. Flip Your Mindset

Humans naturally focus more on the negative repercussions of a risk than on its potentially positive outcomes. "For most people, the fear of losing $100 is more intense than the hope of gaining $150," wrote Nobel Prize-winning economist Daniel Kahneman in Thinking, Fast and Slow. "We concluded from many such observations that 'losses loom larger than gains' and that people are loss averse." For leaders who would like to be more open to risks, it is important to shift this mindset.

In his book Taking Smart Risks, Doug Sundheim urged leaders to move from the "paralysis perception," which focuses "too much on the losses from taking risks (certainty, comfort, control)" toward the "power perception," which consists of a "balanced focus on the losses from both taking risks and not taking risks (loss of certainty, comfort, and control versus loss of growth, progress, and learning)."

ClassPass founder Payal Kadakia is one leader who has learned to lean into the latter concept. Before turning 30, she left her job at Warner Music Company to begin her fitness subscription business. Though she initially launched two unsuccessful iterations, she recognized the risks of not continuing - and eventually prevailed. ClassPass has since raised $255 million in funding, hired a team of more than 300, and grown to 50 U.S. cities and several countries. "The greatest lesson I've learned is to trust yourself and take risks," she told NextShark. "You cannot fear failure, because it provides the best opportunity to learn."

For leaders, learning to take risks can be incredibly challenging, and in many cases, even nerve-racking. If the examples above are any indication, however, becoming comfortable with risk has the potential for great reward - and is the definition of modern "high-impact leadership," according to Deloitte. Those who are hesitant to adopt this leadership style should seek inspiration from Biles, who once said: "I'd rather regret the risk that didn't work out than the chances I didn't take at all."

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Simone Biles And The Power Of Risk-Taking

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Besides her innate athletic ability, Biles' willingness to take risks in the face of failure has undoubtedly helped her become one of the greatest gymnasts in history.

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It seems whenever there's a major crisis, someone sets up a stage, plugs in a microphone, and calls the world together through music. These are called benefit or charity concerts and they're intended to raise money, awareness, or both, for said major crisis.

But, in the long run, are they really the answer to the world's biggest issues?

Benefit concerts and festivals, in their current guise, have existed for more than half a century now, and they show no sign of slowing down. It's not hard to see why, in a world that is grappling with new and ongoing social, economic, environmental, and health issues - not to mention a world that is undoubtedly still far away from achieving the goal to end extreme poverty.

However, if you think too hard about it (which I have), you might come to the thought that pop culture and celebrity stage moments don't sound like they belong in the same space as the world's biggest issues. Poverty and pop culture don't mix well in the same cocktail, do they?

Let's get to the bottom of it.

What are benefit concerts?

Put simply, a benefit or charity concert is an event that utilises music and the platforms of celebrities to raise awareness or money for an urgent issue.

They've existed in their current format since 1971, when The Beatles guitarist George Harrison and his good friend, Indian composer Ravi Shankar, teamed up to raise money for Bengali refugees fleeing violence in their home country.

At the time, East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, was fighting for independence and democracy - a movement that was severely cracked down on by Pakistani authorities; killing hundreds of thousands of people, and leading to a refugee crisis.

The historic event, called The Concert for Bangladesh, raised $240,000 for UNICEF through donations and a further $17 million through album and film sales since then. It set a new precedent for celebrity involvement in spotlighting issues that need immediate attention from all around the world.

According to NPR: "The Concert for Bangladesh showed that celebrities could tap into their fan base to make Western audiences more attentive to geographically distant issues."

Since then, some of the big hitters have been Live Aid in 1985 and the follow-up Live 8 in 2005, along with Farm Aid (an annual event that started in 1985), the Tibetan Freedom Concert events (from 1996 to 2001), Nelson Mandela's 46664 concerts for AIDS awareness (from 2003 to 2008), Tsunami Aid in 2004, and Hope for Haiti in 2010.

Some of these events have even drawn on musicians' own legacies and experiences, such as A Concert for Life: The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness following the death of Queen's lead vocalist in 1991; and Ariana Grande's One Love Manchester in response to the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing that took place following one of Grande's concerts.

These events are often massive undertakings that call on the world to stop in their tracks, and pay attention to what is being said on stage. So do they succeed?

Do they work?

The simple answer is yes. One of the biggest reasons they work is because they master the attention economy. They do this by using our daily hunger for pop culture to divert our attention to matters we might not have thought about if they weren't immediately affecting us, or trending on our timelines.

This is important because the truth is, humanitarian crises don't often get the attention they deserve. CARE International released a report in early 2023 that highlighted just how much more significant media coverage of pop culture is, when compared to media coverage of some of the world's biggest crises.

The report takes a look at the number of articles published about pop culture events in 2022, in comparison to articles about humanitarian crises in the same year; and the results offer compelling evidence that pop culture and celebrities get a whole lot more attention than most humanitarian crises. Malawi's hunger crisis, for example, where at least 5.4 million people do not have enough food to eat, was covered in 2,330 articles. That's compared to over 100,000 articles about Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck getting back together.

Getting a stake in the attention economy is essential for humanitarian issues, because the global attention on an issue means more potential for world leaders to take action to help - it's been shown that media attention does correlate with government aid allocations.

It's not fair, of course, that the world's humanitarian crises are competing for the same eyeballs that are glued to pop culture news. But what benefit concerts and festivals do (as well as organizations who work with celebrities through ambassadorship) is use the star power to shift people's eyeballs to the places that need them most. And they succeed at doing that, all while raising money and attention for urgent issues. Put it this way, if the events are about putting crises in front of people who otherwise wouldn't be seeing them, then there's a net positive gain.

Let's take Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck again - both of whom took part in Global Citizen's Vax Live: The Concert to Reunite the World (granted, this was slightly ahead of their romantic reunion). The event, held on May 8, 2021, and broadcast and streamed around the world, was part of a campaign working to ensure COVID-19 vaccines were equitably distributed around the world, to raise funds for pandemic relief, and to address COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.

In part thanks to Lopez, Affleck, and the many other massive names who headlined and took part, this event helped mobilize $302 million for COVID-19 pandemic relief, along with 26 million COVID-19 vaccines delivered to those who needed them most.

Some benefit concerts - like Global Citizen's own festival events for example - don't raise humanitarian funding through tickets sales at all; but rather focus on raising awareness and educating the public about global issues, all with the aim of empowering citizens to urge world leaders, the private sector, and others with outsized global influence to act by committing funding to global and local organizations addressing the issues.

Global Citizen Festival, for example, which is taking place this year on Sept. 23 in New York City's Central Park, calls on Global Citizens to not buy but earn their festival tickets by taking action on the world's biggest global challenges today. Global Citizens have taken millions of actions calling on world leaders and the private sector to urgently address gender inequality, the global food crisis, and the climate emergency in the run up to the event - which is being headlined by Jung Kook, Red Hot Chili Peppers , Ms. Lauryn Hill , and , along with performances from , , Sofia Carson , and .

So yes, benefit concerts work - but the real question should be...

Will benefit concerts *continue* to work?

Currently, these concerts and festivals work so well because they tap into fanbases that are already invested in the artists who appear at them. Celebrities are smart enough to know the influence they have over their fans, and can share information with their fans about the causes they care about with calls to action - just like you would with your friends.

But audiences and fanbases are demanding more of benefit and charity events now than back when they first began. One of the biggest criticisms these events currently face, for example, is that they're more about enhancing or improving a celebrity's public image, rather than having an impact.

Oxfam's Creative Alliances and Music Outreach Project Manager, Bob Ferguson, notes that: "We have to be on our toes to sniff out opportunities that are more about rehabilitating an artist's reputation rather than being helpful."

Another argument against these events is their overhead cost; events are not cheap. Concerts are so expensive to host now that the Wall Street Journal has dubbed 2023: "The Year of the $1,000 Concert Ticket" - and that's without even factoring in making enough money to deliver to charity organizations as well.

The hefty price of a ticket (for charity events that charge for tickets) could, of course, instead be donated directly to a beneficiary organization if you skipped the event altogether - although this argument doesn't consider how much value artists bring to the cause through their influence.

So, for charity and benefit events to continue to be effective, event organizers need to be planning and thinking with care, authenticity, and with the impact of the event and the people it's intended to benefit absolutely front and center. Here are a few considerations in thinking about the future of charity events.
1. Have a clear goal, and a clear beneficiary.
Events can't just be raising money for money's sake. The Concert for Bangladesh, for example, knew what the cause was, but had no idea who to donate to. While things worked out in the end and the money was donated to UNICEF, the risk of raising funds without an intended recipient is large. If there's a clear indication from the very beginning of what the money is being raised for, and who is going to receive it, this risk can decrease.
2. Be transparent and stay accountable.
We already live in an age of mistrust, miscommunication, and misinformation. Organizers of benefit events have to earn the trust of attendees and onlookers for their work to matter. This includes ensuring that celebrities involved have a genuine and authentic care for the issue they're working to address, including being willing to put in the work to educate themselves too, alongside their fanbases.

On working with famous artists, Oxfam's Ferguson said: "There's a vetting process to make sure we're working with people who want to work with us. Music fans can smell a marketing idea or project easily these days."
3. Don't stop when the music stops.
The work has to go beyond the concert.

Jamie Drummond, co-founder of ONE, explained it this way: "Concerts, show biz for good causes go so far, and fundraising goes so far, but you have to get at the structural causes of the problems. That requires engaging a bit more in politics."

The work includes being more invested in the issues and the communities beyond the surface level, because otherwise all these concerts would do is throw money at the problem without acknowledging the systemic causes behind the problem. Connecting with grassroots organizations and activists on the ground is also essential to making sure that these events are truly effective in the long run.

For instance, Birhan Woldu, who was a beneficiary of Live Aid - a concert in the 1980s that worked to raise money against famine in Ethiopia - and became one of the faces of the event, went on to say of it 30 years later: "For me, personally, Live Aid has done nothing. I am branded as the symbol of Live Aid due to the image of the 1980s... The state I am in at this moment is miserable. I do not have a job and I cannot support my family on my own."

This, she believes, was as a result of the event and organizations affiliated with it not connecting to the systemic causes of the hunger crisis that have continued to cause problems long-term.
4. Meet people where they are.
A large majority of the world is experiencing a cost-of-living crisis, and people are struggling to handle their own immediate issues, let alone the issues that people around them and far away from them are facing. Asking the public to fork out cash for a benefit concert when money is tight won't necessarily sit right.

Instead, benefit concerts can take concert-goers wallets out of the equation by reassessing how they raise funds to address global issues. Global Citizen, for instance, targets world leaders, development banks, and major corporations to commit funds towards tackling an issue, rather than asking members of the public to buy festival tickets.

So what's the answer?

Benefit concerts alone cannot of course solve the world's biggest problems, but they can be very effective and impactful - whether that's to raise funds directly, raise awareness, educate people, or unite citizens in calling for action from world leaders.

That's because the events and the star power behind them have the power to wield attention, call for accountability, and mobilize action. So yes, when done right they do work, they do have an impact, and they're worth investing your time in to connect to your favorite artists and to show up for a cause that needs your attention.
If you've got this far, you might be interested in learning more about this year's Global Citizen Festival and how you can take part wherever you are in the world to take action for gender equity, food security, and climate action.

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How Do Benefit Concerts and Festivals Actually Help People?

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This opinion article looks at how charity or benefit concerts - like Live Aid, The Concert for Bangladesh, and Global Citizen Festival - can help positively impact people's lives.

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H&M Case Shows How Greenwashing Breaks Brand Promise

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A recent expose on fast-fashion retailer H&M alleges that the company’s environmental promise is undermined by greenwashing.

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"Luffy reminds me a lot of me, when I was a little kid." When Iñaki Godoy received the news he got the role of Luffy, he knew it would change his life forever. From keeping his own 'One Piece' journal where he kept notes on every episode to putting on the straw hat for the first time, Iñaki Godoy truly manifested his pirate dreams. Iñaki breaks down his entire process for the 'One Piece' live-action, from studying original voice actor Mayumi Tanaka's legendary dubbing, working alongside director Marc Jobst on set, seeing the incredible set come to life, and so much more. SAG-AFTRA members are currently on strike; as part of the strike, union actors are not promoting their film and TV projects. This video was conducted prior to the strike. Director: Adam Lance Garcia Director of Photography: Jack Belisle Producer: Madison Coffey Associate Producer: Rafael Vasquez Production Manager: Natasha Soto-Albors Talent Booker: Mica Medoff Camera Operator: Alfonso Audio Engineer: Rehanna Chandan, Michael Guggino Post Production Supervisor: Christian Olguin Post Production Coordinator: Scout Alter Supervising Editor: Erica Dillman Assistant Editor: Jason Malizia Graphics Supervisor: Ross Rackin

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7 Reasons Beyoncé's "Formation" Music Video Is a Powerful Statement During Black History Month

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Content warning: This story includes descriptions of alleged sexual assault and domestic violence that may be distressing to some readers.
10 years ago, a song came on our radar that quickly shot to the top of the music charts.

It was 'Blurred Lines' - a song by American singer/songwriter Robin Thicke, T.I. and Pharrell Williams.

The song's beat was objectively well-received, but it was the lyrics that were met with widespread criticism. Dubbed the 'most controversial' song of the decade when it was released in 2013, 'Blurred Lines' was banned across numerous venues, including nightclubs and university campuses.

And it had everything to do with the song's representation of consent. Or lack thereof.

But it wasn't just the questionable lyrics that were cause for concern. In the years since, there's been allegations from Emily Ratajkowski of an assault on set, embarrassment over the song, a copyright lawsuit and more.
Watch the music video and song in question. Post continues below.
The lyrics that sparked controversy.

For context, 'Blurred Lines' spent 33 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, and held the top spot from late June until early September of that year. It resulted in a Grammy nomination for Thicke as well.

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10 years ago, 'Blurred Lines' was released. The controversial lyrics were just the tip of the iceberg.

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Blurred Lines has remained controversial and been the centre of controversy for 10 years, Em Rata accused Robin Thicke of assault following the music video.

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Drill rap is mostly what you'd get if you combined the trap music subgenre with the lyrics of gangsta rap. Born out of the experiences of the youth living in Chicago, drill rap would have a short-lived lifespan in the mainstream media. Its blunt lyrics were almost a cry for help, describing the plight and violent situations many people grew up in inside wildly underserved and alienated communities. While drill rap isn't one of the biggest genres in the hip hop world, it means the world to the people who can relate to it.

In this article, we'll look over the history of drill music, talk about the intense reactions to the genre many had, and go over some of the most important drill rappers in history.

History of Drill Music

Drill rap originated in the Woodlawn neighborhood area of Chicago during the 2010s. The term drill is slang that can be used to mean fight or retaliate, but it can mean anything from girls getting ready to go out for the night to all-out war in the streets. It's the scene where Chicago hip hop really took off in the 2010s, originally starting as a grassroots kind of movement that took root in a mostly closed-off community. The main inspiration for the genre, at least from a music perspective, was the popularity and success southern rappers found with trap music.

Drill inherently contains violent themes, which are mainly a product of the life experiences of the rappers who pioneered the genre. The South Side of Chicago has seen an ongoing homicide and gang crisis. Drill rap came out of those areas and is massively influenced by the experiences of the young people who grew up around that violence as a part of their normal everyday life. It's representative of both a specific style of hip hop and a severely alienated group of people within the US.

YouTube was the place where many young drill rappers found their first levels of success. In our modern era, the ability to publish your music and creative works on a platform of that size, and make it easily accessible, is an integral part of the modern music community and it's no different with drill rap.

Dro City native and rapper PacMan coined the term drill music in his 2010 single It's a Drill. The song was directly relating the slang term to the shootings taking place in the area.

Chief Keef is the man responsible for bringing drill rap to the mainstream hip hop scene more than anyone else. His viral hit songs Love Sosa, I Don't Like It, and Bang in 2011 and 2012 would earn him a record deal with Interscope Records. Around the same time, King Louie was also offered a record deal at Epic Records.

By 2012, major hip hop names began collaborating with drill rappers, including Kanye West and Rick Ross. Drill would become a big influence on Kanye's Yeezus album, which also featured vocals by both Chief Keef and King Louie.

Drill would seem to fizzle out as just a hip hop fad. Chief Keef, the widely-held biggest name in the genre, released his debut studio album in 2012. While it's described as a classic drill album and the template for the genre as a whole, even receiving great marks from critics, it was a major failure. Finally Rich sold only around 50,000 copies, making it a major flop and causing most recording studios to lose interest in the genre in the US.

While Chicago drill rap had a short lifespan and fizzled out pretty quickly, another scene was emerging. It began making its way across Europe and by the late 2010s, drill music was a mainstream genre. UK Drill music would evolve into its own distinct style separated from the Chicago scene and mostly pioneered by the group 67. That group would have its own fair share of controversies, being labeled as a gang organization by British police, having shows shut down by police, and eventually being caught trafficking drugs throughout the UK.

Brooklyn drill would be influenced by both the UK and Chicago drill rap scenes, coming to fruition in the late 2010s. It would go back into the mainstream in 2019 with remixes and collaborations between drill rappers and big hip hop names like Nicki Minaj and Meek Mill.

The UK drill rap scene really took off, mostly spearheaded by the group 67. That scene would eventually spawn the Brooklyn drill scene after Pop Smoke collaborated with drill rappers in the UK and reintroduced their sound in the US as Brooklyn drill.

An unfortunate side effect of the genre being rooted in gang violence was also the beef between the many different groups vying for control and influence. Diss tracks got the most views on YouTube when compared to normal songs discussing life experiences. Sadly, those songs would be a matchstick thrown onto a pool of gasoline, igniting sprees of violence in retaliation for the diss tracks. In New York especially, these became common and saw fatal attacks on rappers like Tdott Woo and Pop Smoke. Eventually, many drill rappers and DJs simply refused to play or make the songs for fear of further escalating the violence.

Next: The best Chicago rappers of all time

Major Characteristics of Drill Rap

One thing most people will never understand is what it's like to grow up in the challenging, violent, and gang-centered streets where drill music originated from. The biggest influence on the music itself was that environment and drill rap served as an outlet for mostly young rappers to express what their lives were like and how things were for them. YouTube served as a platform for them to get their work out there to broader audiences than the tightly-controlled territories and streets that drill music originally called home.

David Drake of Complex Magazine said drill wasn't defined by any particular production style, it was "the entirety of the culture: the lingo, the dances, the mentality, and the music, much of which originated in 'Dro City,' a gang-defined territory of city blocks in the Woodlawn neighborhood."

Drill rap is best characterized by ominous beats and incredibly blunt lyrics. Rappers describe their situations in ways that might send shivers down your spine, but they're incredibly honest about it and aren't holding back things that might make you feel squeamish. The music focuses on slower tempos and dark atmospheres, with lyrics centered around the criminal activity the rappers witnessed on a daily basis. I would think a relative comparison for it would be that drill music is to hip hop what extreme metal is to rock. It's not a one-for-one comparison, but it seems to fit, albeit not perfectly.

An analysis of drill rap would tell you it relies on simple and direct lyrics, not wordplay and metaphors. According to Chief Keef, the simplistic flow is a stylistic choice. Despite that, it's easy to see the trap music inspiration behind the drill music scene, despite consistently recording at a much slower beat per minute tempo, typically ranging between 60 and 70 beats per minute. The slow tempo allows artists to deliver unhurried lyrics that are almost in a talking tone and almost always some sort of threat.

The slowed-down tempo, compared to trap music, also allowed more space in the song. While it gave artists room for ad-libs, allowed tension to build up, and included long stretches without drum kicks, it could also leave the style airless and plodding.

One of the things about drill music that's most unsettling is that drillers tend to be young, with most of the prominent artists in the scene gaining a following while they're still in their teens.

Next: The top Drill songs of all time

Reaction To Drill Rap

Drill rap received some major reactions from public audiences experiencing it for the first time. Most of them either had no idea what situations these rappers grew up in or never cared, but they definitely didn't expect the blunt reality of what they were hearing. I'll give you a second to guess whether there are more positive or negative opinions about drill rap out there... Yep, you guessed it; it's widely assumed to be an awful thing by a lot of people. I'll give examples.

Chicago rappers from before drill rap was popularized and mostly had mixed reactions to it. Lupe Fiasco would go on a radio interview and say that "Chief Keef scares me. Not him specifically, but just the culture that he represents ... The murder rate in Chicago is skyrocketing, and you see who's doing it and perpetrating it-they all look like Chief Keef." That prompted Chief Keef to respond on Twitter by threatening Fiasco, who nearly gave up music entirely after the fact. Rhymefest would tweet out that drill music is "the theme music for murder."

The New York Times would describe drill in this way:

With rare exceptions, this music is unmediated and raw and without bright spots, focused on anger and violence. The instinct is to call this tough, unforgiving, and concrete-hard music joyless, but in truth, it's exuberant in its darkness. Most of its practitioners are young and coming into their creative own against a backdrop of outrageous violence in Chicago, particularly among young people-dozens of teenagers have been killed in Chicago this year-and often related to gangs. (There's a long history of overlap between Chicago's gangs and Chicago's rap.) That their music is a symphony of ill-tempered threats shouldn't be a surprise.

Then when you look at the UK drill rap scene, you find a bit of a different take on it. The Children's Society has an entire web page dedicated to drill rap. While it serves as a minimalist definition of the genre and explains a bit of the history, it certainly disapproves (probably in the most polite English way possible).

After wondering whether drill rap is the source of violence or merely a symptom, the page gives brief descriptions of the history of drill rap and how it came to be. It describes it as popular with the younger generations that grew up in deprived areas. The article goes on to say that the influx of drill rap was the fueling source of violence in London according to the chief of police, and discusses the city asking youtube to take down any videos glamorizing violence.

It then wraps up by talking about how music is a way to work with young people and that criminalizing the genre isn't going to change anything at all. It's safe to say that it was not welcomed with open arms on the other side of the pond.

As recently as 2022, drill music has found itself at the center of some controversy. It was connected, fairly or not, with real-world gun violence in New York and other major cities thanks to the gang violence surrounding industry names like Pop Smoke, Tdott Woo, and a few others. In response to the diss track side of the scene, New York DJs and music influencers stopped playing gang and diss records. In February of that year, New York city mayor Eric Adams would criticize drill music and said that it was actively instigating violence in the streets. A few days after that press conference, he met with local drill rappers to find some agreement regarding their music.

A Symptom of a Real Issue

It's hard to look at the history, the quote, and the themes of drill music and not feel at least a little bit sad. It's not like the rappers coming out of the scene had any choice about their situations. Remember that Chief Keef was 16 when he signed his record deal, King Louie was older, but then Lil Mouse was only 13.

I'm not qualified to speak on societal issues and I know I'll never understand what it was like for those guys. But drill music was more than just a genre and it's worth taking the time to understand what it was there to say.

Drill rappers weren't out there talking about all of that violence to sound cool, have a tough image, or anything relatively like that. Drill rap is one of the most visceral genres because it's blunt, nihilistic, and, most importantly, based on real-life experiences. That the drill scene exists at all speaks to major societal issues and shines a light on what can happen when disenfranchised communities are left without lifelines.

For many kids in the genre, drill music was a symbol of hope. Its popularity was a lifeline away from the lifestyle they were sucked into and never chose, whether that was a conscious realization or not. I won't sit here writing this and pretend I understand how it was for any of them, how they felt, or act like I can relate to the situation. I also understand this entire section is entirely based on my own uneducated opinion. It's just tragic to see legitimate children rapping about violence on this kind of scale and it shows the massive disconnect between mainstream media and music from the plight of real people who are left without any help.

Does Drill Cause Violence?

One question that probably needs addressing is whether or not drill causes violence or is just what you get when kids get into violent situations. While politicians have and will blame anything possible for rising crime rates (except themselves), that's a bit of a knee-jerk reaction to a music genre. It's also a trope they fall into every decade or so, blaming criminal activity on whatever popular hip hop trend is going on.

The reality is that drill music is representative of the community it came from. People are quick to turn to violence to solve issues where these rappers are from. Drill music reflects that harsh reality, with the deaths of some prominent names in the genre only making the issue seem worse.

In all honesty, drill music probably has incited some violent incidents. But those were most likely just reflex reactions to slights in diss tracks. People aren't inspired by drill music to grab a gun and go shoot someone. It's the other way around. Drill music is inspired by the violent reality of the rappers' everyday lives and the culture they grew up in. To say drill music causes violence would be the equivalent of saying a spoon made me fat or blaming social media for violent outbursts when someone is feuding online.

Most Successful Drill Rap Artists

Chief Keef

Chief Keef was undisputedly the biggest star of drill rap and the person who brought it to the mainstream music world. He originally attracted attention on the south side of Chicago with his mixtapes The Glory Road and Bang, which along with some other YouTube videos became the forerunners of the drill music genre.

I Don't Like became a hit single in Chicago and would be remixed and recorded by Kanye West alongside Pusha T, Jadakiss, and Big Sean. This release pushed Chief Keef out of obscurity and into the nationwide spotlight.

By 2012, he became the subject of bidding wars between different record labels, eventually signing with Interscope Records. The deal allowed Interscope to pull his contract if his debut album failed to sell 250,000 units, and it barely sold 50,000 despite featuring guest appearances from 50 Cent, Wiz Khalifa, Young Jeezy, Rick Ross, and Lil Reese.

Unfortunately, the album's flopping would spell the beginning of the end for drill rap in the mainstream hip hop world. As the biggest and most influential drill artist, Chief Keef's album failure caused record labels to lose faith in the genre and begin pulling contracts.

The failure didn't mean the end of Chief Keef's music career, though. He would continue producing music and experimenting with his sound, though never reaching the success and notoriety of his earliest mixtapes and music.

King Louie

Spin magazine stated that King Louie was one of the Chicago rappers that made Chicago the hottest rap scene in the country in 2012. He built a following through one-on-one mixtapes and would hand out his CDs at bus stops and parties. Louie's first two released mixtapes in Boss Shit and Cloud 9 got him noticed, but his career would get put on hold after he was hit by a car.

Louie signed with Epic Records in 2012 while on a trip to Los Angeles. At the same time, Kanye West's remix of Chief Keef's song came out, and Louie was among the up-and-coming artists mentioned by Kanye on the album.

King Louie then appeared on Kanye's Yeezus album, performing a verse and hook on Send It Up. While he was shot in the head in 2015, Louie survived the incident and has continued releasing music as recently as 2022.

67

67 originated as a hip hop collective in England made up of rapper LD, Monkey, Dimzy, Liquez, 67 Sj, and ASAP. Since then, they've expanded to include quite a few other members. 67 is widely regarded as the most influential group in the UK drill scene, and were nominated for the Best Newcomer Award at the 2016 MOBO Awards.

If you couldn't guess from the section on the UK reaction to drill music, 67 are popular in the UK, but not with authorities. The group has been labeled as a criminal gang and had several shows shut down by police even though their first tour completely sold out.

Pop Smoke

Pop Smoke was one of the most influential artists in drill music outside of Chicago. After collaborating with UK drill rappers, he reintroduced their minimal instrumentation as Brooklyn drill music. His work would see him signed to Republic Records in 2019, and his second mixtape would debut at number seven on the Billboard 200.

Unfortunately, two weeks after the release of his second mixtape, Pop Smoke was murdered in a home invasion in Los Angeles.

50 Cent would be the executive producer on Smoke's posthumous studio album debut Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and all 19 tracks charted on the Billboard Hot 100.

Next: The top UK rappers of all time

Lil Mouse

Lil Mouse was another one of the viral rappers to come out of the Chicago drill music scene around the same time as Chief Keef and King Louie. He would be co-signed by Lil Wayne at the only thirteen years of age.

Young Chop

Young Chop was the producer behind Chief Keef's hits I Don't Like, Love Sosa, and 3Hunna. After meeting Chief Keef on Facebook, Chop produced many of Keef's songs, with his mixtape Back From the Dead is the first record produced by Young Chop.

He would be one of the most important producers in drill music, founding his own independent record label called Chop Squad.

Final Thoughts on Drill Rap

Drill music emerged from the tragic ways of life that many of us would be horrified by, but was an everyday event for the kids who grew up in the place it came from. For many of the kids who emerged onto the drill music scene, it was an outlet to express themselves and describe their own experiences. It was also one of the few hopes they had to cling to get out of that situation and improve their lives.

A combination of slower, trap-music-Esque beats, blunt lyrics describing the harsh reality of life in impoverished communities, and a rap style that didn't focus on metaphors and wordplay were defining characteristics of drill rap. In the end, drill rap may have had a short-lived stint in the mainstream music world, but it pulled the curtain back on the plight of some mostly forgotten people and meant everything to the artists who were involved in it.
Read Next: What is Pop music? Explained What is Trap music? Explained

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UK Net Zero Policies: What Rishi Sunak has scrapped

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UK Net Zero Policies: What Rishi Sunak has scrapped

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Rishi Sunak has announced a watering-down of the UK's net zero policies, though claims he still wishes to meet the legally binding 2050 target. The prime minister said this was to save money for families, declaring: "If we continue down this path, we risk losing the consent of the British people and the resulting backlash will not just be against specific policies, but against the wider mission itself."

But what has he scrapped? Will it actually save the people of the UK any money? And what will it mean for the climate crisis? The Guardian has looked into each policy and what the change means.

Cars

New cars with combustion engines were due to be banned from sale by 2030. This has been pushed back to 2035, with the government claiming it will save consumers money. Sunak said by 2030 he expected "the vast majority" of cars sold would be electric, because they are getting cheaper, and people are buying more, but thatpeople should make that decision themselves - not the government.

Experts disagree. Bob Ward, policy and communications director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said: "Delaying the phase-out of petrol and diesel cars would mean that UK drivers will remain exposed to the volatility of international oil prices, which are rising due to cuts by major producers such as Saudi Arabia and Russia. The UK's dependence on fossil fuels is costly and economically damaging."

He added that the "weakening of the targets ... will undermine investment, as many furious companies have pointed out today".

Peter Chalkley, director of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, said the changes would actually end up costing consumers more.

He said: "The vast majority, 80%, of drivers buy secondhand and secondhand petrol cars that would be on the market for literally decades to come. Delaying this policy will push up the cost of motoring as cheaper secondhand EVs that are much cheaper to run than petrol cars will be less available."

It could also cost in a wider sense as car manufacturers lose confidence in the UK because of its ever-changing targets and policies. As Lisa Brankin, the chair of Ford UK, said: "Our business needs three things from the UK government: ambition, commitment and consistency. A relaxation of 2030 would undermine all three."

Sunak spoke of the need to improve the electricity grid - to date, the government has been slow to introduce electric vehicle charging points, especially in some parts of the country, and has failed to upgrade the electricity grid (except for people lucky enough to live near Sunak's swimming pool).

Boilers

The UK's reliance on imported gas is expected to continue for longer as Sunak announced his plans to significantly weaken the plan to phase out the installation of gas boilers by 2035, instead aiming for only an 80% phase-out. He also said the 2026 ban on off-grid oil boilers would be delayed to 2035, with only an 80% phase-out target at that date.

He said: "We will give people far more time to make the necessary transition to heat pumps.

"We will never force anyone to rip out their existing boiler and replace it with a heat pump. You'll only ever have to make the switch when you're replacing your boiler anyway - and even then, not until 2035."

Again, Sunak claims this was aimed at saving households money. While Ward said it was positive that the prime minister announced that grants for people under the boiler upgrade scheme would be increased by 50%, going up to £7,500, he added: "The prime minister appears to have forgotten that the current cost of living crisis has been triggered by a huge increase in the price of natural gas following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and the UK would have suffered less if it had moved more quickly to embrace clean electricity and clean alternatives to gas central heating.

Rishi Sunak rolls back net zero targets in reset of UK climate policies - video

"If the winter ahead in Europe is long and cold, natural gas prices will rise again, leading to higher bills for households and businesses and higher inflation."

Chalkley said: "The fact is the gas boiler and petrol car phase-out aren't set to have any impact on those struggling with bills for at least a decade. The boiler phase-out would start in 2035 but only for those whose boiler breaks."

Even then, it is not always more expensive for homes to install heat pumps than traditional gas boilers. Octopus Energy this month unveiled a new heat pump design that, with current government support, can be installed for free in some homes, and for £3,000 in those that need upgrades including insulation. These costs will go down as competition increases and more people install heat pumps. Heat pumps are also cheaper to operate than gas boilers if homes are well insulated.

Andrew Sissons from Nesta, an innovation charity, said there were other low-carbon alternatives to heat pumps being developed, including direct electric heating and new low-carbon fuels. "The main aim of the phase-out date is to give everyone - the heating industry, consumers, regulators - lots of time to prepare for a world without new boilers. If the heating industry - the companies that make boilers and the engineers that fit them in our homes - knows it can't sell gas boilers after 2035, it has time to invest, switch production, retrain and build up its business in low-carbon heating. The other big advantage of a phase-out date is that it starts to wind down use of gas boilers gradually by 2050. Boilers often last about 15 years, so the 2035 date gives enough time for most boilers to be gone in time for net zero in 2050."

Insulation

The UK has some of the most badly insulated housing stock in Europe. Sunak announced he would no longer require homeowners and landlords to meet energy efficiency targets. He promised not to force homeowners into what he termed "expensive insulation upgrades".

There had been plans to fine landlords who failed to upgrade their properties to a certain level of energy efficiency, but these have now been dropped.

This will save an immediate cost to landlords, who will not have to pay to insulate homes they do not live in, but their renters will face costs. Last year, research found that people living in more poorly insulated homes would have to spend £1,000 more on gas over a winter.

Chalkley said: "The one measure that would have brought down bills is the landlord energy efficiency rules. Rented accommodation is some of the worst quality and so most costly to heat with tenants having no power to insulate themselves. [This] will add to the cost of living for those struggling, not make things easier."

Behaviour change

Sunak has been clear in the past he is not going to tell people not to fly as much as they like or to eat less meat. Now he has confirmed his party will not take forward policies that would encourage more sustainable behaviour, such as taxing airlines properly and informing the public of the carbon footprint of meat. These policies, to disincentivise eating meat and flying, have never been proposed by either the Labour or Conservative government but have been discussed by civil servants in government departments as potential ways to help meet net zero.

Sunak said: "The proposal for government to interfere in how many passengers you can have in your car - I've scrapped it.

"The proposal that we should force you to have seven different bins in your home - I've scrapped it.

"The proposal to make you change your diet and harm British farmers by taxing meat, or to create new taxes to discourage flying or going on holiday. I've scrapped those too."

While most of the changes that are needed to get to net zero should fall on big businesses rather than being shouldered by the consumer, experts suggest it should be easier and cheaper to make less carbon-emitting choices. For example, catching a train is much more expensive than flying by plane.

On the climate cost of our diets, Henry Dimbleby, a former government food tsar, said: "This isn't primarily, as most people think, about methane. It is about freeing up land. Almost 80% of the land used to feed us in the UK is used to graze animals or produce food to feed to animals. It's a staggeringly inefficient use of resources.

"It is clear that the single biggest change to diet to solve both the climate and biodiversity crises is to eat less meat. But of all the topics we tested with focus groups while writing the national food strategy, it was clear that this is the most politically contentious."

The costs of not reaching net zero

Aside from the direct impact on consumers' pockets, experts point out that by far the largest costs involved in this are the cost of not acting on climate breakdown.

Ward said this weakening of policies could have "a disproportionately negative long-term impact on the UK economy".

"It could hurt economic growth by undermining domestic and overseas investment in a range of sectors that are developing and deploying clean technologies, such as heat pumps and electric vehicles," he said. "And it could make UK households poorer and colder because they will remain highly exposed to volatile fossil fuel prices."

The Office for Budget Responsibility recently found that the costs of continued gas reliance were more than double those of reaching net zero. It also said in 2021 the cost would be mostly offset by savings on fossil fuels, and would be "comparatively modest", amounting to a few billion a year over the period to 2050.

Furthermore, cost of living impacts from extreme weather events and global food systems collapsing will be far greater if we don't urgently act to decarbonise. Ed Hawkins, a professor of climate science at the University of Reading, said: "Burning fossil fuels produces carbon dioxide, which causes global warming, which amplifies the consequences of extreme weather events, as we have so clearly seen this summer.

"Climate change will continue until we reach net zero globally, and we will then have to suffer the consequences of that warmer world for decades or more. It also matters how we reach net zero, not just when - delaying action means more emissions which means more severe consequences."

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UK net zero policies: what has Rishi Sunak scrapped?

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PM has outlined plans to delay some climate targets, saying they will save people money. Experts give their view

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In 2021, the COVID-19 crisis still looms large. Many countries are experiencing a third surge of the pandemic. The surges and new strains of COVID, with their continued impact on the overall political economy and society mean the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals are at stake. The need for a well-coordinated and holistic global response and recovery is urgent.

The Green New Deal idea goes back to the New Deal of former US President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Journalist Thomas Friedman is often credited for first calling for a Green New Deal in 2007. By that time, it was becoming clear that the challenge of climate change will require a comprehensive approach, and there was no politically expedient silver bullet.

A Green New Deal combines Roosevelt's government-led, society-wide economic approach of Great Depression era with modern technologies that will shift economies to low carbon.

While the combined health, economic and social impact of COVID crises exacerbate the existing climate and nature emergency, it also offers an opportunity for a smart recovery with a wide-reaching, fundamental restructuring of critical sectors. It makes economic sense to plan green recovery packages and for the transition to be socially inclusive, low-emission and climate-resilient.

This year could be crucial for an inclusive global, green recovery that focuses on renewable energy, green jobs, and ensures social protection for the most vulnerable.
The Korean New Deal
The South Korean government has responded. It's New Deal, plans to invest about US$144 billion in creating 1,901,000 jobs by 2025. The plan focuses on a Digital New Deal and Green New Deal, and includes overarching policy support to strengthen employment and social safety nets.

Korea has identified ten key projects ranging from green mobility to smart healthcare. It includes the central and local governments' involvement to bring innovation and jobs to the regional economy, with half of the money invested outside Seoul.

The Green New Deal focuses on renewable energy, green infrastructure and industrial sector. Its green car subsidy programme offers up to US$17 million in subsidies to people buying electric cars in 2021 and up to US$33.5 million for hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles.

In December 2020, South Korea submitted to the UNFCCC its NDC and 2050 Carbon Neutral Strategy. The latter includes Korea's long-term strategy for achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
COVID-19 challenges
While Korea has generally been able to respond effectively to COVID-19 with rigorous contact-tracing and other preparations, there have been successive surges in the pandemic. Almost 79,000 South Koreans were infected, and more than 1,400 have died. The government plans to offer free vaccinations to its citizens from now on.

Korea's economy managed to stay open through most of the pandemic. Still, many people, including small businesses, and the self-employed suffered from the economic downturn. With the New Deal moving forward, the government aims to support a post-recovery economic resurgence called "inclusive recovery and takeoff". This will include continuing with stimulus packages to small businesses and individuals. In March, the government will launch the five-year K-New Deal Fund, seeking to invest US$3.5 trillion in 2021, with 35 percent financed by the public sector and 65 percent being raised privately.
Way forward
Korea remains the world's fourth-largest importer of coal and the third-largest investor in overseas coal projects. As its 2050 Carbon Neutral Strategy highlights phasing out all coal plants or converting them to liquefied natural gas by 2050, Korea requires a drastic acceleration of clean technology.

The next few months will be exciting. The New Deal's three-pronged model will be led by the private sector and backed by the government and it has generated high interest. Korea has exceptional IT infrastructure and digital competitiveness. It is increasingly recognized as a world leader in research and development, with a sophisticated consumer base pushing technology innovation and partnerships, such as the, UNDP and Samsung Global Goals initative. International companies are exploring the New Deal's key projects to identify market entry and expansion opportunities. Developing countries want to learn from the policy lessons on Korea's recovery.

At the Seoul Global Policy Centre, UNDP has facilitated policy deliberations on green recovery under the Build Back Better webinar series. In May and Dec 2020, we organized two webinars with experts from Korea, Rwanda, Bangladesh and the EU. The discussions covered lessons on green recovery and emphasized the need to maintain momentum. Our latest technical webinar, organized with Korea Ministry of Foreign Affairs, included participants from 43 countries. This year, we will continue to highlight and share the various aspects of Korea's Green Recovery and New Deal with partners around the world.

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South Korea's Green New Deal in the year of transition | United Nations Development Programme

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Country launches bold and ambitious plans for carbon neutrality.

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Biden administration approves controversial Willow oil project in Alaska, which has galvanized online activism | CNN Politics

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The Biden administration has approved the massive Willow oil drilling project in Alaska, angering climate advocates and setting the stage for a court challenge.

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How Social Media and Activism Work Together

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How Social Media and Activism Work Together

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Technology is accelerating the rate at which ideas, relationships, and information are shared. As such, social media is revolutionizing communication and access to information on both a national and global scale. Mass distribution and the ability to effortlessly share information has influenced many facets of modern life, changing the way we think about, connect to, and engage with social justice and activism.

How Social Media and Activism Work Together

People have discovered new ways to communicate and collaborate through social media. Features such as feeds, profiles, and groups on social platforms provide global access to organizations that can promote and increase visibility by sharing and networking. Modern communication students study these virtual platforms, and can even pursue careers creating and distributing digital content. The power of social media can amplify voices, instantaneously spread information, and increase collaboration across diverse groups of people.

Here are some movements and trends that have caught hold in the national and global conversation in part due to their presence across social media.

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

The ALS Association ran an ice bucket challenge in 2014 raised awareness of the disease ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease) - as well as $115 million in donations. The donation amount was transformative for the association, allowing it to invest in research and assistive technologies, as well as to increase access to healthcare and services for people with ALS.

The ice bucket challenge involved dumping a bucket of ice water either over one's own head or somebody else's to promote awareness of, and encourage donations to, ALS research. The challenge went viral on social media, in part due to its nomination system: Once a person had completed the challenge, they would nominate other individuals to complete it as well. If the nominee chose not to, or did not complete the challenge within 24 hours, they were supposed to forfeit by way of a charitable financial donation.

The success of the ice bucket challenge was aided by its low barrier to participation, entertainment value (self-made videos that were typically under a minute long), and celebrity participation.

Arab Spring

The early 2010s saw a series of protests, uprisings, and armed rebellions in Tunisia, which spread quickly across North Africa and the Middle East. The revolutions targeted oppressive regimes and low standards of living.

The "Arab Spring" is noted for the young protesters who took to the streets, utilizing social media during the uprisings to organize, create awareness around the political issues, and document the experience on the ground. The use of social media in political uprisings, documenting violence, exercising freedom of speech, and creating space for civic engagement has reinforced the importance and relevance of citizen journalists today.

Studies on the Arab Spring protests discuss the use of social media in these events and their effects on the internal populations of the involved countries, as well as the global awareness that citizen journalism created through the sharing of posts, photos, and videos. Facebook pages and groups created spaces for gathering and community building, sharing stories and information on the ground, and organization for protests in real time. Studies found that though social media helped spark many of the protests through online mobilization, its greatest impact was "acting more as a megaphone than a rallying cry."

The dissemination of information by sharing local self-generated news translating into mass and international media brought the issues and events into the global discussion. This resulted in international pressure against the violent reactions of autocratic regimes to protesters.

Black Lives Matter

The Black Lives Matter movement began as an online community that worked to combat anti-black racism and police violence that targets African Americans in particular, using the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter. Through the use of the hashtag and social media platforms, the online community has been able to organize, mobilize, and improve its visibility, eventually becoming an organization with more than 40 chapters that work to support black lives.

The #BlackLivesMatter hashtag was created by the co-founder and strategic advisor Patrisse Khan-Cullors through inspiration from a love letter written to black people by co-founder Alicia Garza, following the killing of Trayvon Martin. According to the Pew Research Center, the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter was used nearly 30 million times on Twitter (an average of 17,002 times per day) from its first use in July 2013 to the research cap date of May 1, 2018. The hashtag was slow to gain initial momentum, but has since resulted in daily usage.

The hashtag increases in use during events like protests, demonstrations, speeches, and national discussions, or in response to news stories that affect the black community. Further data from the Pew Research Center study shows the hashtag was commonly used to discuss the relationship between the black community and:

Fatal police-related encounters

Violent acts

Police and law enforcement actions

Specific national politicians and political parties

Race and racial discrimination

Protests and activist events

Utilizing social media and tools such as hashtags encouraged information sharing, helped spread awareness, and provided a space online for the Black Lives Matter community to form and organize.

#LoveWins

The Supreme Court's decision of 2015 to legalize marriage between same-sex couples was celebrated by many people across many platforms. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) had worked throughout the year leading up to the Supreme Court decision with digital marketing campaigns, creating original content and language about loving, committed, same-sex couples to drive the marriage-equality narrative.

With the courthouse win, the HRC's work around #LoveWins was put into full effect through social media, promoting the sharing of messages and photos in support of the victory with the inclusion of the #LoveWins hashtag. The online campaign was a success with 97,592,956 impressions on the breaking news Facebook post from HRC, and #LoveWins trending globally throughout the day with 7 million tweets and 1.4 million photos on Instagram. Celebrities such as President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Taylor Swift, and many companies and corporations from large to small participated.

#MeToo

The Me Too movement (or #MeToo movement) is a source of solidarity for women of all backgrounds who have experienced sexual harassment. The movement focuses on the experiences of sexual violence survivors from all walks of life. By telling and sharing stories, those who engage with the movement hope to show how common sexual harassment is.

The Me Too movement originated in 2006, but reached the mainstream in 2017 when multiple high-profile actresses opened up about their sexual harassment experiences in the film industry and began sharing the hashtag #MeToo. The popularization of the topic instigated an understanding of the Me Too movement, sexual harassment, and assault, hoping to reduce tolerance of abusive behaviors and increase support for victims.

Occupy Wall Street

Occupy Wall Street is a modern example of a grassroots political movement - action from the power of the masses. The Occupy movement operated from a bottom level organization with no official leader, but the mindset that all individuals are leaders. These protests spanned multiple weeks, making splashes nationally and across the globe through the use of social media.

Each locale of the movement would establish its own set of organizational practices, utilizing virtual as well as concrete spaces, and striving to revise proposals until nine-tenths of the participants approved. The phenomenon created by Occupy Wall Street relied on social media's ability to foster unified collective participation.

How Social Media Can Promote Social Justice

The use of social media to uplift voices and stories, create awareness, and build and strengthen relationships creates a space for organizations, activists, and citizens to demand justice.

Coordinating Community Responses

As discovered with movements like #BlackLivesMatter and #MeToo, social media has the opportunity to create online spaces where people come together and find support. Instances such as the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street showcase the global effect that can take place through the sharing of ideas online, such as massive gatherings that create unity for a cause.

Platforming Lived Experiences

Many social justice causes work to build equity for minorities and underrepresented individuals and groups within society. The stories and struggles of minorities often aren't well known or publicized, but social media can provide a platform to amplify and share them with potentially millions of people across the globe. This exposure helps share lived experiences about racial violence, sexual harassment, and other forms of oppression directly from the underrepresented.

Promoting and Planning Events

As seen with Occupy Wall Street, the Arab Spring, and the Black Lives Matter movement, social media can create public awareness around issues in the name of social justice. The ability to reach a larger audience by sharing information empowers communities to organize in the real world around a cause. Political activist group MoveOn plans and organizes swift responses to real-world proceedings in "Rapid-Response Events." MoveOn hosts immediately available information that can set in motion a series of protests with unified demands by 5 p.m. the next day following an event or sequence of political happenings.

Sharing Pictures and Videos

Social media can also be used as a tool not only to organize large-scale protests, but also to document them. Nearly every social movement in the modern world is documented through social media, and news outlets frequently scan sites like Twitter to find new information or evocative imagery of current events.

One highly publicized example is the Hong Kong protests of 2019, in which protesters have used social media to share pictures and videos of events as they occur, battling for a public and global opinion on the pro-democracy movement.

Signal Boosting

Though social media provides the opportunity for the voice of an individual to be amplified, in many cases, this voice can still be lost in the noise of the internet. It takes a community utilizing the share feature to gain traction for a post, allowing it to spread to a much wider audience. This process of signal boosting occurs when fellow social media users share a single message. When done well, signal boosting can cause content to go viral.

Utilize the College Population

Young people use social media more often than their older generations, and the trend of use is statistically unchanged since 2018, according to research from Pew Research Center. The breakdown of platform usage shows that Facebook is the most widely used platform across demographic groups, with roughly 70% of adults saying they use the platform, but that Instagram and Snapchat have an especially strong following among young adults. The research further shows that roughly three-quarters of Facebook users visit the site daily, while 80% of young adults are using Snapchat and Instagram not only daily, but multiple times a day.

With the available attention of college-aged students, and the desire of students for "perspective-taking" in the higher education experience, college campuses are fertile ground for targeted audiences of social justice causes and movements.

There are many ways to utilize social media to network, facilitate awareness, and build conversations online, but it is also important to be aware that colleges and employers are also observing online personas. Participants should always be aware of etiquette and professionalism, which can also lend credibility to a conversation or movement.

Best Social Media Strategies for Nonprofits

For nonprofits and social justice organizers alike, social media can be a powerful resource for sharing a narrative, sharing information, or building a conversation around an issue. Getting in touch with and building an audience can benefit the organization's mission.

Fundraising

A social media fundraising campaign typically works to utilize the diversity of the audience and focus attention on one focused goal. This works to earn smaller donations from a wider pool, improving awareness, which can lead to more donations. Utilizing a call-to-action can augment fundraising efforts. Social media provides a platform to elevate charitable donations and the community, to share stories and connect with donors.

Fundraising through social media is best done with a strategic plan that implements not only a goal, but also a strategy on how to get there, valuing the importance of improving awareness and organically growing an audience. Creating a funnel from awareness, engagement, and finally to conversions is a media strategy that will ensure that views are converting into donations. With the expansion of technology into design and media, having someone on the team with a bachelor's degree in digital media may be the key to designing a campaign: blending technology and design into an aesthetic that will increase the opportunity for shares and mass communication.

Partnering with Influencers

Partnering with a social media influencer who has enough followers to influence public opinion, can greatly boost a message. An individual with a larger audience taking a stance on an issue or promoting a cause may help reach target donor demographics to boost public awareness and perception of a nonprofit.

Promoting Events

Producing an event can build community engagement around a topic, such as protests and rallies, fundraising events, educational or informative events, or used clothing drives. Promoting an event through social media provides the opportunity to capture the attention of, and invite all followers - as well as the potential to reach out to each follower's audience. Utilizing Facebook as a platform to market the event can also help in preparation by providing an estimate of the number of those who are attending.

Sharing Stories

Sharing stories does more than provide information; it also has the opportunity to showcase situations of great need or successes in the movement. Making space for a narrative to be told can let the audience know that there is still work to be done - but also that it is making a difference. In addition to raising awareness, these stories may encourage continued support of the ongoing efforts of the nonprofit or campaign.

Spreading Awareness

For nonprofits and social justice campaigns, utilizing social media can spread awareness of the mission, needs, and sometimes even the existence of an issue. Social media can create a platform for sharing stories, narratives, and photos, providing facts and data in a consumable way, which engages an audience by helping them understand. The work to create awareness helps to build a community around an issue. Social media and networking can be done with focus and dedication, but with the rate at which technology and communication continue to evolve, the help of a professional who has a degree in strategic communication or expert knowledge can drastically improve meeting tangible goals of growth and awareness for a campaign or nonprofit.
Recommended Reading:
What Is Cyberbullying? Understanding Online Harassment and Bullying
Digital Literacy and Online Education
Netiquette and Online Behavior Guidelines

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Social Media as Activism and Social Justice | Maryville Online

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Utilizing social media to serve as a communication tool for social justice can generate awareness, build communities, unite ideas, and share narratives.

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US Perspective on Social Media Movements

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US Perspective on Social Media Movements

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Demonstrators live-stream a protest in Chicago on June 1, 2020. (Javage Logan/Xinhua via Getty)

Social media platforms are important for political and social activists. But while most Americans believe these platforms are an effective tool for raising awareness and creating sustained movements, majorities also believe they are a distraction and lull people into believing they are making a difference when they're not, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.

Overall, eight-in-ten Americans say social media platforms are very (31%) or somewhat (49%) effective for raising public awareness about political or social issues, according to the survey of U.S. adults conducted July 13-19. A similar share (77%) believes these platforms are at least somewhat effective for creating sustained social movements.

Smaller shares - though still majorities - say social media are at least somewhat effective in getting elected officials to pay attention to issues (65%), influencing policy decisions (63%) or changing people's minds about political or social issues (58%).

Across political parties, more describe these platforms as effective rather than ineffective when it comes to achieving these goals. Still, there are some partisan differences.

Democrats and independents who lean Democratic are more likely than Republicans and Republican leaners to say social media sites are at least somewhat effective as a way to raise public awareness about political or social issues (86% vs. 74%), create sustained social movements (82% vs. 73%) and get elected officials to pay attention to issues (71% vs. 59%). Partisan gaps are more modest when it comes to these platforms' effectiveness at influencing policy or changing people's minds.

Democrats also stand out as seeing social media platforms as very effective for raising awareness: 39% of Democrats say social media are very effective at this, compared with 22% of Republicans.
Related: 55% of U.S. social media users say they are 'worn out' by political posts and discussions
While younger Americans are more likely than their older counterparts to use some social media platforms, there are few age-related differences in views of these sites' effectiveness for political engagement - and party differences persist even among younger adults for some goals. For example, 87% of Democrats ages 18 to 29 say social media sites are at least somewhat effective for raising awareness, compared with 76% of Republicans in the same age group. Democrats ages 18 to 29 are also more likely than their Republican counterparts to say these sites are at least somewhat effective at creating sustained social movements (84% vs. 74%) and getting elected officials to pay attention to issues (72% vs. 60%).

Leading up to the presidential election, social media platforms have played a role in raising awareness about voting issues, spreading information about the presidential candidates and allowing users to engage in online activism and campaigning. But when asked about social media's broader impact on political discourse, there are some signs that Americans think these platforms can have both positive and negative effects.

On the more positive side, about two-thirds of Americans say the statements "social media highlight important issues that might not get a lot of attention otherwise" (65%) and "social media help give a voice to underrepresented groups" (64%) describe social media very or somewhat well. Half of Americans also say the statement "social media make it easier to hold powerful people accountable for their actions" describes these platforms at least somewhat well.

But even larger shares of the public think these platforms are distractions and that people may be engaging in "slacktivism" - a term critics have used to describe activism online. Roughly eight-in-ten Americans (79%) say the statement "social media distract people from issues that are truly important" describes social media very or somewhat well, while a similar share (76%) say the same about the statement "social media make people think they are making a difference when they really aren't."

Democrats are more likely than Republicans to see positive impacts of social media. For instance, three-quarters of Democrats say the statement "social media highlight important issues that may not get a lot of attention otherwise" describes these platforms at least somewhat well, compared with 55% of Republicans. Democrats are also more likely than Republicans to say these platforms help give a voice to underrepresented groups (75% vs. 52%) and make it easier to hold powerful people accountable for their actions (60% vs. 40%).

By comparison, there is more partisan agreement when it comes to some negative aspects of using social media platforms for political engagement. However, Republicans are a bit more likely than Democrats to believe that social media distract people from issues that are truly important (82% vs. 77%) or make people think they are making a difference when they really aren't (80% vs. 74%).

Younger Americans tend to have a more positive outlook about the societal impact of social media. But as with political engagement, partisan differences still exist within the youngest age group. For instance, 70% of Democrats ages 18 to 29 say social media make it easier to hold powerful people accountable for their actions, compared with 49% of Republicans in the same age group. Young Democrats are also more likely than their GOP counterparts to say social media help give a voice to underrepresented groups (82% vs. 63%) and highlight important issues that might not otherwise get attention (79% vs. 64%).

Americans' views on some of these issues are statistically unchanged since 2018, the last time the Center asked these questions. For example, there has been no notable change in people's views about social media helping to give a voice to underrepresented groups, highlighting important issues and distracting people from important issues.

Still, there has been modest change when it comes to the perception that social media make it easier to hold powerful people accountable for their actions. Half of Americans now say this, down from 56% in 2018. At the same time, there has been an uptick in the share of Americans who say social media platforms are making people think they are making a difference when they really aren't, from 71% in 2018 to 76% in the new survey.

Some of these changes persist when looking at partisan affiliation. The share of Republicans who say social media make it easier to hold powerful people accountable for their actions has dropped from 51% in 2018 to 40% today, while views are unchanged among Democrats. Meanwhile, Democrats have become slightly more likely to say social media make people think they are making a difference when they really aren't (+7 percentage points), while Republican views are more consistent across years.
Note: This is part of a series of blog posts leading up to the 2020 presidential election that explores the role of social media in politics today. Here are the questions used for this report, along with responses, and its methodology.

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Americans think social media can help build movements, but can also be a distraction

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80% of Americans say social media platforms are very or somewhat effective for raising public awareness about political or social issues.

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The term 'social media activism' is almost an oxymoron. It's right there in the name: activism calls for action to be taken, in an attempt to promote a particular social or political cause. To associate such a concept with something as effortless as posting an Instagram Story or sharing a Facebook post makes a mockery of the practice itself.

Or does it?

Better known by its more pejorative monikers 'clicktivism' or 'slacktivism', social media activism is characterised by the use of relatively low-effort activities to promote a certain cause. With the rise of social media itself, the practice has gained traction all over the globe. Even ex-US President Barack Obama recently raised concerns with how social media is being used in attempts to incite change.

Yet over the last couple of years, social media has empowered causes that arguably would have never grown to the extents that they have today. From the #MeToo movement that first got off the ground after a 2017 tweet by actress Alysssa Milano, to the Black Lives Matter movement that gained traction amidst worldwide Covid-19 lockdowns last year, social media activism has become an inextricable part of the causes we root for today.

Social media activism closer to home

In Singapore, social media activism manifests most commonly in the form of Instagram or Facebook pages dedicated to raising awareness around specific socio-political causes. Whether or not you follow these pages yourselves, you've probably seen the content they put out, in the form of reposts by friends, or even in your suggested posts.

While social media activism can be practised by anyone keen to speak up on a particular issue online, these social justice pages arguably attract the most eyeballs, with no small amount of credit going to the straightforward manner in which information is often packaged and presented to followers.

Masked vigilantes?

With its impressive repertoire of concisely-worded multi-image carousels, The Twain Have Met (@thetwainhavemet) fits the bill for such Instagram pages-but with a few twists. For starters, unlike most other social justice pages, the Singapore-based page touches on a broad range of local socio-political issues, with posts about everything from the job scope of a Nominated Member of Parliament to the death penalty in Singapore.

"I feel like there is no real meaning in just focusing on one issue, when our audience encompasses a spectrum of [diverse and complex] people who would want to hear about different issues," shares Nicole, one of the people behind The Twain Have Met, which has amassed close to ten thousand followers since its inception in 2020. Articulate, vocal and palpably passionate about speaking up on local politics and social issues, Nicole is also particularly hesitant about putting a face to her work online.

The Twain Have Met's strict adherence to protecting the identities of its editors has proven to be effective in not only supporting the page's objectivity, but also people it sought to offer a platform for-at least on one particular occasion.

In August 2020, a series of allegations regarding local influencer Dee Kosh and his sexual advances on minors gained traction on both Twitter and Instagram, prompting individuals to come forward with their experiences online. According to Nicole, the nameless, faceless nature of The Twain Have Met aided in their efforts in reaching out to people who were sexually abused by the influencer.

"Because we were an anonymous [page], they believed in us, in the sense that [they trusted that] we would respect their anonymity too," says Nicole, adding that the survivors also shared with them stories that "weren't shared previously" online.

On what 'real change' looks like

The main arguments against the value of social media activism are typically rooted in the belief that actions online simply lack the capacity to incite real change-at best, it can only serve to raise awareness around certain issues.

But to Nicole, the Dee Kosh incident serves as an important example of how in some instances, raising awareness and inciting real change can be one and the same.

"Dee Kosh is an online personality-the only real way to stop his influence and help [the survivors] get justice would be to raise awareness about what he's done."

In driving the conversation around the issue and providing survivors with an avenue to share about their experiences anonymously, Nicole believes that the efforts of The Twain Have Met were "very meaningful" for many of the survivors involved.

Nicole also highlights how discussion of less mainstream issues on social media can incite real change by encouraging people to deepen their understanding of such issues.

Referring to a recent post on LGBTQ people in Asia throughout history, Nicole shares that a number of people had reached out to The Twain Have Met team to ask where they could find the resources used for the post, in hopes of using the material to talk to their family and friends about the subject.

"One person really stood out to me, because his father had been using traditional Asian [rhetorics] to justify why he was homophobic, and he really just needed something to refute [his father's views]," says Nicole. A few weeks after the team had provided the reader with the resources, he updated them with the news that his father had been receptive to what he had to say.

"What we do online may not really drive big changes, but it does make some change, one person at a time-I think [that should also count as] real change."

Rallying the community in hard times

In the wake of increasing COVID-19 cases in the community, Singapore entered a semi-lockdown in May 2021, thrusting F&B businesses into the fray as dining out became temporarily outlawed. But of those affected, no other group is as hard-hit as the digitally-disadvantaged hawkers without existing arrangements with delivery platforms and social media outreach capabilities.

Enter Wheretodapao (@wheretodapao), an Instagram page born out of a desire to raise awareness of the plight faced by digitally-disadvantaged hawkers in times such as this.

"We just hope to share a more personal side to these hawkers, and raise awareness of this group of less tech-savvy elderly particularly [during] this stay-home season," shares the person who runs the account. They declined to be named.

In a bid to promote as many local hawkers as possible, Wheretodapao's page-runners feature at least three different hawkers based all over the island every day, using their own visits to these hawkers and followers' submissions. It is safe to say that their efforts have paid off-over the course of less than a month, Wheretodapao has amassed over 35,000 followers and counting, attesting to both the page-runners' dedication and the local community's support for the initiative.

But are the hawkers really benefiting?

According to some of the featured hawkers on Wheretodapao, the answer is yes.

"There has been a slight improvement in business [since Wheretodapao featured my submission]," shares Daryl Khoo, son of a hawker who has been featured on Wheretodapao.

Since the post went up, his father, who runs Mei Lock Soursop Juice at Old Airport Road Food Centre, not only saw sales increase by roughly 10 percent, but also a marked increase in young people coming to patronise the stall.

This observation is echoed by Li Xiao Hui, daughter of the couple operating De Li Snacks at Tampines Round Market, another stall that has been featured on Wheretodapao. While her parents could not provide an estimate for how much business has picked up, they have noted an increase in younger folks coming down to the stall since being featured.

The page-runners of Wheretodapao have also received their fair share of Direct Messages from members of the public who have been to patronise some of the featured hawkers.

"They tell us that they go to these hawkers and inform them [that] they've been featured, or that the hawkers themselves tell them [that] business has picked up," shares one of the page-runners.

Not enough to keep some afloat

In spite of Wheretodapao's immense popularity, which has already translated into collaborations with big names like DBS, Foodpanda and JustDabao, its page-runners acknowledge that the trickle down benefits for hawkers isn't equal and that these success stories "can't speak for everyone".

While the page's feature on New Hong Kong Congee at Amoy Street Food Centre remains one of its top-performing posts at over 1,600 likes, owner Mdm Wong has yet to see much "tangible impact".

"That being said my mom was really encouraged [by the support online]. She definitely sees hope," shares Kien Sieng, Mdm Wong's son. He was also the one to submit the write-up for Wheretodapao's feature on his mother's stall.

Some hawkers remain less optimistic.

With a few customers already milling around Traditional Delights, a traditional snack stall at Maxwell Food Centre, before its official opening, one would assume that the attention Wheretodapao has brought the stall has translated to a turnaround in business.

Mdm Seng preparing food for a customer.

Yet the reality could not be more different, at least according to Mdm Seng, the owner of stall. While there has been an increase in footfall to her stall post-feature, she notes that the improvement is slight.

"It's very tough work, and for very little money. I'm basically running a loss-making business," shares Mdm Seng, who adds that she is not sure how long she can continue operating.

Even hawkers on food delivery platforms feel the heat, according to Mr Koh, owner of Maxwell Food Centre's Heng Heng Hainanese Chicken Rice. While the business is on food delivery platforms such as Foodpanda and WhyQ, revenue earned from these platforms only come up to less than $20 a day.

According to Mr Koh, having a relatively stronger online presence also does little in improving sales, given that there are a total of seven different stalls selling chicken rice at Maxwell Food Centre alone.

He adds that it is also difficult to compete with more popular chicken rice stalls that receive a lot of publicity online, namely Michelin-listed Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice.

"What they can earn in one day is equivalent to what we earn in one month," shares Mr Koh.

Lending a voice to the voiceless

With the country under lockdown amid an explosion of COVID-19 cases in migrant worker dormitories in March 2020, there was a surge in interest in the living conditions faced by the people then at the centre of Singapore's struggle with the unfolding pandemic. As images of cramped rooms occupied by a few workers too many and off-putting meals began making their rounds on social media, calls for improvements in living conditions for migrant workers grew.

For its part, the Singapore government announced in June 2020 that it would be trying to improve the standards of migrant worker accommodations. The aim was to decrease the concentration of migrant workers in accommodations by building quick-build dormitories in the short term, and building more spacious, purpose-built dormitories in the long term.

While a step in the right direction, the proposed commitments remain a challenge for the government to deliver on, particularly in light of an ongoing pandemic that continues to keep complex, large-scale plans at a bottleneck-making advocacy and long-term checks on the powers that be more necessary than ever.

Hard truths to keep activism going

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Bangladesh-born MD Sharif Uddin works as a safety coordinator for a Singaporean construction company. He is a migrant worker, but only by day, because night time is when he sits down to pen his thoughts in his diary. And as a migrant worker in Singapore, Mr Uddin has a lot of thoughts-thoughts that were eventually published in Stranger to Myself, a novelised compilation of the diary entries and poetry he has written as a migrant worker over the years.

"Wherever migrant workers are suffering, I try to write about it. I try to write [well], with emotion, because only when I'm showing my feelings do people [understand] our problems," shares Mr Uddin, who remains passionate about spreading awareness of the issues migrant workers in Singapore continue to face, over a year on from the outbreak of COVID-19 cases in the dormitories.

To date, migrant workers remain restricted from leaving their dormitories for any reason besides work and "essentials", such as receiving medical treatment. Even then, their employers would have to apply for a pass for them to be able to leave.

In 2021, Mr Uddin published his second novel, Stranger to My World, which details his ongoing experience of being trapped in perpetual semi-lockdown in the dormitories.

"Imagine sitting and eating in one room and [not being able to] go out to market. Not just [for] a few days but one year. How is your feeling?"

As heartened as he was to see the outpouring of public support for migrant worker rights on social media last year, Mr Uddin remains deeply concerned about the issues he and thousands of other workers like him continue to face. Aside from being confined to their dormitories, Mr Uddin lists overcrowded living quarters, poor salary payment systems and unsafe transportation as other key issues that require action from the relevant authorities.

"We do hard work, but we [just] hope that the government gives us [decent] facilities to sleep, shower and work [in] safely," says Mr Uddin.

With conversations around migrant worker rights having mostly died down in the online sphere, Mr Uddin expresses doubt that much can be done about his situation.

"Only when [the] local community talk[s] about migrant workers will the government take action. Now nobody is talking," says Mr Uddin, adding that many workers remain reluctant to voice these issues to the relevant authorities for fear of jeopardising their relationship with their employers, which could very well land them right back where they came from.

For people like Mr Uddin, the fight for not just better living conditions but better rights for migrant workers remains one that is far from over-and one that needs to be sustained until things truly improve.

Mr Uddin's sentiments are echoed by Abigail Goh, a volunteer at migrant worker welfare organisation Project Chulia Street. While activism on social media has contributed "massively" in driving donations for non-profit organisations like Project Chulia Street, Ms Goh expresses disappointment with how efforts are "on and off".

"I find social media activism useful, but there is the danger that it's just temporary attention because the topic is buzzy, and that's sad. For the public it can be an on and off switch, but for the guys the issues never stop," says Ms Goh.

According to Ms Goh, another issue that arises from sporadic online support for causes like migrant worker welfare is the overload of support in one area during periods of high awareness. In April 2020, images of the meals catered for migrant workers began circulating online, sparking discussion on the poor quality of food for migrant workers and leading to a deluge of food donations from the public.

"Awareness is good, but it's also limited because even when something goes viral, actionable steps aren't always taken," she says, while acknowledging that the onus is more on the government than the public in addressing issues as complex as migrant worker welfare.

Not all doom and gloom

In spite of the issues that come with the sporadic nature of social media activism, the explosion of support online for migrant workers during Singapore's COVID-19 circuit breaker last year had its benefits for non-profit organisations like Project Chulia Street.

On top of a sharp increase in much-needed donations, it became "easier" for non-profit organisations to appeal to bigger donors such as private companies and family offices. For Project Chulia Street, contributions from such donors enable them to buy items in bulk and offer support to beneficiaries on a more timely basis.

Social media was also instrumental in keeping the migrant worker community together amid the ongoing pandemic. During Singapore's circuit breaker period in 2020, Project Chulia Street put together a series of Facebook Live sessions coined ADDA (or "chit-chat" in Bengali) aimed at providing migrant workers with COVID-19-related advice with a doctor.

Conducted fully in Bengali, the series served as a platform for migrant workers to ask questions regarding pressing lockdown concerns such as salary payment and mental wellness. Through ADDA, workers were able to share their thoughts and ideas with each other directly-which, to Ms Goh, made for a "much more empowering" experience for them.

Even without the support of non-profit organisations like Project Chulia Street, migrant workers have been finding ways to stay connected with each other thanks to social media. "Bangladeshi Migrant Workers in Singapore" was a Facebook page started out of a whim by 34-year-old migrant worker Omar Faruque Shipon. Today, the page has over 94,000 followers, with Mr Omar regularly posting Bengali translations and even video explanations of important news in Singapore for migrant workers.

Short of driving sustained, top-down efforts to protect the rights of migrant workers in Singapore, social media nonetheless shows some potential in breaking down the notion that people like Mr Uddin and Mr Omar are just migrant workers; simple, voiceless labourers reduced to their sole function to the rest of us in this society. Wielded well, social media might even have the potential to push across a radical notion-the notion that migrant workers are in fact people, too; people with their own hopes and dreams and fears.

Let's talk about race

(Source)

Conversations about xenophobia are always tough. But that remains the situation many immigrants in Singapore are forced to face-particularly those also belonging to one of the ethnic minorities. And with a worrying increase in open acts of racism in Singapore over the last few months, the fear of facing animosity from the local community is "definitely escalating", says T, a Singapore-based Indian expatriate.

While T acknowledges how coverage of xenophobia by both news sites and social justice pages on Instagram do "a great job" at providing in-depth knowledge about the issues faced by both foreigners and ethnic minorities in Singapore, they continue to live in fear of being on the receiving end of race-related violence.

"People who are racist are not going to see these articles and change their minds on behaving the way they do," says T, who also cites the existence of "echo chambers" to be a possible reason for why they have not come across any racist remarks online themselves.

For real change to happen, T thinks that the Government needs to step into enforce racial discrimination laws more actively to send a message to people who hold these prejudices. Until change and action is enforced top-down, and policy changes are made to deal with these issues effectively, I cannot say I feel safe," says T.

An admin of a social justice page who posted about the experiences of multiple Indian expatriates concurs with T's sentiments. "Sometimes, I wonder if what I post has any bearing on what's happening around us. You can see clearly see that people live in their own echo chambers and assume that everyone outside these chambers are bad faith actors," shares the page-runner, who declined to be named.

The page-runner also pointed to social media algorithms as a potential reason for this. "In a world where Facebook and Instagram have financial incentives to feed all of us things that we already agree with, what's going to happen to our shared spaces? " he says.

It goes without saying that any cause worth fighting for will never simply entail a quick repost of a blacked-out box, or even even dedicating one's platform to sharing information about a certain cause. And that's the thing: while social media will never be the be-all-and-end-all for activism, it makes for a pretty formidable weapon in one's toolkit for change. As illustrated by the causes that have (and continue to) moved us as a people, social media activism has great capacity for enacting change-when paired with sense, consistency, and perhaps most importantly, heart.
The names of some of the interviewees have been changed to protect their anonymity

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Does Social Media Activism in Singapore Actually Work?

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Singapore has seen a new generation of activists on social media advocating for causes close to their hearts. But are they achieving change? We find out.

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How the Milk Tea Alliance Is Uniting Pro-Democracy Activists

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Starting life as a humorous hashtag, the Milk Tea Alliance is becoming a cohesive movement uniting activists in Asia and beyond. Here's how.

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Urban Outfitters reached a settlement with the Navajo Nation after illegally using the tribe's name for a collection that included "Navajo hipster panties" and a "Navajo print flask".

The lawsuit was brought against the fashion company in 2012, though it had used the name since 2001. The company claimed that the Navajo should have known that the name had been used to adorn jewelry and clothing for that time, according to the Farmington Daily Times, but a federal judge dismissed their motion in April 2016.

Urban Outfitters has long attracted controversy for what many see as cultural appropriation, including for selling Palestinian-style keffiyehs as "anti-war woven scarf" and a range of tchotchkes, duvet covers and clothing featuring the Hindu god Ganesh, which was taken down after complaints according to the Philadelphia City Paper.

In a letter to Urban Outfitters CEO Glen Senk when the company first launched the Navajo line, Sasha Houston Brown of the Santee Sioux Nation said the collection was distasteful and demeaning.

"There is nothing honorable or historically appreciative in selling items such as the Navajo Print Fabric Wrapped Flask, Peace Treaty Feather Necklace, Staring at Stars Skull Native Headdress T-shirt or the Navajo Hipster Panty," she wrote.

"These and the dozens of other tacky products you are currently selling referencing Native America make a mockery of our identity and unique cultures."

The tribe registered the name Navajo as a trademark in 1943, according to court documents.

In a press release Thursday, Navajo Nation president Russell Bagaye said: "We applaud [Urban Outfitters] for acknowledging the validity of the Navajo Nation trademark and are glad we have settled this matter."

"We expect that any company considering the use of the Navajo name, or our designs or motifs, will ask us for our permission," he added.

Both sides settled for an undisclosed amount but have entered into a "supply and license agreement", which says that the Navajo and Urban Outfitters plan to collaborate on a line of Native American jewelry.

"We are pleased we've reached an agreement with the Navajo Nation," said Urban Outfitters general counsel Azeez Hayne in a statement. "We take the rights of artists and designers seriously, both in protecting our own and in respecting the rights of others."

"As a company [Urban Outfitters] has long been inspired by the style of Navajo and other American Indian artists and looks forward to the opportunity to work with them on future collaborations," he continued.

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Urban Outfitters settles with Navajo Nation after illegally using tribe's name

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Tribe and fashion company reached an undisclosed settlement after the store used the Navajo name for a line that included underwear, jewelry and flasks

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​Globalization Is a Leading Factor in the Death of Minority Languages

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A new factor has been linked to the disappearance of little-spoken tongues the world over: economic globalization.

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'Star Wars: Vision' celebrates unique cultures

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'Star Wars: Vision' celebrates unique cultures

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In 2021, Lucasfilm opened up the universe to seven Japanese animation studios, giving masterful creators the chance to develop brand-new, never-before-told Star Wars stories that would celebrate 2D anime art, as well as Japanese culture.

Now, for Star Wars: Visions Volume 2, releasing on Disney+ Thursday, May 4, a new group of innovative animators and storytellers has been given the same opportunity, but on a global scale.

"In Volume 1, we wanted to lean into more traditional anime techniques, and I think that was the beauty of it," says James Waugh, executive producer of Visions alongside Jacqui Lopez and Josh Rimes. "But as fans of the broader marketplace, we wanted to showcase what's out there and wanted to lean into those different cultural perspectives. What is the cultural context of someone growing up in India? How does that change how they see Star Wars? You get different storytelling than you would from a Western storyteller. We started to see that come out during Volume 1. But with Volume 2, we wanted to explore the entire community."

He adds, "And from stop-motion to 2D and fusions of the two, it's really just as much a story of that."

Nine studios from around the world each contributed a short for the Emmy Award-nominated anthology series' second volume. The films - created in 2D, 3DCG, stop-motion animation, as well as hybrid combinations of each technique - were produced by a roster of top international animation studios: El Guiri (Spain), Cartoon Saloon (Ireland), Punkrobot (Chile), Aardman (United Kingdom), Studio Mir (South Korea) Studio La Cachette (France), 88 Pictures (India), D'art Shtajio (Japan), and Triggerfish (South Africa). D'Art Shtajio's short was created in collaboration with Lucasfilm Ltd. (United States).

Check out a bit of their handiwork:

"To me, this volume is a story of different cultures, a global marketplace, animation differences across the globe, and a celebration of Star Wars," notes Waugh.

Hyper-realistic Sith battles, storybook-like illustrations of vast planetary landscapes, explosive anime saber fights, gritty new CG creatures, and more await Visions viewers in the soon-to-release shorts, as well as an education on the country each story hails from.

Noting that the creators "all took really interesting risks," Rimes shares, "Triggerfish from South Africa, for example, created this almost Miyazaki-esque world, but in CGI. It feels very handmade, almost stop-motion, and they use this felt texture for this cute alien race. The story is about a little girl trying to tell her father that she can sing, even though it has an adverse effect on the environment around them. It's about this alien using her voice as a metaphor for using The Force. And one of the directors, Nadia Darries, has a singing background so she did some of the singing and voice work. It's not exactly what you'd immediately expect when you think of Star Wars ..."

Lopez interjects, "But you go along with it, the colors and the food and the clothing. You never question it. At least, we never did, because it just fit in the Star Wars story so beautifully and it was so great to see how proud the creators were to have their culture represented in a Star Wars story. It was very joyful for them, as it was for us."

While some cultures and values are represented more subtly and metaphorically, others are depicted more boldly, such as in the episode "In the Stars" from Chile's Punkrobot.

"It feels so of its culture, not only from the story of colonialism and the eradication of the Satnam peoples as an influence on it, but Punkrobot literally went into Patagonia and filmed tons of plants of the regions they lived in, and that ended up influencing some of the design work," explains Waugh." So, it feels very of its place, but you could say that about all the episodes, really. 88 Pictures' "The Bandits of Golak" gives a colorful window into Indian culture, as well."

Of the many stories, another Waugh and his fellow producers are particularly excited about is Aardman's stop-motion episode "I Am Your Mother." Though it seems like a departure from the typical medium of Star Wars ' visual storytelling, there's nostalgia in its roots.

"It is [a departure] from an animation craft perspective, having a whole Star Wars story done in stop-motion, but stop-motion is so inherent in Star Wars VFX," says Waugh. "Phil Tippett's type of handcrafted storytelling and handcrafted effect on everything, from A New Hope and on, has always been part of the Star Wars language. So, it's actually interesting seeing it come together because it sure is very stylized, very Aardman, but it doesn't feel too far removed from Star Wars techniques at all. It's kind of rooted in similar reference points."

Aardman is known for its classic Claymation films like Shaun the Sheep, Chicken Run, and Wallace & Gromit. According to Lopez, a collaboration between Lucasfilm and Aardman has been a long-time dream come true.

"We've been fans of Aardman forever," she shares. "I remember seeing Creature Comforts ages ago and just thinking, 'What is this?' [Aardman's] very humorous and irreverent, but also intent on thinking, 'How can this fit in Star Wars?' What I think is great about the combination of the two is that you get the Aardman humor, the cute puppets, and the funny mouths, but you will also get a heartfelt, true, hopeful Star Wars story. I think we brought the best of both together. We're so happy about the way that came out."

The three executive producers all agree that each Volume 2 short is unique and special in its own, different way. But the commonality they share is their full embrace of the Star Wars universe to tell a story that speaks to each studio's long-standing audiences and fans.

" Star Wars, and Visions in particular, gives these folks and these filmmakers license to really take a swing and tell the story of their culture," says Rimes. "The diversity of mythmaking across the globe really helped add in the different storytelling textures, which helped elevate the actual mediums used for animation as well."

And in a fantastical universe that draws on such sensitive, real-world themes - like racism, classism, slavery, corrupt leadership, dictatorships, democracies, poverty, and excessive wealth - there seems to be no better sandbox in which to invite so many different storytellers to play.

"There's such amazing work happening today in the animation industry - different forms, new styles of animation, new fusions, and technologies - it's really impressive," says Waugh. "Some of that could be a byproduct of streaming, some of that is just a byproduct of new technologies. But artists are able to do so much now. As fans, we were watching all of this and taking it all in."

Victoria Davis is a full-time, freelance journalist and part-time Otaku with an affinity for all things anime. She's reported on numerous stories from activist news to entertainment. Find more about her work at victoriadavisdepiction.com.

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How 'Star Wars: Visions' Volume 2 Celebrates New Worlds and Unique Cultures

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For executive producers James Waugh, Jacqui Lopez, and Josh Rimes, nine original shorts from a roster of top animation studios - created with 2D, 3DCG, stop-motion, and different fusion techniques - embrace global perspectives not always explored in Western narratives; new season debuts May 4 on Disney+.

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Slow Food is a global, grassroots organization, founded in 1989 to prevent the disappearance of local food cultures and traditions, counteract the rise of fast life and combat people's dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from and how our food choices affect the world around us.

Since its beginnings, Slow Food has grown into a global movement involving millions of people in over 160 countries, working to ensure everyone has access to good, clean and fair food.

Slow Food believes food is tied to many other aspects of life, including culture, politics, agriculture and the environment. Through our food choices we can collectively influence how food is cultivated, produced and distributed, and change the world as a result.

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Slow Food is a global, grassroots organization, founded in 1989 to prevent the disappearance of local food cultures and traditions, counteract the rise of

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Sámi (Northern Scandinavia) Cultural Tourism

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Sámi (Northern Scandinavia) Cultural Tourism

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Stereotypes have fueled a tourism boom in Europe’s icy North. Can things change?

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For decades, tourist experiences such as dog sledding have told a false narrative of Indigenous Sámi traditions.

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Chan Chun Sing urges S’poreans to exercise individual responsibility & ‘not hoard items unnecessarily’

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Ong Ye Kung also reiterated Chan’s message.

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Selfish Meritocracy by Goh Chok Tong (2013)

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Selfish Meritocracy by Goh Chok Tong (2013)

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Singapore should not be a welfare state but a welfare society: Tharman

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Self-reliance remains core, but Singapore also needs solidarity and social empathy, he said. Read more at straitstimes.com.

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SG Kampung - Neighbours helping neighbours

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SG Kampung - Neighbours helping neighbours

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Rekindling the kampung spirit with technology

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Introducing SGKampung, a mobile app created with the hope that neighbours within the same residential estate will create meaningful bonds with one another – just like the good ol’ days!

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Community spirit among Singaporeans shines through during Covid-19 pandemic, says public service report card

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TraceTogether now covers more than 50 per cent of the population, with more than 2.9 million app and token users as at November, it added. Read more at straitstimes.com.

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SINGAPORE: More people are volunteering for various causes in Singapore, as the country pursues a goal of raising its volunteerism rate to 70 per cent by next year.

It is a target that those in the community are confident can be achieved, with new programmes to attract and retain volunteers and a rising bloc of youth volunteers getting a headstart in school.

Volunteers form a significant core of manpower in the humanitarian and charity services sector, without which many activities cannot be carried out, members of the community here told CNA938 on Monday (Dec 5), which is International Volunteer Day.

The day has been marked by the United Nations since 1985, to recognise and promote the tireless work of volunteers around the world.

IMPORTANCE OF VOLUNTEERS

Ms Charis Chan, director of global engagement for the Singapore Red Cross, said that at least 80 per cent of the organisation's programmes are run by volunteers.

These include humanitarian services such as blood donation drives, overseas disaster response, as well as assistance for local vulnerable families, children and the elderly.

"We will never be able to do so much without volunteers. Especially after COVID, we've been expanding our work so much to reach out to more people," she said.

"A lot of them believe in the true cause and the mission, and the people that they serve."

Ms Michelle Chew, a member of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Youth Commission representing the Asia Pacific, said that for volunteers like herself, the day is more than just celebrating volunteerism, but to attract more people to step up.

The IFRC is the world's largest humanitarian network, supporting local bodies in more than 192 countries.

"The significance of the day is also to promote the importance of volunteerism. We really want more and more people to take up volunteering because it gives so much impact back to the community and to those around us," said Ms Chew.

She noted that volunteers are people who know their communities the best and are well-equipped with the knowledge to intervene and help.

"We really believe that the volunteers who are from the community themselves will often know best what the community needs and wants, when they face emergencies or certain vulnerabilities that they might have. That is why we put full trust in our volunteers to really, in most cases, run the show," she explained.

DIFFERENT AGE GROUPS

Volunteers come from all age groups and all walks of life, said Ms Chan, noting that they can be categorised into three groups.

The first group is the youth, some of whom were exposed to the movement through their co-curricular activities in school.

"They are taught humanitarian values and knowledge, and even after graduating from school and when they eventually start working, they will often volunteer for us," said Ms Chan.

"They do first aid response, they do our overseas missions. This group of people are very impactful and inspiring. They do things out of the box, and they always teach us something new."

Ms Chew herself started out as a young volunteer in secondary school when she was 13 years old, a journey which has continued for the past 10 years.

What draws her to volunteering is that she can help those who are less privileged, and in the process gain many valuable lessons.

"I've learned that there are a lot of people from a variety of backgrounds that are different from myself, and that might be on different pathways of life. But at the end of the day, we are all humans and that is why we're all here for one another," she said.

The second group, said Ms Chan, are people in their mid-40s, who are "quite comfortable in life and want to seek opportunities to help others".

She added that they have relevant skill sets to contribute to the organisation, and form the core manpower of the Singapore Red Cross' programmes.

The last group is people in their mid-50s and older people who have retired early, who want to stay active and healthy and have time on their hands, said Ms Chan.

YOUTH VOLUNTEERS

Ms Chew said everyone has different motivations for volunteering, and the same goes for the youth segment.

In her role, she advises the IFRC governing board on matters concerning youth and youth-related activities.

She explained that more than half of the volunteer base in her organisation is actually made up of young people, so having a dedicated body like hers to represent them is "very important".

"Often, as much as young people are the ones who are on the ground serving their societies or their communities, we don't really get much of a voice at the decision-making table," said Ms Chew.

She said that the landscape has changed over the years, with more people becoming more open-minded in terms of allowing young people to speak up.

"But then comes into the picture whether certain acts are an act of tokenising, or whether it's an act of what I would like to call 'youthwashing'," she noted.

Ms Chew said youth volunteers may be passionate about different areas based on the environment they grew up in.

There are some who are more concerned about local issues within their communities, such as floods and disasters, but there are also others who are very passionate about social movements like mental health, she said.

70 PER CENT TARGET

Singapore is currently pursuing a target of raising its volunteerism rate to 70 per cent by next year, in an effort to address a fast-ageing population.

It was a target announced by then-Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Grace Fu in 2018, to double the rate from 35 per cent in 2016.

Ms Chan said it is a noble and achievable goal.

She noted that the Singapore Red Cross recently launched a new programme to help bring more people on board the movement. The programme equips people with standard first aid and psychological first aid within two weekends.

"The challenge that we see among volunteers is that they want to give, but we need to train them. We want to make them go on the ground (only) when they are equipped with the relevant skills," she said.

Ms Chan added that the organisation has developed a system to attract, empower and retain its volunteers.

"We don't only train them with the skill sets, we also train them on leadership. We groom them to make important decisions for us on the ground," she said.

Ms Chew said that the 70 per cent target is reachable, especially with the COVID-19 pandemic when a lot more people have been inspired to step up to volunteer.

"What I would really like to emphasise is that volunteerism can come in a lot of forms, and the way forward might really be digital volunteering because we are living in a world which is increasingly without borders," she said, adding that organisations also need to transform to keep up with the times.

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Rising volunteerism in Singapore boosted by youth action, new outreach initiatives

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International Volunteer Day falls on Dec 5 annually, a day marked by the United Nations since 1985, to recognise and promote the tireless work of volunteers globally.

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Immigration policies that celebrate and encourage diversity

How do we even begin to compare immigration policies of countries in the world? The lenses through which we view one another are as vastly different as our skin colors, cultural traditions, and histories. So, when attempting to write a comparison of immigration policies, it became immediately apparent the first challenge would be narrowing down the policy; and the second would be compiling a list of comparison countries.

Luckily, in April of this year, U.S. News and World Report released its 2021 Overall Best Countries Ranking, which made the job a little easier. The list took into consideration 76 country attributes, gauged in a survey of more than 17,000 people around the world. The report's full methodology is available on U.S. News and World Report's website.

The rankings list Germany as No. 3, Japan as No. 2, and Canada as the No. 1 best countries in the world overall. The United States is listed as No. 6.

Canada also topped the 2018 U.S. News analysis of Best Countries to Be an Immigrant.

The U.S. and Canada share a common history of Indigenous people, European colonization, and eventual independence from the United Kingdom - our total areas are similar (3.85 million square miles in Canada, 3.8 million in the U.S.); but our population and GDP (a common measurement of a country's economic activity) are vastly different. According to 2021 International Monetary Fund data, the U.S. GDP is just shy of $23 trillion, while Canada's is around $2.02 trillion. Even so, Canada is widely perceived as the nation that most closely mirrors the U.S., culturally.

With such common histories and cultures, what is putting Canada so far ahead of the U.S. in rankings? The possibilities are endless, but one thing is certain: the inclusivity of the legal immigration system in Canada is one other countries, including the U.S., could learn from.

A cultivated outlook on welcoming foreigners
Much like the United States, Canada has a rich history of immigration and is built on citizens who relocated from other countries. Both countries have been significantly shaped by newcomers - refugees and immigrants who leave their home countries to establish in other areas.

But there is a fundamental difference in how they welcome foreigners, which is reflected in numbers from the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) - an independent, nonpartisan think tank. According to CFR, about 21 percent of Canada's population is foreign-born, that's one-fifth of its population. The U.S. pales in comparison with 15 percent of its (much larger) population.

This difference partially stems from Canada's 1971 federal Multiculturism Policy that aimed to decrease rising tensions between French-speaking and English-speaking Canadians. The policy embraced and encouraged multiculturalism in an open effort to increase, respect and celebrate cultural diversity across the country. The Canadian Multiculturalism Act became law in 1988. It was the first country in the world to adopt a multiculturism policy, which acknowledges that all cultures bring intrinsic value; and solidified the Canadian government as one that is committed to promoting a diverse and multicultural society.

"It is hereby declared to be the policy of the Government of Canada to (a) recognize and promote the understanding that multiculturalism reflects the cultural and racial diversity of Canadian society and acknowledges the freedom of all members of Canadian society to preserve, enhance and share their cultural heritage" -Section 3 (1) of the Canadian Multiculturalism Act

Multiculturalism has faced opposition but is viewed favorably by most Canadians today, as evidenced by a 2019 poll in which only about one-third of Canadians felt immigration levels were too high. The same source found only two percent of Canadians think immigration is the most significant problem in the country (the leading responses were environment and climate change, at 24 percent, and the economy at 22 percent).

Canadian multiculturalism
Canada's multiculturism policy promotes accommodation of cultural and religious diversity, which is mirrored in its immigration policies.

About 58 percent of new permanent residents in Canada in 2019 entered the country through its economic category - the largest of four immigration tracks. They apply through a point system that heavily supports federal high-skilled worker programs. The points give preference to younger, well-educated, and experienced workers who have language proficiency and job offers. To keep immigration flow consistent, every two weeks the government offers the highest-ranking individuals the opportunity to apply for permanent residency.

This system cultivates an appreciation for immigrants who will not only contribute to Canada's multicultural diversity commitment but will also provide important support in the economic sector. This attitude of acceptance stemming from the nation's policy has been effective in energizing diversity-positive thought across the country.

"... the Act presents multiculturalism as a positive instrument of change that aims to remove barriers that preclude the involvement, equity, and representation of all citizens in Canada's institutions, as well as their access to those institutions." - 'Canadian Multiculturalism' published by the Parliament of Canada

But beyond simply encouraging skilled workers, multiculturalism as a political policy encourages increased minority participation. It puts the onus on government agencies to provide leadership encouraging diversity in their departments and strategize accordingly.

U.S. diversity visas
The U.S. also has a program that focuses on diversifying the immigrant population - but it produces only 4 percent of the nation's green card visas. According to the Pew Research Institute, that's the smallest piece of the U.S. Immigration pie. It's smaller than Refugees (8 percent), Employment-based immigrants (14 percent) and family-sponsored immigrants (89 percent). The final 6 percent is made up of other humanitarian programs.

The Diversity Visa Program was created in 1990, as a pathway for immigrants from countries with historically low immigration rates into the U.S. Similar to Canada, there is an economic component. Applicants from qualifying countries must prove they have a high school level education and two years of working in a job that requires at least two years of training or experience.

Historically, the Diversity Visa Program resulted in around 50,000 visas being allocated randomly through a lottery system every year. Changes made during 2020 drastically reduced that number and the program has seen a sluggish recovery, with less than 10,000 diversity visas issued through the State Department in 2021 so far.

Final takeaways
With its $23 trillion GDP and its 2.3 million armed personnel, the United States may boast one of the most dominant economic and military powers in the world. But this narrow comparison of its immigration system with Canada's shows the values of multiculturalism, inclusion, and diversity also have a place in creating a unified country.
Related stories - Immigration: A look at the issues

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What we can learn from Canada's Multiculturalism Policy

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How do we even begin to compare immigration policies of countries in the world? The lenses through which we view one another are as vastly different as our skin colors, cultural traditions, and histories. So, when attempting to write a comparison of...

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Philanthropy in solving the world's problems

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Philanthropy in solving the world's problems

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Making a difference and giving back to society have never been more urgent. Here's how business leaders and companies are lending a hand - and it's not only money that matters.
The coronavirus pandemic may have locked us down but it unlocked something else: philanthropy. Derived from the Greek words phil (love) and anthropos (mankind), philanthropy literally means "love of humanity," and the pandemic has inspired an outpouring of that, from big and small donors alike, all wanting to play their part in the wider humanitarian effort.

For example, several businesspeople from IESE's Executive MBA Class of 2014 got together and set up a pro bono consultancy called SOS4pymes, which, as its name suggests, provides lifesaving help for small businesses ( pymes or SMEs in English) which have borne the brunt of the lockdowns. In Spain, as in many other countries, small businesses - from the local butcher and greengrocer to gyms and mom-and-pop stores - generate 50% of total employment, and the country's economic recovery depends on their survival. At www.sos4pymes.com small businesses can register their need and get professional advice from more than 100 collaborators: lawyers, financiers, engineers, managers of multinationals and IBEX 35 companies, experts in operations, online marketing and trade. The goal, according to the founders, is to "help those who help our societies flourish," based on three non-negotiables: (1) that the help is personalized; (2) that it is effective, making a real, tangible, demonstrable impact; and (3) that it is totally selfless and free, so no one is trying to make money out of it.

This latter point is key. It's reminiscent of Didier Pittet and William Griffiths, the inventors of the hand sanitizer we use daily, who decided to give the formula away as a pure act of philanthropy. "We have not worked for companies or for money," they said. "We have done something tremendous for humanity."

Many such selfless acts by members of the IESE alumni community were collected and shared here: www.iese.edu/community-covid19. Juan Carlos Garavito (GEMBA '20), CEO of the intellectual property firm Clarke Modet, offered his professional services to organizations who could use smart tech to mitigate the effects of COVID-19, and he raised money for food banks. Other Executive MBA alumni, like Jaime Barreiro, Julia Zhou and Ge Wang, purchased masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers and donated them to hospitals everywhere from Spain to Italy. "Love knows no borders," said Wang (www.iese.edu/stories/united-in-action). Arancha Caballero (PDG '18) distributed tablets to hospital patients so they could safely communicate with distanced loved ones. And the list goes on.

Motivated individuals can make a difference. And you don't need the bank account of Bill Gates to do it - though that helps, too. More and more companies and startups are working hand in hand with charities and NGOs to bring their resources and expertise to bear on helping to solve the world's social problems.

To make our giving more meaningful, let's take a step back to look at the nature of philanthropy and the many different forms it can take.

A brief history
Individuals or organizations face the same fundamental question: What to do with their wealth? In his bookWhy Philanthropy Matters, Zoltan Acs suggests three basic answers: keep it, tax it or give it away.

In collectivist societies with strong welfare states (like in Europe), the answer is usually to tax it, as it is generally regarded as the government's job to address social needs and promote the common good. In individualist societies with less government intervention (like in the United States), people prefer that the money stays in their own pockets and they can give some away if they so choose; tax breaks may be used to incentivize giving (see below). This encourages different philanthropic cultures.

The role of taxes

In some countries, like the U.S. and Spain, taxpayers can claim a deduction for charitable giving on their tax returns and get a rebate on their donations. In other countries, like the U.K., it's the charities themselves that can claim the rebate from your donation. Research on these two different systems shows that people tend to give more under the second system where the charity receives the tax benefit.

However, although the personal income tax deduction may not be people's main motivator for giving, other research shows that if that deduction were reduced, eliminated or capped, people's giving intentions would go down. There's even research indicating that taxing wealthier people at higher rates would incentivize more charitable giving, because they could then claim bigger personal deductions. In one U.S. study, 74% of high net worth philanthropic givers opposed imposing caps on charitable deductions.

In another study, participants were given the option of giving part of their earnings to a charity of their choice, or giving it to a third party who would keep some it before disbursing the remainder to charity (to replicate the role of paying tax to the government). Few liked the second option - though if it were made clear that the third party (aka the government) were using the money responsibly, participants were more relaxed. An experiment involving MRI scans even showed the same reward centers in the brain were stimulated whether people were allowed to give $100 to a local food bank or the same money was taken from them and given to the same cause. The key is in seeing your tax dollars being put to good use.

SOURCE: "The surprising relationship between taxes and charitable giving" by Andrew Blackman in The Wall Street Journal.

In the United States, this gave rise to the modern figure of the business philanthropist, epitomized by John D. Rockefeller, the 19th century oil tycoon who used his vast fortune to fund all kinds of public goods that would normally be served by governments: education, medicine, scientific research and the like. Subsequent generations have continued that legacy, with his grandson, the late David Rockefeller, becoming one of the first signatories of the Giving Pledge - the campaign launched by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett in 2010 to get the world's ultra-rich to give away their wealth to philanthropic causes. For their part, the Gates joined with the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the World Bank to set up Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to make sure that no child got left behind with immunizations.

This is an example of how philanthropy plays out particularly in the United States, where it is seen as "an essential ingredient of American capitalism... woven into the entrepreneurial spirit of America," writes Acs. Through philanthropy, the wealth created by the capitalist system is then reinvested in projects that generate positive externalities for society.

But this is only one part of the philanthropy story. Throughout the latter half of the 20th century, another phenomenon emerged: corporate social responsibility. This involves companies donating to charities or supporting causes favored by employees or customers in order to be seen as good citizens.

Some dismiss this as PR. They stick with Milton Friedman's argument that the only social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. Philanthropy, if pursued by a company at all, exists at the peak of a Maslow-like "pyramid of responsibilities," to be pursued only after basic economic needs are met.

Harvard's Michael E. Porter says corporate philanthropy can work if it is shifted "into strategic giving: philanthropy focused on enhancing competitive context." For Porter, corporate philanthropy is most beneficial when there is a convergence of social and business interests. He ties it back to his Four Elements of Competitive Context, treating philanthropy as "investments" or resources to leverage in order to improve the company's competitive context. So, on that basis, contributing to a university or a job training program could be justified because it develops a local base of talent that the company needs.

In recent decades, we have also witnessed the growth of venture philanthropy, impact investing and various other related forms of socially responsible financing, where investors channel their money toward social enterprises to generate some net positive impact for society. Like Porter's strategically minded view, this type of philanthropy prioritizes measurable, sustainable impacts according to clearly defined objectives for social and financial returns. While inviting in the private sector does expand the capacity of the public sector to tackle social problems that it can't solve on its own, it does take philanthropy a bit further away from its roots.

SOURCE: Based on La apuesta del impact investing. Invertir contribuyendo a la mejora de la sociedad (Betting on impact investing: investing to contribute to the betterment of society). A special report (ST-380) of the IESE Center for Business in Society and DiverInvest.

Not everything is money
Each of these expressions of philanthropy has their pros. However, it must be stressed that true philanthropy does not always have an economic logic. "The danger of framing philanthropy in economic terms is that you may lose sight of the selfless character of philanthropy - that is, giving something without expecting to get anything in return," says IESE professor Joan Fontrodona, holder of the CaixaBank Chair of Sustainability and Social Impact. Certainly, using resources intelligently and efficiently to maximize their impact is desirable, but "we cannot ignore people and groups in society who do not represent any opportunity for shared value creation."

IESE's Antonio Argandoña agrees: "One of the core features of philanthropy is its universality - that all people be treated equally. Introducing a criterion of instrumental rationality into philanthropy may lead us to direct funds exclusively to those who yield the best results."

This is not to say your philanthropic efforts should be haphazard. In looking at the spectrum of choices, it's not either/or but both/and. Judge the philanthropic cause on its merits first, before doing any cost/benefit analysis. As Argandoña puts it, keep your eyes foremost on "compassion for the one who suffers" as you seek the most effective way to help.

Banking on saving lives
To firewall the commercial from the charitable side, some companies maintain a separate charitable foundation. This gives the company more freedom to act in the social realm, engaging in valid and important work through its foundation that it couldn't so easily justify through its day-to-day running of the business. In some cases, the foundation enhances the business activity, creating new synergies.

In Spain, "La Caixa" Foundation - part of CriteriaCaixa, the investment holding company that manages the group assets, including CaixaBank - began collaborating with Gavi in 2008 because, as its director of International Programs, Ariadna Bardolet (PDD '17), explains, "All efforts are needed to continue supporting vaccination programs, especially in the poorest countries."

Gavi is included in CaixaBank's portfolio of products, giving all employees and banking clients - businesses and individuals alike - the chance to donate to the cause. "La Caixa" Foundation matches the donations that CaixaBank receives by up to 2 million euros, with the Gates Foundation agreeing to match that new amount again, meaning that every euro donated via CaixaBank ends up being worth four times as much.

CaixaBank keeps the focus on the cause, which for the past six years has been on vaccinating children in Mozambique. When banking managers meet with their clients, they assess which ones seem to have the necessary empathy and sensitivity before mentioning the initiative to them, to make sure they have genuinely committed partners. Involving those who strongly identify with the cause is one of the keys for lasting success. (See more below.)

5 keys for sustainable philanthropy by companies

At a time when the world is striving to find solutions to global problems that are too complex to be tackled individually, business and charity working in partnership may hold the key. Indeed, private organizations joining forces with others from civil society, even those quite different from each other but with a shared vision to put people at the center, is the basis of U.N. Sustainable Development Goal 17.

Here are five takeaways from the "La Caixa" experience to guide your company's own philanthropic endeavors.

5. Set an example and communicate effectively

Be the first to step up and then ask others to join you. Strategically communicate the work you are doing, but keep the spotlight on the cause, not on yourself. Reputational benefits come from others seeing the good work you are doing and then judging it as so for themselves, not from you bragging about it. Let the work speak for itself.

READ ALSO: 5 strategies to build an alliance for social good

See the above presented in video format below.

SOURCE: "Gavi-'La Caixa': A successful alliance to promote childhood vaccinations" by Diego Arias Padilla and Joan Fontrodona (2020).

For Bardolet, a banking group lending support to what she describes as "an initiative to save lives" makes sense. "The private sector holds great potential as well as great responsibility in the fight against inequality. A social commitment and business success are increasingly viewed as mutually reinforcing."

This is the idea behind Gavi's creation of COVAX, to get private sector philanthropy to join with governments, global health organizations and others in civil society, to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for people around the world, especially in less wealthy countries.

To this end, another banking group, Citi, created a $500m vaccine bond for the International Finance Facility for Immunization Company (IFFIm), with proceeds going to Gavi. This social bond continues to be oversubscribed, with IFFIm attributing the strong demand to the clarity and focus of the cause - another key for success.

"We are proud to have been selected to advise and assist Gavi in finding risk mitigation and execution strategies in connection with the COVAX Facility, including supporting the building of strategies to operationalize and maintain the Facility," says Paco Ybarra (MBA '87), CEO of Institutional Clients Group at Citi. "This is part of Citi's ongoing commitment to combat this pandemic and a clear demonstration of who we are as a firm."

Multiple benefits
Apart from the good that philanthropy brings for the beneficiaries of companies' or individuals' giving, it also brings benefits for the giver. These may be tangible: financial returns, in the case of those who opt for venture philanthropy; or competitive advantage, for those who make strategic choices regarding which philanthropic projects they will support. But there are also intangible benefits. And perhaps nothing demonstrates this more than when family businesses take up philanthropy, often through family-run foundations.

IESE's Josep Tapies, who has done extensive research on family firms and what makes them tick, finds that philanthropy serves to express what the family, and by extension the business, really stands for. It serves to bind everyone together, based on shared values, helping to ensure the survival of the business over time. Younger generations, in particular, are often driven less by profit motives than they are by giving back and making a difference. Giving them the opportunity to do something that will make them feel proud that they are working not just for the well-being and prosperity of their own family but also for the well-being and prosperity of the community in which they operate is a powerful, unifying force. It strengthens everyone's long-term commitment - something that interests any business concerned about its sustainability, and even more so a multigenerational family firm.

Tapies writes: "Although there may be no direct economic return, those who engage in philanthropy gain numerous benefits: cohesion, unity, commitment, well-being, harmony. Most important, philanthropic activities allow family business owners to keep the family legacy alive, generation after generation. What more could you want?"

This applies to non-family firms, too. Research indicates that one of the best ways of sustaining philanthropy over time is if the participating employees' volunteering becomes an integral part of who they are and how they identify themselves. As corporate volunteering programs are growing (one study found the percentage of top multinationals offering them nearly doubled between 2010 and 2017), it is good to know which factors foster engagement, so that corporate philanthropy doesn't end up as a short-lived, one-off gesture.

As mentioned earlier, there needs to be an enthused, committed employee who acts as the project ambassador, encouraging others to join and keeping the momentum going.

Consistency with an organization's values and culture is also key. "The systems for managing people, from compensation policies to job designs, as well as the work environment and culture must work together harmoniously," IESE's Jose Ramon Pin noted in the report CSR: consistency is credibility. "Underpaying employees, or a huge gap between the highest-paid and lowest-paid workers, or not complying with basic health-and-safety standards: these sorts of things make it inconsistent to talk about solidarity with third parties while not practicing it within the workplace. Everything needs to be coherent with the organization's overall governance and design."

This echoes well-known research by Wharton's Adam Grant. Deficits in what he calls "value concordance" may lead employees to look for fulfillment elsewhere if they derive no meaning, recognition or support from their day jobs. Anne-Claire Pache, Chaired Professor in Philanthropy at ESSEC, takes it further. She finds that, when it comes to keeping corporate volunteers engaged, also letting employees choose what cause(s) they want to support may count for even more than managerial recognition and support. In fact, this self-determination piece may be a mediating factor in "driving employees' lasting commitment, thereby unleashing the potential positive impact on employees, companies and beneficiaries alike."

Every little helps
Putting more "giving power" into the hands of the individual has never been easier, thanks to technology, which has democratized giving so it is not just giant corporations and the ultra-rich who can afford to be philanthropic.

Trends

SOURCE: Trends in Philanthropy for 2021 by the Johnson Center for Philanthropy.

Throughout 2020, individual household giving to charity and volunteering were up, especially for food banks and healthcare-related causes, according to the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), which administers the largest database on charitable donations in North America. "What we're seeing is that people remain very generous and continue to support their neighbors, communities and charitable causes when they face crises and hard times," said a spokesman for the AFP's Fundraising Effectiveness Project. "The exciting part is the increase in small gifts" from unexpected donors - that is, average people suffering from the pandemic themselves.

This is even more extraordinary when you consider that the largest living adult generation who comprise most of today's workforce (millennials) own just 4.6% of the total wealth, while 70% of all wealth is concentrated in the pockets of those in their late 50s and older, and who are approaching or who are already in retirement (the so-called boomers and silent generation). (Although these stats are from the U.S., the same is broadly true in other Western nations.) Those who have less seem to be giving more.

The dilemma of billionaire philanthropy

"For the one who has been given much, much will be required." According to this saying, we should expect more philanthropy from wealthier individuals. Yet relying on philanthropy from the top 1% of society would seem to underscore the very social inequality that such philanthropy is supposedly aiming to solve.

The Dutch historian Rutger Bregman famously shook up Davos in 2019 when he said: "Just stop talking about philanthropy and start talking about taxes!" In other words, is it right for billionaires to exploit tax loopholes and tax havens, depriving governments of the funds they need to provide for all their citizens? Some critics argue that all the money spent on philanthropy amounts to less than if those billionaires had just paid more taxes to begin with. Plus, the money would have been spread around to address wider social needs, not directed at one person's special interest.

Disney heir Abigail Disney, herself a philanthropist, is the first to call out the unfairness. "Philanthropy is often offered as the answer to the problem of inequality," she testified before a U.S. congressional committee on the subject in 2019. "While wonderful, philanthropy is not the answer ... Philanthropy offers a man a fish, even teaches a man to fish, but persistently fails to ask why the lake is running out of water."

She believed the economic structures - "the very structures, in fact, that make philanthropy possible" - were deeply unfair and needed to be reformed. "It is time to bring a moral and ethical framework back to the way we discuss business ... for business leaders to recognize that they have altered the nature of this communal project."

The growing backlash against rich elites demands a deep reflection on what kind of philanthropy is legitimate today. A Recode article laid out the challenge this way: We may not like "the powerful exerting their power ... but is that more concerning than the people who might die if (billionaire philanthropists) didn't make mega donations?" Yet even if the philanthropic gifts are welcome, "we still have to continue to ask questions about how we grew so dependent on them in the first place."

Here is where platform-, social media- and SMS-based methods of direct giving come into their own. It's "the long tail" of giving, where micro donations can be aggregated to make as big an impact as the one-time mega gift of the traditional wealthy donor.

GiveDirectly, a charity that makes direct cash transfers to needy individuals in the U.S. and Africa, was quoted as saying: "You're seeing people giving out cash themselves on Twitter. I haven't seen a period like this where so many people from so many different types of philanthropy have started with cash transfers as a primary tool in their toolbox."

The Spanish foundation Migranodearena (which translates as "My grain of sand") perfectly expresses this new reality. It's a crowdfunding platform that enables individuals, as well as companies, to start their own crowdfunding campaign for a social project, either their own or someone else's. Over 4,000 NGOs raise funds for their projects through the platform. In 2020 the platform raised a record 4 million euros, of which half went to causes related to COVID-19.

As creator of Migranodearena and founder and CEO of DiverInvest - an independent financial adviser for clients who may want to engage in impact investing or venture philanthropy - David Levy has seen all sides of giving. From his point of view, the philanthropic spirit unleashed by the crisis is not a temporary blip. "This catastrophe, which affects everyone equally, has allowed us to witness the creation of a new situation in which solidarity is multiplied." He is optimistic that, even after the pandemic fades, philanthropy is here to stay.

IESE's Fontrodona agrees: "A sense of solidarity has been awakened. We are in an extraordinary situation that has generated extraordinary behaviors. Companies have pulled out all the stops to alleviate the effects of the crisis, even temporarily setting aside their own businesses to help out" (as we saw when manufacturers switched their normal production to make face masks, hand sanitizer or ventilators, for no personal gain). "Having done such things, I believe companies and individuals will have gotten a taste for it and want to do more. And hopefully we can expect to see greater institutional support in favor of such initiatives."

Santiago Ruiz de Velasco, one of the collaborators with SOS4pymes, sums it up this way: "Society is facing an unprecedented situation where everything is new, everything is uncertain, and there is no script. It is in these moments that we are put to the test. The health services have been proving for months that they are up to the task. Now it is our turn, that we, from positions of certain privilege and comfort, can help those who have helped us to be who and where we are today. We cannot fail them. Our help is not charity, it is simply justice."

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Philanthropy: Giving back by giving away

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Making a difference and giving back to society have never been more urgent. Here's how business leaders and companies are lending a hand - and it's not only money that matters. The coronavirus pandemic may have locked us down but it unlocked something else: philanthropy.

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Since our nation's founding, discriminatory policies and laws have created an unequal system in which Black communities have had their civil rights and liberties denied and have been systemically locked out of opportunities in education, housing, employment, and more.

Through our Systemic Equality agenda, we will use nationwide litigation, advocacy, and public education to advance laws and policies rooted in racial equity and end discriminatory policies, laws, and practices that have an outsized impact on Black communities.

Help us in our fight to ensure all people have equal access to housing, voting rights, education, and more by learning more, pledging your support, or donating. When we have full and equal access to education, jobs, housing, voting rights and more, better futures are possible.

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The ACLU dares to create a more perfect union - beyond one person, party, or side. Our mission is to realize this promise of the United States Constitution for all and expand the reach of its guarantees.

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"Regardless of race, language or religion" - we affirm our collective aspiration for Singapore every time we recite the national pledge. More than 55 years after the pledge was rolled out, how far have we come?

A series of high-profile racist incidents in 2021 shook Singapore, including a former lecturer making racist remarks to an interracial couple and a man charged over a racially aggravated attack against a 55-year-old Singaporean Indian woman.

We aren't the only ones struck by the gap between our aspiration and lived reality. These incidents put minority experiences in the workplace, on the rental market and other parts of daily life back into the spotlight and renewed public discussion.

Still, we think there is reason to believe our society isn't that far from making "regardless of race" a lived reality for all in Singapore.

About half of respondents believe there is no longer racial discrimination in Singapore or that this can be achieved within the next 10 years, according to data from the recently concluded 2021 CNA-IPS Survey on Race Relations. Crucially, this view was consistent across Chinese, Malay and Indian respondents.

Where racial discrimination can take on myriad forms and be felt in everyday aspects of our lives, it's worth taking a closer look at where we've made progress (or not) since 2016, when this survey was first conducted.

POSITIVE SIGNS WE'RE HEADED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

Significantly, more people have become accepting of other races in various roles in the private and public spheres, such as a new family member, a business partner or positions of public office.

Minorities have generally been more accepting of the Chinese in such roles, partly as a matter of proportion of the population. The Chinese tend to be less accepting of minority races in such roles, but even then, the 2021 data shows progress.

Almost twice as many Chinese respondents would accept a Malay (47 per cent) or Indian (48 per cent) person marrying into the family, up from 24 per cent and 21 per cent respectively five years earlier. More Chinese would also accept a Malay (52 per cent) or Indian (53 per cent) person helping to manage their business, up from 38 per cent and 42 per cent respectively in 2016.

One important finding is that a large majority of the Chinese are now comfortable with a Singaporean Malay (79 per cent) or Singaporean Indian (80 per cent) President. This marks a rise from 59 per cent and 68 per cent respectively in 2016.

The reserved presidential election in 2017 sparked many conversations about minority representation in politics. At the time, much was made about how the Chinese were not accepting of a non-Chinese leader.

But over time, seeing President Halimah Yacob on the world stage and weighing in on topics of national interest may have helped galvanise this shift towards greater acceptance and put earlier apprehensions to rest. We cannot underestimate how signals from government policy can shape racial sentiments and help society achieve greater equality.

EFFORTS STILL NEEDED TO COMBAT DISCRIMINATION

Greater acceptance certainly does not mean discrimination no longer happens.

Respondents were still most accepting of Singaporeans of the same race, but this can be problematic when about a fifth of Malay and Indian respondents indicated they had lost out on a job due to their race at least once (for example by requiring Mandarin speakers when it is unclear if this is a genuine business requirement), compared to 5 per cent of Chinese respondents saying the same.

Workplace discrimination needs to be dealt with head-on and legislation is one such systemic way.

So the recent announcement that the Government will enshrine anti-discrimination Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) guidelines into new laws is significant. There are currently no specific laws which directly regulate workplace discrimination.

Though our survey shows that 38 per cent would not report being treated unfairly in any context to the authorities, new legislation gives the guidelines "more teeth". It increases awareness of actions that can be taken against workplace discrimination, provides clarity of process and protections for those who level complaints against employers.

LAWS ALONE WON'T ADDRESS OUR BLIND SPOTS

Ultimately, laws focus on bad behaviour. We can only progress to be more racially equal if we also challenge and address the underlying racist tendencies in our society.

More people (56 per cent) now consider racism an important problem, compared to 46 per cent in 2016. This does not necessarily mean racism is on the rise, but that there is greater awareness of racial bias and injustice in our lives and possibly, greater will to challenge it.

Since 2016, in fact, people perceive the level of racism to have fallen, with 39 per cent indicating that most Singaporean Chinese were at least mildly racist (down from 56 per cent) and similar drops in this sentiment toward Singaporean Malays and Indians.

We seem to have become both more likely to be aware of and account for others' cultural needs and are able to determine what constitutes racism per se in our local context.

Fewer of us think it is never acceptable to offer food to someone of another race without considering if they have dietary requirements, likely chalking it up to being impolite instead of racist.

But one glaring potential blind spot is that we tend to see ourselves and our close circles as less racist than others in society.

A pessimistic view of this might be that people are deluded when evaluating their own level of racism. But it's not new that context and familiarity can influence whether we perceive people and actions as racist.

The challenge will be in how we, as individuals, view unacceptable actions with more maturity and address them even if they come from those closest to us. As a society, we need to continue soliciting views from diverse groups, including those who bear the brunt of racial discrimination.

Another contradiction that we've observed is that some, though slightly fewer in 2021, objected to having more conversations about race, on the basis that it may cause unnecessary tension to arise in society. Slightly more than half of the respondents indicated they were tired of talking about race and racism.

But we can take heart that a large majority want political leaders to talk openly about racism to help work through societal problems, and that younger respondents tend to want more public dialogues.

PARADOX OF A MULTICULTURAL MERITOCRATIC SOCIETY

Between increased public attention to and personal reflection on racism, we are in an ideal position for making further strides toward racial equality. But we also have to be clear about what being "regardless of race" really means to most people.

When presented with a variety of potential future developments to do with race, survey respondents generally favoured multicultural policies over those that can be characterised as "post-racial". For example, 63 per cent welcomed deeper intercultural understanding but a lower proportion was comfortable with policies moving in a "race-blind" direction.

It seemed important to respondents that race not limit anyone's opportunities, but that it could still be appreciated and acknowledged.

In other words, Singaporeans want to look beyond race, but also continue to hold it in high regard as something that roots us in our communities and cultures. This is the paradox of living in a multicultural and meritocratic society.

It may seem like a fine line to walk, but it hasn't and should never stop Singapore from trying to do this together.

Dr Mathew Mathews is principal research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies, National University of Singapore and head of its Social Lab. Samantha Nah is a research assistant at the same institute.

This piece was first published in CNA on 3 April 2022.

Top photo from Unsplash.

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