“It takes a monster to kill children. But to watch monsters kill children again and again and do nothing isn’t just insanity — it’s inhumanity.” — Amanda Gorman
But what to do?
It’s always the same arguments around gun control, mental health, and school security, with politicians on both sides of the aisle doing what they do best these days: being social media influencers instead of being true leaders.
The sad truth is that the root cause of this insanity and inhumanity goes beyond the usual arguments. It boils down to this, in my opinion: broken connections.
Broken connections with parents, siblings, and other family members.
Broken connections with our neighbors, classmates, colleagues, and community.
Broken connections with God or some other higher purpose in life.
These broken connections often lead to loneliness, which has been “a growing problem for decades — with some estimating that 61 percent of adults in the United States feel it — and it’s only been made worse by the COVID-19 lockdown,” according to Sian Leah Beilock in a July 2020 Scientific American article titled, “Why Young Americans Are Lonely.”
Beilock adds, “More recent data show that one in five millennials have no friends at all. And a survey released in 2020 found that 71 percent of millennials and almost 79 percent of Gen Z respondents report feeling lonely — a significantly greater proportion than other generations.”
Of course, the vast majority of people experiencing loneliness do not become murderers. Some people are just evil.
How do we as individuals, families, and communities fix these broken connections? This is the question, I believe, that we all need to explore together. There is no quick and simple answer, and the solution certainly won’t come from politicians in Washington crafting tweets and soundbites. The burden is on each of us to fix the brokenness within and around us. As Hillel famously said, “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?”
Begin with a smile, saying hello to someone you don’t know today.
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Moving on, here’s the supply chain and news that caught my attention this week, with many of the headlines focused on ocean shipping and port operations.
- Stressed-Out Supply Chain Managers Are Throwing in the Towel (Bloomberg)
- Freight rates begin to rise as Shanghai slowly reopens for business (The Loadstar)
- Biggest US Ports Rank as World’s Least Efficient for Containers (Bloomberg)
- These ports are causing the most congestion in the global supply chain, new CNBC charts show (CNBC)
- Swamped U.S. Seaports Are Bracing for an Earlier Peak Shipping Season (WSJ – sub. req’d)
- DAT: Truckload volumes slipped in April; spot van, reefer rates dive (DAT)
- E2open Releases New Sustainability Innovation to Actively Reduce Emissions Footprint and Enhancements Across All Suites for More Connected Decisions
- FourKites Launches Universal Appointment Manager Solution in APAC to Ease Supply Chain Labour Shortage Woes and Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
- Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index Finds US Parcel Volume Reached Record High of 21.5 Billion in 2021
- Walmart expands its drone-delivery service to reach 4 million households (CNBC)
- Amazon Quietly Axed Millions of Square Feet of Warehouse Space (The Information – sub. req’d)
- Amazon tests using Flex drivers to make mall deliveries (CNBC)
- Foreign Business Is Falling Out of Love With China (WSJ – sub. req’d)
- European shippers limit supply chain risk via multiple sourcing (The Loadstar)
- Transatlantic air cargo rates and load factors fall as ‘normalisation’ begins (The Loadstar)
- Biden Exploring Release of Diesel Fuel Reserves Amid High Prices (WSJ – sub. req’d)
As we head into Memorial Day weekend and begin the hard work of fixing the brokenness around us, let us remember the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice to preserve our freedom and keep our quest to build a more perfect union alive.
Have a happy weekend!
Song of the Week: “Always Love” by Nada Surf
