I was laid off from a new job two weeks before the COVID shutdown of NYC in 2020. I knew the company had made a purely cost-cutting move, and I knew the city faced economic disaster across every industry. I also knew my paycheck-to-paycheck existence needed rethinking to survive the coming financial apocalypse. 

I prepared the house for pandemic hibernation. With my severance package, I invested in comforts to help us with the coming boredom, like a 62-inch television. Never in my life had I prioritized such a purchase. Still, with months ahead of Netflix and chilling as COVID spread, I wanted our household to be entertained, at the very least. I bought groceries in bulk, instead of my daily market run, to avoid needing to be out in public.

I worked the interwebs to find new computer equipment, before prices and availability ran up and out, along with bulk orders of masks, gloves, paper towels, and toilet paper. We needed money, fast. No one knew, at that time, if a stimulus would even be possible.  I purchased gold jewelry from online estate sales and turned it into a profit in NYC’s Diamond District. I had dabbled in crypto for a few years, so I began buying Bitcoin and Etherum with my earnings, thinking the return would be better than keeping the gold.

 At first, my household laughed at me, “You are overreacting.” I doubted myself but did not see any hope in the daily reports of infections rising and shutdowns across the world. 

Months later, the Diamond District started closing up from the lack of business, an inconceivable thought to all in NYC. We were still living on pandemic time, uncertain, but receiving benefits from the government, and all of a sudden, crypto valuation started climbing beyond any of my expectations. I didn’t make a ton of money, but it helped us through the worst of last year. Because I found myself in this lucky position, I had the time to volunteer to assist important organizing efforts, on and offline, starting with the People’s Strike formation. I built CoronaStrike with another activist and had the time to continue posting to the Occupy Wall Street social media pages, and I volunteered with a local mutual aid center, filling bags of needed nonperishable groceries and supplies, to be delivered,  for all in the area.

I realized how I could use cryptocurrency to realistically cushion our quickly depleting resources; I rethought my approach and started to get serious. First, I started taking the MIT OpenCourseWare class, Blockchain, and Money, in between applying to remote work positions. Then, I started watching YouTube videos about cryptocurrency (shout out to VoskCoin); I became obsessed. I started to understand how the development of the next version of the internet, web3, would be become a place in which we could all benefit, directly, through using the web, for communication, commerce, and the creation and management of commodities.

The most important thing I learned? Money is anything we want it to be; the challenge is ensuring that we can use our resources in the actual day-to-day of living. That meant using a Coinbase account to convert Bitcoin or Etherum into dollars and transferring to my bank account when I needed to. Sometimes this happened in the line at the grocery store, other times it happened in front of an ATM, other times, in my bedroom, as I scrambled to pay yet another bill. Most recently it happened on a layover in Amsterdam because the blockchain moves outside of borders.

In October last year, while browsing Facebook, I received an ad to help “build a new network and earn crypto or cash.” Knowing the possibilities, I answered the ad and became a host for a miner on the Helium “Peoples Network.” A few months later, I found myself receiving cash from this remarkable project. And all of a sudden, our household stabilized in ways I could never imagine prior.  

One of the things I did with this miracle windfall? 

After purchasing a new vacuum, paying a few months of rent, and other needed items (including a few Helium miners from Nebra), I invested in the liquidity pools of Uniswap, after becoming inspired by the offerings of MetaMask. As might be guessed, I am not the only one to see the potential. 

Recently, Consensys held a seminar to present their findings on Crypto use in the Global South. Not surprisingly, my reasons for getting serious about cryptocurrency are the exact reasons for people worldwide.

Source: MetaMask

These are all the reasons why I am so happy Let’s Rethink This features the work of  Adel ElMessiry, defying predatory lending with his Decentralized Lending Network. As the pre-COVID world continues to crumble into dust, new ways of securing resources and frankly, money, is imperative to the survival of the peoples of our planet.

The time to rethink everything is now.

In solidarity and hope, Priscilla Grim, Editor-in-Chief of Let’s Rethink This

Tom Jordan and his wife, Anne, were both ready to retire when they realized their high cost of prescription medications wouldn’t let them begin enjoying their “golden years” just yet.

A heart attack survivor, Tom was taking seven prescription drugs, just to stay alive. Anne was taking several as well just to deal with the aches and pains that come with growing older.

But then there was the cost.

There are few issues that bring the American people together more than the idea that the cost of prescription drugs is too high.

Polling shows that large majorities of Americans in both parties think the government needs to do more to lower the cost of prescription drugs, and every presidential administration this century, Republican and Democrat, has made the issue at least a rhetorical priority. Yet the cost of pharmaceuticals continues to outpace inflation, costing the U.S. government and average citizens alike.

Like his predecessors, President Joe Biden campaigned on lowering the cost of prescription drugs. He touched on the topic again Friday, when he issued an executive order directing the Food and Drug Administration to work with states to import lower-cost drugs from Canada and told the Federal Trade Commission to ban industry schemes that delay the development of cheaper generic drugs.

According to Actuary.org, Health care spending in the United States is high and continues to increase, as does the spending for prescription drugs in particular. In 2016, the U.S. spent $3,337 billion, or 17.9 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), on national health expenditures, of which $329 billion was spent on prescription drugs.

Many countries have measures in place to limit advertising by pharmaceutical companies.

According to The Washington Post, pharmaceutical company spending on marketing generally exceeds that of its research budget. In Canada, $1.7 billion was spent in 2004 to market drugs to physicians; in the United States, $21 billion was spent in 2002. 

In 2005, money spent on pharmaceutical marketing in the United States was estimated at $29.9 billion with one estimate as high as $57 billion. When the U.S. numbers are broken down, 56% was free samples, 25% was pharmaceutical sales representative "detailing" (promoting drugs directly to) physicians, 12.5% was direct to user advertising, 4% on detailing to hospitals, and 2% on journal ads. There is some evidence that marketing practices can negatively affect both patients and the health care profession.

There are alternatives to dangerous and costly prescription drugs that are safer and less expensive. These alternatives come in the form of many natural supplements. 

According to the United States Pharmacopeia, natural supplements are natural ingredients that have been in existence for centuries. They include plants, flowers, bark, roots, and herbs that are prepared by a unique process of distillation or cold maceration. There are a lot of supplements that can have a similar effect as prescription drugs without having dangerous side effects.

And then there’s…sudden death?

There is increasing suspicion that several drugs in four widely used classes of non-cardiovascular medications-fluoroquinolone and macrolide antibiotics, antipsychotics, and antidepressants- are pro-arrhythmic and thus increase the risk of sudden cardiac death.

Follow the “Top 6 Safety Tips for Stopping Your Meds” provided by Drugs.com:

• Talk to Your Doctor First.
• Discuss Your Medications With Your Doctor. 
• Stop for the Right Reason.
• Ask Your Doctor How to Best Stop Your Medication. 
• Learn Your Medicine Side Effects if You Quickly Stop. 
• Chart Your Discontinuation Plan.

How do I get off prescription drugs?

Opioids can cause low blood pressure, a slowed breathing rate and the potential for breathing to stop, or a coma. Overdose has a significant risk of death. Anti-anxiety medications and sedatives can cause memory problems, low blood pressure, and slowed breathing. Overdose can cause coma or death.

Symptoms of prescription drug abuse often include:

• Obtaining prescriptions from multiple doctors
• Changes in sleep or eating patterns
• Pretending to misplace prescriptions
• Sudden changes in mood
• Appearing high or sedated

Treatment options for prescription drug abuse vary, depending on the type of drug used and your needs. But counseling, or sometimes psychotherapy, is typically a key part of treatment. Treatment may also require withdrawal (detoxification), addiction medication, and recovery support.

Tom and Ann Find a Partial Answer

Finally, the couple turned to the American Association of Retired People (AARP), which has 35 million members over the age of 50. The AARP reported that some of its members cope by buying less food, sharing their drugs, using other people's leftover prescriptions, or, most often, going without their medications.

More than a third of the people surveyed for the association said they bought drugs from Canada. Older people can get cheaper drugs from discount plans from drug companies and elder associations, but few are aware of these plans.

Until America rethinks its prescription drug problem, prices will continue to rise and more people will need to choose between meals and staying alive.

The pandemic is not over. 

Last week, with the news of the Delta variant ripping through the United States, I had to rethink my expectations for the next few months. I want to be less stressed about finding work. I want to travel again. I want to attend social functions again. I want to hug and kiss friends and family again, without the side of massive anxiety about the potential of catching or spreading the virus. 

But, the pandemic is not over. 

The pandemic is not over, and now, many people, children, and adults are challenged with the effects of long COVID, without many treatment options in the healthcare system in the United States. 

The transformation of Wendall Potter, written about, last week, on Let’s Rethink This, is a story of one man looking at the work he had been doing, realized the harm he perpetuated through the abusive billing practices of the insurance industry, and is now committed to making systemic changes, beginning with his testimony to Congress. I recommend you take a look if you have not yet read his story. We hope to inspire many more with our coverage.

The pandemic is not over, and people are hanging on by frayed threads, hoping for rental assistance, stalled by draconian processes in state governments, with the likelihood of billions of dollars disappearing, growing more real, every day. The business of government is failing the people, during a pandemic, and it seems to be by design. We have to rethink how we demand what we need to achieve, together.

Demanding a healthcare system for the many, not the few, is imperative. The Impact Physicians family on Let’s Rethink This is one place to understand, from the perspective of medical professionals, why we must meet the challenge of bringing healthcare to all, with transformative rethinking. 

A solid healthcare system, relied upon, by the people, will break through vaccine hesitancy faster than any mandate or law. The collaborative effort, to release healthcare from the death grip of corporations, assisting our neighbors and communities in finding needed health solutions, will be as lush as any fertile victory garden. 

Shutdowns are happening, because the pandemic is not over. 

People are unable to pay rent, living in their cars (if they have one), largely without day to day healthcare, being abused in their jobs (if they have one), and hungry for both food and human touch. Rethinking the future is a herculean task in light of all else we are collectively dealing with, presently. I see you. I know you want to build a better future. The pandemic will eventually end, and we will enter into the years of repair.

In solidarity and hope - priscilla, Editor-in-Chief of Our Newspaper at Let’s Rethink This

We are now experiencing two pandemics: (1) a COVID pandemic; and (2) a pandemic of negative news.

Every day now we see negative headlines. Yet also every day, many stories about positive ideas and innovations go unnoticed.

The questions we should ask are:

(1) Why is there so much negative news?

(2) Should we monitor what news we let into our minds?… and

(3) Where can we get positive news?

1. Why is there so much negative news?

Humanity evolved in Africa over the last 5 million years, surrounded by a world of severe and immediate danger. To deal with this constant danger, our brains evolved the temporal lobe called the amygdala. It scans everything we see and listens for signs of danger. When it senses danger it puts us on alert.

According to Peter Diamandis, Founder of Singularity University, because of our amygdalas, we pay 10x more attention to negative news than to positive news.

Because news is now digital, and we click on it, our preference for reading negative news is measured so this relationship is becoming even more pronounced. Most news sources are now publishing 10x more negative stories than positive. It’s purely a matter of marketing... capturing our attention = ad revenue. Since every news proprietor's job is to deliver your eyes to their advertisers, the negative stories reign. And we remain glued to the programming.

Peter Diamandis suggests that you try this experiment: Check your newspaper and compare the number of negative to positive stories, it’s at least 10-to-1.

Most newsrooms now operate under the principles “if it bleeds it leads” and “bad news is good news”. It’s always a single act of brutality that captures headlines, while a hundred acts of everyday kindness are ignored.

Professor Steven Pinker, Harvard University Professor of Psychology said that the "disconnect originates in the nature of news. News is about what happens, not what doesn’t happen, so it features sudden and upsetting events like fires, plant closings, rampage shootings and shark attacks. Most positive developments are not camera-friendly, and they aren’t built in a day.”

2. Should we monitor what news we let into our minds

The short answer is yes though few stop to consider how this massive input of negative news impacts our outlook. 

A 2017 study by the American Psychological Association found that while most adults (95 percent) say they follow the news regularly, 56 percent say that doing so causes them stress, and 72 percent believe the media blows things out of proportion.

As the President of Envision Kindness Dr David Fryburg said “Every day, people are exposed to negative images, stories, and experiences, We know that this exposure is stressful to the viewer—it causes anger, anxiety, depression, and can affect behaviour, disconnecting people from one another”.

While dystopian visions of the world are possible futures, we can and must also imagine a future of humanity that’s positive to encourage innovation. We can’t expect current innovators and future generations to make their positive visions a reality if they believe our species is doomed for failure. A positive vision inspires us to continue to contribute to human progress and feel that we can push humanity forward. 

As leading astronomer Carl Sagan said, “For all of our failings, despite our limitations and fallibility, we humans are capable of greatness.”

What you let into your mind influences your thoughts, conversations, and feelings, driving fear and anxiety for many. These emotional states are associated with increased levels of cortisol, commonly known as the “stress hormone,” which often causes inflammation and reduces the immune system’s efficacy. The last thing anyone needs right now is a compromised immune system. 

Peter Diamandis suggests that we go on a media diet to limit how much negative news we consume. Just as we manage our physical health with nutritional food, we should manage our mental health with more positive news. 

3. Where to get positive and optimistic news

IdeaSpies was launched five years ago as a global idea- sharing platform to help solve the problem of negative news. At that time we saw that negative news was impacting confidence in the future and quite possibly investment. Coincidentally, according to Medical News Today, while news cycle-related anxiety has probably existed for centuries, it became particularly obvious in 2016, a year packed with global events that polarised communities.

Since then the problem has become worse. There is even a term for it "doomscrolling". A few years ago many did not see the problems associated with negative news, now they do.

IdeaSpies has partnered with the Centre for Optimism.  We have been spreading optimism for the future backed by positive ideas and innovations. Victor Perton, Chief Optimism Officer of the Centre for Optimism, advises us to “Look for the good in what you read”. IdeaSpies shares ideas that do good.

Looking out for positive news should help lift your spirits and belief in a positive future. You'll find thousands of ideas and innovations on IdeaSpies, explained simply in 100 words or less, that can be searched by category or keyword.

Writer William Gibson once famously said “the future is already here, it’s just not evenly distributed”. IdeaSpies is trying to even the distribution and it shows a positive future.

Chester was 21 that morning at home. when he woke up, got dressed and went downstairs to have breakfast with his Dad before Chester Sr. headed to his job as maintenance foreman at Philadelphia’s Central High School.

“Do you have any scrambled eggs left,” Chester asked his Mom as his Dad reached for the last of the biscuits.

“I’ve got a few left and I can even give you a couple biscuits I’ve hidden away. Just don’t tell your father.”

She pointed to the stove and then put a finger to her lips indicating Chester shouldn’t give the biscuit’s location away.

Chester finished his eggs, opened the stove, kissed his Mother and slipped on his coat for  protection from the cold.

It would be the last time he could touch his mother for awhile.

Before the day was over, Chester, with no criminal record, would be pulled over in Center City and charged with the fatal shooting of a University of Pennsylvania student in a botched street robbery.

When we think of the justice system, we usually think of a place where justice is served. However, this is not the case anymore. There have been many wrongful convictions and that's not even the worst part. The worst part is that these people were sentenced to a life in prison for something they didn't do. The only thing that's left is one more chance at life or nothing at all. If you ever wonder why people do these terrible things, or you want to know why people don't believe in the justice system, this is for you.

Causes of Wrongful Conviction

Mistaken witness identification, or eyewitness error, is the single greatest cause of wrongful convictions nationwide, according to Western Michigan University, playing a role in 72% of convictions overturned through DNA testing. The other causes include:

• False Confession. 
• False Forensic Evidence  
• Perjury
• Official Misconduct

How does the justice system work?

The American Justice system is based on the English Common Law system. The basic idea is that there are two sides, the plaintiff and the defendant, who present their arguments before an impartial judge (and sometimes a jury). In a criminal case, the prosecutor acts as a plaintiff on behalf of the citizens or state and there are five steps or phases:

5 Steps of the Criminal Justice System

• Arrest.
• Preliminary hearing.
• Grand jury investigation.
• Arraignment in Criminal Court.
• Trial by jury.

Majority of Innocent Defendants are Persons of Color

The Equal Justice Initiative reports “More than half of wrongful convictions can be traced to witnesses who lied in court or made false accusations. ... Other leading causes of wrongful convictions include mistaken eyewitness identifications, false or misleading forensic science, and jailhouse informants. Faulty forensics also lead to wrongful convictions.”

In a 2017 study, the National Registry of Exonerations found African Americans are only 13% of the American population but a majority of innocent defendants wrongfully convicted of crimes and later exonerated. They constitute 47% of the 1,900 exonerations listed in the National Registry of Exonerations (as of October 2016), and the great majority of more than 1,800 additional innocent defendants who were framed and convicted of crimes in 15 large-scale police scandals and later cleared in “group exonerations.” 

While racial disparity happens in all major crime categories, the study focused on the largest numbers of exonerations: murder, sexual assault and drug crimes. During any of the five steps of the Justice System, the wheels can come off the wagon because of existing challenges. These include:

5 Challenges Facing Criminal Justice Professionals Right Now

• Drug Use and the Crime Cycle. Between 50 and 80 percent of men test positively for drugs when they're arrested. 
• Youth in the Criminal Justice System. 
• The High Incarceration Rate. 
• Violence Against Women. 
• The “Three Strikes” Legislation.

Black/White Gap Narrows

According to Pew Research, blacks have long outnumbered whites in U.S. prisons. But a significant decline in the number of black prisoners has steadily narrowed the gap over the past decade, according to new data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

At the end of 2017, federal and state prisons in the United States held about 475,900 inmates who were black and 436,500 who were white – a difference of 39,400, according to BJS. Ten years earlier, there were 592,900 black and 499,800 white prisoners – a difference of 93,100. (This analysis counts only inmates sentenced to more than a year.) The decline in the black-white gap between 2007 and 2017 was driven by a 20% decrease in the number of black inmates, which outpaced a 13% decrease in the number of white inmates.

The Takeaway

In 2019, a judge ordered Chester released at age 49, citing evidence that police and prosecutors built their case on fabricated statements from people they coerced as witnesses and later withheld evidence pointing to the likely true perpetrators of the crime.

The agreement announced recently is the latest in a string of seven-figure settlements stemming from claims of misconduct by city police in the late 1980s and ’90s. Those cases have led to more than a dozen exonerations in recent years and have cost Philadelphia more than $35 million since 2018.

“There are no words to express what was taken from me,” Hollman said in a statement. “But this settlement closes out a difficult chapter in my life as my family and I now embark on a new one.”

“There was irrefutable evidence that Chester was innocent, is innocent and has always been innocent and would never have been wrongfully convicted aside from extraordinary police misconduct,” his attorney, Amelia Green said.

Despite the long sentence, Chester doesn’t hold the record for the most number of years wrongfully served. That distinction belongs to Richard Phillips. Phillips was sent to prison in 1972 and released 46 years later.

The justice system is flawed and the number of wrongful convictions has increased. Let's rethink how the justice system should work.