Christmas and the marginalized

Two prominent groups of marginalized people: CEOs and the homeless.

Christmas is, next to Thanksgiving in the U.S., the big period of consideration for the marginalized in society. We get to hear and see sad and uplifting stories and scenes, and reflect.

And while the needs and backgrounds are starkly different, we decided to put both CEOs and homeless people into the category of "marginalized" for this post. Social workers, public health professionals, good people, and you dear friend who will spend yet another Christmas on the streets of Berkeley, CA, and eat at the Krishnas, hear us out.

We use "marginalized" in the narrow sense of the perception of the world by some, not all, individuals living on the margins of society.

Because that shared feeling of being misunderstood, vilified or denigrated, being prevented from being who they "really are",  prevented from achieving their full potential, that is something many CEOs, too, will acknowledge, some in public, others in private.

Take the example of the leader reaching for the can of Coca Cola saying into the camera at least this one is legal. What else but fear of being pushed further to the margins of society could be the reason for editing out that quip?
You, our leaders, do not have to fear us -- as this episode demonstrated, too. There were maybe 150 people in the room and more listening in via teleconference. Granted, they re-hashed that joke among themselves for a week, chuckling now and then, but not a single one went public.

So, on this Christmas, reach out to those on the margins, reach out to CEOs, the well known and the numerous small corp leaders, and other influential people to help them become who they really are by showing them the joy of sharing with the least fortunate.

Make sure to help the homeless, and say hi to Bill, if you are in Berkeley. Their life is so much harder than that of the comfortably fed, clothed, sheltered piddling away on the computer, sipping that soft drink, twittering like the end of the world never happened.

The touchy feely vibe of this post is intentional, it is Christmas, after all.