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This interpretive biography of the author's mother Thelma Boyd Johnson (1913-2001) charts various critical points in her life, from its beginning on a farm in central Indiana to an urban life of motherhood, a career in banking, and her passions for reading and family.

Guns are symbolic of many things in America, but a critical assessment of these semiotic narratives shows them to be seriously limited in understanding the nature of gun violence in the United States, which has killed 30,000 per year on average for over two decades, 75 times more than all military fatalities in America's "longest war" (in Afghanistan). An additional 70,000 people on average are wounded per year, again for over two decades. Gun violence has been misinterpreted by mass media and many other sources; it should be redefined as the major public health problem it is. Gun violence should be distinguished from the Second Amendment and "gun rights." Politicians and partisans connect these issues for their own purposes, but they are distinct. Future constructive efforts should consciously disconnect these two issues.

Nation-states are located at a moment in time, beginning with the First Industrial Revolution, when parties struggled for military and political access to natural (largely fossil) resources. This produced horrendous consequences of 20th-century wars and conflicts, costing millions of lives. We now face the tasks of developing a biosphere consciousness, based on our recognition of common connectivity. This new era presents new and difficult challenges for scientists and intellectuals.

Reflecting on his five decades of passionate involvement in justice scholarship, teaching, and community action, a senior scholar offers some observations about the long path from Plato to Rawls, and how this relates to daily practice and political involvement. The Western justice tradition is very cerebral and rational, whereas real-world involvements are very emotional and ethically ambiguous. What does one need to know to be a conscious and ethical actor in the daily world of practical action and community politics? Is one's intellectual the best guide? One's emotions? What does justice mean?

The current economic and political crises are reviewed, and the prospects for a violent cataclysm within the American context are explored. Suggestions for a constructive response are made.