the CEMIR's Substack

the CEMIR's Substack

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the CEMIR's Substack
the CEMIR's Substack
The Luxury of Being Pejorative
IDEA=Belonging

The Luxury of Being Pejorative

I do not believe Professional Emergency Managers get to be contemptuous of others. And least not in our EM work.

Michael Prasad, MA, CEM®'s avatar
Michael Prasad, MA, CEM®
Apr 05, 2025
∙ Paid

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the CEMIR's Substack
the CEMIR's Substack
The Luxury of Being Pejorative
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decorative image of a poet a politician and a priest - AI generated
Google Gemini AI generated from phrase ‘generate a picture of a poet, politician and a priest’

Poets, priests - and as we expected - politicians get to pontificate on policies and procedures, prioritizing prizes, penance or even profits above people. It is when their words and deeds are derogatory or denigrate humans, as professional Emergency Management leaders, we must speak out against those pejorative actions.

Making the distinction between what we ourselves say online to each other and to the public; and what we do in support of our communities can be a challenge for those who must work with – or worse, report to – those who act pejoratively. I believe we are in a profession where we do not dictate whether any individual can thrive and succeed but rather instead, we have roles where we help that same individual survive and stay alive.

Our constituents – who are our clients – are not any position to qualify for merit-based assistance. Nor should they be.

This goes to my prior paid subscriber post about morals versus ethics. And more importantly, to the ill-fated question of whether Emergency Managers get to discriminate against others within the missions they perform, based on the ‘orders from above’. That’s right, I said it out loud. This has historically happened in the United States under the color of authority, but that does not make it ethical or absolve Emergency Managers of their fecklessness when they choose their own job security over their principles.

Paid subscribers can see examples of how our nation is going backwards – once again – in the federal support of First Nation peoples, in our new section “IDEA=Belonging”, which also includes a link to a free article at Medium on the English as the official language of the U.S. Executive Order.

Read more on the specifics of how professionalism and ethical conduct applies to organizations affiliated with Emergency Management – including academia – in addition to being the purview of individuals, as a paid subscriber.

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