Here's the pattern I've observed during my lifetime as a Democrat: When Republicans are in office, they tax based on the theory that "a rising tide floats all boats." They spend liberally on what matters to them and when the Dems come in, they have to figure out a way to pay for the deficits run up by the Republicans.
Here's the pattern I've observed during my lifetime as a Democrat: When Republicans are in office, they tax based on the theory that "a rising tide floats all boats." They spend liberally on what matters to them and when the Dems come in, they have to figure out a way to pay for the deficits run up by the Republicans.
When trying to redress the inequalities in our country thanks to the previous administration, Democrats are called "socialists" and "big spenders." Perfect example: Biden after TFG and his tax cuts for the rich.
Democrats need to tell this story over and over again because the Republicans will continue to use the same old playbook!
You've nailed the Republican playbook that they turn to whenever in power. Talk incessantly about their fiscal conservatism while spending like mad. Then bitch and moan about the deficit they created when Democrats take over. The breathtaking hypocrisy is lost on much of the public, which comes to believe the Republicans are prudent with tax money and Democrats are irresponsible with it.
Well, that's what they are told, all the time, and analytical thinking didn't form a large part of their education. Fascinating - and appalling - to see how long ago this started, and why. Slavery as a means of getting wealth! it was legally abolished in England, from whose domination America had freed itself fifty-odd years earlier, in 1833. Has anything changed?
Heather McGhee: A New “We The People” For a Sustainable Future | Bioneers 2017
"... It’s important to remember — because so much of this history has been suppressed — just how essential to the creation of the American economy slavery was. And slave labor on plantation land expropriated from Native Americans. That is our economy.
"The historian Edward Baptist, in his book The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism, calculates that by 1860, slave labor produced 80% of the gross national product. Even in the north, our systems of finance and capitalization, our industrial textile mills, all sprang out of and fed into a slave-driven economy. Black lives were the original currency of America.
"At our founding, those in power chose to make American slavery different from other forms, not just indentured labor but hereditary, inexorable, and they did it alongside these proclamations of equality and liberty that we now hold dear as our American creed, that it is self-evident that all men are created equal, that all men are entitled to liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It’s a heart-stopping contradiction. The only way for men to write those words while owning other human beings was to create a belief system in which those people were not human beings.
"So for our first centuries, African Americans were property. For the subsequent
ones, and up until the late 1980s, in fact, explicitly racist laws conspired to deny African Americans of property. We live on one of most biologically and ecologically diverse lands on the planet. We have rainforests and deserts, this treasure that we sing about from sea to shining sea, and yet it is not ours. It has never been ours. We stole it, we killed for it, and we have not made amends.
"It’s hard to admit all of that, to hold all of that, while at the same time holding a vision of we the people, and of a country and a population that is worth fighting for and creating solidarity amongst. You know, we have this myth of American innocence. I really commend to you a new book called Hitler’s American Model, which goes right to the heart of puncturing that myth. World War II, is it not, is our shining example of when America saved the world, when America, the good guys, went and defeated the bad guys, the Nazis.
"Even today, when Nazis are marching down our streets, it’s become very easy for a bipartisan consensus to say, well at least not that. We know that the Nazis are the bad guys. That’s what we know. If one thing we know for sure it’s that the Nazis are the bad guys.
"My friends, why is it not common knowledge to us that when Hitler and his regime looked for a model of a way to create a society where citizenship and humanity was cabined only to whites in every single legal policy, economic piece of infrastructure, they looked only to us as the model. So how is it possible that we can say with a straight face that we are the good guys and the Nazis are the bad guys?"
I’m so glad you posted this additional resource. My mind spins over how many “good” people have closed their minds to looking at the truths we were shielded from, misled about. Keep sharing, folks. Don’t be silent. Don’t be afraid to tell the truth. I, for one, see that it gives me a chance to craft my messages in a way that won’t make people slam the door in my face. When I think of how long it has taken me to be open to all of this myself … and so thankful there have been persistent people to keep sharing. Our whole group of HCR readers has picked up the baton.
My R ex-classmate told me she is very glad she is not as well educated as I am as I reported here before. She is always angry with me if she posts something political and I respond. Once someone on the thread made threats (I think now it was a reference to January 6th which had not occurred yet) and she chose to castigate me instead of him. Only once did she sorta back down (and lied about why she had posted the meme in the first place) when I called her out about posting that God used wildfires to punish CA. This was after the terrible wildfires here in Oregon and I pointed out to her that lots of the people who had suffered had the same views as she did. That didn't prevent us from making a donation to the recovery fund despite their politics.
"So now, we have to admit that we are in a moment of racial panic. But it is challenging us to shed the self-imposed color-blindness of our movements and engage forcefully in this question: Who is an American? What are we to one another? We have to admit that this question is harder for us than it is for most other countries because we are the world’s most radical experiment in democracy. A nation of ancestral strangers met here with the audacious promise that out of many we could become one. Everything depends on the answer to this question: Who is an American, and what are we to one another?"
Yes, it is time to look at our history for what it truly is. Slavery is a form of human trafficking. It is generally considered to be a crime. The American nation was built on human trafficking on a mass scale. The words “human trafficking” shed light on the abhorrent aspects of our history.
Bingo! Love this finely-tuned perspective that EVERYONE should understand the illegality of — taking someone else's freedoms away. These are humans. Makes all the whining about owning weapons of mass destruction look rather pitiful in comparison. But we need to send this out, far and wide, beyond the choir here.
Heather McGhee's book, "The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together," is superb. And for those of you who like numbers, they are included often!
Reading this reminds me why the gop are screaming at school board meetings. Learning any of this chips away at their support. Heather McGhee is an important voice clearly acknowledging our history and pointing a way forward.
Just read an article in the local rag here in Salem about a group that is touting itself as non-partisan on schools. One person went to the first meeting and didn't know what to expect. It didn't take long for her (and her partner) to figure it out and they were the only two who were masked. She wrote an op-ed for another local paper and since then has had to put up with the usual radical right response. Luckily the progressive community is on to this group, so they won't be able to sustain the lie that they are non-partisan.
I just bought the audiobook. And I posted that I did that on my Facebook page. Very exciting to see all these resources rolling out and to discover the work and the people who have been trying to get "my" attention for many, many years. Still, it is always better late than never.
Thank you for mentioning The Half.... I must try to finish it. So we have a nation built on slavery and stolen land. But we must not teach any of this. Last night as I was listening to Club Mod on All Classical, the host featured music by living black composers, I was trying to remember which Presidents were slaver holders. For the first few, it was easier to remember which ones weren't. Also thank you for the reference to Hitler's American Model which is going on my book list (very long as always).
'... anyone who remains silent in the face of injustice is contributing to it.'
'... We cannot redeem the past. But, on this day, as we mourn humanity’s capacity to inflict inhuman cruelty, let us commit to making a better future and to always upholding the fundamental values of justice, equality, and diversity that strengthen free societies."
Yes, an old friend of mine, now gone, found himself on the last Kindertransport out of Hamburg at age 16, thanks to his Aryan grandparents who saw what was coming. And he'd been brought up in Hitler Youth!
"There are over 870,000 inmates working full-time in American prisons. Their median wage in state and federal prisons is around 20 and 31 cents an hour, respectively. In Texas, Georgia, and Arkansas prisoners are forced to work for free."
Cotton slavery was very lucrative and many slaves further north were sold south to do the work. This meant splitting families and a long trek usually, if not always, on foot to fuel the bonanza for both southern cotton growers and ultimately the industrial revolution both here and in England. I still haven't finished The Half That Has Never Been Told about cotton slavery as I was just so appalled.
and it is mind-boggling how the press paints a slanted portrait favoring R's. listen to the headlines recently only focused on 'inflation ', or supply chain issues,rather than the incredible rebounding of the economy.
Ingrained habits are hard to change, even when we know them for what they are, vices, hand-me-down prejudices aping true knowledge.
The truth—knowledge directly perceived—has a hard time establishing itself and is all too easily stifled by the powerful weeds of opinion received. And the kind of education that is pure conditioning, rote learning with no training in thinking things through for oneself, makes for a poor environment in which to develop our human potential. Mere shadows of our true selves, never becoming what we are…
When you gain a deeper insight into what’s right and what’s wrong, it will typically come as intuition, a moment of pure perception. But then you say, “That can’t be true, it goes against everything I’ve ever been told…”
It is only when that first intuition keeps repeating, only when you meet others who confirm and establish the seedlings of understanding that you come to make the effort of thinking the matter through for yourself—it is so much easier not to think, so much easier to accept hearsay uncritically. Quite apart from the courage it takes to go against the tide of received opinion. It’s so much easier to be dependent on being told you’re free than to be free.
Even when you get the point, even when you’re convinced, old habits will tend to return and take root. You thought you’d woken up to the truth, but it’s so easy to doze off and slide back into the automatisms of delusion.
Over and over. We need to be reminded—above all to remind ourselves—over and over again.
I said that zombie education, the superficial in-one-ear-and-out-the-other practice of inculcating enough information to pass tests without ever having understood what’s involved, makes for much of the problem: a mass of people uneducated and seemingly uneducable. Zombified consumers. Cannon fodder. Office fodder. The junkies drug pushers dream of… Debased religion deepens and establishes these delusions—which is curious… But I suppose that it’s obvious that while the Truth will make you free, untruths and half-truths will make you unfree… If hearers really reflected on the Parable of the Sower, they’d wake up to when their preacher’s sowing weeds to stifle the wheat…
So it must be said over and over again, regardless of whether we’re bright or we’re stupid. I know this. I’ve seen it for myself, in myself. Over decades and decades, I’ve seen the need for constant reminders. It’s like staying awake and keeping my eyes on the road and knowing when to stop and rest.
Attention’s a survival skill. And much of the population’s asleep at the wheel.
Peter, your comment sounds like a pretty fair analysis of our human tendencies to me, you are a man who is deeply introspective as well as a keen observer of life and humanity. I appreciate your efforts to find cause and effect, and your willingness to share your own struggles with us. Let me tell you that you are not alone with the bad mental habits that keep coming back. I would bet that everyone in this group has a story or two to admit having the same problems! And our efforts to improve, to be as wise and stable as we know we are easily capable of being, are just made even more disappointing in times of high stress, rapid change, and multiple moving threats, exactly like we are going through right now. Does it sound like I am in serious therapy right now? I didn’t think it was that obvious....
Keep on trying man, and always ALWAYS love yourself!
Despite everything I know about the idiocy I was immersed in growing up, and lots of work to drop that shit, I'm constantly amazed to catch myself with some aspect of the "stinking thinking" playing in my mind. Just another reminder that the answer to the question, "How many times do you have to pick yourself up?" is "One more time than you fall down."
That it SO true. In a certain way, our “sin” is ever before us.
I do a lot of reading in what archeology derives about ancient cultures: also reading ancient describers of culture; from Hammurabi and the Chronicles of Gilgamesh to other ancient codes of conduct that most people call mythologies.
I am of the opinion that in all of these texts, what appears most often is that despite so-called improvements in “civilization”, human behavior remains relatively consistent over time.
Hit the "refresh" circle in the top left corner of the screen. It's a Substack glitch, but they do take the "likes" and you can see you did it if you do that.
Have you read Daniel Kahnemann's "Think, fast think slow"? His theory of the division of our conscious thinking process into an automatic, "intuitive" instant response which requires no effort and a second slower process, when the first doesn't quite "cut it" that actually requires the effort of "thinking through the issue" and this is harder and uncomfortable. No prizes for guessing that most people go for the easy, instantaneous solution at all times....and we end up where we are....in a mess.
Well, this community here is Critical Thinkers' Group Therapy, Gus! It is where I find sanity and camaraderie in these times. I send everyone, particularly Heather, a big, warm, group hug on this cold winter's day in Vermont.
I tried to answer you and TC just after you'd both written to say how much I'd appreciated the resonance. Message vanished... Anyway, it's great to have a mentor like HCR, so committed, so utterly reliable, so deeply versed in the material she’s presenting. Great, too, to be able to be so open and unguarded with each other—altercations and all! Let’s hope the members of this community will infect others all around us and that, even if we can’t wean all the addicts off Agent Orange—bear in mind how much the poor so-and-sos must have needed something, someone to believe in—we’ll be able to sow the seeds of truth for spring, summer… or whenever.
Mr. Burnett, you make so many points in your message it seems like water on a plate! I would like to address one of your comments concerning education.
I was born on the leading edge of the Baby Boom. One of the educational advantages of that time was there was a lot less technology a child had to learn than is the case today so students could learn those dreaded, boring classes like history, social studies, and, the worst, civics.
I was a very indifferent student. I rarely did my homework. I was once confined to my bedroom for Easter Week (now called spring break) because I had to write four book reports. I read four other books and never did write a book report. My school career up to graduation was more of the same. However, when I was in college I made the President’s list.
My husband and I have three children. They are all very successful. They did well in school and in college. The generation my children belong to is not considered to have had a sterling education - at least in comparison to the education we Boomers got. I could rant for hours about what I believe were the inadequacies of K-12 education when my kids were in school. There were lots of “losers” from that time - the “Zombie educated” who never seemed to make much of themselves.
My kids all had public education. Let me tell you some of the careers these Zombie educated friends (all publicly educated) of my children: lawyers, concert pianist, the owner of one of the largest independent book stores, CEOs (my son among them), graphic designer, several doctors. I’m sure you get the point. The point *I* want you to know is those who want to learn will learn nonetheless. Going to a school in a poor school district in a poverty stricken neighborhood is not easy, but to graduate and go on to higher education is not impossible, either. Going to school in a good neighborhood is no guarantee of success. It all depends on lots of mitigating circumstances. There have been in-one-ear-out-the-other students always and it will continue to be so.
A wonderful teacher said to me the secret of success requires three things. If you are missing any one of the three you will not be successful in that particular endeavor. You must have talent; intelligence; and persistence. So, Mr. Barrett, I will leave you with that.
"You must have talent; intelligence; and persistence". I agree, no doubt, except, I don't really know what intelligence is but that is another issue.
I would only add you also need:
Good nutrition, a place to sleep, parents who are there (and don't have to work two shifts to make rent and are not there), a place to sleep (sleep is critical to the learning process), and a safe environment.
Einstein, denied good nutrition, a place to sleep and no parents around would have never been heard from. So, I guess I do place "intelligence" as dead last on the list of things that make one successful.
Also, I have met too many people who are "successful" who seem to have the brains of mush to believe that intelligence plays much of role really.
Trump would be in that category as would "W" Bush. Mush for brains but monetarily doing great.
I believe you are absolutely right, Mike. As an educator in a high-poverty area, I have seen the truth of Alan Beck's quote "In teaching, you can't do the Bloom stuff until you take care of the Maslow stuff." To those unfamiliar with that, Bloom created a hierarchy of cognitive skills ranging from the bottom skill of rote memorization to the top skill of creating; Maslow proposed a hierarchy of human needs that must be met before learning can occur. At the bottom are physiological needs such as food, water, rest, followed by the next level - safety. I'm including a link here: https://jessichristian.medium.com/the-new-hierarchy-of-needs-maslows-lost-apex-5e51031ce3fb
When I was a high school teacher, my first year, there was a boy in 9th grade who had intelligence and drive. He came to school every day. He always had a place to sleep. The trouble was, he never knew when he arrived at school in the morning where he would be sleeping at night. That chaos was too much. We lost him to the streets, where he likely died violently before he was 25. Circumstances matter.
I had a lovely young man assigned to me in the library through special ed. He was in a creative writing class and he showed me something that he had written that was his dream for the future. We all worked to do our best for him, but family circumstances proved to be too much. His father told him to kill someone, and he did. So sad.
As once again the “like” function is MIA, thank you. I’ve been seeing more and more bootstrap references lately, especially regarding education. Usually it piggybacks with a condemnation of single parent households. Another example of lazy thinking.
Bootstrap expectations and opinions have often (mostly) been party/politically driven. Funding and programming in a Dem administration ended later by repub. It’s heartbreaking (again) to know what works and what is needed and watch it dumped by an unfeeling and ignorant group of politicians and their constituents who lament and criticize those “lazy” people.
The bootstrap references are big red flags for me. I agree with your comment of “lazy thinking”. Thank you to each person who took the time to comment.
TC, I am going to add the absence of a chaotic environment to your list. I am aware of people who had horrible childhoods (my father-in-law among them) whose food/housing insecurity made learning almost impossible. I saw many students in my professional career who may have not had those problems, but with a drug addicted/psychotic/abusive parent had the same result of inability to succeed.
Yes. You're right. I should have listed that myself. I've come to understand my mother as an abused child never treated. I should put one of the main reasons for my success being "a room of my own" to which I could retreat while the banshee was wailing around the house.
The definition of intelligence given by Todd Eastin's friend is highly perceptive. Here's something that the philosopher Alfred North Whitehead had to say on the matter:
"Intelligence is quickness to apprehend as distinct from ability, which is capacity to act wisely on the thing apprehended."
When I spoke of success, I was speaking of people who found fulfilment in life and succeeded in doing something of what they'd set out to achieve. As for the "success" that is commonly measured in $ and many digits, Seneca put it succinctly:
"Success is not greedy, as people think, but insignificant. That is why it satisfies nobody."
I used to make a fair (actually more than fair) living rewriting screenplays written by people better-known than I so they made sense and worked, for which the "credit" was the kind bank managers recognize as well as producers who have a movie that works. Now I write books, for which the income is fair. An idiot once asked why I had switched (I won't go into the long part of the reply, if you go over to TAFM you can read "Why The Movies Mostly Suck Nowadays" for that). I responded: "I get to write what I like, the way I like, working with people who like making the book successful." There's a lot more "success" shown on my Amazon page than there would be on my IMDb page if one could list the things one did that "worked" for which "credit" was not given.
You just wrote a version of my reply, Mike. I once had a similar conversation with a fellow teacher colleague who talked about resilience as it were genetic. Possibly, but not only. It’s even more. Besides the desire, a student needs the basics- love, shelter, nutrition, safety but as important is to be mentored or supported by a model or a supportive person, parent, teacher, neighbor, someone who encourages as well as watches out for or helps the child. Kids who don’t have their basic needs met at home or in their world, who fall through the cracks, are less likely to be able to take advantage of opportunities some might believe are available to everyone. It takes a village….
One or two of the wisest and most knowledgeable -- and successful -- men I've known had very little education at all apart from what they taught themselves.
Yes-Curiosity is a good motivator for learning. Learning doesn’t just come from books-although I’m a real fan of research and reading. Life experiences teach us a lot. My 90 year old grandmother taught me more than most of my teachers.
As a kid, I tried hard to understand religion but didn't. I'd have been drawn to it if I'd known the saying of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux:
"Believe me, you will find more lessons in the woods than in books. Trees and stones will teach you what you cannot learn from masters."
That I knew. My teachers seem to have been aware of it too, they complained that I was forever staring out of the window, dreaming... And it was true, I couldn't wait to get away up the mountainside or onto the beach... I was fortunate. I pity kids who see nothing but concrete and asphalt.
Here's to staring out the window. My fifth grade teacher reported to my mother that I was staring out the window. She was concerned about my future; mom was devastated. Poetry writing became part of my calling. My inspiration lay far behind that musty classroom, through the giant windows capped with yellowed, rolling shades. I have since led writing workshops validating the importance of day dreaming...
Unless I've misunderstood, you seem to be talking of previous generations, but how about now? I worry about my teenage granddaughter who has all three of the qualities you cite. On a grand scale. I worry because I have the impression that, increasingly, the backing of money matters more than all three. And, despite the exceptional abilities of her parents, that fourth factor is missing.
More than ever, America needs to invest in education, yet one of the major political parties seems set on undermining adequate education, the kind that encourages students to think for themselves. I'm reminded of my childhood in South Africa when the National Party used Apartheid to place a heavy lid on the education and social advancement of non-whites; except that here, it goes further -- or am I mistaken? At all events, I regard the system of lifelong indentures that has spread outward from America as a deliberately imposed impediment. The country's interest in this investment is such that students and their families should not be compelled to foot the bill for such a high proportion of the cost.
Another aspect of the investment required concerns teachers' pay and their status. Since society appears to be stratified almost entirely on the basis of wealth and income levels, I often gain the impression that many teachers status and incomes are far lower than they should be. Compare with Finland... Well, that's unfair. Almost no one can. But Scandinavians are really good at matching policies to real priorities -- not just the haphazard vagaries of the market.
So here I am worrying in a big way about the future of American society -- like most of us here -- but worrying, too (perhaps unnecessarily) about someone who may be the brightest star in my family for over a century. And I can assure you, the talent isn't and wasn't lacking.
Just a postcriptum (sorry, I know you found I was piling it all on too thick) but as a European, I find American efficiency is hampered by quite excessive pressures allowing insufficient time and space for relaxation, a product of meanness and what looks from the outside like anxiety neurosis. It's as though you were forever opening and closing doors from the hinge side. Pardon the gross over-generalization -- but this unhealthy attitude is spreading worldwide!
Many nations, America among them, are now experiencing the snowball effect of having poorly educated teachers, “educating” a majority of the country’s children.
The pernicious attacks on education today (school board fracases, book banning, steering away from anything remotely controversial, sanitizing curricula and the like) are in the process of ensuring that thrashers flood out of the profession. The general rule I and others observed is that the best leave the soonest because they are wise enough to understand the moral imperatives in education and have sufficient integrity not to participate in a rotting system. In the main, those who stay are either incurious or intent on the paycheck.
America could begin serious reforms today and they would not show results for a minimum of a generation, more probably two.
The vacuum caused by an education system that fails to educate will be filled by whatever government replaces your democracy.
Nothing is more important than addressing the shocking fall of education in America.
And ramping up technology in schools is the first and laziest non-solution that will be tried.
I’m sure there’s truth to much you write. However I would be careful of generalizations. “In the main, those who stay are either incurious or intent on the paycheck.” In today’s political climate quality education is also dependent on funding, sociopolitical agendas and the economy. I taught for 30 years all levels and encountered excellent teachers who worked in adverse conditions and persisted and those who were burned out, not because of the paycheck but because of policy, politics and lack of support from administration and/or parents. It’s true in many districts, however, that pay and support and school funding and retirement policies differ greatly, so maybe our comments are a matter of semantics.
Absolutely, but investment needs to be in quality education. Bush 2 and No Child Left Behind invested money into the system but definitely not quality.
I was feeling so guilty, sitting here in my recliner, enjoying a crossword puzzle, that I scolded myself, "You must DO something today!" So I decided to read the comments to HCR's letter. Now, I suffer another anxious dilemma: Is reading HCR's comments sufficiently relaxing to qualify as true relaxation, or must I dig out John Grisham's "A Time for Mercy", open my new bag of Hu chocolates (try them!), and play a bit of Roy Orbison? Bye.
Attunement, engagement, structure, routine, freedom to explore safely, consistency, patience, tolerance, most of all agape love. If you received it chances are good you will give it. Heartbreakingly many never receive it.
Many attributes we see as catalysts for success are developed. I’ll add a few others that make a difference: consistent adult modeling/ support/attention/positive relationships; and three meals a day and safe places to sleep. Safe housing. Medical needs met. There’s more.
I wonder what recourse the educational system has to combat the zombie approach to education. Like when W administration required No Child Left Behind, educators everywhere knew it was not a good system and it wasn’t funded. The data behind it was falsified. So why did we have to blindly follow that order of rule? We’re basically still following it! Teaching to the test. Politicians shouldn’t be in control of education. They make our objectives, and our rules and requirements. We need educational leadership to do that.
In Texas, millions go every year to a company in the UK for our state test and testing materials. No logic to it at all. And we spend countless hours teaching kids “strategies” for passing the test. It’s not purely true of all districts but it’s still the highest priority.
I don’t think we can get schools out of the zombie approach if the administrators continue to fall in line instead of bucking the status quo.
I swear I do have other interests than education! Just Dr HCR brings it to the fore front of my brain!
“Politicians should not be in control of education.”
“Control” doesn’t seem to be quite the right word for this. To control something, you need competence, you need to understand it. Sticking dirty brown noses into the exercise of every profession amounts to sabotage, not control. The ability of judges to render justice may vary but political interference with sentencing guarantees injustice. Physicians are already forced to take cover from the crossfire between big pharma, insurance companies and parasitic lawyers without having to take instruction in the use of bleach as medicine from those whose grey matter (if any) was bleached long ago. And politicians do relish sending young men and women to war.
I don’t know how political leadership manages this but the selection of education ministers seems to be determined by mysterious factors, mostly, no doubt, financial. The outcome? Ministers chosen from among the uneducated and the uneducable but with big bumble-bee ideas buzzing around in their bonnet. Betsy DeVos seems to have represented the lowest common denominator among those messing around with education.
From political interference, Good Lord deliver us!
TFG was a master at assigning the hungriest foxes (secretaries) to his henhouses (Cabinets). His mission was deconstruction of the administrative state. With a severe and disabling personality disorder, all of his focus was directed towards his single mission which he excelled at. Folks saw the bumbling and couldn’t believe he would be capable of such extraordinary damage to our democracy. I maintain we will be decades still discovering the destruction that he accomplished.
WaPo, 04/03/2017 “the United Arab Emirates arranged a secret meeting in January between Blackwater President, Erik Prince and a Russian close to …Putin as part of an apparent effort to establish a back-channel line of communication between Moscow and President-Elect Trump, according to US, European and Arab officials”. Erik Prince is Betsy DeVos brother. DeVos was confirmed Feb. 7 2017, as Education Secretary. Quid pro quo?
Oh, yes, and Bumble Bee ideas, true! There was a reading program called Whole Language in the early ‘90s. The state superintendent bought a commercially supplied version of this. No more phonics drill and kill, hooray! Instead, baby thrown out with the bath water. In practice, first graders would chant from a large chart an insipid text (changed weekly) and be directed to notice its rhymes and such. My instructions as a substitute teacher: Make sure they keep their eyes on the words as they read (“read”) from the chart.
Whole Language, developed by a moron who is considered a Genius in Education at CSU San Bernardino, is proof the Ed.D. degree and those who hold it should be invited to be a participant at the hanging of every MBA in America.
My grandmothers, both teachers, taught me phonics at age 4, and my first grade class was taught by the last teacher to use phonics in the Denver Public Schools. My brother and sister got taught "word recognition" and were functional illiterates, as was every other kid sabotaged with that. I cannot think of a single "edumacational reforyum" that was done while I was in school ("new math," I'm looking at you) that didn't screw things up worse. The only college I could get into after the Navy, Colorado State College (now the "University" of Northern Colorado), the state teacher's school, because they had to take you if you graduated from high school, even 125 from the bottom of a class of 900 like me (due to being Aspergian). I worked at the school's PR department and read a study they had there, that for 80% of the students, they were the first in the family to go to college, and for 75% it wasn't in their top three choices (hey, if you can't do anything else, you can always be a teacher). When I finally took an "edumcation" class (Ed Psych, taught by the author of the book whose "tests" were "fill in the blank" from his book) I realized why I had hated every minute of 12 years of public misedumacation, when I saw what they made the majority of teachers out of and how they did it. (How the good ones survive that is beyond me, but it there hadn't been two among the faceless mass of moron stupidity at the front of the classroom, I wouldn't have the career I do or be writing this).
I agree generally but think there’s a bit of overreach here. A great teacher can teach children to read using the best of phonics and whole reading. S(he) can teach children math using the best of the new math and older ways.
At the heart of learning is motivation. At the heart of motivation are the great teachers. The “systems” do not dictate the outcome.
And, as a general rule, the least visionary, hidebound and unpopular (with children) teachers end up as consultants for curricula, and force their approach on the most impressionable teachers.
Whole language should always have been paired with phonics. Not one or the other. What a mess when the continuing changes in policies, funding and curriculum do damage. And sad if a teacher can’t or couldn’t figure out how to close the door and teach. It isn’t exactly sabotage to teach beyond or make changes in the mandated curriculum. However I was happy to leave the classroom because following the mandates and time wasting paperwork was more than enough. And I know I was an excellent teacher, but if I had it to do again?
I think that you and I are in the same boat; I am most passionate about the things that I have a good knowledge base for (you, education and for me, law enforcement). It is what has made us good at our jobs, and in this environment, we have the opportunity to share it with people who understand it, even better than our fellow professionals, sometimes.
The increasing conservative school boards in some states are dictating curriculum, censoring books, making medical decisions affecting teachers and students, etc.
Recently a school superintendent was fired in Douglas County, CO
“The school board has been politically split since the most recent election. Four new school board members have taken the district in a decidedly different direction. The first policies of the new board have been to rescind the district's mask policy and make major changes to its equity policy.“
It started with CRT.
“The policy has raised concerns from some members of our community who have asked if this will change DCSD curriculum to incorporate Critical Race Theory.”
The CRT and 1619 Project have been addressed by the State. They stated we can’t teach those things. When our principal told us, most teachers looked at each other and said what is that? Elementary teachers don’t teach CRT!
It’s always about the money! As long as they don’t give it to teachers, that is.
CRT has been effectively distorted because it sounds like ‘critical race thinking’ or critical thinking about racism. Radical rightists have not missed that our young people tend toward progressive and open hearted. They want to change that by turning the schools into right wing indoctrination centers. One of the many clues is that they constantly talk about indoctrinating kids at school. So many of their false charges are things they themselves are actually doing.
The last time I was in Douglas County, the Boy Scouts used to camp in the "wilderness" there and Castle Rock was a place you stopped for gas between Denver and Colorado Springs, that you could drive through from end to end in 5 minutes (six if the only traffic light turned red). Now the whole area from Denver to Colorado Springs is houses, and the evil Christian Wrong HQ in Colorado Springs has spread throughout.
The trouble is, of course, that this living as though there were no tomorrow is yet another false economy: comfort now, chaos later. And bills someone else will have to pay.
Now... where was it that I heard of that smart practice, never paying your own bills, always getting someone else to foot them?
Seems I was lucky at school and later, all my history teachers were excellent and my special subject was the American Revolution and the birth of the Republic.
My good luck was my grandmothers teaching me to read and my father letting me use his adult library card at the institution where I was educated: the stacks at the main branch of the Denver Public Library. I certainly never had more than ten minutes of "an educational moment" in 12 years wasted in the classroom. My experience with the "history teachers" can be shown in the story of how in Colorado State History in 8th grade, the book and the teacher talked about the "Battle of Sand Creek" and raised my hand and said the proper word was "massacre." For which I spent another few hours "polishing the bench" outside the Vice Principal's office. I all my "bench polishing" as a badge of honor. All my report cards had the note "Fails to recognize or obey properly constituted authority."
But, really... What ever did you expect if you were so imprudent as to practice free speech?
I thought all Americans knew the rules...
"It is by the goodness of God that in our country we have those three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practice either of them."
That's friendly -- and I've found so much friendliness here that it won't be unfriendly to say I'd be happy to have lunch with no few people here. So, you're welcome. Only trouble is, you'd have to join me in or near Nice, in France...
Mind you, I just heard that friends from Chicago arrived here yesterday... and are delighted to be out in bright sunshine under a blue, blue sky, 60°F after getting out of the icebox.
Agreed! I'm very taken with downtown Chicago but, what with the tall buildings and all that ice on Lake Michigan, the Windy City is even more of a cold store than Saint Petersburg or Helsinki...
We’ve already determined children are disposable. Otherwise we’d have more effective gun control instead of active shooter training. And we send our youth into war zones.
Denise, there's no way I can "like" what you've just written, but it's as well I can't get near some of the gun-whore lobbyists or their vile political minions with a big stick... The temptation might be too great...
I always learn from you. Usually I have to look a few things up, like the adage of getting a quart into a pot. LOL. You’re such a generous spirit. Thank you.
Mina, Though your analysis is spot on, my concerns rest with how to impart a more relatable story, one that shows rather than tells. The lessons I’ve gleaned partially are a bi-product of trying to understand why the Biden Administration’s accomplishments are not resonating with enough of the public (e.g., recent polling indicates that while 60+% of Republicans are enthused about the approaching fall midterms, only 40% of Democrats report the same). Though there likely are several contributing factors, one that stands out is the tendency to talk about abstract legislation and non-relatable numbers and data. Whether it’s the bi-partisan infrastructure $20 billion investment for semi-conductor manufacturing in Ohio or some other comparable project, we rarely, if ever, hear how the people working at these jobs speak about what this investment has meant to them and to their families. Note I haven’t even touched on how such investments mitigate our dependence on foreign imports, thus easing supply chain hang ups at our ports. Nor have I mentioned the tendency of Republicans to take credit for said projects despite having voted against the bipartisan Infrastructure bill.
Though I haven’t worked up an analogous, relatable script for the dynamic you so adeptly described, suffice it to say we can’t afford not to try.
Barbara J.K.: Thanks so much for your fulsome reply. I think our current toxic political situation has much to do with Trump, the distrust of government he's fostered; Republican legislators who put their lust for power above truth; and right and far right-wing media's decision to put profit over democracy.
There was so much outrageous news generated by TFG and his administration, that regular news outlets became addicted to outrage and excitement. A normal administration is unexciting and not prone to calling for outrage.
However, Biden's people are not selling their accomplishments. They'd better figure out how to do it -- and figure it out quick!
Mad magazine sold because us poor kids found it funny and scrounged pennies to buy it. Their advertisers were happy because lots of kids bought it. And some even bought the salve they were trying to sell. I did. I bought a case.., I knew I could sell it and make money.. I didn't.
The TV "Shows" couldn't stay on the air unless their advertisers were assured of sales..so the "shows" provided the entertainment people WANTED. If you lacked for viewers, the shdow was d o n e and so were those jobs.
Over the past 50 years with the proliferation of "shows"... you had better have something titillating or 'outrageous' or you lost viewers...lost advertisers..., DONE.
So now it's sex that sells. No need to go to the drugstore on the top book shelf.
Just google it....and google away for whatever you're interested in. No wonder "the media" (the 'heads' the cameramen, etc) are sweating their jobs. Trump provided an avalanch of total crap for the networks to feed from. Is is any wonder we saw so much cleavage? The best cleavage guaranteed your coverage of numbnutz would get the most views. And it catered to MEN....remember "C" Cup? She was a disappointment.
So, today it continues...sex sells, right along with plane crashes, condo collapses, DIRT man... gimme dirt.
Yes, it's disgusting.
From the beginning I encouraged everyone to read the Emperors New Clothes.. I hope you are at least familiar with the title. Now in a 3rd grade classroom bookshelf I see "Capt. Underpants".., so nice.
Mina, I agree and would add, excluding the far right, that I believe Americans overall would galvanize around a much tougher, much stronger Biden, who both amplified his accomplishments and also pressed for legislation most Americans are asking for: universal child care and Pre-K, reinstatement of the child tax credit, expanded health care, tax reform, investments in housing, in home and community-based care, and in climate. Biden must demonstrate that he can advance at least some of this legislation currently stalled in the Senate.
The problem with making progress in the Senate is that Manchin has declared that BBB is dead!! What a snake in the grass! This weekend he actually stuck his nose into the Alaskan race for the Senate by stating support for Lisa Murkowski against a Trump supported challenger.
It would help if the supposedly center and liberal media would let go of bashing Biden every chance they get and refusing to highlight important stories like historic job gains.
Joan, I would repeat that amplifying historic job gains, though important, is but a piece of a broader story we would expect leadership to render relative to its accomplishments.
A commenter this week linked to a great Politics Girl podcast with Jan Psaki. She acknowledged the messaging issue and that most Americans aren’t watching her pressers. She also pointed out the White House has no advertising budget.
Good news that Zucker resigned from CNN ! His promotion of TFG..ugh!
DeSantis is proposing to essentially zero out FL gas tax for an unspecified period. He said this won’t hinder transportation projects that are funded through fuel taxes because….. he’ll use $ 1 billion in stimulus $$ to make up for lost revenues. I’ll be sure to keep reminding all those who sing his gassy praises😂
Kathy, I view Psaki’s role as Press Secretary as serving a very different function from enlisting, say, an Explainer-in Chief to educate the public about both the Administration’s accomplishments and also its plans for advancing legislation currently stalled in the Senate.
Agreed, Barbara ! But my, perhaps naive, interpretation of Psaki’s chat is that the DNC should step up to fund their own Explainer-in-Chief to counter all the “legitimate civil discourse “ bull*&$# .
In the mean time…we all do what we can do to counter the bull*&$# !
Republicans have used the playbook of "supply-side economics" since 1872, with the exception of the Eisenhower Administration. That's what you meant about their "rising tide floats all boats".
One of my uncles was a professional Republican politician in a Northern city during much of the later 20th century. He told me once that it was a conscious pattern. Power goes back and forth between the two parties. When the R’s are in power, they spend all the money. When the Dems get in, they have to raise taxes to pay the bills. The R’s shout “Dems tax and spend,” and get back into power. Of course, that was then. The trumplicans have no intention of taking turns.
So true-I was an economics major in college and at the end of the day my “intuition” tells me that the economy boils down to human decisions and behavior. HCR’s narrative points to who was making the decisions and why. Wealth has ruled the day since the beginning. Look at all that was done to keep slavery alive and to tamp down organized labor.
“There never has yet existed a wealthy and civilized society in which one portion of the community did not in point of fact, live on the labor of the other.” -John C. Calhoun (in his speech about slavery as a “positive good”.)
The Democrats are far greater friends of those in the "red" states than those red state dwellers would or could ever believe. They are seduced by their own poison.
Mike...Mike... you forgot CLEAVAGE. Plenty of 'fake' and very slippery stuff behind all that... no? :)))) Give em a flippin break Mike, they're "under god" too ya kno.
Correct. No better sugar coating for pills loaded with conspiracy theories and what you will... (or I won't). I duly noted the effect on some men who got addicted to watching all the prancing, the poses and exposés of the pulchritude and hypnotized into buying all the crap.
Hypno-tube is more like it...but Peter, please go easy on us functionally-challenged males. Plenty room-temperature IQ women seem enamored by him, not to mention his proclivity for and appreciation of what Victoria Secret* can provide his dates. *Victoria Secret.., "push up or hush up" has certainly been one of my most dependable sponsors.
I quit the Republican Party when Reagan came into office. My "gut" told me the man was evil; and, he was. The list of his sins is too long to recite. I became an Independent and have remained such ever since, voting mostly for Democrats. That you are a Social Justice Warrior is admirable, but social justice in a real and authentic sense is a quagmire. Regarding Hillary: A VERY smart woman who intimidates many, many men. Yes, she like the rest of us is flawed. Yet, she survived the Benghazi grilling flawlessly. That was $7 million of our money wasted. What disturbs me the most at this moment in our history is how many Americans do not "get" what is taking place today.
Here's the pattern I've observed during my lifetime as a Democrat: When Republicans are in office, they tax based on the theory that "a rising tide floats all boats." They spend liberally on what matters to them and when the Dems come in, they have to figure out a way to pay for the deficits run up by the Republicans.
When trying to redress the inequalities in our country thanks to the previous administration, Democrats are called "socialists" and "big spenders." Perfect example: Biden after TFG and his tax cuts for the rich.
Democrats need to tell this story over and over again because the Republicans will continue to use the same old playbook!
You've nailed the Republican playbook that they turn to whenever in power. Talk incessantly about their fiscal conservatism while spending like mad. Then bitch and moan about the deficit they created when Democrats take over. The breathtaking hypocrisy is lost on much of the public, which comes to believe the Republicans are prudent with tax money and Democrats are irresponsible with it.
Well, that's what they are told, all the time, and analytical thinking didn't form a large part of their education. Fascinating - and appalling - to see how long ago this started, and why. Slavery as a means of getting wealth! it was legally abolished in England, from whose domination America had freed itself fifty-odd years earlier, in 1833. Has anything changed?
Heather McGhee: A New “We The People” For a Sustainable Future | Bioneers 2017
"... It’s important to remember — because so much of this history has been suppressed — just how essential to the creation of the American economy slavery was. And slave labor on plantation land expropriated from Native Americans. That is our economy.
"The historian Edward Baptist, in his book The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism, calculates that by 1860, slave labor produced 80% of the gross national product. Even in the north, our systems of finance and capitalization, our industrial textile mills, all sprang out of and fed into a slave-driven economy. Black lives were the original currency of America.
"At our founding, those in power chose to make American slavery different from other forms, not just indentured labor but hereditary, inexorable, and they did it alongside these proclamations of equality and liberty that we now hold dear as our American creed, that it is self-evident that all men are created equal, that all men are entitled to liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It’s a heart-stopping contradiction. The only way for men to write those words while owning other human beings was to create a belief system in which those people were not human beings.
"So for our first centuries, African Americans were property. For the subsequent
ones, and up until the late 1980s, in fact, explicitly racist laws conspired to deny African Americans of property. We live on one of most biologically and ecologically diverse lands on the planet. We have rainforests and deserts, this treasure that we sing about from sea to shining sea, and yet it is not ours. It has never been ours. We stole it, we killed for it, and we have not made amends.
"It’s hard to admit all of that, to hold all of that, while at the same time holding a vision of we the people, and of a country and a population that is worth fighting for and creating solidarity amongst. You know, we have this myth of American innocence. I really commend to you a new book called Hitler’s American Model, which goes right to the heart of puncturing that myth. World War II, is it not, is our shining example of when America saved the world, when America, the good guys, went and defeated the bad guys, the Nazis.
"Even today, when Nazis are marching down our streets, it’s become very easy for a bipartisan consensus to say, well at least not that. We know that the Nazis are the bad guys. That’s what we know. If one thing we know for sure it’s that the Nazis are the bad guys.
"My friends, why is it not common knowledge to us that when Hitler and his regime looked for a model of a way to create a society where citizenship and humanity was cabined only to whites in every single legal policy, economic piece of infrastructure, they looked only to us as the model. So how is it possible that we can say with a straight face that we are the good guys and the Nazis are the bad guys?"
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6HLMe22HCu8
https://bioneers.org/heather-mcghee-a-new-we-the-people-for-a-sustainable-future-ztvz1217/
I’m so glad you posted this additional resource. My mind spins over how many “good” people have closed their minds to looking at the truths we were shielded from, misled about. Keep sharing, folks. Don’t be silent. Don’t be afraid to tell the truth. I, for one, see that it gives me a chance to craft my messages in a way that won’t make people slam the door in my face. When I think of how long it has taken me to be open to all of this myself … and so thankful there have been persistent people to keep sharing. Our whole group of HCR readers has picked up the baton.
My R ex-classmate told me she is very glad she is not as well educated as I am as I reported here before. She is always angry with me if she posts something political and I respond. Once someone on the thread made threats (I think now it was a reference to January 6th which had not occurred yet) and she chose to castigate me instead of him. Only once did she sorta back down (and lied about why she had posted the meme in the first place) when I called her out about posting that God used wildfires to punish CA. This was after the terrible wildfires here in Oregon and I pointed out to her that lots of the people who had suffered had the same views as she did. That didn't prevent us from making a donation to the recovery fund despite their politics.
One of my sisters is always angry at me for getting too much education too. She calls me a well educated monster.
Because, when she throws out one of our old beliefs, I throw out something that is based on fact.
It really angers her.
Yes and I hope Katie Porter does more of her white board’s!
“Slaves are wealth, not people”. -Samuel Chase, appointed to Supreme Court by George Washington
... uh, wake up call ...
Nice.
That white patriarchy's "Alternative Reality" is at our country's foundation. Time to reconcile our history and present, and reconstruct.
"So now, we have to admit that we are in a moment of racial panic. But it is challenging us to shed the self-imposed color-blindness of our movements and engage forcefully in this question: Who is an American? What are we to one another? We have to admit that this question is harder for us than it is for most other countries because we are the world’s most radical experiment in democracy. A nation of ancestral strangers met here with the audacious promise that out of many we could become one. Everything depends on the answer to this question: Who is an American, and what are we to one another?"
(Heather McGhee)
The 14th Amendment defines an American.
Anyone born on American soil.
Then, the immigration laws define everyone else who is also a legal American.
Ooooh, Kathleen, you keep posting "keepers" for my political memory file!!
Yes, “Radical experiment in Democracy.” And Radical Experiment in Diversity. A radical challenge.
This is THE question!
Yes, it is time to look at our history for what it truly is. Slavery is a form of human trafficking. It is generally considered to be a crime. The American nation was built on human trafficking on a mass scale. The words “human trafficking” shed light on the abhorrent aspects of our history.
Bingo! Love this finely-tuned perspective that EVERYONE should understand the illegality of — taking someone else's freedoms away. These are humans. Makes all the whining about owning weapons of mass destruction look rather pitiful in comparison. But we need to send this out, far and wide, beyond the choir here.
That piece by Heather McGhee explained so much about why the Republicans are the way they are. This is Jacob and Esau.
Heather McGhee's book, "The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together," is superb. And for those of you who like numbers, they are included often!
Reading this reminds me why the gop are screaming at school board meetings. Learning any of this chips away at their support. Heather McGhee is an important voice clearly acknowledging our history and pointing a way forward.
Just read an article in the local rag here in Salem about a group that is touting itself as non-partisan on schools. One person went to the first meeting and didn't know what to expect. It didn't take long for her (and her partner) to figure it out and they were the only two who were masked. She wrote an op-ed for another local paper and since then has had to put up with the usual radical right response. Luckily the progressive community is on to this group, so they won't be able to sustain the lie that they are non-partisan.
I just bought the audiobook. And I posted that I did that on my Facebook page. Very exciting to see all these resources rolling out and to discover the work and the people who have been trying to get "my" attention for many, many years. Still, it is always better late than never.
Thank you for mentioning The Half.... I must try to finish it. So we have a nation built on slavery and stolen land. But we must not teach any of this. Last night as I was listening to Club Mod on All Classical, the host featured music by living black composers, I was trying to remember which Presidents were slaver holders. For the first few, it was easier to remember which ones weren't. Also thank you for the reference to Hitler's American Model which is going on my book list (very long as always).
yes, when the Nazi's were making laws, they came to the US to exam the Jim Crow laws.
However, Nazi's found Jim Crow laws TOO harsh.
Instead of ONE DROP of Jewish blood needed to be Jewish (like one drop of black blood to be black in Jim Crow), the Nazi's settled on on grandparent.
Highly Recommend CASTE by Isabel Wilkerson. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/31/books/review-caste-isabel-wilkerson-origins-of-our-discontents.html?smid=url-share
From Myra Goodman of QUEST FOR ETERNAL SUNSHINE:
Bronia’s Afternoon with President Biden
https://questforeternalsunshine.com/blog/bronias-afternoon-with-president-biden
President Joe Biden:
'... anyone who remains silent in the face of injustice is contributing to it.'
'... We cannot redeem the past. But, on this day, as we mourn humanity’s capacity to inflict inhuman cruelty, let us commit to making a better future and to always upholding the fundamental values of justice, equality, and diversity that strengthen free societies."
Sign up for Myra's weekly newsletter here:
https://questforeternalsunshine.com
Yes, an old friend of mine, now gone, found himself on the last Kindertransport out of Hamburg at age 16, thanks to his Aryan grandparents who saw what was coming. And he'd been brought up in Hitler Youth!
Slavery is still alive and well...
"There are over 870,000 inmates working full-time in American prisons. Their median wage in state and federal prisons is around 20 and 31 cents an hour, respectively. In Texas, Georgia, and Arkansas prisoners are forced to work for free."
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/0c81132a46c64d3ba412b588c21cd578
Thank you for posting this.
Cotton slavery was very lucrative and many slaves further north were sold south to do the work. This meant splitting families and a long trek usually, if not always, on foot to fuel the bonanza for both southern cotton growers and ultimately the industrial revolution both here and in England. I still haven't finished The Half That Has Never Been Told about cotton slavery as I was just so appalled.
and it is mind-boggling how the press paints a slanted portrait favoring R's. listen to the headlines recently only focused on 'inflation ', or supply chain issues,rather than the incredible rebounding of the economy.
Yes For the press everything that happens "today" had no precedent. They sre exact OPPOSITE of Heather
Yes! Exactly
Correct.
"Over and over again."
Wake Up calls over and over again.
Ingrained habits are hard to change, even when we know them for what they are, vices, hand-me-down prejudices aping true knowledge.
The truth—knowledge directly perceived—has a hard time establishing itself and is all too easily stifled by the powerful weeds of opinion received. And the kind of education that is pure conditioning, rote learning with no training in thinking things through for oneself, makes for a poor environment in which to develop our human potential. Mere shadows of our true selves, never becoming what we are…
When you gain a deeper insight into what’s right and what’s wrong, it will typically come as intuition, a moment of pure perception. But then you say, “That can’t be true, it goes against everything I’ve ever been told…”
It is only when that first intuition keeps repeating, only when you meet others who confirm and establish the seedlings of understanding that you come to make the effort of thinking the matter through for yourself—it is so much easier not to think, so much easier to accept hearsay uncritically. Quite apart from the courage it takes to go against the tide of received opinion. It’s so much easier to be dependent on being told you’re free than to be free.
Even when you get the point, even when you’re convinced, old habits will tend to return and take root. You thought you’d woken up to the truth, but it’s so easy to doze off and slide back into the automatisms of delusion.
Over and over. We need to be reminded—above all to remind ourselves—over and over again.
I said that zombie education, the superficial in-one-ear-and-out-the-other practice of inculcating enough information to pass tests without ever having understood what’s involved, makes for much of the problem: a mass of people uneducated and seemingly uneducable. Zombified consumers. Cannon fodder. Office fodder. The junkies drug pushers dream of… Debased religion deepens and establishes these delusions—which is curious… But I suppose that it’s obvious that while the Truth will make you free, untruths and half-truths will make you unfree… If hearers really reflected on the Parable of the Sower, they’d wake up to when their preacher’s sowing weeds to stifle the wheat…
So it must be said over and over again, regardless of whether we’re bright or we’re stupid. I know this. I’ve seen it for myself, in myself. Over decades and decades, I’ve seen the need for constant reminders. It’s like staying awake and keeping my eyes on the road and knowing when to stop and rest.
Attention’s a survival skill. And much of the population’s asleep at the wheel.
Peter, your comment sounds like a pretty fair analysis of our human tendencies to me, you are a man who is deeply introspective as well as a keen observer of life and humanity. I appreciate your efforts to find cause and effect, and your willingness to share your own struggles with us. Let me tell you that you are not alone with the bad mental habits that keep coming back. I would bet that everyone in this group has a story or two to admit having the same problems! And our efforts to improve, to be as wise and stable as we know we are easily capable of being, are just made even more disappointing in times of high stress, rapid change, and multiple moving threats, exactly like we are going through right now. Does it sound like I am in serious therapy right now? I didn’t think it was that obvious....
Keep on trying man, and always ALWAYS love yourself!
Despite everything I know about the idiocy I was immersed in growing up, and lots of work to drop that shit, I'm constantly amazed to catch myself with some aspect of the "stinking thinking" playing in my mind. Just another reminder that the answer to the question, "How many times do you have to pick yourself up?" is "One more time than you fall down."
That it SO true. In a certain way, our “sin” is ever before us.
I do a lot of reading in what archeology derives about ancient cultures: also reading ancient describers of culture; from Hammurabi and the Chronicles of Gilgamesh to other ancient codes of conduct that most people call mythologies.
I am of the opinion that in all of these texts, what appears most often is that despite so-called improvements in “civilization”, human behavior remains relatively consistent over time.
TC - like button not working. Love your comment.
Hit the "refresh" circle in the top left corner of the screen. It's a Substack glitch, but they do take the "likes" and you can see you did it if you do that.
So THAT's where it is! thanks!
That's a good assessment, TC.
Have you read Daniel Kahnemann's "Think, fast think slow"? His theory of the division of our conscious thinking process into an automatic, "intuitive" instant response which requires no effort and a second slower process, when the first doesn't quite "cut it" that actually requires the effort of "thinking through the issue" and this is harder and uncomfortable. No prizes for guessing that most people go for the easy, instantaneous solution at all times....and we end up where we are....in a mess.
Hm. Once we used to be taught "Think before you speak".
Another version: Engage Brain before engaging mouth.
Quite so!
Well, this community here is Critical Thinkers' Group Therapy, Gus! It is where I find sanity and camaraderie in these times. I send everyone, particularly Heather, a big, warm, group hug on this cold winter's day in Vermont.
I tried to answer you and TC just after you'd both written to say how much I'd appreciated the resonance. Message vanished... Anyway, it's great to have a mentor like HCR, so committed, so utterly reliable, so deeply versed in the material she’s presenting. Great, too, to be able to be so open and unguarded with each other—altercations and all! Let’s hope the members of this community will infect others all around us and that, even if we can’t wean all the addicts off Agent Orange—bear in mind how much the poor so-and-sos must have needed something, someone to believe in—we’ll be able to sow the seeds of truth for spring, summer… or whenever.
Beckett said it all:
“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better."
Love this response !
Mr. Burnett, you make so many points in your message it seems like water on a plate! I would like to address one of your comments concerning education.
I was born on the leading edge of the Baby Boom. One of the educational advantages of that time was there was a lot less technology a child had to learn than is the case today so students could learn those dreaded, boring classes like history, social studies, and, the worst, civics.
I was a very indifferent student. I rarely did my homework. I was once confined to my bedroom for Easter Week (now called spring break) because I had to write four book reports. I read four other books and never did write a book report. My school career up to graduation was more of the same. However, when I was in college I made the President’s list.
My husband and I have three children. They are all very successful. They did well in school and in college. The generation my children belong to is not considered to have had a sterling education - at least in comparison to the education we Boomers got. I could rant for hours about what I believe were the inadequacies of K-12 education when my kids were in school. There were lots of “losers” from that time - the “Zombie educated” who never seemed to make much of themselves.
My kids all had public education. Let me tell you some of the careers these Zombie educated friends (all publicly educated) of my children: lawyers, concert pianist, the owner of one of the largest independent book stores, CEOs (my son among them), graphic designer, several doctors. I’m sure you get the point. The point *I* want you to know is those who want to learn will learn nonetheless. Going to a school in a poor school district in a poverty stricken neighborhood is not easy, but to graduate and go on to higher education is not impossible, either. Going to school in a good neighborhood is no guarantee of success. It all depends on lots of mitigating circumstances. There have been in-one-ear-out-the-other students always and it will continue to be so.
A wonderful teacher said to me the secret of success requires three things. If you are missing any one of the three you will not be successful in that particular endeavor. You must have talent; intelligence; and persistence. So, Mr. Barrett, I will leave you with that.
"You must have talent; intelligence; and persistence". I agree, no doubt, except, I don't really know what intelligence is but that is another issue.
I would only add you also need:
Good nutrition, a place to sleep, parents who are there (and don't have to work two shifts to make rent and are not there), a place to sleep (sleep is critical to the learning process), and a safe environment.
Einstein, denied good nutrition, a place to sleep and no parents around would have never been heard from. So, I guess I do place "intelligence" as dead last on the list of things that make one successful.
Also, I have met too many people who are "successful" who seem to have the brains of mush to believe that intelligence plays much of role really.
Trump would be in that category as would "W" Bush. Mush for brains but monetarily doing great.
I believe you are absolutely right, Mike. As an educator in a high-poverty area, I have seen the truth of Alan Beck's quote "In teaching, you can't do the Bloom stuff until you take care of the Maslow stuff." To those unfamiliar with that, Bloom created a hierarchy of cognitive skills ranging from the bottom skill of rote memorization to the top skill of creating; Maslow proposed a hierarchy of human needs that must be met before learning can occur. At the bottom are physiological needs such as food, water, rest, followed by the next level - safety. I'm including a link here: https://jessichristian.medium.com/the-new-hierarchy-of-needs-maslows-lost-apex-5e51031ce3fb
Jennifer. yes, I agree. It is hard to learn and be hungry at the same time.
Without the necessary glucose, a brain doesn't function well.
I think we were commenting at the same time!!
When I was a high school teacher, my first year, there was a boy in 9th grade who had intelligence and drive. He came to school every day. He always had a place to sleep. The trouble was, he never knew when he arrived at school in the morning where he would be sleeping at night. That chaos was too much. We lost him to the streets, where he likely died violently before he was 25. Circumstances matter.
I had a lovely young man assigned to me in the library through special ed. He was in a creative writing class and he showed me something that he had written that was his dream for the future. We all worked to do our best for him, but family circumstances proved to be too much. His father told him to kill someone, and he did. So sad.
Shocking. Really.
:(
Yes. Chaos and hunger do not promote learning.
As once again the “like” function is MIA, thank you. I’ve been seeing more and more bootstrap references lately, especially regarding education. Usually it piggybacks with a condemnation of single parent households. Another example of lazy thinking.
Bootstrap expectations and opinions have often (mostly) been party/politically driven. Funding and programming in a Dem administration ended later by repub. It’s heartbreaking (again) to know what works and what is needed and watch it dumped by an unfeeling and ignorant group of politicians and their constituents who lament and criticize those “lazy” people.
As I pointed out above, if you hit "refresh" you can regain the like button. It appears to be a Substack glitch.
Yeah, but after refreshing, TC, you have to hunt your way back to where you had been in the Comments. Just another effin’ annoyance. Haha
The bootstrap references are big red flags for me. I agree with your comment of “lazy thinking”. Thank you to each person who took the time to comment.
I have a friend who when asked "how would you define intelligence?" replied "Intelligence is the ability to perceive relationships." Succinct.
As my father - who really was a leading creative genius in his field - once said, "The real mark of intelligence is to know where you're stupid."
TC, I am going to add the absence of a chaotic environment to your list. I am aware of people who had horrible childhoods (my father-in-law among them) whose food/housing insecurity made learning almost impossible. I saw many students in my professional career who may have not had those problems, but with a drug addicted/psychotic/abusive parent had the same result of inability to succeed.
Yes. You're right. I should have listed that myself. I've come to understand my mother as an abused child never treated. I should put one of the main reasons for my success being "a room of my own" to which I could retreat while the banshee was wailing around the house.
The definition of intelligence given by Todd Eastin's friend is highly perceptive. Here's something that the philosopher Alfred North Whitehead had to say on the matter:
"Intelligence is quickness to apprehend as distinct from ability, which is capacity to act wisely on the thing apprehended."
When I spoke of success, I was speaking of people who found fulfilment in life and succeeded in doing something of what they'd set out to achieve. As for the "success" that is commonly measured in $ and many digits, Seneca put it succinctly:
"Success is not greedy, as people think, but insignificant. That is why it satisfies nobody."
I used to make a fair (actually more than fair) living rewriting screenplays written by people better-known than I so they made sense and worked, for which the "credit" was the kind bank managers recognize as well as producers who have a movie that works. Now I write books, for which the income is fair. An idiot once asked why I had switched (I won't go into the long part of the reply, if you go over to TAFM you can read "Why The Movies Mostly Suck Nowadays" for that). I responded: "I get to write what I like, the way I like, working with people who like making the book successful." There's a lot more "success" shown on my Amazon page than there would be on my IMDb page if one could list the things one did that "worked" for which "credit" was not given.
Success is a good friend.
You just wrote a version of my reply, Mike. I once had a similar conversation with a fellow teacher colleague who talked about resilience as it were genetic. Possibly, but not only. It’s even more. Besides the desire, a student needs the basics- love, shelter, nutrition, safety but as important is to be mentored or supported by a model or a supportive person, parent, teacher, neighbor, someone who encourages as well as watches out for or helps the child. Kids who don’t have their basic needs met at home or in their world, who fall through the cracks, are less likely to be able to take advantage of opportunities some might believe are available to everyone. It takes a village….
It's called inherited wealth.
🤔😳🙄🥺😔
Thanks for the reminder and... for sure!!!
One or two of the wisest and most knowledgeable -- and successful -- men I've known had very little education at all apart from what they taught themselves.
Yes-Curiosity is a good motivator for learning. Learning doesn’t just come from books-although I’m a real fan of research and reading. Life experiences teach us a lot. My 90 year old grandmother taught me more than most of my teachers.
As a kid, I tried hard to understand religion but didn't. I'd have been drawn to it if I'd known the saying of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux:
"Believe me, you will find more lessons in the woods than in books. Trees and stones will teach you what you cannot learn from masters."
That I knew. My teachers seem to have been aware of it too, they complained that I was forever staring out of the window, dreaming... And it was true, I couldn't wait to get away up the mountainside or onto the beach... I was fortunate. I pity kids who see nothing but concrete and asphalt.
Here's to staring out the window. My fifth grade teacher reported to my mother that I was staring out the window. She was concerned about my future; mom was devastated. Poetry writing became part of my calling. My inspiration lay far behind that musty classroom, through the giant windows capped with yellowed, rolling shades. I have since led writing workshops validating the importance of day dreaming...
We auto-didacts like you mentioning that. :-)
Betsy B. I'm just going to add something.
Unless I've misunderstood, you seem to be talking of previous generations, but how about now? I worry about my teenage granddaughter who has all three of the qualities you cite. On a grand scale. I worry because I have the impression that, increasingly, the backing of money matters more than all three. And, despite the exceptional abilities of her parents, that fourth factor is missing.
More than ever, America needs to invest in education, yet one of the major political parties seems set on undermining adequate education, the kind that encourages students to think for themselves. I'm reminded of my childhood in South Africa when the National Party used Apartheid to place a heavy lid on the education and social advancement of non-whites; except that here, it goes further -- or am I mistaken? At all events, I regard the system of lifelong indentures that has spread outward from America as a deliberately imposed impediment. The country's interest in this investment is such that students and their families should not be compelled to foot the bill for such a high proportion of the cost.
Another aspect of the investment required concerns teachers' pay and their status. Since society appears to be stratified almost entirely on the basis of wealth and income levels, I often gain the impression that many teachers status and incomes are far lower than they should be. Compare with Finland... Well, that's unfair. Almost no one can. But Scandinavians are really good at matching policies to real priorities -- not just the haphazard vagaries of the market.
So here I am worrying in a big way about the future of American society -- like most of us here -- but worrying, too (perhaps unnecessarily) about someone who may be the brightest star in my family for over a century. And I can assure you, the talent isn't and wasn't lacking.
Just a postcriptum (sorry, I know you found I was piling it all on too thick) but as a European, I find American efficiency is hampered by quite excessive pressures allowing insufficient time and space for relaxation, a product of meanness and what looks from the outside like anxiety neurosis. It's as though you were forever opening and closing doors from the hinge side. Pardon the gross over-generalization -- but this unhealthy attitude is spreading worldwide!
"More than ever, America needs to invest in education"
Thomas Jefferson would agree.
Many nations, America among them, are now experiencing the snowball effect of having poorly educated teachers, “educating” a majority of the country’s children.
The pernicious attacks on education today (school board fracases, book banning, steering away from anything remotely controversial, sanitizing curricula and the like) are in the process of ensuring that thrashers flood out of the profession. The general rule I and others observed is that the best leave the soonest because they are wise enough to understand the moral imperatives in education and have sufficient integrity not to participate in a rotting system. In the main, those who stay are either incurious or intent on the paycheck.
America could begin serious reforms today and they would not show results for a minimum of a generation, more probably two.
The vacuum caused by an education system that fails to educate will be filled by whatever government replaces your democracy.
Nothing is more important than addressing the shocking fall of education in America.
And ramping up technology in schools is the first and laziest non-solution that will be tried.
I’m sure there’s truth to much you write. However I would be careful of generalizations. “In the main, those who stay are either incurious or intent on the paycheck.” In today’s political climate quality education is also dependent on funding, sociopolitical agendas and the economy. I taught for 30 years all levels and encountered excellent teachers who worked in adverse conditions and persisted and those who were burned out, not because of the paycheck but because of policy, politics and lack of support from administration and/or parents. It’s true in many districts, however, that pay and support and school funding and retirement policies differ greatly, so maybe our comments are a matter of semantics.
Absolutely, but investment needs to be in quality education. Bush 2 and No Child Left Behind invested money into the system but definitely not quality.
A perfect description, Peter!
I was feeling so guilty, sitting here in my recliner, enjoying a crossword puzzle, that I scolded myself, "You must DO something today!" So I decided to read the comments to HCR's letter. Now, I suffer another anxious dilemma: Is reading HCR's comments sufficiently relaxing to qualify as true relaxation, or must I dig out John Grisham's "A Time for Mercy", open my new bag of Hu chocolates (try them!), and play a bit of Roy Orbison? Bye.
Attunement, engagement, structure, routine, freedom to explore safely, consistency, patience, tolerance, most of all agape love. If you received it chances are good you will give it. Heartbreakingly many never receive it.
Bravo!
Many attributes we see as catalysts for success are developed. I’ll add a few others that make a difference: consistent adult modeling/ support/attention/positive relationships; and three meals a day and safe places to sleep. Safe housing. Medical needs met. There’s more.
I wonder what recourse the educational system has to combat the zombie approach to education. Like when W administration required No Child Left Behind, educators everywhere knew it was not a good system and it wasn’t funded. The data behind it was falsified. So why did we have to blindly follow that order of rule? We’re basically still following it! Teaching to the test. Politicians shouldn’t be in control of education. They make our objectives, and our rules and requirements. We need educational leadership to do that.
In Texas, millions go every year to a company in the UK for our state test and testing materials. No logic to it at all. And we spend countless hours teaching kids “strategies” for passing the test. It’s not purely true of all districts but it’s still the highest priority.
I don’t think we can get schools out of the zombie approach if the administrators continue to fall in line instead of bucking the status quo.
I swear I do have other interests than education! Just Dr HCR brings it to the fore front of my brain!
“Politicians should not be in control of education.”
“Control” doesn’t seem to be quite the right word for this. To control something, you need competence, you need to understand it. Sticking dirty brown noses into the exercise of every profession amounts to sabotage, not control. The ability of judges to render justice may vary but political interference with sentencing guarantees injustice. Physicians are already forced to take cover from the crossfire between big pharma, insurance companies and parasitic lawyers without having to take instruction in the use of bleach as medicine from those whose grey matter (if any) was bleached long ago. And politicians do relish sending young men and women to war.
I don’t know how political leadership manages this but the selection of education ministers seems to be determined by mysterious factors, mostly, no doubt, financial. The outcome? Ministers chosen from among the uneducated and the uneducable but with big bumble-bee ideas buzzing around in their bonnet. Betsy DeVos seems to have represented the lowest common denominator among those messing around with education.
From political interference, Good Lord deliver us!
TFG was a master at assigning the hungriest foxes (secretaries) to his henhouses (Cabinets). His mission was deconstruction of the administrative state. With a severe and disabling personality disorder, all of his focus was directed towards his single mission which he excelled at. Folks saw the bumbling and couldn’t believe he would be capable of such extraordinary damage to our democracy. I maintain we will be decades still discovering the destruction that he accomplished.
WaPo, 04/03/2017 “the United Arab Emirates arranged a secret meeting in January between Blackwater President, Erik Prince and a Russian close to …Putin as part of an apparent effort to establish a back-channel line of communication between Moscow and President-Elect Trump, according to US, European and Arab officials”. Erik Prince is Betsy DeVos brother. DeVos was confirmed Feb. 7 2017, as Education Secretary. Quid pro quo?
Must have been God's will.
Oh, yes, and Bumble Bee ideas, true! There was a reading program called Whole Language in the early ‘90s. The state superintendent bought a commercially supplied version of this. No more phonics drill and kill, hooray! Instead, baby thrown out with the bath water. In practice, first graders would chant from a large chart an insipid text (changed weekly) and be directed to notice its rhymes and such. My instructions as a substitute teacher: Make sure they keep their eyes on the words as they read (“read”) from the chart.
Whole Language, developed by a moron who is considered a Genius in Education at CSU San Bernardino, is proof the Ed.D. degree and those who hold it should be invited to be a participant at the hanging of every MBA in America.
My grandmothers, both teachers, taught me phonics at age 4, and my first grade class was taught by the last teacher to use phonics in the Denver Public Schools. My brother and sister got taught "word recognition" and were functional illiterates, as was every other kid sabotaged with that. I cannot think of a single "edumacational reforyum" that was done while I was in school ("new math," I'm looking at you) that didn't screw things up worse. The only college I could get into after the Navy, Colorado State College (now the "University" of Northern Colorado), the state teacher's school, because they had to take you if you graduated from high school, even 125 from the bottom of a class of 900 like me (due to being Aspergian). I worked at the school's PR department and read a study they had there, that for 80% of the students, they were the first in the family to go to college, and for 75% it wasn't in their top three choices (hey, if you can't do anything else, you can always be a teacher). When I finally took an "edumcation" class (Ed Psych, taught by the author of the book whose "tests" were "fill in the blank" from his book) I realized why I had hated every minute of 12 years of public misedumacation, when I saw what they made the majority of teachers out of and how they did it. (How the good ones survive that is beyond me, but it there hadn't been two among the faceless mass of moron stupidity at the front of the classroom, I wouldn't have the career I do or be writing this).
I agree generally but think there’s a bit of overreach here. A great teacher can teach children to read using the best of phonics and whole reading. S(he) can teach children math using the best of the new math and older ways.
At the heart of learning is motivation. At the heart of motivation are the great teachers. The “systems” do not dictate the outcome.
And, as a general rule, the least visionary, hidebound and unpopular (with children) teachers end up as consultants for curricula, and force their approach on the most impressionable teachers.
It’s a form of the Peter Principle.
Whole language should always have been paired with phonics. Not one or the other. What a mess when the continuing changes in policies, funding and curriculum do damage. And sad if a teacher can’t or couldn’t figure out how to close the door and teach. It isn’t exactly sabotage to teach beyond or make changes in the mandated curriculum. However I was happy to leave the classroom because following the mandates and time wasting paperwork was more than enough. And I know I was an excellent teacher, but if I had it to do again?
Education IS political. Always follow the $-the testing industry has made billions with every state having the NCLB requirement.
No child left untested.
I think that you and I are in the same boat; I am most passionate about the things that I have a good knowledge base for (you, education and for me, law enforcement). It is what has made us good at our jobs, and in this environment, we have the opportunity to share it with people who understand it, even better than our fellow professionals, sometimes.
“Politicians shouldn’t be in control…”
But they are.
The increasing conservative school boards in some states are dictating curriculum, censoring books, making medical decisions affecting teachers and students, etc.
Recently a school superintendent was fired in Douglas County, CO
“The school board has been politically split since the most recent election. Four new school board members have taken the district in a decidedly different direction. The first policies of the new board have been to rescind the district's mask policy and make major changes to its equity policy.“
It started with CRT.
“The policy has raised concerns from some members of our community who have asked if this will change DCSD curriculum to incorporate Critical Race Theory.”
The CRT and 1619 Project have been addressed by the State. They stated we can’t teach those things. When our principal told us, most teachers looked at each other and said what is that? Elementary teachers don’t teach CRT!
It’s always about the money! As long as they don’t give it to teachers, that is.
CRT has been effectively distorted because it sounds like ‘critical race thinking’ or critical thinking about racism. Radical rightists have not missed that our young people tend toward progressive and open hearted. They want to change that by turning the schools into right wing indoctrination centers. One of the many clues is that they constantly talk about indoctrinating kids at school. So many of their false charges are things they themselves are actually doing.
The last time I was in Douglas County, the Boy Scouts used to camp in the "wilderness" there and Castle Rock was a place you stopped for gas between Denver and Colorado Springs, that you could drive through from end to end in 5 minutes (six if the only traffic light turned red). Now the whole area from Denver to Colorado Springs is houses, and the evil Christian Wrong HQ in Colorado Springs has spread throughout.
😔
Agree.
Hear! hear!
Could it be said that while “The Truth will set you free”, untruths and half-truths will keep you comfortable. And therein lies the problem.
How well you've put it -- so perspicacious.
The trouble is, of course, that this living as though there were no tomorrow is yet another false economy: comfort now, chaos later. And bills someone else will have to pay.
Now... where was it that I heard of that smart practice, never paying your own bills, always getting someone else to foot them?
Knowledge is work, and learning should always be a work in progress. Learning is not enough recall to regurgitate the information to pass the test.
I had zombie history classes. I cannot believe how interesting history really is.
Seems I was lucky at school and later, all my history teachers were excellent and my special subject was the American Revolution and the birth of the Republic.
My good luck was my grandmothers teaching me to read and my father letting me use his adult library card at the institution where I was educated: the stacks at the main branch of the Denver Public Library. I certainly never had more than ten minutes of "an educational moment" in 12 years wasted in the classroom. My experience with the "history teachers" can be shown in the story of how in Colorado State History in 8th grade, the book and the teacher talked about the "Battle of Sand Creek" and raised my hand and said the proper word was "massacre." For which I spent another few hours "polishing the bench" outside the Vice Principal's office. I all my "bench polishing" as a badge of honor. All my report cards had the note "Fails to recognize or obey properly constituted authority."
Congratulations on a perfect start!
But, really... What ever did you expect if you were so imprudent as to practice free speech?
I thought all Americans knew the rules...
"It is by the goodness of God that in our country we have those three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practice either of them."
(Following the Equator by Mark Twain)
Write this out 50 times!
Unfortunately, I didn't get the memo till much later, then threw it in the "round file." As Twain did.
Yeh.. D & F students... "My Friends"
Peter, I’d sure like to sit down to lunch with you. Long lunch. Long long lunch.
That's friendly -- and I've found so much friendliness here that it won't be unfriendly to say I'd be happy to have lunch with no few people here. So, you're welcome. Only trouble is, you'd have to join me in or near Nice, in France...
Mind you, I just heard that friends from Chicago arrived here yesterday... and are delighted to be out in bright sunshine under a blue, blue sky, 60°F after getting out of the icebox.
Sounds delightful. Next time I'm passing through. (Chicago is my home town, BTW)
Agreed! I'm very taken with downtown Chicago but, what with the tall buildings and all that ice on Lake Michigan, the Windy City is even more of a cold store than Saint Petersburg or Helsinki...
And then you have the "Lake Effect"! Yikes
As long as "zombie" does not translate into "disposable", I'm okay with your comments.
We’ve already determined children are disposable. Otherwise we’d have more effective gun control instead of active shooter training. And we send our youth into war zones.
Denise, there's no way I can "like" what you've just written, but it's as well I can't get near some of the gun-whore lobbyists or their vile political minions with a big stick... The temptation might be too great...
I LOVE your words and thoughts Peter. ❤️🙏 Thank you.
Thank you Christy, but I'm far more taken with your three lines around agape. That says it all.
I must cut the verbiage.
Life in old age is becoming a constant struggle to get a quart into, and often out of, a pint pot.
I always learn from you. Usually I have to look a few things up, like the adage of getting a quart into a pot. LOL. You’re such a generous spirit. Thank you.
Mina, Though your analysis is spot on, my concerns rest with how to impart a more relatable story, one that shows rather than tells. The lessons I’ve gleaned partially are a bi-product of trying to understand why the Biden Administration’s accomplishments are not resonating with enough of the public (e.g., recent polling indicates that while 60+% of Republicans are enthused about the approaching fall midterms, only 40% of Democrats report the same). Though there likely are several contributing factors, one that stands out is the tendency to talk about abstract legislation and non-relatable numbers and data. Whether it’s the bi-partisan infrastructure $20 billion investment for semi-conductor manufacturing in Ohio or some other comparable project, we rarely, if ever, hear how the people working at these jobs speak about what this investment has meant to them and to their families. Note I haven’t even touched on how such investments mitigate our dependence on foreign imports, thus easing supply chain hang ups at our ports. Nor have I mentioned the tendency of Republicans to take credit for said projects despite having voted against the bipartisan Infrastructure bill.
Though I haven’t worked up an analogous, relatable script for the dynamic you so adeptly described, suffice it to say we can’t afford not to try.
Barbara J.K.: Thanks so much for your fulsome reply. I think our current toxic political situation has much to do with Trump, the distrust of government he's fostered; Republican legislators who put their lust for power above truth; and right and far right-wing media's decision to put profit over democracy.
There was so much outrageous news generated by TFG and his administration, that regular news outlets became addicted to outrage and excitement. A normal administration is unexciting and not prone to calling for outrage.
However, Biden's people are not selling their accomplishments. They'd better figure out how to do it -- and figure it out quick!
That's right.
It's so simply explained though.
Mad magazine sold because us poor kids found it funny and scrounged pennies to buy it. Their advertisers were happy because lots of kids bought it. And some even bought the salve they were trying to sell. I did. I bought a case.., I knew I could sell it and make money.. I didn't.
The TV "Shows" couldn't stay on the air unless their advertisers were assured of sales..so the "shows" provided the entertainment people WANTED. If you lacked for viewers, the shdow was d o n e and so were those jobs.
Over the past 50 years with the proliferation of "shows"... you had better have something titillating or 'outrageous' or you lost viewers...lost advertisers..., DONE.
So now it's sex that sells. No need to go to the drugstore on the top book shelf.
Just google it....and google away for whatever you're interested in. No wonder "the media" (the 'heads' the cameramen, etc) are sweating their jobs. Trump provided an avalanch of total crap for the networks to feed from. Is is any wonder we saw so much cleavage? The best cleavage guaranteed your coverage of numbnutz would get the most views. And it catered to MEN....remember "C" Cup? She was a disappointment.
So, today it continues...sex sells, right along with plane crashes, condo collapses, DIRT man... gimme dirt.
Yes, it's disgusting.
From the beginning I encouraged everyone to read the Emperors New Clothes.. I hope you are at least familiar with the title. Now in a 3rd grade classroom bookshelf I see "Capt. Underpants".., so nice.
Mina, I agree and would add, excluding the far right, that I believe Americans overall would galvanize around a much tougher, much stronger Biden, who both amplified his accomplishments and also pressed for legislation most Americans are asking for: universal child care and Pre-K, reinstatement of the child tax credit, expanded health care, tax reform, investments in housing, in home and community-based care, and in climate. Biden must demonstrate that he can advance at least some of this legislation currently stalled in the Senate.
The problem with making progress in the Senate is that Manchin has declared that BBB is dead!! What a snake in the grass! This weekend he actually stuck his nose into the Alaskan race for the Senate by stating support for Lisa Murkowski against a Trump supported challenger.
It would help if the supposedly center and liberal media would let go of bashing Biden every chance they get and refusing to highlight important stories like historic job gains.
Joan, I would repeat that amplifying historic job gains, though important, is but a piece of a broader story we would expect leadership to render relative to its accomplishments.
A commenter this week linked to a great Politics Girl podcast with Jan Psaki. She acknowledged the messaging issue and that most Americans aren’t watching her pressers. She also pointed out the White House has no advertising budget.
Good news that Zucker resigned from CNN ! His promotion of TFG..ugh!
DeSantis is proposing to essentially zero out FL gas tax for an unspecified period. He said this won’t hinder transportation projects that are funded through fuel taxes because….. he’ll use $ 1 billion in stimulus $$ to make up for lost revenues. I’ll be sure to keep reminding all those who sing his gassy praises😂
We all do what we can do !
Kathy, I view Psaki’s role as Press Secretary as serving a very different function from enlisting, say, an Explainer-in Chief to educate the public about both the Administration’s accomplishments and also its plans for advancing legislation currently stalled in the Senate.
Agreed, Barbara ! But my, perhaps naive, interpretation of Psaki’s chat is that the DNC should step up to fund their own Explainer-in-Chief to counter all the “legitimate civil discourse “ bull*&$# .
In the mean time…we all do what we can do to counter the bull*&$# !
Republicans have used the playbook of "supply-side economics" since 1872, with the exception of the Eisenhower Administration. That's what you meant about their "rising tide floats all boats".
One of my uncles was a professional Republican politician in a Northern city during much of the later 20th century. He told me once that it was a conscious pattern. Power goes back and forth between the two parties. When the R’s are in power, they spend all the money. When the Dems get in, they have to raise taxes to pay the bills. The R’s shout “Dems tax and spend,” and get back into power. Of course, that was then. The trumplicans have no intention of taking turns.
Cleaning up after their mess... Inevitable Dem party "platform." i.e.task... by default Terrible! But your uncle was spot on
Yes!! Why can they not find a way to make this clear as day??!!
Because for most people, economic history is filed under MEGO - My Eyes Glaze Over.
And occasionally you find a professor who can write for the MESO file which needs to be kept where you can get at it - My Eyes Stay Open.
Robert Reich just announced his class will be available free every Friday. I believe through Facebook but he is also on Substack letters.
So true-I was an economics major in college and at the end of the day my “intuition” tells me that the economy boils down to human decisions and behavior. HCR’s narrative points to who was making the decisions and why. Wealth has ruled the day since the beginning. Look at all that was done to keep slavery alive and to tamp down organized labor.
“There never has yet existed a wealthy and civilized society in which one portion of the community did not in point of fact, live on the labor of the other.” -John C. Calhoun (in his speech about slavery as a “positive good”.)
Grrrrrrrrr
Reagan popularized the "trickle down" slogan to sell his tax cuts but in reality the money flowed uphill.
No trickle -- a torrent. More like a vacuum cleaner than rich men's drool...
Every time I hear "trickle down" and "Reagan" I think of "yellow water" raining down upon us lowly folk.
Yup! I've heard all my life about "tax and spend Democrats" and not nearly enough about "borrow and spend Republicans".
And not enough about corporate welfare, especially the obscene fossil fuel company subsidies.
KAaaBLAMMMM. Good shot Joan..right in the balls., NEXT
The Republican "rising tide" is the equivalent of swimming in the effluent in the outhouse.
You meant the Republican Bed n Brothel..down in Mar E Lago... no?
Watch out for the bed bugs and lice.
The Democrats are far greater friends of those in the "red" states than those red state dwellers would or could ever believe. They are seduced by their own poison.
Democrats do not have a Fox News willing to spill out lies while fake blondes show their legs.
I hate to say, that (fake blonde and legs) really makes a difference to a lot of people.
Mike...Mike... you forgot CLEAVAGE. Plenty of 'fake' and very slippery stuff behind all that... no? :)))) Give em a flippin break Mike, they're "under god" too ya kno.
Correct. No better sugar coating for pills loaded with conspiracy theories and what you will... (or I won't). I duly noted the effect on some men who got addicted to watching all the prancing, the poses and exposés of the pulchritude and hypnotized into buying all the crap.
Hypno-tube is more like it...but Peter, please go easy on us functionally-challenged males. Plenty room-temperature IQ women seem enamored by him, not to mention his proclivity for and appreciation of what Victoria Secret* can provide his dates. *Victoria Secret.., "push up or hush up" has certainly been one of my most dependable sponsors.
I quit the Republican Party when Reagan came into office. My "gut" told me the man was evil; and, he was. The list of his sins is too long to recite. I became an Independent and have remained such ever since, voting mostly for Democrats. That you are a Social Justice Warrior is admirable, but social justice in a real and authentic sense is a quagmire. Regarding Hillary: A VERY smart woman who intimidates many, many men. Yes, she like the rest of us is flawed. Yet, she survived the Benghazi grilling flawlessly. That was $7 million of our money wasted. What disturbs me the most at this moment in our history is how many Americans do not "get" what is taking place today.