There has been absolutely no accountability, repercussions or punishment for government officials who commit crimes - they work AGAINST the common good and are actually rewarded for it! So this is what children are learning - BEING SELFISH PAYS VERY WELL!! Members of Congress own multiple houses, enjoy six figure salaries, and do as they damn well please, being funded by corporations. Our "votes" are a joke, since it takes years to get somebody "fired." Maybe American citizens need to organize a week-long strike in which ALL GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS are denied goods and services until they start listening to the people who pay their salaries!
Dee, I also worry that our young people (indeed all of us) have been learning that we should "look out for Number 1" and act selfishly. That was Trump's tacit message to America, in sharp contrast to JFK's "ask not..." message. The selfish message is also what our so-called leaders of business, Wall Street, and too many others are preaching directly or indirectly. We need to teach the message of social duties -- what we owe each other as members of the same society and inhabitants of the same planet.
I'd like to see the news media bombard the politicians with questions about what THEY are doing re: gun legislation, banning assault weapons, protecting women's freedom of healthcare choice, rather than interviewing the victims in Texas. Let the politicians feel the heat of being hounded for answers, let them know they are accountable to the 90% of Americans who want background checks, etc. But I bet Congress has already left for the holiday weekend....pathetic!!
I agree with you, Dee. The media wants excitement and drama. They should ask the hard hitting questions that most of us want to get answers to. No more softball for these well paid 'public servants' who do not do their jobs!
I would like to see the democrats bombard the news media and republicans with questions that make the rethugs attempt to justify their corrupt intentions, e.g., election fraud, gun legislation, environmental issues, civil rights, social programs, on and on. I say the smart play is, make the republicans answer and make them pay for what they are doing to this country.
What can we expect ? Even the lofty 'Supreme Court' does not do what they are supposed to do. Cushy, well compensated position for life, if they want it, Compensation is great, and they are obviously partisan. Our 'representatives' who sell out and harm the majority do not inspire voters to be altruistic. We are all clawing away to survive ; many not making it!
@Dee. Too many of them are just as you say. Sad state of affairs that Gerrymandering and corporate money makes it so hard to displace the "takers" in favor of true public servants.
We have seen the huge support for Democrat candidates in the past. I doubt that even with corrupt laws in the states, the voters will lose. Who wants the party of the Friends of Putin? They are openly trumpeting their plans to block the voters. It may bring more out to defeat them!
Hi Laurie, If we would insist on enforcing Amendment 14. second paragraph, we could significantly end the anti voter legislation being passed in many of the "Red" States.
Good idea if we had a Supreme court that isn't stacked with partisans! Seditionists are occupying half of our Congressional seats too! Our Democracy is bollixed!
It's not up to the Supreme Court unless they try to negate the 14th Amendment. It's up to Congress and most especially the Department of Justice to enforce existing law. The 14th Amendment clearly states in paragraph 2 "But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of a State, or members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male* inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age**, and citizens of the United States or in any way abridged, except for the participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male* citizens shall bear to the whole number of male* citizens twenty-one** years of age in such State. " * superceded by Amendment 19, ** superceded by Amendment 26. What it doesn't say is if the loss of those members may then be apportioned to other States, which would have been nice. Without that the total number of Congress persons would be reduced also. The Supreme Court would have to rule against the Constitution they are sworn to uphold.
Fay Reid ; O K, where do we start with the Congress ; our Representatives? I wonder how it should be approached or addressed? Legalese causes brain rot!
It would be great to send a clear message to our 'public servants that their duties to uphold their oaths of office are teal! It's not a place to grift!
Our current problems are due to poor education: science, biology of humans, civics, honest history, geography, etc. i went to school in Chicago during the late 40’s and 50’s and I had a decent education in elementary school and fair in high school. Still college at a Jesuit university was a shock. I learned critical thinking skills and to question everything. Two of the most important things you can learn.
But the current strangle hold on Public schools don't allow for that. It's all about testing skills. None of these skills are applied or meaningful. Look at the blog piece by Alfie Kohn. Our Schools have been sterilized.
Dr. Reich, please consider delving into this even more. I have names of people worth your time when it comes to understanding this topic more.
Our public schools should be a beacon of democracy but the oligarchs have destroyed them. And the people deciding what should be taught in our schools would never allow this for their own children.
Another important point relating to this. The authoritarians emerging in our Congress are coming out of IVY LEAGUE COLLEGES. Our most elitist schools are priming authoritarian leaders, Cruz, Hawley, Cotton, Mnuchin, Carson, Ross, Kushner, Bannon, Pompeo, and there's more. Plus, many of your GOP leaders today came out of top flight schools even if they were not Ivy League.
Yes ! I have been studying the CVs of our authoritarians too. Harvard Law is most common. And how about "Eye-patch Guy" who led the assault on the Capitol? He is Harvard Law, too. What the bleep are they teaching at Harvard?
Unfortunately, many of our university faculty members have decided to apply the commodities and marketing approach to higher education. "Hey, there might be something in this for me, that is, if I can recruit enough student TAs to do the actual work (at a fraction of the cost of a full-professor) and forget about teaching critical thinking skills and democratic values! I can spend my time with my worthy and esteemed colleagues and, when a tenure-track opens up, well, my good friend at Harvard and I at Berkeley can just trade our prodigies. 'Course, we have to run a search and we might recruit women and minorities for that purpose, so things will look right, but, well, JOhn at Harvard is ready to trade Joel and his Harvard pedigree and legacy for my JOsh...but we've got to do the search so everything will look right!" This is essentially running an old-boys-club at grad school and universities. A good many profs figure that they can manage to look on-the-level while pulling off a scam...and they are right, they can manage! Of course, the truth and honest dealing get lost in the shuffle but at least the college profs get to play the same sort of game as other "public servants." With "public servants" such as these (that is, people who look out for Number One) it's no real mystery why our society is more or less collapsing. And really competent people often meet tragic ends trying to do their jobs. We can conclude: education at all levels in the USA is a reflection of our values and what we hold dear...too bad it's not the folks who want to make a difference and really count.
It's a shame that Alito and Thomas didn't learn those skills. Some of the worst exponents of totalitarianism started with a Jesuit education. Fidel Castro, Francisco Franco are prime examples.
Fidel Castro is not accurately or fairly seen in the U. S., because of bad education. He wanted to get away from profiteering exploitation of his people.
He was valedictorian, most likely to succeed, and best athlete in his class when he graduated from Belen, a Jesuit high school in Havana. When he was in the mountains he had a personal chaplain and one of his comandantes was a priest. He went to mass every day most of his life. Tried to nationalize the Catholic Church of Cuba, but when the church leaders were caught as spies during the Bay of Pigs, he went to "Communism" as the only offer left on his plate. Khrushchev said "Castro is no Communist, but the US is making him into one."
Although the Cuban Constitution forbade the death penalties, he executed his political enemies. It's still going on, protesters, mostly Black are jailed and starving.
We aren't angels but Castro was a totalitarian dictator.
There’s still much to praise in Castro. The US is unjustly imposing sanctions in Cuba, impoverishing it. I’m not for his executions of opponents, but the US has a lot to do with Cuba’s poverty. The US is a world tyrant.
We can thank the current business model that's being applied to our public schools thanks to the likes of Bill Gates and other billionaires who have heavily influenced public education policy.
Gates has lobbied for the drill and kill strategy of American public schools. Gates is all in for "data-driven solutions." The data is clear. His strategy has not improved outcomes yet he is a passionate advocate of high-stakes testing.
Ironically Bill Gates and his children attended Lakeside School. The home page on their website says, “This is a place for curious minds.” Judging from the photos on their website, students play music, they work together on projects, they hike in the woods, they learn about geometric patterns by working with manipulatives, and they share food from worldwide cultures. There is no sign of relentless standardized testing, which Gates has promoted for our public schools. Curious.
I agree wholeheartedly with the need for civic education, and I would add on to that the need for early education in a foreign language and world geography. Children learn languages easily when they are very young, and in doing so, are able to expand their view of the world. I think world geography used to be a subject in school but we are woefully lacking in that area. Most Americans are very provincial and lack a basic knowledge of the world outside of the U.S. So yes, civic education to understand our own country, along with an education about the world outside would hopefully serve to enlighten and broaden minds.
excellent: every country i've lived in (only a dozen so far), have a strong language program where students learn another language -- and not just for a year or two ... most of them learn a language for their entire equivalent of k-12 education. (and quite a few add another language to the mix when they reach an age where they're allowed to choose whether to study another language.)
I got to teach in France, and students had been studying English since 4th grade, and had then added German or Spanish at the 8th grade level, and some kids added a third language in high school. I would say, though, that they knew a lot of grammar and read difficult texts, but could not communicate with me at all, lol. The Nordic countries do a much better job, imo. I think you have to ask yourself what are the goals? Fluency? Those kids didn't have it after years of instruction. Exposure to other cultures? There are better ways to do that, I think. Learning about one's own language by learning another? I think most of us did this in U.S. foreign language classes and there was value in that. By all means, I'm for world language education -- just spent 28 years doing it -- but I think we always need to ask what we specifically want from it. Kids can get a decent measure of fluency in three semesters with the right methods.
This! I spent 4 years in Spanish, getting A’s btw and was never close to being fluent. I’ve learned more from neighbors, friends and bad bunny😅 it’s 100% what you specifically want or need from it! My mother was 12yo when she came to the US from Western Samoa and she had to learn English, who in the Us speaks samoan? Her mom never learned because my mom was able to help her translate after she learned. So the necessity for my grandmother to learn was met. However there are many Spanish speaking migrants whom after being in this country for years aren’t very fluent in English, it’s only because this same scenario and most commonly if you’re getting any kind of literature there is a Spanish side available. It’s also very difficult to learn between proper and slang with every language. Imagine learning English and having to understand something like “butt dialing” and “booty call”, you don’t learn these differences between proper use and slang. Or words/phrases that have multiple meaning, “set” and “no worries”. I saw a video the other day when an Uber passenger said “thank you” to their driver he kept saying “who cares” because that was his English interpretation of “no worries”, the man was just trying to say don’t worry about it. When it’s a necessity it’s learned much faster and with the right methods! Learning language for good grades does not result in fluency, I forgot mostly everything from Spanish class .....Donde esta el sacapuntas...... “Where’s the pencil sharpener?” Didnt help me much after.
Liv ; I had a friend who was born in Germany and came to America as a young woman. She was a member of a 'German Club' at the local university and used to go to meetings regularly. I asked her what they do at the club, and she said that they speak German to each other while they keep up with German news and culture. Basically, she said "if you don't use it, you lose it". My husband was in Germany for 9 years while in the U. S. Air Force. He was fairly fluent when I met him, but it faded in a relatively short time. Eventually , he ran into a former associate who attempted to engage him in conversation, and had to shrug his shoulders and admit he was 'beyond rusty'.
Yes! Use it or lose it and I am beyond rusty with my Spanish but I’ve managed to get the exact pronunciation of the words I do know just right! If I say a few words accurately it sounds as if I’m very fluent and people try to have an entire conversation with me and I have to sadly say sorry No hablo espanol......mind you, I’m def brown with dark hair so I’m assumed to be Mexican mostly and when I don’t know how to speak it some folks think I’m playing dumb because the “look” and pronunciation is there but the fluency not so much😅
That must be frustrating! My niece was in the Peace Corps and travelled to South America and Spain. She made friends in Spanish speaking countries and lives in Arlington VA now. Her FB posts have many translations and posts from around the world. Still, it must be challenging for her to keep her language skills in Spanish sharp. She managed the 18 Million dollar food budget when Haiti was recovering from an earthquake when she was single and worked for an N.G.O. in Washington. She had degrees in public health and nutrition. and wanted to help Black and Brown women especially with nutrition. As an exchange high school student, she was chided for hiding her identity, because her teacher said she was obviously Spanish. Our family had some ancestry in the Basque region ; our mother was French Canadian, and Irish. our father was English/Scottish descent. It's a small world.
i currently live in norway and nearly everyone here is fluent in english. they mostly attain their fluency through being glued to american TV -- which means the norwegians should be asking what else their citizens are learning besides english language skills?
That’s a terrific idea. I read that in Canada they are teaching first graders two other languages. People all over Europe learn two and three languages, which opens the mind to other people.
I agree Sally. As a former educator I observed that after school sports were more important and received far more money than 'dull' academic subjects like geography, language, real history. I taught Chemistry, physics and astronomy for 15 years at Junior High School. During this time I coached the Odyssey of the Mind team, Invent America team, and Aggie team. I was also the 8th grade advisor. I drove my team members to all competitions, bought whatever they needed to compete. One year the student council gave me a check for $100 and a plaque, for all the effort I put in. The male teacher who coached the football team got $800 extra per year from the school district.
Right, Fay, I hear you and this emphasis on sports over academics continues on in colleges and universities. I guess it's all about the money, surprise, surprise.
Despotism, slavery, and authoritarianism all hold hands when it comes to education. We must start educating our young people to respect our constitution as it is intended and to learn that no one is above the law.
Absolutely, JAB! Respect for far more than our constitution, though. All of Robert's elements are critical, especially #3 and #4.
Sadly, though, what is really needed is to educate the adults, which is the most difficult part!
Neil deGrasse Tyson had it in spades: "The problem in society is not kids not knowing science. The problem is adults not knowing science. They outnumber kids 5 to 1, they wield power, they write legislation. When you have scientifically illiterate adults, you have undermined the very fabric of what makes a nation wealthy and strong."
JAB ; It's true that slaveholders were told that it was against the law to educate 'their' slaves. That is at the heart of the banning of books and laws criminalizing the teaching of history of Blacks, Brown and indigenous people and also the history (herstory) of women of all races.
I also think teachers should be better paid rather than being one of the lowest paid professions. These days, they should probably also get combat pay.
Better pay would, hopefully, entice the best and the brightest into the profession. Would-be teachers should not have a degree only in Education; they should also have a degree in a teaching subject as well--perhaps a 5-year combined BA or BSc or BMus / BEd or a 4 year Bachelor's degree and a 2 year after degree in Education. Entrance into Education programs should be highly competitive, requiring the highest marks in all university subjects. Students who qualify should be given a full scholarship to encourage them to take up the 5 or 6 year academic challenge without accruing crippling debt--subject, of course, to their keeping their grades up..
A two-year National Service requirement such as Dr. Reich proposes could allow would-teachers to have classroom experience as teacher's aides to find out if they enjoy teaching and are suited to it before committing themselves, and some of their classroom experience could be counted toward their Education degree.
Teachers want respect. They are scapegoats and not allowed to teach. Their hands are tied as many are forced to follow scripts and programs that make businesses rich but do nothing for teachers.
I love my profession and taught for 20 years. Quite a few of those years were before nclb. I left the profession, like many teachers, when I was no longer allowed to use best practice in the classroom.
I agree. The decline came with the common assessment movement where everyone is supposed to teach the same watered-down lessons on the same day in the same way with the sole purpose of reducing parent complaints to admins. This is the end of quality ed because good teachers lose any passion they had for their subject and any freedom they had to experiment and do it better each year. Thankfully, in World Languages, we flew under the radar and were not held to these destructive frameworks, but core subject teachers and elementary teachers really suffer.
The points you make are excellent, and I agree with the exception of requiring two years of service with a "modest stipend". I have helped run a number of programs for inner city and Native American youth, and I have learned that in many families in these communities the work that young people do helps to support their families. If they are not available to care for their younger siblings and older relatives, and if they cannot make a salary that helps pay the bills, you will unfairly burden their families. In our programs we have provided salaries equivalent to what they would otherwise make, and provided services to the families to help offset the loss of assistance from their students during the time they are busy with activities we provide like STEM education (including bioethics and a good helping of civics). You have to remember that young people from some communities are not able to engage in work that benefits either themselves or the larger public without compensating for what their families will be burdened with in their absence.
Thank you for drawing this to the attention of us all. The idea of the student years as a time of freedom from the cares of the work-world is far from what TA/RAs. interns and public service students are dealing with. They usually face heavy burdens and should be able to live decently while learning about the public service sector.
I would think that having young people engaged in meaningful work might possibly decrease a certain fascination with guns and violence. But having someone in each community watching for those who might be at risk for violent behavior or suicide might help more survive the turbulent years in our culture.
There are two groups of people in the US (in every nation) that we depend on for our well-being and future: children and senior citizens. They are not the people who add to the wealth and power of any single individual in the US; rather they are the people who will inherit the nation (and world) and try to make their mark and serve others or, alternately, the people who connect us to what has gone before, our heritage, traditions, and values. To put it bluntly, the kids and seniors are worth far far less in terms of actual wealth and power than the powerful single individuals at the helm: the Musks, Gates, Romneys, Cruz's, Bezos who we take for our leaders (in all things, even in terms of ethics and civic responsibilities) instead of the kids and seniors we generally ignore. We are more or less content to deprive and/.or ignore kids and seniors since they contribute very little in monetary terms to the economy and are considered drains on the finances of both government and society. (They are unseen and generally unattended to in meaningful ways unless they ruffle the waters and create some sort of crisis,) The past couple of weeks we have seen what happens when those in power and in government prioritize wealth and power over everyone else. when kids are deprived of their futures (what might have been) and seniors are stripped of the most modest mundane niche in everyday life that one could imagine. All for the sake of wealth and power in the boardroom or the government office. It is left to the moderate and lower-income workers to foot the bill and most of that bill is due to the unwillingness of company heads and their surrogates-in-government to meet the obligations that go with the rich rewards they provide for themselves. If we (or any nation) continue with the system of providing the most profit for those who are already at the top of the heap and selling their souls for the almighty $$$, we will end up in universal poverty and it won't just be poverty in financial terms but, more importantly, in human and humane terms. To save our kids and ourselves, we need to deal with the threat of gun violence that is part of The American Way and focus on enriching lives and not destroying them in their beginning--and their end. Why are we here? Is it to accrue personal wealth and enlarge our stockportfois? Or is it to learn as much as we can, have some fun and adventure, and help others along the way? We do well to reflect on what we are doing for others as well as ourselves.
Thank you. Presumably, we should treat all youths in national service equally. Would minimum wage be adequate with additional help for families in such situations?
This is definitely a discussion that should be had during the development of such a program. There is a potential to do a great deal of good if students can engage in dignified work that includes mentoring and access to social services rather than bottom wrung jobs with no future. For example, when our students (250 a year) were able to spend meaningful time working with mentors (professionals, university faculty, grad students), were able to access social services like immigration counselors, and were fed two meals on Saturdays, they thrived. But we paid them for their time, provided transportation and food, and did not expect them to pay for anything. There is a great inequality inherent in what students do on their weekends and summer - our students worked, while their higher income peers were able to attend enrichment programs. When we were able to run a 6 week residential summer school, our students did not fall behind over the summer months - but we had to pay them to make up for the salary they would normally have brought home. The flip side is that a period of service for higher income students would be of great benefit - we included the children of our mentors and staff in our program, and having students from homes where the parents were doctors, lawyers, and professionals in our program was a great experience for everyone.
Republican political operative Karl Rove asserted that ignorant people are easier to control, years before Trump proclaimed, "I love the poorly educated."
Former late night host Jay Leno had a segment called Jaywalking, in which he would go out in the plaza outside his studio or on a public street and ask random people simple civics questions, sometimes taken from the citizenship test. Their ignorance was astonishing. For example, they could not identify the sitting vice president at the time, and did not know how many justices sit on the U.S. Supreme Court. More than half of Americans cannot name all five freedoms protected by the First Amendment. So, yes, we need civics education, along with education on why it is important.
Professor, this is a powerful and convincing essay. I can't see how anyone could say it better without writing a book. The only worry that arises from me is the way our education system works, with local school boards and State run departments of education, we don't seem to have the tools to deploy the things you have suggested? It seems, once again, what we need is more Democrats in positions of influence and power, including in education, who will work against narrow, parochial, culturally-defined education and who will work for the goals and objectives you have surveyed in this piece. I hope we can do that.
With younger generations on issues of involvement & commitment & belief even in social & moral good . . . Effecting even America's "work ethic"; it's like the stuffing & the backbone was removed from us during that period.
I was lucky enough a few years later, '75 or '76, to listen in school to a young woman from Israel speak about her manditory service, which she was still in the middle of, in her country's military. I was very impressed & remember considering that a brilliant & fair & sensible thing for a country to have. I still perceive Israel's strength to be derived in good measure from this practice.
I agree with both. But the two years in service puts every young person in the same position and tends to build a strong nation. Wouldn’t it improve if young Palistanians were included.
Actually, they are if they’re uncritical of Israel. Believe it or not, there are Palestinian Zionists. Check out Yoseph Haddad online. Horrible. The IDF is solidly anti-Palestinian.
From childhood, thanks to my mom, I've traveled -- first by car to 48 states, then as an airline pilot to many countries, not for quick visits but returning frequently, getting to know the culture and people. My small-New-England-town, non-traveling friends still make race jokes and vote MAGA, but travel has brought me to see the world in a different way.
That didn't happen because I went to school with other types of students -- that helps -- but travel made the greatest difference. So I'd support traveling "corps" or other experiences for students. I'd make it mandatory for teachers.
Second, I'd reform education. I remember reading of a politician -- maybe Bush --whose brother corrupted the testing and textbook business. And deVos. And as a town meeting member, myself, seeing the education department flagrantly waste money because they had to "use it or lose it" for the next year's budget. I think education needs help with corruption as well as curriculum.
I'd reform teachers unions. I think they suffer some of the same problems as the pilots unions. Yes, unions are necessary to fight abuse by power, but a person would be naive to believe that power and ill-gotten gains corrupt only corporate and not union leaders.
I'd change teacher requirements to make room for people who have extensive travel, life, and/or professional experience rather than only the "right piece of paper." In my education, the teachers who made the biggest positive impact on me and my classmates were "doers" -- professionals taking time from their real-world experience to teach. They didn't teach "by the book." Given a classroom evaluation from a by-the-book supervisor, they's probably fail, but they taught useful reality and life skills, and they had credibility.
There's a saying, "Those who can't do, teach." In my education, that was largely true. Most of those who taught full time and didn't "do" out in the world were not the best teachers. In our current system, teaching below college level is generally a full-time job. Therein lies what might be a problem. Maybe a different system could help -- maybe a trimester in the workplace once per year might bring more practical viewpoints to the classroom.
Our current system is dismal. We should be the best. Therefore, perhaps we need to practice first-principle thought, toss out all status quo, and design a new system from the ground up.
The worst teachers I had were the small-minded, inexperienced people who had the certificate boxes checked but had no life experience, could teach only by the book, and possessed little creativity and no original-thinking skills. I had some very bad teachers, damaging influences, institutionalzed by tenure. Yet, barring political warring, one almost dares not admit that all teachers are not saints, but until we face reality, the problems can't be addressed.
Based on the state of our country and the fact that half of our voting public -- mostly products of our education system -- support a lunatic, lying, corrupt despot, maybe our education system needs overall rethinking.
This article is another reminder of how far we have fallen as a people. You and I are about the same age, and WE let this happen! Let us admit it; we chose MONEY over democracy. Our generation went to college to learn how to make more MONEY, not to learn how to sustain a democracy. The American vision of the ideal is no longer the sustaining of a democracy; the ideal is now about a vision of wealth. We live in a state of denial. The American caste is made of money not the ideals of a government. I am seventy-four years old, retired, and live in a home with a swimming pool and beautiful gardens. We have two grandchildren we spoil with time and gifts. We travel when and where we want. I'm vote Democrat. I'm a hypocrite. I have a lot of rich Democratic friends who scream about equality but live this lifestyle. We need to be about taking less from this earth and its economy. I am a hypocrite, and I don't like it. I've taken more than I deserve! Have you?
David. Most baby boomers are hypocrites. I see this every day. They complain from their million dollar homes, play golf, travel around the world, drive big motor homes and do nothing for their communities. Sad but true. Now, there are exceptions. I like being around those folks.
We can’t have a healthy democracy without an informed citizenry; one educated to understand how a healthy democracy should work, why ours is currently very sick, and wanting passionately to return it to good health. Perhaps two years of service to our people would be the antidote needed to show our young that there is more to life than “I” phones, fancy cars and continuous entertainment. I love the idea of a civilian conservation corps as one way of doing that service.
I do, too. Back in the day, Americans were asked to sacrifice so much for the good of the cause, and today we ask nothing of them and only offer tax breaks and programs to help. We need to make it clear that nothing comes without our contribution and yes, some sacrifice.
Guns v butter. Cost plus contracting. IMHO the main problem with the military budget is that we produce expensive weapons that are obsolete by the time they are produced. About a trillion dollars is unaccounted for in the Afghanistan/Iraq endeavor.
Dear Robert, I have followed you closely ever since you created "Inequality for All" and I'll keep my modest subscription here because of all the good work (brilliant, really, thank you) you do. However, I really wish you would consider pulling back from your partisan belief that there is a good party or at least a lesser-evil party.
I don't believe in Gods, Devils or evil. I believe in consequences. I don't believe there is a good party or a bad party, just good people and bad people. Democrats only ever talk the talk, but never walk the walk. Who is worse really, depraved oligarchs whose system deprives the many for the benefit of the few or the enabler oligarchs who "give back" paltry crumbs of their wealth to treat the symptoms of diseases they perpetuate because it pays them well to do so.
The billionaire psychopaths will wrap their little get-together in Davos today having done NOTHING to treat the disease, that is poverty, whether spiritual, intellectual or economic that is destroying our world and its people. Please start calling out Democrats for the craven enablers they really are. Your voice can really make a difference if you discontinue paying lip-service to a do-nothing Party.
The Enabler Party is as much to blame as The Perpetrator Party. How else can you read giving $40B to the military industrial complex to kill all the ordinary people in Ukraine while the gluttonous perps and their enablers are safe and well-fed in Davos?
I think most of us are still idealistic and hopeful enough to believe that our "public servants" in government have our best interests at heart. However, I think it's far more likely that the Dems want to appear to be listening to us and acting in accordance with our decisions when, in fact, they only provide lip-service, not policies and programs for meaningful change. The Trumpy Party has given up all pretense of "serving the public" and is, instead, serving the corporations and big=wigs who have funded their campaigns. When you think about it rationally, the approach of members of the Trumpy Party makes a lot of sense: there's nothing to be gained in monetary and power terms by throwing your lot (and your time and energies) with people who need help to survive; it makes more sense to take the funds the corporations give you and feather your own nest. The fact of the matter is that neither party worries unduly about "serving the public" so we are left to flail about. It would help if the public was more aware of the issues and problems we face but, well, the public is also heavily invested in lip-service and serving themselves. Ah ha, a nation of self-serving ignorant fools who cannot understand that, sooner or later, they will pay the price and not their "public servants."
Neil deGrasse Tyson: "What are the lessons to be learned from this journey of the mind through the universe? That humans are emotionally fragile, perennially gullible, hopelessly ignorant masters of an insignificantly small speck in the cosmos. Have a nice day."
Their "public servants" will pay the price, too.
BTW, when are we going to stop referring to all politicians as "public servants?"
Absolutely, Lanae. The first time I used it I was referring to your use of the term "public servants." (Eventually they will pay the price, when the whole system breaks down or if they're actually held accountable someday.) The second time I used it I was referring to the way the actual politicians refer to themselves, trying to con us into not noticing what their priorities really are.
Some politicians are actually honestly there to serve the public (public servants). Too many are there to "serve" their preferred fraction of the "public." -- themselves along with their benefactors and ideologies ("public servants").
Charles. I don't know who you are or where you live but you hit the nail on the head! KUDOS to you. I agree there are good people and bad people. However, in today's world hard to tell which is which. Hugs from Arizona.
i agree with you 110%. as a scientist, i am daily confronted by shockingly poor science knowledge amongst many of the people i deal with, and this is often accompanied by astoundingly high levels of pseudoscience retention. it's almost as though people think their lack of science knowledge (particularly their ignorance of biology) is some sort of badge of honour, or maybe indicates their membership of some secret elite class of people.
perhaps part of a good education should include some multi-disciplinary education in the higher grades, such as a class that examines the relationship between culture, history, geography and pandemics? (i mention this specifically because this was a class i designed, as part of my own requirements as a grad student, when i was in university.) such a class would help cement the knowledge that students have learned piecemeal in their earlier years, and help give them greater critical insights into how events actually play out in the real world, and why.
i find that a poor knowledge of science is coupled with a stunning inability to think critically about literally everything. what passes as critical thinking amongst nearly everyone whom i meet is actually an overwhelming lack of respect for expertise, so a person who has devoted their entire life to learning about a particular discipline is viewed as being less knowledgable than a random man (and it's always a random white man) on the street.
one white man's opinion is worth far more than the lifetime of expertise and knowledge generated by 10 women or ethnic or social minorities or immigrants or any non-white non-het group you care to name. for example, as most people know by now, the entire covid-19 disinformation campaign led to more than one million american deaths (the official death count is one million, but the estimated count is at least three times this). unfortunately, these deaths were not limited to those who ardently and openly professed utter bullshit, but included at least as many innocent lives -- people who had health issues (immunocompromised, needed surgery to address health issues, or what have you) that made it nearly impossible for them to avoid becoming a casualty in this war of pseudominds. thanks to this still-growing mountain of self-destructive conspiracy theories, the entire world is now confronted with long-haul covid, which is destroying bodies and lives and will further destroy the already compromised health care system.
and this one -- seemingly small -- thing occurred because people have no real knowledge of science, nor do they have any critical thinking skills.
perhaps one of the possible options for people to serve their country for 2 years (in your educational/citizenship scenario) is for 18-20 year olds to step up and help the medical establishment? they could receive training as nurse's aids, EMTs, lab technicians, physical therapists, cooks, and similar jobs, making it easier for doctors and nurses -- especially nurses, around which the entire medical system revolves -- to do their jobs, so fewer of them would burn out and end up fleeing the medical profession in guilt and despair.
so you are right: it's long past time to enact educational reforms, and your suggestions are excellent starting points.
There has been absolutely no accountability, repercussions or punishment for government officials who commit crimes - they work AGAINST the common good and are actually rewarded for it! So this is what children are learning - BEING SELFISH PAYS VERY WELL!! Members of Congress own multiple houses, enjoy six figure salaries, and do as they damn well please, being funded by corporations. Our "votes" are a joke, since it takes years to get somebody "fired." Maybe American citizens need to organize a week-long strike in which ALL GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS are denied goods and services until they start listening to the people who pay their salaries!
Dee, I also worry that our young people (indeed all of us) have been learning that we should "look out for Number 1" and act selfishly. That was Trump's tacit message to America, in sharp contrast to JFK's "ask not..." message. The selfish message is also what our so-called leaders of business, Wall Street, and too many others are preaching directly or indirectly. We need to teach the message of social duties -- what we owe each other as members of the same society and inhabitants of the same planet.
I'd like to see the news media bombard the politicians with questions about what THEY are doing re: gun legislation, banning assault weapons, protecting women's freedom of healthcare choice, rather than interviewing the victims in Texas. Let the politicians feel the heat of being hounded for answers, let them know they are accountable to the 90% of Americans who want background checks, etc. But I bet Congress has already left for the holiday weekend....pathetic!!
I agree with you, Dee. The media wants excitement and drama. They should ask the hard hitting questions that most of us want to get answers to. No more softball for these well paid 'public servants' who do not do their jobs!
I would like to see the democrats bombard the news media and republicans with questions that make the rethugs attempt to justify their corrupt intentions, e.g., election fraud, gun legislation, environmental issues, civil rights, social programs, on and on. I say the smart play is, make the republicans answer and make them pay for what they are doing to this country.
Yes!
What can we expect ? Even the lofty 'Supreme Court' does not do what they are supposed to do. Cushy, well compensated position for life, if they want it, Compensation is great, and they are obviously partisan. Our 'representatives' who sell out and harm the majority do not inspire voters to be altruistic. We are all clawing away to survive ; many not making it!
@Dee. Too many of them are just as you say. Sad state of affairs that Gerrymandering and corporate money makes it so hard to displace the "takers" in favor of true public servants.
Benjamin R ; At this point, even voting them out is looking iffy.
We need anybody with a pulse VOTING out these self serving SOB's.
We have seen the huge support for Democrat candidates in the past. I doubt that even with corrupt laws in the states, the voters will lose. Who wants the party of the Friends of Putin? They are openly trumpeting their plans to block the voters. It may bring more out to defeat them!
Hi Laurie, If we would insist on enforcing Amendment 14. second paragraph, we could significantly end the anti voter legislation being passed in many of the "Red" States.
Good idea if we had a Supreme court that isn't stacked with partisans! Seditionists are occupying half of our Congressional seats too! Our Democracy is bollixed!
It's not up to the Supreme Court unless they try to negate the 14th Amendment. It's up to Congress and most especially the Department of Justice to enforce existing law. The 14th Amendment clearly states in paragraph 2 "But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of a State, or members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male* inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age**, and citizens of the United States or in any way abridged, except for the participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male* citizens shall bear to the whole number of male* citizens twenty-one** years of age in such State. " * superceded by Amendment 19, ** superceded by Amendment 26. What it doesn't say is if the loss of those members may then be apportioned to other States, which would have been nice. Without that the total number of Congress persons would be reduced also. The Supreme Court would have to rule against the Constitution they are sworn to uphold.
Fay Reid ; O K, where do we start with the Congress ; our Representatives? I wonder how it should be approached or addressed? Legalese causes brain rot!
It would be great to send a clear message to our 'public servants that their duties to uphold their oaths of office are teal! It's not a place to grift!
I like that idea!
Our current problems are due to poor education: science, biology of humans, civics, honest history, geography, etc. i went to school in Chicago during the late 40’s and 50’s and I had a decent education in elementary school and fair in high school. Still college at a Jesuit university was a shock. I learned critical thinking skills and to question everything. Two of the most important things you can learn.
Critical thinking skills are central. I also teach my students about the difference between wise skepticism and unwise cynicism.
But the current strangle hold on Public schools don't allow for that. It's all about testing skills. None of these skills are applied or meaningful. Look at the blog piece by Alfie Kohn. Our Schools have been sterilized.
Dr. Reich, please consider delving into this even more. I have names of people worth your time when it comes to understanding this topic more.
Our public schools should be a beacon of democracy but the oligarchs have destroyed them. And the people deciding what should be taught in our schools would never allow this for their own children.
Another important point relating to this. The authoritarians emerging in our Congress are coming out of IVY LEAGUE COLLEGES. Our most elitist schools are priming authoritarian leaders, Cruz, Hawley, Cotton, Mnuchin, Carson, Ross, Kushner, Bannon, Pompeo, and there's more. Plus, many of your GOP leaders today came out of top flight schools even if they were not Ivy League.
Yes ! I have been studying the CVs of our authoritarians too. Harvard Law is most common. And how about "Eye-patch Guy" who led the assault on the Capitol? He is Harvard Law, too. What the bleep are they teaching at Harvard?
Unfortunately, many of our university faculty members have decided to apply the commodities and marketing approach to higher education. "Hey, there might be something in this for me, that is, if I can recruit enough student TAs to do the actual work (at a fraction of the cost of a full-professor) and forget about teaching critical thinking skills and democratic values! I can spend my time with my worthy and esteemed colleagues and, when a tenure-track opens up, well, my good friend at Harvard and I at Berkeley can just trade our prodigies. 'Course, we have to run a search and we might recruit women and minorities for that purpose, so things will look right, but, well, JOhn at Harvard is ready to trade Joel and his Harvard pedigree and legacy for my JOsh...but we've got to do the search so everything will look right!" This is essentially running an old-boys-club at grad school and universities. A good many profs figure that they can manage to look on-the-level while pulling off a scam...and they are right, they can manage! Of course, the truth and honest dealing get lost in the shuffle but at least the college profs get to play the same sort of game as other "public servants." With "public servants" such as these (that is, people who look out for Number One) it's no real mystery why our society is more or less collapsing. And really competent people often meet tragic ends trying to do their jobs. We can conclude: education at all levels in the USA is a reflection of our values and what we hold dear...too bad it's not the folks who want to make a difference and really count.
It's a shame that Alito and Thomas didn't learn those skills. Some of the worst exponents of totalitarianism started with a Jesuit education. Fidel Castro, Francisco Franco are prime examples.
Fidel Castro is not accurately or fairly seen in the U. S., because of bad education. He wanted to get away from profiteering exploitation of his people.
He was valedictorian, most likely to succeed, and best athlete in his class when he graduated from Belen, a Jesuit high school in Havana. When he was in the mountains he had a personal chaplain and one of his comandantes was a priest. He went to mass every day most of his life. Tried to nationalize the Catholic Church of Cuba, but when the church leaders were caught as spies during the Bay of Pigs, he went to "Communism" as the only offer left on his plate. Khrushchev said "Castro is no Communist, but the US is making him into one."
Although the Cuban Constitution forbade the death penalties, he executed his political enemies. It's still going on, protesters, mostly Black are jailed and starving.
We aren't angels but Castro was a totalitarian dictator.
BTW, I am the author of "Breaking Up with Cuba," https://havanatimes.org/features/breaking-up-with-cuba-book-review/
There’s still much to praise in Castro. The US is unjustly imposing sanctions in Cuba, impoverishing it. I’m not for his executions of opponents, but the US has a lot to do with Cuba’s poverty. The US is a world tyrant.
Troll
We can thank the current business model that's being applied to our public schools thanks to the likes of Bill Gates and other billionaires who have heavily influenced public education policy.
Gates has lobbied for the drill and kill strategy of American public schools. Gates is all in for "data-driven solutions." The data is clear. His strategy has not improved outcomes yet he is a passionate advocate of high-stakes testing.
Ironically Bill Gates and his children attended Lakeside School. The home page on their website says, “This is a place for curious minds.” Judging from the photos on their website, students play music, they work together on projects, they hike in the woods, they learn about geometric patterns by working with manipulatives, and they share food from worldwide cultures. There is no sign of relentless standardized testing, which Gates has promoted for our public schools. Curious.
I agree wholeheartedly with the need for civic education, and I would add on to that the need for early education in a foreign language and world geography. Children learn languages easily when they are very young, and in doing so, are able to expand their view of the world. I think world geography used to be a subject in school but we are woefully lacking in that area. Most Americans are very provincial and lack a basic knowledge of the world outside of the U.S. So yes, civic education to understand our own country, along with an education about the world outside would hopefully serve to enlighten and broaden minds.
excellent: every country i've lived in (only a dozen so far), have a strong language program where students learn another language -- and not just for a year or two ... most of them learn a language for their entire equivalent of k-12 education. (and quite a few add another language to the mix when they reach an age where they're allowed to choose whether to study another language.)
I got to teach in France, and students had been studying English since 4th grade, and had then added German or Spanish at the 8th grade level, and some kids added a third language in high school. I would say, though, that they knew a lot of grammar and read difficult texts, but could not communicate with me at all, lol. The Nordic countries do a much better job, imo. I think you have to ask yourself what are the goals? Fluency? Those kids didn't have it after years of instruction. Exposure to other cultures? There are better ways to do that, I think. Learning about one's own language by learning another? I think most of us did this in U.S. foreign language classes and there was value in that. By all means, I'm for world language education -- just spent 28 years doing it -- but I think we always need to ask what we specifically want from it. Kids can get a decent measure of fluency in three semesters with the right methods.
This! I spent 4 years in Spanish, getting A’s btw and was never close to being fluent. I’ve learned more from neighbors, friends and bad bunny😅 it’s 100% what you specifically want or need from it! My mother was 12yo when she came to the US from Western Samoa and she had to learn English, who in the Us speaks samoan? Her mom never learned because my mom was able to help her translate after she learned. So the necessity for my grandmother to learn was met. However there are many Spanish speaking migrants whom after being in this country for years aren’t very fluent in English, it’s only because this same scenario and most commonly if you’re getting any kind of literature there is a Spanish side available. It’s also very difficult to learn between proper and slang with every language. Imagine learning English and having to understand something like “butt dialing” and “booty call”, you don’t learn these differences between proper use and slang. Or words/phrases that have multiple meaning, “set” and “no worries”. I saw a video the other day when an Uber passenger said “thank you” to their driver he kept saying “who cares” because that was his English interpretation of “no worries”, the man was just trying to say don’t worry about it. When it’s a necessity it’s learned much faster and with the right methods! Learning language for good grades does not result in fluency, I forgot mostly everything from Spanish class .....Donde esta el sacapuntas...... “Where’s the pencil sharpener?” Didnt help me much after.
Liv ; I had a friend who was born in Germany and came to America as a young woman. She was a member of a 'German Club' at the local university and used to go to meetings regularly. I asked her what they do at the club, and she said that they speak German to each other while they keep up with German news and culture. Basically, she said "if you don't use it, you lose it". My husband was in Germany for 9 years while in the U. S. Air Force. He was fairly fluent when I met him, but it faded in a relatively short time. Eventually , he ran into a former associate who attempted to engage him in conversation, and had to shrug his shoulders and admit he was 'beyond rusty'.
Yes! Use it or lose it and I am beyond rusty with my Spanish but I’ve managed to get the exact pronunciation of the words I do know just right! If I say a few words accurately it sounds as if I’m very fluent and people try to have an entire conversation with me and I have to sadly say sorry No hablo espanol......mind you, I’m def brown with dark hair so I’m assumed to be Mexican mostly and when I don’t know how to speak it some folks think I’m playing dumb because the “look” and pronunciation is there but the fluency not so much😅
That must be frustrating! My niece was in the Peace Corps and travelled to South America and Spain. She made friends in Spanish speaking countries and lives in Arlington VA now. Her FB posts have many translations and posts from around the world. Still, it must be challenging for her to keep her language skills in Spanish sharp. She managed the 18 Million dollar food budget when Haiti was recovering from an earthquake when she was single and worked for an N.G.O. in Washington. She had degrees in public health and nutrition. and wanted to help Black and Brown women especially with nutrition. As an exchange high school student, she was chided for hiding her identity, because her teacher said she was obviously Spanish. Our family had some ancestry in the Basque region ; our mother was French Canadian, and Irish. our father was English/Scottish descent. It's a small world.
i currently live in norway and nearly everyone here is fluent in english. they mostly attain their fluency through being glued to american TV -- which means the norwegians should be asking what else their citizens are learning besides english language skills?
Love this. Yes, that is what the Swedish people I met told me -- they learned English from TV because it is not dubbed as it is in France.
That’s a terrific idea. I read that in Canada they are teaching first graders two other languages. People all over Europe learn two and three languages, which opens the mind to other people.
I agree Sally. As a former educator I observed that after school sports were more important and received far more money than 'dull' academic subjects like geography, language, real history. I taught Chemistry, physics and astronomy for 15 years at Junior High School. During this time I coached the Odyssey of the Mind team, Invent America team, and Aggie team. I was also the 8th grade advisor. I drove my team members to all competitions, bought whatever they needed to compete. One year the student council gave me a check for $100 and a plaque, for all the effort I put in. The male teacher who coached the football team got $800 extra per year from the school district.
Right, Fay, I hear you and this emphasis on sports over academics continues on in colleges and universities. I guess it's all about the money, surprise, surprise.
Despotism, slavery, and authoritarianism all hold hands when it comes to education. We must start educating our young people to respect our constitution as it is intended and to learn that no one is above the law.
Absolutely, JAB! Respect for far more than our constitution, though. All of Robert's elements are critical, especially #3 and #4.
Sadly, though, what is really needed is to educate the adults, which is the most difficult part!
Neil deGrasse Tyson had it in spades: "The problem in society is not kids not knowing science. The problem is adults not knowing science. They outnumber kids 5 to 1, they wield power, they write legislation. When you have scientifically illiterate adults, you have undermined the very fabric of what makes a nation wealthy and strong."
JAB ; It's true that slaveholders were told that it was against the law to educate 'their' slaves. That is at the heart of the banning of books and laws criminalizing the teaching of history of Blacks, Brown and indigenous people and also the history (herstory) of women of all races.
From your pen to God's ear. I completely agree. Currently our world is more about me, myself and I. 😢
MBH ; They all say : "I've got mine, hooray for me and to hell with everyone else!
Makes me so sad
I also think teachers should be better paid rather than being one of the lowest paid professions. These days, they should probably also get combat pay.
Better pay would, hopefully, entice the best and the brightest into the profession. Would-be teachers should not have a degree only in Education; they should also have a degree in a teaching subject as well--perhaps a 5-year combined BA or BSc or BMus / BEd or a 4 year Bachelor's degree and a 2 year after degree in Education. Entrance into Education programs should be highly competitive, requiring the highest marks in all university subjects. Students who qualify should be given a full scholarship to encourage them to take up the 5 or 6 year academic challenge without accruing crippling debt--subject, of course, to their keeping their grades up..
A two-year National Service requirement such as Dr. Reich proposes could allow would-teachers to have classroom experience as teacher's aides to find out if they enjoy teaching and are suited to it before committing themselves, and some of their classroom experience could be counted toward their Education degree.
Teachers want respect. They are scapegoats and not allowed to teach. Their hands are tied as many are forced to follow scripts and programs that make businesses rich but do nothing for teachers.
I love my profession and taught for 20 years. Quite a few of those years were before nclb. I left the profession, like many teachers, when I was no longer allowed to use best practice in the classroom.
I agree. The decline came with the common assessment movement where everyone is supposed to teach the same watered-down lessons on the same day in the same way with the sole purpose of reducing parent complaints to admins. This is the end of quality ed because good teachers lose any passion they had for their subject and any freedom they had to experiment and do it better each year. Thankfully, in World Languages, we flew under the radar and were not held to these destructive frameworks, but core subject teachers and elementary teachers really suffer.
There’s a line between parental involvement and intimidation because their kid didn’t get an “A” etc.
The business model has exacerbated this as parents are now customers vrs partners. Public schools and teachers can't win.
The points you make are excellent, and I agree with the exception of requiring two years of service with a "modest stipend". I have helped run a number of programs for inner city and Native American youth, and I have learned that in many families in these communities the work that young people do helps to support their families. If they are not available to care for their younger siblings and older relatives, and if they cannot make a salary that helps pay the bills, you will unfairly burden their families. In our programs we have provided salaries equivalent to what they would otherwise make, and provided services to the families to help offset the loss of assistance from their students during the time they are busy with activities we provide like STEM education (including bioethics and a good helping of civics). You have to remember that young people from some communities are not able to engage in work that benefits either themselves or the larger public without compensating for what their families will be burdened with in their absence.
Thank you for drawing this to the attention of us all. The idea of the student years as a time of freedom from the cares of the work-world is far from what TA/RAs. interns and public service students are dealing with. They usually face heavy burdens and should be able to live decently while learning about the public service sector.
I would think that having young people engaged in meaningful work might possibly decrease a certain fascination with guns and violence. But having someone in each community watching for those who might be at risk for violent behavior or suicide might help more survive the turbulent years in our culture.
There are two groups of people in the US (in every nation) that we depend on for our well-being and future: children and senior citizens. They are not the people who add to the wealth and power of any single individual in the US; rather they are the people who will inherit the nation (and world) and try to make their mark and serve others or, alternately, the people who connect us to what has gone before, our heritage, traditions, and values. To put it bluntly, the kids and seniors are worth far far less in terms of actual wealth and power than the powerful single individuals at the helm: the Musks, Gates, Romneys, Cruz's, Bezos who we take for our leaders (in all things, even in terms of ethics and civic responsibilities) instead of the kids and seniors we generally ignore. We are more or less content to deprive and/.or ignore kids and seniors since they contribute very little in monetary terms to the economy and are considered drains on the finances of both government and society. (They are unseen and generally unattended to in meaningful ways unless they ruffle the waters and create some sort of crisis,) The past couple of weeks we have seen what happens when those in power and in government prioritize wealth and power over everyone else. when kids are deprived of their futures (what might have been) and seniors are stripped of the most modest mundane niche in everyday life that one could imagine. All for the sake of wealth and power in the boardroom or the government office. It is left to the moderate and lower-income workers to foot the bill and most of that bill is due to the unwillingness of company heads and their surrogates-in-government to meet the obligations that go with the rich rewards they provide for themselves. If we (or any nation) continue with the system of providing the most profit for those who are already at the top of the heap and selling their souls for the almighty $$$, we will end up in universal poverty and it won't just be poverty in financial terms but, more importantly, in human and humane terms. To save our kids and ourselves, we need to deal with the threat of gun violence that is part of The American Way and focus on enriching lives and not destroying them in their beginning--and their end. Why are we here? Is it to accrue personal wealth and enlarge our stockportfois? Or is it to learn as much as we can, have some fun and adventure, and help others along the way? We do well to reflect on what we are doing for others as well as ourselves.
Thank you. Presumably, we should treat all youths in national service equally. Would minimum wage be adequate with additional help for families in such situations?
This is definitely a discussion that should be had during the development of such a program. There is a potential to do a great deal of good if students can engage in dignified work that includes mentoring and access to social services rather than bottom wrung jobs with no future. For example, when our students (250 a year) were able to spend meaningful time working with mentors (professionals, university faculty, grad students), were able to access social services like immigration counselors, and were fed two meals on Saturdays, they thrived. But we paid them for their time, provided transportation and food, and did not expect them to pay for anything. There is a great inequality inherent in what students do on their weekends and summer - our students worked, while their higher income peers were able to attend enrichment programs. When we were able to run a 6 week residential summer school, our students did not fall behind over the summer months - but we had to pay them to make up for the salary they would normally have brought home. The flip side is that a period of service for higher income students would be of great benefit - we included the children of our mentors and staff in our program, and having students from homes where the parents were doctors, lawyers, and professionals in our program was a great experience for everyone.
Republican political operative Karl Rove asserted that ignorant people are easier to control, years before Trump proclaimed, "I love the poorly educated."
Former late night host Jay Leno had a segment called Jaywalking, in which he would go out in the plaza outside his studio or on a public street and ask random people simple civics questions, sometimes taken from the citizenship test. Their ignorance was astonishing. For example, they could not identify the sitting vice president at the time, and did not know how many justices sit on the U.S. Supreme Court. More than half of Americans cannot name all five freedoms protected by the First Amendment. So, yes, we need civics education, along with education on why it is important.
Professor, this is a powerful and convincing essay. I can't see how anyone could say it better without writing a book. The only worry that arises from me is the way our education system works, with local school boards and State run departments of education, we don't seem to have the tools to deploy the things you have suggested? It seems, once again, what we need is more Democrats in positions of influence and power, including in education, who will work against narrow, parochial, culturally-defined education and who will work for the goals and objectives you have surveyed in this piece. I hope we can do that.
Oh my gosh, you nailed it. This is exactly the problem, and exactly the solution. This is what I am working for in my state right now.
Go for it!
Right on the money, sir. Yes, absolutely. Back to learning basic core principles that I think you have most beautifully outlined here.
Also believe you have identified an important fissure in 1973 that may explain for me why I have felt a divide repeatedly in younger generations
With younger generations on issues of involvement & commitment & belief even in social & moral good . . . Effecting even America's "work ethic"; it's like the stuffing & the backbone was removed from us during that period.
I was lucky enough a few years later, '75 or '76, to listen in school to a young woman from Israel speak about her manditory service, which she was still in the middle of, in her country's military. I was very impressed & remember considering that a brilliant & fair & sensible thing for a country to have. I still perceive Israel's strength to be derived in good measure from this practice.
israel is not democratic and is shockingly oppressive to Palestinians. This is not just a “belief.”. It’s well documented.
I do not disagree with you.
I agree with both. But the two years in service puts every young person in the same position and tends to build a strong nation. Wouldn’t it improve if young Palistanians were included.
Actually, they are if they’re uncritical of Israel. Believe it or not, there are Palestinian Zionists. Check out Yoseph Haddad online. Horrible. The IDF is solidly anti-Palestinian.
All sound like excellent recommendations.
From childhood, thanks to my mom, I've traveled -- first by car to 48 states, then as an airline pilot to many countries, not for quick visits but returning frequently, getting to know the culture and people. My small-New-England-town, non-traveling friends still make race jokes and vote MAGA, but travel has brought me to see the world in a different way.
That didn't happen because I went to school with other types of students -- that helps -- but travel made the greatest difference. So I'd support traveling "corps" or other experiences for students. I'd make it mandatory for teachers.
Second, I'd reform education. I remember reading of a politician -- maybe Bush --whose brother corrupted the testing and textbook business. And deVos. And as a town meeting member, myself, seeing the education department flagrantly waste money because they had to "use it or lose it" for the next year's budget. I think education needs help with corruption as well as curriculum.
I'd reform teachers unions. I think they suffer some of the same problems as the pilots unions. Yes, unions are necessary to fight abuse by power, but a person would be naive to believe that power and ill-gotten gains corrupt only corporate and not union leaders.
I'd change teacher requirements to make room for people who have extensive travel, life, and/or professional experience rather than only the "right piece of paper." In my education, the teachers who made the biggest positive impact on me and my classmates were "doers" -- professionals taking time from their real-world experience to teach. They didn't teach "by the book." Given a classroom evaluation from a by-the-book supervisor, they's probably fail, but they taught useful reality and life skills, and they had credibility.
There's a saying, "Those who can't do, teach." In my education, that was largely true. Most of those who taught full time and didn't "do" out in the world were not the best teachers. In our current system, teaching below college level is generally a full-time job. Therein lies what might be a problem. Maybe a different system could help -- maybe a trimester in the workplace once per year might bring more practical viewpoints to the classroom.
Our current system is dismal. We should be the best. Therefore, perhaps we need to practice first-principle thought, toss out all status quo, and design a new system from the ground up.
The worst teachers I had were the small-minded, inexperienced people who had the certificate boxes checked but had no life experience, could teach only by the book, and possessed little creativity and no original-thinking skills. I had some very bad teachers, damaging influences, institutionalzed by tenure. Yet, barring political warring, one almost dares not admit that all teachers are not saints, but until we face reality, the problems can't be addressed.
Based on the state of our country and the fact that half of our voting public -- mostly products of our education system -- support a lunatic, lying, corrupt despot, maybe our education system needs overall rethinking.
Excellent response. Thank you for sharing. I agree with you. Sending hugs from Arizona
This article is another reminder of how far we have fallen as a people. You and I are about the same age, and WE let this happen! Let us admit it; we chose MONEY over democracy. Our generation went to college to learn how to make more MONEY, not to learn how to sustain a democracy. The American vision of the ideal is no longer the sustaining of a democracy; the ideal is now about a vision of wealth. We live in a state of denial. The American caste is made of money not the ideals of a government. I am seventy-four years old, retired, and live in a home with a swimming pool and beautiful gardens. We have two grandchildren we spoil with time and gifts. We travel when and where we want. I'm vote Democrat. I'm a hypocrite. I have a lot of rich Democratic friends who scream about equality but live this lifestyle. We need to be about taking less from this earth and its economy. I am a hypocrite, and I don't like it. I've taken more than I deserve! Have you?
David. Most baby boomers are hypocrites. I see this every day. They complain from their million dollar homes, play golf, travel around the world, drive big motor homes and do nothing for their communities. Sad but true. Now, there are exceptions. I like being around those folks.
We can’t have a healthy democracy without an informed citizenry; one educated to understand how a healthy democracy should work, why ours is currently very sick, and wanting passionately to return it to good health. Perhaps two years of service to our people would be the antidote needed to show our young that there is more to life than “I” phones, fancy cars and continuous entertainment. I love the idea of a civilian conservation corps as one way of doing that service.
I do, too. Back in the day, Americans were asked to sacrifice so much for the good of the cause, and today we ask nothing of them and only offer tax breaks and programs to help. We need to make it clear that nothing comes without our contribution and yes, some sacrifice.
I’d love to see even a tenth of the military budget (preferably more) reallocated to the Peace Corps.
Add Teacher Corps, Americorps.
Guns v butter. Cost plus contracting. IMHO the main problem with the military budget is that we produce expensive weapons that are obsolete by the time they are produced. About a trillion dollars is unaccounted for in the Afghanistan/Iraq endeavor.
Dear Robert, I have followed you closely ever since you created "Inequality for All" and I'll keep my modest subscription here because of all the good work (brilliant, really, thank you) you do. However, I really wish you would consider pulling back from your partisan belief that there is a good party or at least a lesser-evil party.
I don't believe in Gods, Devils or evil. I believe in consequences. I don't believe there is a good party or a bad party, just good people and bad people. Democrats only ever talk the talk, but never walk the walk. Who is worse really, depraved oligarchs whose system deprives the many for the benefit of the few or the enabler oligarchs who "give back" paltry crumbs of their wealth to treat the symptoms of diseases they perpetuate because it pays them well to do so.
The billionaire psychopaths will wrap their little get-together in Davos today having done NOTHING to treat the disease, that is poverty, whether spiritual, intellectual or economic that is destroying our world and its people. Please start calling out Democrats for the craven enablers they really are. Your voice can really make a difference if you discontinue paying lip-service to a do-nothing Party.
The Enabler Party is as much to blame as The Perpetrator Party. How else can you read giving $40B to the military industrial complex to kill all the ordinary people in Ukraine while the gluttonous perps and their enablers are safe and well-fed in Davos?
I think most of us are still idealistic and hopeful enough to believe that our "public servants" in government have our best interests at heart. However, I think it's far more likely that the Dems want to appear to be listening to us and acting in accordance with our decisions when, in fact, they only provide lip-service, not policies and programs for meaningful change. The Trumpy Party has given up all pretense of "serving the public" and is, instead, serving the corporations and big=wigs who have funded their campaigns. When you think about it rationally, the approach of members of the Trumpy Party makes a lot of sense: there's nothing to be gained in monetary and power terms by throwing your lot (and your time and energies) with people who need help to survive; it makes more sense to take the funds the corporations give you and feather your own nest. The fact of the matter is that neither party worries unduly about "serving the public" so we are left to flail about. It would help if the public was more aware of the issues and problems we face but, well, the public is also heavily invested in lip-service and serving themselves. Ah ha, a nation of self-serving ignorant fools who cannot understand that, sooner or later, they will pay the price and not their "public servants."
Neil deGrasse Tyson: "What are the lessons to be learned from this journey of the mind through the universe? That humans are emotionally fragile, perennially gullible, hopelessly ignorant masters of an insignificantly small speck in the cosmos. Have a nice day."
Their "public servants" will pay the price, too.
BTW, when are we going to stop referring to all politicians as "public servants?"
By enclosing the term "public servants" in quotes, I am suggesting something else entirely. You do realize that, right?
Absolutely, Lanae. The first time I used it I was referring to your use of the term "public servants." (Eventually they will pay the price, when the whole system breaks down or if they're actually held accountable someday.) The second time I used it I was referring to the way the actual politicians refer to themselves, trying to con us into not noticing what their priorities really are.
Some politicians are actually honestly there to serve the public (public servants). Too many are there to "serve" their preferred fraction of the "public." -- themselves along with their benefactors and ideologies ("public servants").
Charles. I don't know who you are or where you live but you hit the nail on the head! KUDOS to you. I agree there are good people and bad people. However, in today's world hard to tell which is which. Hugs from Arizona.
i agree with you 110%. as a scientist, i am daily confronted by shockingly poor science knowledge amongst many of the people i deal with, and this is often accompanied by astoundingly high levels of pseudoscience retention. it's almost as though people think their lack of science knowledge (particularly their ignorance of biology) is some sort of badge of honour, or maybe indicates their membership of some secret elite class of people.
perhaps part of a good education should include some multi-disciplinary education in the higher grades, such as a class that examines the relationship between culture, history, geography and pandemics? (i mention this specifically because this was a class i designed, as part of my own requirements as a grad student, when i was in university.) such a class would help cement the knowledge that students have learned piecemeal in their earlier years, and help give them greater critical insights into how events actually play out in the real world, and why.
i find that a poor knowledge of science is coupled with a stunning inability to think critically about literally everything. what passes as critical thinking amongst nearly everyone whom i meet is actually an overwhelming lack of respect for expertise, so a person who has devoted their entire life to learning about a particular discipline is viewed as being less knowledgable than a random man (and it's always a random white man) on the street.
one white man's opinion is worth far more than the lifetime of expertise and knowledge generated by 10 women or ethnic or social minorities or immigrants or any non-white non-het group you care to name. for example, as most people know by now, the entire covid-19 disinformation campaign led to more than one million american deaths (the official death count is one million, but the estimated count is at least three times this). unfortunately, these deaths were not limited to those who ardently and openly professed utter bullshit, but included at least as many innocent lives -- people who had health issues (immunocompromised, needed surgery to address health issues, or what have you) that made it nearly impossible for them to avoid becoming a casualty in this war of pseudominds. thanks to this still-growing mountain of self-destructive conspiracy theories, the entire world is now confronted with long-haul covid, which is destroying bodies and lives and will further destroy the already compromised health care system.
and this one -- seemingly small -- thing occurred because people have no real knowledge of science, nor do they have any critical thinking skills.
perhaps one of the possible options for people to serve their country for 2 years (in your educational/citizenship scenario) is for 18-20 year olds to step up and help the medical establishment? they could receive training as nurse's aids, EMTs, lab technicians, physical therapists, cooks, and similar jobs, making it easier for doctors and nurses -- especially nurses, around which the entire medical system revolves -- to do their jobs, so fewer of them would burn out and end up fleeing the medical profession in guilt and despair.
so you are right: it's long past time to enact educational reforms, and your suggestions are excellent starting points.