DEFAULT SETTINGS

by Ruth A. Sheets

My computer and I are at a near constant tug of war to see who or what will become master.  Sometimes I win and can get my computer to cooperate to do the many tasks I need it to do.  I use a screen reader which adds an additional layer to the challenges and the sense of victory I feel when I complete an article, a lesson plan, or an activity for use with my students.

Sometimes the computer “wins.”  Its little victories come daily when my screen reader just stops talking to me, requiring some extra keystrokes to get things going again.  The big victory happened last November when my hard drive crashed.  I was truly lucky because I had backed up most of the material and the folks at Geek Squad were able to retrieve the rest after about 10 days of computer vacation. 

When I got my computer back home, I discovered it had been returned to its default settings. These settings reflect the actions the manufacturer assumes most users would want as automatic.  I had changed most of the problem actions on my pre-crash computer, but now had very annoying settings adding to the usual challenges.  I had forgotten that numbering can be automatic even if I don’t want it.  Autocorrect has its own time-consuming moments.  I had to relearn the arrangement of the toolbars and still can’t find some of the things I need. 

I suppose default settings are necessary for computers, but I am noticing that there are default settings in other places in our lives. These settings generally aren’t noticed until they affect us in some way or are brought to our attention. 

Lately, I have been thinking about the kinds of questions reporters and pollsters ask interviewees.  “How does it feel to be an immigrant in America?  What kinds of challenges have you encountered as a woman in engineering (or physics, or aeronautics)?”  There are numerous books and articles about what it’s like to be Black or Hispanic, or Asian in America.  

We have been exposed to these perspectives for so long that we rarely, if ever, hear anyone asking “What is it like to be male or White or rich in America or in any specific type of business."  If we stop to consider why this is, it becomes clear that the default setting for America is White in general and male in particular and their goal is to be rich. 

It is possible to change the computer default settings if you know the menus that cover each one, but changing the American default setting will be much more difficult.

On the computer it is assumed that people might not like or be able to use the factory settings, so changing them is not too hard.  In America, many forces are in play to make sure that the default remains as it is.  Efforts to limit everyone else’s power and influence work behind the scenes all day and pop into the spotlight often enough to be sure we all know How things are supposed to be. 

Our various government entities have worked hard over time to ensure that African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans have few opportunities to succeed and are regularly blamed for the high levels of poverty they face. Educational opportunities for them in no way come close to matching what white males receive.  Women are regularly undermined and victimized, the result being low self-worth and frequent denigration of women by other women as well as by men.    

Immigrants are maligned as criminals, rapists, invaders even though fewer are coming here than in the past and have a much lower crime rate than non-immigrants.  They contribute extensively to our society as well.

It is hard to change this default setting when an entire political party, Republicans, depends on it for their existence.  Republicans point out the token women and people of color they include, but revel in their whiteness and maleness.  Their leaders find often ingenious ways of blaming our nation’s problems on “the other.”  They state directly that when racists go for a “reset” to default, and people protest, there are “fine people on both sides.”  Those White men who are afraid people will move from “factory settings” to something else will do whatever they can to keep that from happening.  Fear is one of their most effective weapons and they have had generations to learn just how to wield it with the greatest impact. And, there is a lot of money and power spreading fear far and wide. 
We don’t need to breathe in the fear.  We can become more vigilant and pay more attention to how we are being treated, what we are being called.  Who is speaking?  Who is listening?  Who is taking us seriously?  

So, perhaps just as I had to change settings to make my computer usable, we who believe in diversity and the value of immigration must enter the settings of inclusion we want for our nation.  It will be hard.  We may face a crash of our hard drive (our democracy) and experience new efforts to reinstall White male settings (white supremacy, repression of women,  etc.).  We will have to work together to find the right “menus” that  help us get to equality and appreciation of all persons.  We must  make our society work for all, not just the default.  

EMERGENCY??

by Ruth A. Sheets

On Friday, February 15, 2019, Donald Trump declared a national emergency.  He claimed the United States desperately needs a wall on our southern border, you know, the one with Mexico.  He told us he really didn’t need to do it now, but he was going to do it anyway.  He didn’t get the money he wanted for his wall.  Boo Hoo!

I realize Mr. Trump’s knowledge is severely limited, but one would expect a 72-year-old man would know what an emergency is.  For a situation to be an emergency, there must be an actual impending or ongoing disaster where many lives and property are in jeopardy.

No one should be able to declare An emergency unless there is actually a bombing, a missile coming in our direction, an earthquake shaking America, a volcano erupting, a flood happening, a tornado forming, a hurricane barreling down on our coast, a blizzard overwhelming territory, wildfires spreading, or climate change threatening to destroy our planet.  There are a few other things that MIGHT be considered emergencies, very few.  A stupid destructive, racist unnecessary wall on our southern border does not fit the criteria.

It seems to me the only emergency here is a child-man president who constantly throws tantrums that Republicans/conservatives feel they need to respond to by giving him what he wants.  Every parent knows this is not the way to deal with a spoiled whiny child. 

Republicans know our southern border is not a crisis or any kind of emergency in the traditional, English language definition.  It is, however, a way of energizing white people who have been immersed in thoughts/beliefs that non-white people are bad, well, dangerous and those people are coming across our southern border in hordes.

Reality, of course, is quite different.  People are not swarming across the border and for the most part, are crossing at actual border crossings and requesting asylum.  They are mostly families desperate to get away from the death threats and destruction in their own countries.  For those people, getting to the border is an emergency.  They need help.  They have travelled a thousand miles or more to find safety.  The US border is just one more barrier to safety for those families.

Mr. Trump has been informed of these facts, but he does not care.  Truth does not penetrate his wall obsession, a “beautiful wall, the biggest, most beautiful wall ever.” 

He visited the border states, but saw only what his handlers wanted him to see.  What did they want Mr. Trump to see, the parts of the wall that exist and the crowds of people in groups that have been forced to wait for their asylum pleas to be heard.  Did Mr. Trump hear the people who are suffering?  Of course not!  Did he talk to the land owners whose land will be stolen through eminent domain?  Of course not!  Did he get to see kids in cages?  Of course not!

When you don’t see the actual problems, and you are as limited in ability to understand as Mr. Trump is, you cannot imagine the true suffering that is occurring.  A “simple” wall seems the solution to a problem that does not even exist.  That is, for anyone beyond the scared white people who rarely have contact with people of color, in other words, Mr. Trump’s base.       

This poorly informed group of people forget they will be paying for a wall Mr. Trump told them Mexico would pay for.  Those scared followers of Mr. Trump assume he will take care of them and protect them from the brown hordes at the border, so they are OK paying for it.  Or, they are until they see their taxes go up, then whine about taxes.  Their Republican, white representatives passed that tax deal one dark night after midnight in December 2017.  They are only now reaping the fruits of the ridiculous tax law, not even read by those who voted for it.

Tell me again, what is the emergency?  Are people from all over the United states rushing to help build the wall as they rushed to New Orleans after Katrina or California during and after the wildfires?  Is Mr. Trump deputizing everyone on the border to stop people and drugs?  The answer to both is “NO.” 

That makes this “crisis” an emergency only in Mr. Trump’s childish mind.  That is true, but someone is benefiting from encouraging this insanity. 

We can and should speculate who that is.  Perhaps it is just Mr. Trump’s scared white supporters.  Maybe it’s the contractors who will build the wall.  It could be the agencies that will gain all that land on the border taken from the people who have lived there and owned the land for generations.  Maybe it’s all of the above and more. 

The media should be looking for the beneficiaries of this emergency declaration.  Investigating them would be worth our trouble because clearly these people/corporations have too much power and influence on our government. 

Strong laws to protect our nation from presidential caprice would also help.  I suspect Republicans in Congress currently don’t want to do anything to make the man-child in the White House angry with them.  Who knows what he might do in his next tantrum?  He could take money from their pet state projects as Mr. Trump proposes to do to California, stopping their high-speed railway development. 

It is not acceptable that this nation be ruled by fear of a childish president, but it seems there are just not enough Republican adults in the room, and Democrats can’t do it alone.    

THE WALL

by Ruth A. Sheets

For nearly four years. Mr. Trump has ranted about a wall on the US southern border with Mexico.
He and his followers claim that all the ills of our nation are coming through that border and that we can fix everything if we only build a wall. 

What kind of a wall?  Well, that changes on a regular basis. 

When Mr. Trump preached to his crowds, his devoted cult, he sent up a variety of test balloons to see what kind of wall they would respond best to.  It seems he got the most cheers when he called out 30 feet, a 30-foot concrete wall!!

Beyond the rally attenders, it was not clear just who wanted the 30-foot wall.  Eventually, pollsters did ask the question.  It appears the farther you are from the southern border, the more you like the idea of a wall, and, oh yes, the whiter you are too.

The folks who want the wall most, rarely encounter outside of media, anyone who is not of their racial, religious, or ethnic group, although racial is the greatest defining factor. 

The “far from the border gang” tends to be very conservative, believing in their “small government” stances, their certainty that reverse racism (whatever that is) is the most pressing problem white people face.  Or, maybe the most pressing problem is that hordes of dark-skinned immigrants who don’t share their values/look like them are going to come and take their jobs.  It’s a toss-up, I think and nurtured by fear and hate.

How did Americans, so completely ignorant of people from different groups come to their hatred of the others.  It probably started with their family and community.  Whenever they had contact with other people, non-white people, they returned to their homes in their carefully maintained white zones where they were warned often that if a family of color moved in, the property values would fall and their homes would be worthless.  That can be pretty scary to new home owners. 

Local and Federal Government sponsored programs endorsed this idea and primarily lent to white, reliable  families.  These entities made sure the fear and hatred of the other was stoked well enough to ensure that particularly, black families would find no welcome.  Realtors only showed people of a particular color the “right home for your family,” in the correct color zone.

This has been going on for many decades, and has resulted in segregated communities of color that somehow manage to have the poorest schools, the worst cared-for streets and infrastructure, the most poverty, while neighboring white enclaves have “superior” schools, lovely clean streets, parks, etc.  The white families rarely even have to encounter children of color in schools because they just don’t attend them.  And, anyway, they couldn’t keep up.  They’re too lazy, uncaring, and well, not bright enough, you know, “I don’t mean anything by that, of course.  I’m not racist.  I respect everyone.” 

The residents of Far From The Border  claim to love small government while sucking everything they can from it.  Gotta have those farm subsidies, good internet and postal services, good roads “so we can get to our jobs,” good jobs in government contracted companies, help to keep their local hospitals open, drug programs available to those facing the opioid crisis, and on and on.  They are insulated from everything but what they want while living in their own narrow world.  They don’t see that so much of what they want is paid for by taxpayers from all over the country, even those people of color they disdain.

What makes residents of Far From The Border think a wall of any kind will stop that imagined menace? 

The fuel for their fear and hatred of what is on the other side of the southern border is perfectly directed by social media, Fox news, and current government leaders who tell them that everyone has ignored them and their problems, particularly Democrats. 

These residents are fearful of being exposed to ideas that are not already their own.  They seem to loathe change, certain they cannot face it, that they will be inadequate to its demands.  They appear to be afraid America won’t be the America of their childhood and all those people are the cause.  They truly don’t know that America has moved on, changed to adapt to new realities.

The purveyors of fear and hate work to change their patrons’ worldview and the way they feel about and treat the people they meet and interact with. 

I saw this happen with my mother who was generally a welcoming person who read the newspapers and checked out whatever was in the news.  a little over a decade after my father died, she married a man I had known for years and had seen as caring, sensible, and nice.  He had started to listen to Rush Limbaugh and had him on the radio every day, getting my mother listening too as it was always in the background.  In conversations, Mom started making disparaging remarks about black people (even though her beloved granddaughter’s father was black).  She talked against gays and transgender people (even though her oldest daughter was both).  She started commenting that women were getting too much above themselves (even though she was an enormously competent, powerful woman in her jobs). 

Mr. Limbaugh spouted these things on his shows.  I heard it when I was visiting and would challenge her.  My sisters and I asked her to turn Rush off when we visited.  She eventually did, but I think the damage had been done.  I suspect Mom is not unique.

So, back to the wall.  The wall is a figment of Mr. Trump’s imagination fueled by people and institutions that want to preserve white America as America.  The wall will stop nothing and refugees and other immigrants will continue to come here, but this wall, whether 30 ft. concrete or “steel slats,” gives this crowd of scared white people (who would never consider a 30-ft. wall on our border with Canada) a symbol and Mr. Trump something else he can put his name on.

A BULLY’S DEAL

By Ruth A. Sheets

On this 2^nd anniversary of Mr. Trump’s inauguration, he is pushing a “deal” supposedly to end the partial shut-down of the US Government which is now a month old.  How can one tell this is a bully’s deal?  It is the kind of deal the schoolyard bully offers his victims.  The bully hits a student for no particular reason and keeps hitting.  He then offers to stop if the kid gives him money or some other “valuable” thing.

Mr. Trump has been punching the American people for the full two years he has been in office.  He ended protections for the Dreamers and for people who have temporary status, for no particular reason, just because.  He really wants a wall from his victims (lunch money).  He offers to “re-open the government, to extend” protections for the people from whom he removed protections.  He’ll also throw in some money for border security (we already have a lot of security there).  It’s a bully’s deal.  He is holding the American people hostage for a  border wall, classic bullying.

His audacity is tremendous, but not surprising.  He whines that Democrats don’t want to “deal,” but when a bully has struck as often as Mr. Trump has, there is no reason anyone should make a deal with him.  He will then note his attack’s success and use the strategy again, perhaps on something even more critical, like a war, perhaps with Iran.

Donald Trump has the intellectual maturity of an 8-year-old, and a spoiled one at that.  Republicans in Congress and in the nation in general are afraid of this out-of-control child.  They have given him the keys to the car, then let him drive.  When he crashes, they blame someone else for not getting out of his way, usually the Democrats.

Hopefully, Nancy Pelosi and congressional Democrats will step up and parent Donald effectively.  He needs to hear “no” often and be guided to do the right things for the American people.  So far, his lying has had no consequences.   His insults have gone unchallenged.  He has put people in charge of things who are just as childish and incompetent as he is while the “grown-ups” in the Senate have said, “Sure, whoever you want, Donnie.  We don’t want you to throw tantrums and do other disturbing things.”

So, here it is.  Donald Trump proudly caused the partial shutdown of our government.  HE ordered people to work for no pay.  HE refused to talk with Democrats with respect, thinking he can continue to get away with his babyish bullying.  HE is the one who promised his pathetic supporters a medieval wall which would end up, if built, costing them a whole lot of money since Mexico has no intention of paying for it, as Mr. Trump promised they would. 

Like a spoiled little kid, if Donald does not like something China is doing, for example, he’ll throw a tantrum and put a tariff on important goods.  Because, like a child, he cannot see the big picture, lots of people end up hurt.  He hates Barack Obama who occupied the White House before him, so he tried to destroy everything Mr. Obama worked for.  He is scared of people who are not white, male, and rich, so he does what he can to limit their power and presence.  He just has to say “I want that done,” and the kids he has appointed will do it, or at least try to. 

Fortunately, there are still a few adults in charge of things in our government, although not enough of them.

We need an uprising of the people who are sick of having a child in the White House, a child who thinks the rules apply to everyone but him, a child who lies with impunity, a child who listens to the people who have the biggest mouths and who say the most hateful things, a child who is pleased to hurt as many people as possible, as long as they are the right people to hurt.  Some steps were taken to curb Donald this past November, but there is still so much to do.  Little Donald and his bully friends have worked hard to keep the people they don’t like from voting, to keep women in their place, to keep immigrants out of our country, to undermine our democracy. 

We all need to be sure we are the competent adults who improve the current child-rearing practices when it comes to Donald Trump.  So, as we tell our children, you can’t make deals with bullies.  

We need to give Donald a time out as one does for children who can’t control themselves.  A 2-year time out would be just about right.

An Open Letter to the US Department of Education

By Ruth A. Sheets

In this administration’s pursuit of overturning human rights, the Department of Education and Betsy DeVos, you know, the woman who hates public education and wants to tap the public coffers for private schools, particularly all white conservative Christian ones, has championed a set of regulations to disregard the concerns of sexual assault survivors, particularly women and LGBTQ students on school campuses.  Her support comes from the administration and Republicans and Conservatives, you know, the super holy folks.

What is every conservative/Republican so afraid of?  Do you think LGTBQ will rub off and you will catch it?  Or, what is more likely, you hate anyone who is not like you, does not look like you, does not see the world the way you do.  Since you have proclaimed yourselves "true Christians," you think you have Jesus in your pockets.  You don't.  You are just a bunch of scared mostly men who are afraid the world is passing you by and you want to grab onto women, LGBTQ persons, immigrants, and anyone you can blame for the change you fear.  How pathetic!

I’m opposed to the proposed amendment to the rules implementing Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 published on Nov. 29, 2018 that threatens all students, including LGBTQ students.  Oh wait, you are scared of students who don't espouse your narrow beliefs too.

Coddling perpetrators would make schools more dangerous for all students, including LGBTQ students, who face high rates of sexual assault and harassment on campuses. Instead of enforcing Title IX and protecting students from assault and discrimination, your department is proposing to undermine basic protections for survivors.  Why is that?  I suspect you want to claim men just can't control themselves around rabid women or LGBTQ persons or that those people just prey on men all the time and men do nothing unsolicited to women, LGBTQ and others.  Men are the poor victims, you say. 

Shame on you.  No matter what you think, women and LGBTQ persons do not want to frame men for sexual assault.  It is a very rare woman or LGBTQ person who would put themselves through the hell of the courts to go after an "innocent" man/boy.  You know that, but, like everything else this administration does, hurting folks and taking away hard-earned rights is what you do and hope no one will stop you.  I hope you are wrong about that.  A majority of us want you all shut down and will continue to work hard to do it.

Oh yes, I almost forgot.  The appalling proposal would also allow religious schools to discriminate against LGBTQ students without notice. In case you are not sure what that means, it means kicking those students out.  Students deserve to know if a school intends to deny them admission or kick them out for being LGBTQ before they apply. Remember, if you can, this is America, not Pakistan,  Saudi Arabia, China, or Russia.  Schools should be transparent about their beliefs and actions, and should get no Federal, state, or local tax money if they discriminate against students because of race, gender, LGBTQ status, age, disability, or any other criteria beyond those necessary to be a successful student.

I hope you consider the lives of Americans before enacting these shameful regulations, although I doubt you will, since your cult leader, Mr. Trump has no empathy for anyone who is not white, male, and rich, and you guys, along with Ms. DeVos, follow him blindly.   

We'll see who you are most loyal to, Mr. Trump or the American people, our Constitution, and human rights. 

WHEN YOU JUST HAVE TO TELL THE TRUTH, WITH A LITTLE SNARK

By Ruth A. Sheets

Yesterday, I was going through my emails as usual and occasionally signing and commenting on petitions to various organizations and individuals.  I tried to choose petitions I felt were worthy of my attention.  I am sure the letters usually sent are far too long for the limited attention spans of current officials, so I often modify them somewhat to be more concise.  Sometimes, however, I include a commentary as I go along.  I was really motivated and sent the following. 

Dear EPA officials:

I know you guys really don't care about science, people's health, or just about anything else except money and how much you all can rake in as whatever office you hold. 

I find it extremely upsetting but not surprising that Mr. Trump is moving to sabotage our national Mercury Air Toxics Standards, which greatly limit the amount of mercury and other air toxins that oil-and-coal-fired power plants can emit into our air. He doesn't care that mercury and lead are extremely hazardous to children, damaging their brains and reducing their ability to think and learn. His children/grandchildren, he thinks, won't face this hazard because they are rich enough and such “good people” that it will never affect them.  Who cares about anyone else.  If they are rich too, they'd figure out how to avoid the problems.

Mr. Trump doesn't understand the word toxin).  However, you guys should understand that these elements are dangerous for everyone, but particularly for some of the most vulnerable Americans, such as pregnant women (Oh wait, men don't have to worry about that either).

These standards were broadly supported when they were first introduced, and they offer a wide range of health, economic, and environmental benefits. They prevent up to 11,000 premature deaths, 4,700 heart attacks, 5,700 hospital visits, 130,000 asthma attacks, and 540,000 sick days every single year (that is EVERY YEAR!!!!), and are estimated to deliver annual health benefits up to $90 billion, (and we thought you guys   cared only about money, when you only really cared about the money you can get for yourselves, not what our nation can save).

Your own agency found that the standards' benefits for Americans greatly outweigh compliance costs for industry, and that for every dollar spent to reduce toxic pollution from power plants, the American public sees $9 in health benefits (Oh wait, that's a different department, so who cares about that, right?  Besides, we get it that you guys are only running this department until you get caught cheating or some other illegal act and can resign with the president's "blessing.") 

Even utilities, which bear the cost of these regulations, support keeping them in place, even going as far as to express their support in a joint letter to the EPA just several months ago.  Perhaps, like your cult leader, you don't read?)

You well know this proposal is just another pro-polluter scheme aimed at propping up Big Coal at the expense of the American public. I urge you to abandon these attacks and instead stand up for public health. (I know, I'm actually laughing too.)

OK, probably not my best effort, but I am finding that for my own mental health, I have to ADD a little snark to these petitions WHICH ARE OTHERWISE EXTREMELY DRY, INFORMATIVE, BUT DRY.  And, we know how dry information touches the hearts of the EPA and other agencies.

Later last evening I just had to comment to Republicans in Congress, following the Democratic take-over of the House.  I needed this one too.

I know you guys  don't really care about the wall except that the person in the white house with the maturity of an 8-year-old school yard bully wants it.  But, you are willing to put people's lives in jeopardy to give the spoiled child what he wants.  He has no clue what any of this means, but you, who should be the parents, let the child rule the family.  Shame on you.  People who act like children need to be respected, but given appropriate limits.  One limit is that there will be no wall because a wall is wasteful, racist, environmentally unsound and just plain stupid.  That is what you should tell the child, and stand by it.  Then, overwhelmingly pass the budget without the wall in a way it will override any veto.  That would take care of it, prove you are truly patriotic Americans who care about the people and the government you are serving, and provide appropriate limits to a misbehaving spoiled bully child. 

I actually have no idea where the online petitions go after signing.  Since I know most are elaborate fund-raising activities, I suspect they are deleted into the ether once financial goals are reached.

I must admit, I use the comment sections of petitions to relieve some of my anger over the childishness of this administration and the dysfunctional parents who are not appropriately tending and guiding this out-of-control child in the White House.  They cannot blame anyone else for their poor parenting as they brought this child into the White House and keep letting him run wild over our democracy with impunity.  Naughty parents!

WHEN EDUCATION FAILS

By Ruth A. Sheets

As a teacher, I wonder what impact the planning and materials I present will have on the students with whom I work.  I try to offer them different points of view, although I do not share articles, columns, etc. that are clearly lies or conspiracy theories because I don’t want to plant those seeds. 

I know teachers work very hard to cover the materials they are required to serve up, but it seems lately, education, not just public education,  is failing our citizens. 

How is it we were unable to help 35% of our population see that a particular presidential candidate did not know enough to hold that office, that he was not a good businessman, and that the TV program he was on and so admired for was scripted, neither spontaneous nor a true showcase for his talent or lack thereof?

How is it more than 30% of our citizens believed we were being invaded on our southern border by a few thousand desperate, exhausted immigrants, mostly women and children?

How is it a significant percentage of the population approved for the Supreme Court of the United States an over-emotional, disrespectful womanizer?

How is it that many of our elected officials are ignorant of human reproduction, abortion, and related issues and make laws based on their ignorance?

How is it citizens are easily confused by a president who does not know our Constitution and ignores it on a regular basis?  Is it they don’t know it either? 

How is it people who have not visited a college campus since they graduated criticize current students as not open-minded enough when that open-mindedness only goes as far as including ultra-conservative voices?

I suspect it is we the teachers who are failing our children.  When we require only specific answers to complex questions, or just don’t ask complex questions at all, we encourage ignorance.

We claim we expect students to think critically, but when their critical thinking leads them in directions we don’t like, we use our red pencils and teacher voices to shut them down.

OK, this lack of careful thinking cannot be fully placed at our feet.  Administrators choose curricula that avoid challenge, designed to get kids through the standardized tests.

Parents are often overworked and don’t have time to check to see what kind of thinking their children are doing.  They count on the schools to take care of that, right?

State governments have cut education funds, some hoping to drive public education into the hands of private companies who can then control what children are taught, what to think.

A Secretary of Education who has no experience with education was not only nominated by someone ignorant of education but approved by Senators who should have known better and cared more about our children. 

It breaks my heart when supporters or Mr. Trump are interviewed and they can’t even speak rationally about why they support him.  They claim they want to “make America great again,” but beyond keeping immigrants out and improving the economy in some undisclosed manner, they can’t give any kind of meaningful answer.  It’s embarrassing to listen to them.  Where were their teachers?   Where is their critical thinking?   

How can we teachers do better?  What is getting in the way of our giving students the tools they truly need to live as good citizens in a democracy?  We need to have a lot of conversations about this if our democracy is to survive. 

We need to teach about advertising, propaganda, and the many tools used to get us to dismiss our critical thinking.  We need to set our own egos aside so we can hear student questions and comments that might challenge our own thinking.  Then, we must challenge theirs right back. 

For example, we need to give children choices and teach them how to determine which would be best for them at a given time.  We need to teach history, not as dates and events to be memorized, but as people like themselves making decisions, good and bad, considering the factors the men, women, and children of the past took into account as they chose their actions. 

So, fellow teachers, citizens, we have a lot of work to do.  We can’t take the chance of losing another generation to inadequate thinking and thought thieves.