Tag Archives: climate change

How much proof do we need that what we are doing is not working?

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How much proof do we need before we acknowledge what we do in our schools isn’t working and commit to trying something new? A grading period or semester; a year, a decade, or generations? These are our kids we’re talking about, our children and grandchildren.

Not every problem has an easy solution but what is so difficult about giving students a little more time to learn things they will need to know to make a decent life for themselves; things they will need to know to provide for themselves rather than be dependent on the rest of us? Time is an essential variable in the education equation.

Albert Einstein once said, “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s that I stay with problems longer.”

Is America better off with a system that impedes the ability of teachers to teach and students to learn?

Is America better off with millions of people who do not understand the science of climate change, infectious diseases, and other natural sciences?

Do we benefit from a population of millions of people who do not understand the way a democracy is supposed to work or what the U.S. Constitution means?

How is it working out to have elected officials at every level of government, who are more focused assigning blame than putting their heads together to solve the problems of a troubled society? Leaders who spend more time claiming people who disagree with us cannot be trusted, are conspiring against us, and are trying to get something for nothing.

Are such leaders and other public figures correct when they tell us the only way to keep and protect what we have is to keep other people from getting what they need? The solutions to the problems we face as a people will be found by looking out into the future, not by looking to return to a past that was never as idyllic as we like to think it was. Look at the world around us.

We have an education system in which more than half of our students do not learn things well enough they can use what they know in the real world.

We have a healthcare system that makes a lot of money for a few people but does not allow all of us to get the medical care needed to treat the illnesses and injuries of our families.

We have a justice system that seems incapable of providing justice for every citizen.

We have a society that does not provide equal opportunities for everyone.

The problems we face as a society will not be solved by us. The future will be determined by the efforts and talents of our children. Maybe we should focus our attention on doing a better job of teaching future generations what they will need to know to create a better future for their children and grandchildren.

The only way to accomplish this is to change how we teach all our nation’s children, not a fortunate few. We have great teachers. We need to give them an environment where they can practice their craft  and teach their students what they will need to know. The solution to education is right here in front of us. All we need to do is act.

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Commentary on these frightening times

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Is it not sad that so many Americans allow themselves to be manipulated by the scare tactics of leaders who rely on such trigger words as socialism, radical left, deep state, and even communism, none of which have a factual basis? It is a simple truth that when we put our heads together, without blame or recrimination, we are able to find solutions to each one of the problems we face as a people. All that is required to find such solutions is to look out on the world in search of all  things we can accomplish rather than focus on our fears and suspicions. Please consider the following.

How can so many Americans:

  • Evidence not the least bit of concern that many American citizens are being denied basic justice and fairness because of the color of their skin?
  • Follow blindly when their leaders reject the science of global warming and climate change; as well as the accepted science with respect to infectious diseases?
  • Be okay with strategies designed to prevent citizens from exercising their right to vote out of fear of whom they might vote for?
  • Seem willing to teach their children it is okay to rely on name-calling and ridicule of people with whom they disagree or choose not to like?
  • Be willing to believe government regulation of the behavior of self-serving business entities is worse than permitting them to pollute the air we breathe and water we drink,  abuse their workers, and defraud their customers?
  • Seem willing to accept the actions of hospitals and insurance companies that put their profits ahead of the health and safety of a population of patients that might, someday, include themselves?
  • Be unwilling to insure payment of a living wage to all who are willing and able to work, on the one hand, and be unwilling to help those same people in their time of need, on the other?
  • Accept the assertions of their leaders that people who do not agree with them are criminals who should be “locked up?”
  • Be so willing to accept, at the word of unknown sources, the existence of conspiracies theories that purport to threaten everything they hold dear, with no evidence, whatsoever.

All American citizens are urged to understand there is no radical left out to destroy America rather there are men and women of good conscience trying to prevent innocent men, women, and children from falling through the cracks of injustice. Similarly, it is  not socialism or communism to seek solutions that provide access to health care for ourselves and others.

We must also understand the only way to protect our rights is to protect the rights of everyone and, that freedom only works when it is balanced by responsibility?

Somehow, we must come to realize that leaders willing to play upon our fears will care about us only for as long as we are willing to pledge our blind allegiance. Such leaders do not want us to think for ourselves, they want us to rely on them as our only source of the truth.

Think about what we can learn from observing our children. What do kids do to distract parents and teachers from their own misbehavior? Kids point their finger and say, “he or she did it.” How is this any different than standing on a stage and branding one’s adversary as criminal. How is this different from repeating over and over “Lock him or her up!” while offering not a shred of evidence?

Consider that whenever we begin to think of people who disagree with us as our enemy, it blinds us to all we have in common and obscures our mutual best interests.

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