Impending
Doom, A Manufactured Reality. . .
We live in a time when
everything seems to be a crisis and a matter of utmost importance. The nature of our modern media coverage
creates this atmosphere as different sources compete for consumer attention,
advertisers and profits. This climate
extends from the media throughout our daily lives, but especially into the
world of politics.
The continual sense of
crisis has turned politics into a battleground with clear divisions between viewpoints
that often seem to be insurmountable barriers.
We become entrenched in our viewpoints and respond, not in thoughtful
and reasoned ways, but in a knee-jerk reactionary mode of thinking. Whatever the issue, it is inevitable that
there will be an outpouring of opinions from all sides, and the most extreme
will get the most attention.
We seem to have lost sight
of what politics and government should be about. We've turned the process of governing our
society into a strange combination of reality TV, sports and war. Along the way the emphasis has become, not to
serve the citizens represented by the government, but to win a contest that few
understand and even fewer benefit from.
In fact, it seems like there is a real movement in politics to not only
fail to serve, but to actually do harm to those who are not big money donors or
who are not well represented by powerful lobbyists.
In this climate of
continual crisis, it is often difficult to get a real sense of what is truly
important. We've heard "Wolf"
cried so many times that we become numb to the constant clamor that tells us
the end of our democracy, the end of the American way of life, and many other
"ends" are at our doorsteps.
Living in this highly emotionally charged atmosphere puts a constant
strain on each individual's ability to process information and make
decisions. We know that pressure, stress
and a sense of crisis changes the way that we look at the world, and influences
many aspects of our lives.
The evidence of the toll
that this takes on all of us is clearly visible in the current political,
social and economic conditions here in Wisconsin
and across the nation. An important
question to consider is, who profits from the ongoing conflicts and sense of
crisis?
Remember that the reason
people form into groups is to meet our basic needs in a world that can be very
dangerous when we face it alone. Human
history has been a constant struggle to develop societies that address our
needs as individuals while also allowing for us to work as cohesively as
possible with others. Our biggest
advantage in the natural world is our ability to think, communicate and work
together to overcome our challenges. In
order to reap the benefits of these skills we surrender some of our
independence to the groups that we join.
However, there must always be some benefit for us to continue as a
member, or else there must be some force that makes us continue our association
with any larger group of people.
Most of us don't even
consider this as we move through our daily lives. We've gone past the point where we see being
a citizen as a choice. Instead, we
accept that things are the way they are without considering that there could be
other ways of organizing our communities or interacting with other groups. We tend not to question things too much, and
instead rely on others to make the decisions that shape the realities that we
live in.
To some extent this isn't
a terrible thing. After all, if everyone
constantly questioned everything and tried to follow their own rules and norms,
chaos would ensue. Our nation has
developed an elaborate set of rules that govern our interactions in all areas,
and we have surrendered a significant amount of authority to those who we
choose to represent us through political elections, financial decisions, and
many other ways. We trust that these
individuals and processes will work fairly, and that they will produce
satisfactory outcomes for most of us, and in many ways they do work for the
most part. Life in America is
significantly better than in much of the rest of the world in terms of
stability, safety and material goods.
Yet, at the same time this
tendency to follow the guidance of those in positions of authority can be a
negative trait as well. We may need to
follow rules, procedures and laws in order to enjoy the benefits of our
society, but we should always be thoughtful about who we follow, what we
follow, and why we follow. There will
always be positives about any society, but there will also be challenges that
need to be addressed. Blindly following
any doctrine, leader or ideological philosophy opens the doorway to
exploitation and manipulation that undermines the social contract that we all
have entered in to.
We stand at a crossroads
in American history. It is a crossroads
that we have been at before, and that we will ultimately face many times in our
future. Each time the battles are
slightly different. This is true because
the issues change, the individuals change and our society is never exactly the
same as it was. Yet, the conflict over
who makes the social, political and economic decisions in our nation is a
common theme. Whether it is the struggle
for equity that different groups have fought over the years, the struggle for
economic justice, or any other issue, the core battle continues to revolve
around where the center of power lies.
Modern American society
presents an interesting environment for this ongoing conflict. We have a population that has access to
information at a level never before seen in human history. We have access to educational opportunities
and historical knowledge which allows us to put our current struggles in
perspective. Our ability to communicate
with others around our nation and our world is unprecedented.
Yet, even with all of this
potential, many of us are unaware of the depth of the struggles until someone
points them out to us. We find ourselves
manipulated by those who would seek to maintain their control of power and
wealth in our society. We fail to
exercise our rights and utilize the wealth of information available to us. We see our world controlled in ways that we
may feel are unfair or illogical, yet too often "sweat the small
stuff" or allow our focus to be directed in ways that don't promote our
own interests.
Once again questions are
raised, who profits from the different crises that are the focus of so much
discussion in our society? Are we
focusing on the issues that really matter?
Are we following leaders who share our goals? How can we best work to resolve the ongoing
conflicts that exist in our society?
One problem is that many
of us tend to ignore political and economic issues until they directly impact
our lives. By the time we realize what
is happening, it may be too late to halt the processes. The election of Scott Walker and the passage
of Act 10 provide us with an example of this.
A significant portion of the electorate didn't vote in 2010, and as a
result took to the streets in 2011. Had
those voters turned out in 2010 we may have seen a totally different situation
in Wisconsin.
Of course it would help if
politicians were honest about their plans and objectives when on the campaign
trail, and after they are elected.
Because so many citizens don't keep up on issues they are vulnerable to
leaders and messages that are extremely biased and misleading. As a society we tend to put a lot of faith in
our elected leaders even though we claim to mistrust government. It is interesting that many who question the
ability of our government to provide basic services and protections turn to
leaders like Walker
for the very things that they claim government can't provide.
This crusade against
unions, especially those representing public educators, is another example of
the inconsistencies and questionable motives that drive the agenda. We are told that unions are bad, that they
are anti-American, and that the workforce is better off without them, yet
without some representation workers are left vulnerable to all sorts of abuses. This reality is borne out historically, and
we are moving in the direction of repeating our past mistakes. These mistakes are being made in all
industries and in both public and private sector employment.
In doing so we ignore the
vast potential that a workforce united with management has.
The economic philosophies
and policies that Conservatives offer are also geared towards benefitting a
minority of the population. At the same
time they are preaching austerity and shrinking government, our Republican
leaders are borrowing funds at a rapid pace and using the money to cover their
flawed policies.
Democrats refuse to take
the GOP on and articulate a different way of doing business in Wisconsin and across America. Instead, they use similar language and try to
play the game by the Conservative's rules.
Do we face a crisis here
in Wisconsin? The answer is yes, but it isn't the crisis
that so many of our elected leaders and their mouthpieces would have us believe. If we continue to believe the anti-labor,
austerity rhetoric we will end up facing a truly substantial crisis that will
impact all of us in significant ways.
Until we see leaders rise
to the challenge and provide alternative ways to look at the challenges we face
we will see the same solutions applied, and the same cycles repeat. Instead of hiding behind the easy to defend
rhetoric of low taxes, individualism and empty promises of freedom (while
binding us to lives of debt and wage slavery), we need leaders who will lay out
the facts and guide us in new directions.
It is up to the citizens to make sure that we get a government that
truly represents the interests of the people.
The only way these leaders emerge is if the people reject the messages that
we are currently being fed and support a different vision for our society.
Assessment,
Fueling a
Crisis
in Public Education. . .
Our public schools are certainly
not immune to the efforts to mislead the public and control the dialog around
efforts to educate our youth. The
"reforms" that are being offered follow the same thinking as the
mistaken philosophies in our political and economic spheres. We are constantly being told that our public
schools are "failing" and that we face a crisis of epidemic
proportions unless drastic measures are taken.
The catalyst for the
crisis is assessment data. Our public
school students are tested, retested, evaluated and assessed endlessly. Whether it is standardized tests mandated from
the federal or state level, district mandated assessments, or the evaluations
conducted by individual educators, our students are undergoing constant
scrutiny regarding their progress in a wide range of areas.
No educator will argue
that assessing students isn't an important part of the educational process, we
all rely on assessments to help guide our instruction and to understand the
needs of our students. Yet, the use of
data in our schools has become an epidemic that threatens to drown out
creativity and even threatens necessary instruction for students. It is often our most at-risk students who are
assessed the most, thereby missing valuable instructional time that they need
to catch up with their grade-level peers.
Educators find themselves forced to conform to a specific way of
teaching, or to specific topics, in order to insure that their students meet
expectations on standardized assessments.
Yet, we know that many of
our assessments aren't producing valid and/or meaningful results. We administer some assessments simply because
it is a requirement of our job, not because it is good for our students. Educators, family members and students
question the assessments, but often meet resistance from those outside the
classroom. We then see the results of
these tests used against us, and any complaints from educators is seen as
"sour grapes" or a defense of our inability to educate students
effectively.
www.bbc.co.uk
The same questions that we
can ask in the political and economic realms also apply in public
education. When we inquire about who
benefits from the rash of assessments infecting our schools the answer seems
obvious.
"Last month,
global consulting business McKinsey &
Co. published a report
concluding that the market for data in education from both public and private
sources represented a new business venture worth between $900 billion and $1.2
trillion in annual economic value worldwide, about a third of it in the United
States."
Educators have the same
responsibilities that voters have when it comes to countering the flawed
messaging of the "reformers".
We need to make sure that we consider the source of any information
presented to us, question policies and programs appropriately and be strong
advocates for our students. There are
many companies who are making huge profits by infiltrating our schools and
providing "services" to schools, all so that they can reap the
financial benefits.
Human
Friendly Shopping. . .
Many people I know have
commented on how difficult it is to spend money in ways that don't leave them
feeling guilty about giving their financial support to companies that either
exploit workers, harm the environment, support ideologies that are in
opposition to their beliefs, or any combination of these. While that is very true, it is also important
to remember that every penny spent at a more "friendly" establishment
helps. Keep trying to find places that
sell products and promote Progressive ideas.
Find
more great made in Wisconsin products at
http://buywi.org/
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