If You Can’t Beat Cellphones, Join Them!

Last Friday I ventured onto a public high school campus and spent the day with a junior student named Monique. If my experience had been video recorded, you could assume it was the 90’s or 80’s because the day completely lacked in technology.

Throughout the entire day, technology was only used once: a “video projector” during Pre-Calc. For those of you who have not been in a classroom in the past decade, this is an updated version of the old style overhead which used photocopied “transparencies” you could write on with special markers. The video overheads are literally a video camera which projects the image onto the wall. In the Pre-Calc class, the teacher was able to place the math textbook directly under the camera to project the page onto the wall. He also demonstrated how to plug mathematical equations into a calculator by placing it directly under the camera.

Maher and Moyers on Health Care, Obama and America

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Maher: “Do you think we are still a great nation?

Moyer: “We are a very crippled giant, suffering from self-inflicted wounds that if we do not treat and heal, will in fact bring us to our knees and ultimately, to our doom.”

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I am sad to say, but Obama is becoming a very disappointing leader. Washington is so corrupt and politics is so intertwined with corporate money that it is impossible for our government to work the way it should. It’s very disappointing. Politics in this country, is a sham.

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Here is a really great interview with Bill Maher and Bill Moyers about health care, the corporate co-op of the democratic party, Obama and the future of America.

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Technology & the 21st Century Classroom

Part 1

It’s a typical day at an American high school campus. Groups of students walk around wearing earbuds, or sneaking looks at their personal digital assistant (PDA), formally known as the cell phone. They check their Facebook and Twitter pages, they send off a dozen text messages, they blog, and they read updates on their favorite musical group, all in less than a few minutes. However, it is inaccurate to say that all students are “plugged in.” A typical day in an impoverished high school would not the same level of technology use. The digital divide is real and it is an issue educators must mindfully consider. By prohibiting technology educators miss opportunities to model their practices and teach context-specific skills. Furthermore, the students who do not have access to technology at home are completely cut off from learning these necessary skills needed to operate in the 21^st century global marketplace. It is because of this digital divide that educators must accept students’ use of technology. Educators should also work for funding to make technology available to all students, and find ways to implement all forms of technology into the classroom.

We are teachers, and mere human at that.

We are teachers, and mere human at that. We do not have all the answers, and no matter how much theory we undertake and no matter how many books we read about the impoverished kids living in depilated neighborhoods in the ghettos, or the over-parented children of American Beauty-esque families, we will never really know what it’s like. The best we can do is notice, be aware, and give each student the most encouragement and attention we possibly can.

Money, Money, Money

Maher is right on. All of the major issues in this country can be linked to capitalism and greed. Health Care, jails, war–these things should not, under any circumstance, be run for-profit.

When I worked at a medical clinic, it made me uncomfortable to be talking about vaccines and health in terms of bottom line and profit. It just seemed morally wrong to me. There must be a way to give good health care without the worry of money. There is a good way–many other countries use this way! I am sad to say, but I don’t know if we will ever step out of our individualist, capitalist, greedy ways.

New Rule: Not Everything in America Has to Make a Profit

By Bill Maher

How about this for a New Rule: Not everything in America has to make a profit. It used to be that there were some services and institutions so vital to our nation that they were exempt from market pressures. Some things we just didn’t do for money. The United States always defined capitalism, but it didn’t used to define us. But now it’s becoming all that we are.

Consistency/Inconsistency

A word on consistency and labels: we could do better without them.

This is quite unfortunate since we live in a society of strict labeling: girl, boy, liberal, conservative, Muslim, bible-thumper, secular, middle-aged, black, white, bad student, good student, ugly, beautiful, rich, poor….what’s worse is that every one of these labels assume certain identities and expectations. By labeling, we trick our minds into thinking we know.

In a world with so much variety, variation, and outcome, our mind has no other choice but to compartmentalize. If we were unable divide, organize, and put things in their proper boxes and files, our minds would overload and burn out. But I like to think we are bright enough to further question our own labels and definitions of what we think things are and are not, and who we think people are and are not.

Ralph Waldo Emerson has a lot to say on this topic in his essay, Self Reliance, which I turn to when feeling the pressures of my own labels:

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do.

Consistency (or more specifically, foolish consistency) leads to boredom and predictability, a life where decisions are made based on comfort and expectation. To live like this is to live an untrue life. I wish to live in the moment, and to make decisions based on the context and color of those moments.

We build our identities by the choices we make, the conversation we make. But nothing is ever the same, change is ever-occurring, and each one of us is dynamic, changing dramatically with each day. We become older and wiser with every moment that passes. Each day is a new opportunity, with myriad choices to choose from, and if we wish, we have the power to divert from the known, the labels, and go somewhere new.

Once we understand this, we can shift our view by accepting that we don’t truly know anything (or anyone–even our own self), and take every interaction as its first. We must honor the people around us for their dynamics; we must accept them for their process, not their static label our culture deems necessary.

Being inconsistent is not the same as being hypocritical. The difference is in the intent: inconsistency comes from the unpredictable choices one makes from living in the exact context of any present moment, hypocrisy is claiming to be one thing while secretly adhering to its opposite. Inconsistency is based on truth, hypocrisy from deceit.

So call me inconsistent, because that is how I strive to live my life: truthfully and in the moment.

EMERSON ON FOOLISH CONSISTENCY

“What I must do is all that concerns me, not what people think…You will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it. It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.”

“The other terror that scares us from self-trust is our consistency; a reverence for our past act or word, because the eyes of others have no other data for computing our orbit than our past acts, and we are loath to disappoint them.”

“To be great is to be misunderstood.”

Why I Have Pet Chickens

The most frequent question asked about my raising three chickens is, “Well, what are you going to do with them?” People are confused—what is the purpose of having chickens? Understandably, it does seem odd in the 21^st century to have three chickens roaming the backyard for no other reason than for the pleasure of their company. When a chicken is nothing but a commodity, to be used for flesh, for eggs, could there possibly be any other purpose?

Chickens are curious, adorable, social creatures. They are inquisitive, unique, and full of life. They have unique personalities. They enjoy open space, sunshine, dust baths, good food, and lazy afternoons. They are also creatures who can experience suffering, just like the family dog or cat. And my chickens are my pet chickens, just like your dog or cat. They exist to exist, and for nothing else. I do not plan on raising them for their meat, and being a vegan, I do not even plan to use their eggs. They are my pets, and they bring me joy every day.

9 billion chickens are slaughtered every year in the United States. From hatchery to slaughterhouse, chickens are most likely one of the most abused animals on the planet. From birth, they are pumped full of antibiotics to grow fat and full of meat by the target slaughter age of 45 days old. They grow heavy so fast that they become unable to support their own weight, and are unable to walk. Chickens are crammed into tiny cages, their beaks are cut off to prevent cannibalism which is brought about by their confinement and their inability to establish a pecking order. They live a short life full of suffering–they don’t even get to see the light of day.

My three chickens have no idea how lucky they are. They are the very rare and lucky few of their species that will get to live out their lives to the fullest and die a natural death. Factory farming causes myriad damage to our environment, our health, and unneeded suffering in millions of creatures. By raising pet chickens, I am making a statement against the hegemonic culture that accepts chickens for nothing more than consumer products. By raising pet chickens, I am putting into action my belief that sentient beings like chickens have the right to live without excessive turmoil by the cruel and brutal suffering we impose on them for our selfish appetite.

So to answer your question, what am I going to do with my chickens? I am going to let them live a long and happy life.

What’s Your Education Story?

We all have an education story. These stories tell much than details of the drone inside the four walls of a classroom. These stories paint pictures of different phases in our lives. These stories explain who we are today.

Some stumble upon an educational path ridden with thorn bushes and thunderstorms. Some fly into their educational path in an all-expense paid for fighter jet with gilded wings. Some are encouraged, and led onto their educational path being told that their future will be grand and full of success. And unfortunately, some are discouraged from the moment they step into the light of their path. Some are told they are not capable, that theirs is a lost cause.

Bill Maher interviews Elizabeth Warren

Milton Friedman’s economic theories, which have been ruling for the past forty years, are falling apart before our eyes. This model is one of extreme capitalism, upheld as scientific theory. However, the fact is money is not scientific, and the way that money affects people cannot be viewed as such. If we want to progress as a society and survive this turbulent time, we must let go of Friedman’s outdated model and establish one which takes into account the people.
Below is a great video clip from Real Time with Bill Maher. He interviews Elizabeth Warren about the bailouts and the future of our country.

Connection in the Flat World

I find it interesting that in this new era of technology, some argue that we seem to be far more “disconnected” then ever before. Texting has replaced phone calls, the computer screen has replaced faces of real life people. But perhaps this assumption is incorrect. Friedman points out that in the flat world, we are more interconnected to more people than ever before. We have to be to survive in the global marketplace:

“Think about the whole mind-set of bin Ladenism. It is to ‘purge’ Saudi Arabia of all foreigners and foreign influences. That is exactly the opposite of glocalizing and collaborating. Tribal culture and thinking still dominate in many Arab countries, and the tribal mind-set is also anathema to collaboration. What is the motto of the tribalist? ‘Me and my brother against my cousin; me, my brother, and my cousin against the outsider.’ And what is the motto of the globalists, those who build collaborative supply chains? “Me and my brother and my cousin, three friends from childhood, four people in Australia, two in Beijing, six in Bangalore, three from Germany, and four people we’ve met only over the Internet all make up a single global supply chain.’ In the flat world, the division of labor is steadily becoming more and more complex, with a lot more people interacting with a lot of other people they don’t know and may never meet. If you want to have a modern complex division of labor, you have to be able to put more trust in strangers.

In the Arab-Muslim world, argues David Landes, certain cultural attitudes have in many ways become a barrier to development, particularly the tendency to still treat women as a source of danger or pollution to be cut off from the public space and denied entry into economic activities. When a culture believes that, it loses a large portion of potential productivity of the society. A system that privileges the men from birth on, Landes also argues, simply because they are male, and gives them power over their sisters and other female members of society, is bad for the men. It builds in them a sense of entitlement that discourages what it takes to improve, to advance, and to achieve. This sort of discrimination, he notes, is not something limited to the Arab Middle East, of course. Indeed, strains of it are found in different degrees all around the world, even in so-called advanced industrial societies.”

It seems that in the flat world, we need to be even more embracing and open to gender and ethnicity than ever before.