The U.S. House of Representatives will today pass a resolution imploring VP Mike Pence and cabinet members to use the 25th Amendment to remove Donald Trump from the presidency. If this group fails to act, tomorrow the House will impeach the President:
- House Democrats introduced an article of impeachment against Trump, charging him with “inciting violence against the government of the United States.”
Authorities are in the process of arresting at least 150 individuals who participated in the ransacking of the U.S. Capitol, including 10-15 Capitol Police. The FBI warned the 50 states to watch their capitols between now and Wednesday, January 20, when Joe Biden and Kamala Harris get inaugurated. Chances are that the new Senate will spend a portion of each day considering the impeachment effort, while also expeditiously approving cabinet members, moving additional economic aid to the people and overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic. They could just as well consider impeachment into the summer.
The next few weeks will be predictable. Those Republicans who need the Trump 30% (
which in itself is the majority of the Republican party), will continue to obfuscate at the risk of ruining their reputation. Republicans who don't need that group, like Senator Mitt Romney, or will not come up for re-election in six years, Like Mitch McConnell, can afford to be statesmanlike.
The question that comes to mind is: How can so many reasonably mature adults keep supporting the maniacal thrashings of a lying idiot? What has gone wrong with American society?
We lack a basic humanitarian trait and don’t have sufficient appreciation for the environment. The 4 R’s beyond the classical 3R’s are advocated to insure for this more responsible future.
What are the 4R's beyond reading, 'riting and 'rithmatic? You can buy the book, of course, but to save you some money, I serialized the entire publication, the portion on education starting with
Part 1. In short, over the past half century, our nation has emphasized a need for STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. More recently, Computer Science was added to the list. There were two reasons for this prioritization: got you better jobs and improved the quality of the work force if everyone had at least a little bit of these acronyms.
Today I noticed an article that promoted
STEAM, the A for art. Right general thought, but far short of what is needed. Read
Part 14 and
15. The basic three R's are important, of course. However, we also need four more R's:
Rigor. My sense is that something is missing today from the curriculum, or the teaching methodology. I haven’t been to school in a long time and I might be totally wrong, but, hate to say this, there is not enough suffering. You remember best when challenged with sacrifice. How to attain this level of rigor? I don’t know and am willing to discard this R if in any way pressed. Times have changed and, perhaps, the lack of rigor can be called progress.
Respect. A student from Laos in my first year of college teaching called me honorable professor. Well, he turned out to be the last one to do so, but walking across the campus (at Inha University) recently with a South Korean faculty member, one of his students smiled and called him honorable professor. In the U.S., and, perhaps, much of the developed world (remember: Finland was a definite exception), there is no respect for teaching and teachers. It is not that it is necessary for a teacher to be lord over his flock, but I keep hearing complaints that they are today more baby sitter, enforcement official or cowed servant than anything else. Again, this is the 21st millennium, and respect is earned, so the issue cuts in two directions.
Relevance. There are numerous papers on relevance for or of education. That is not the problem. Education is relevant. The teacher cannot make the student learn. The student learns best when something is relevant. It is internal motivation that creates the drive. How then to connect fundamentals to reality. The student learns best when the equation or graph or issue is important to her. With the advantage of current technology, there comes the need for someone to connect lesson to life. That is the role of the teacher. Harvard University in 1945 produced the Red Book standards and in 1978 established the Core Curriculum, changing education. In 2007, Harvard announced new guidelines for their general education curriculum, linking courses to problems, issues and questions students will encounter later in life. Or, in other words, introduce relevance. Students will now better think, then apply knowledge.
Relationship. This R is the most important one of all. Rigor can be eliminated, and mankind will not be lost. Respect might well be an anachronism. Relevance is in the eye of the beholder. Each teacher is smart enough to understand relevance, and there are innumerable ways to do this in a classroom and out. But relationship goes counter to current policy. Today, we focus on math and reading, give standardized tests and, at the end of the school year or semester, grades, which determine the future of a student. That’s okay, in fact, necessary. We, simply, must find a way to, in addition, produce a graduate who is more valuable to the community and more capable of succeeding in the real world.
So this is what is wrong with our educational system. First we only focus on topics to get you a higher paying job. Second, a student leaves school where the overwhelming goal was to succeed for him/her self. Our educational system depends on families to teach responsibility and those new four R's. And most don't. Then, when they enter the real world, this individual learns (and many don't) that you need to work together with others to succeed.
There is a humanitarian quality lost in the current process. Judgement, common sense...you can add a dozen more.
There is a second reason that together with the first, explains what happened on January 6 in the U.S. Capitol. I initiated this discussion on Sunday with
The Myth of an Afterlife. Society is absorbed with memes, a term coined by Richard Dawkins in 1976. The afterlife is one such example. Over time, the masses have accepted an empty promise that there will be a Heaven, and if you're good enough, you get there. If not, the other option is Hell. 82% of Americans into religion believe all that. Faith by itself is a meme.
There is a cult that Donald Trump has developed. It has something to do with belief, but more a way of life. Those in his web have a common bond that justifies action deserving of their goals. If law or the Constitution gets in the way, that's just something to be overcome. Led by a demented crackpot, those who stand in their way are vilified and defeated. At least that is the objective. Something in our educational system cultivated too many to join this pathway. Thankfully, this particular group failed, but they are now threatening state capitols on January 20. The leaders in the U.S. Congress recognize this, and are taking steps to behead the demagogue. Success is not that important. Just the process, combined with the swift arrest of those who went too far on January 6, should largely subvert anything serious from happening.
Then on January 20 Joe Biden becomes president, and attempts will be made to convict Donald Trump of a variety of crimes, including impeachment and his running for president again. In time, his supporters will break apart and join other Republicans, but those political leaders who survive will not have the loathsome character and evil demeanor of Trump, who will be considered by historians as the worst president ever to run the USA. People like him and Hitler come along only every so often. They usually fail. As imperfect as society might be, there is durability and endurance that overcome the worst.
Yet, what of the American society? Can our educational system learn from this episode? Fortunately, something like the Biden administration has the right state of mind to take a close look and initiate improvements. Adjustments will be made. Something like this takes a generation and more to overcome. But like the journey of a thousand miles, it starts with a first step...YOU.
-
Comments
Post a Comment