Reading newspapers in print and online, one expected, surely, to find that all Americans would be united in their support for the victims of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Wouldn't all of us reach out to the innocent, while condemning those guilty, namely BP, Transocean, and Halliburton? Shouldn't every U.S. citizen want those responsible for this tremendous environmental tragedy to pay for the damages?
Apparently, for the right wing in this country, the answer is no. Now, it took awhile--they either hadn't figured out how to spin the spill, or were smart enough to wait for the initial horror of the disaster to wear off. In any case, the line of the right wing on this one is simple: how dare President Obama demand that BP pay for the cleanup, and why is the U.S. Government trying to cut down on the profitability of this poor corporation? And of course, we know that this leads back into the right wing's constant and baseless accusation that Obama and his fellow Democrats are socialists trying to take over the very corporations that are trying to lead us out of our economic woes.
That Republicans and Tea Partiers believe this nonsense is absolutely shocking. It is akin to a person whose house burned down due to a spark caused by faulty wiring, coming to the defense of the company responsible, and then telling the fire department to leave when they show up to put out the flames, after cussing the individual firemen out and accusing them of being no good communist reds. One would hope that if this is truly their stance on the matter, everyone who believes this tripe ought to give up all of their legal rights when dealing with corporations so as not to negatively effect the economy.
Clearly, Fox News and other conservative media outlets are unbelievably effective in influencing their consumers, so much so that on a regular basis, Republicans and Tea Partiers argue against their own rights and best interests for the sake of their corporate masters, and at the same time, do so with the righteous indignation of a populist movement trumpeting freedom and individual liberty. It is patently bizarre.
The real problem is that if this movement gains steam, and Republicans win offices as they are expected to this fall, we, as a nation, may completely lose our way. Right now, we are in desperate need of pragmatic ideas and solutions for the challenges we face in the 21st century, but as long as our politicians and media have to pander to the irrationality spawned on the right wing, we simply cannot move forward, with or without BP.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Friday, June 11, 2010
Just Don't Want to Take our Medicine
We need to start living in reality folks. No, really, we do. There are just too many problems our country faces for the majority of our citizens to be living in fantasy land. And right now, that’s just where we are: politicians continue posturing, the media continues to ignore core issues and focus on gossip, and most Americans carry with them an ideology that brands itself as common sense, but in reality, is grounded in foolish country mantras and backwater thinking. In short, like our besieged, ineffective president, we spend a lot of time looking good and sounding good, but not a lot of time getting anything done.
Take our current economic crisis, for instance. State governments everywhere have massive, gaping holes in their state budgets due to the recession, and yet so far, the federal government hasn’t done anything to aid states. Politically, everyone is trying to merge what works for individuals with a solution for government, saying things like, “we’ll just have to tighten our belts,” and “we need to cut spending.” And that sounds really great until you think about it for a second and you realize it’s a complete load of baloney. If we cut spending, that means we are cutting education. Anywhere between 50 and 75% of most state’s budgets are spent on education. If we cut education, we negatively impact our economy in 3 ways: 1) in the immediate short term, teachers are cut, and no new teachers are hired, which means we have more people on unemployment, and less people with stable careers buying goods and services and otherwise stimulating the economy; 2) the cost of a college education is driven higher, meaning it is accessible for fewer students, meaning less qualified, trained, and creative people able to enter the work force in the near future; and 3) in the long term, we create a working class that is less well educated and skilled in general.
Obviously, the knee-jerk reaction is: how can you say teachers are stimulating the economy when our tax money pays their salaries? Well, the simple explanation is that the tax rate isn’t going up—no more money needs to come out of your pocket to pay to keep teachers in the classroom. I am not suggesting that we raise taxes to fund our state budget shortfalls, but that we redirect federal money to fill them (yes, in Oregon, 66 and 67 were supposed to do just this, but 95% of Oregonians are completely unaffected by those taxes, and the few that are can afford to be).
Unfortunately, this idea exists that we don’t have enough revenue to accomplish all the things we need to accomplish as a country, and that is simply a myth. The real problem is that too much of our federal and state budgets go toward industries that generate little to no economic benefit for our country. We spend far too much money on the military ($663 billion a year, plus $52 billion for the department of veterans affairs) and far too much money on incarceration (states, more so than the federal government, but to the tune of $69 billion).
Here’s a hint: lets get out of Iraq and Afghanistan, OR cut the military budget by $100 billion—since that’s only 2/13 of the overall budget, we really ought to be able to manage that. Additionally, if we decriminalized marijuana, we could cut our incarceration and enforcement costs tremendously as well.
The problem again, is that doing either of these things would allow a lot of people with interests contrary to those of the American people to say a lot of things that would sound good. Things like: “You can’t cut the military—we’ll be attacked!” and “Obama and the Democrats legalized marijuana—what’s next? Pornography on the White House lawn?” And the media would beat the issue to death in a totally unprofessional way, and poor, conservative Americans would be outraged, and the Republicans would be swept into office in the next election in order to reverse these supposedly egregious policies.
So, maybe Obama is smarter than I think, or at least more pragmatic. It’s not that our country isn’t ready for single payer health care, the legalization of marijuana, or scaling back the military industrial complex, but given the modern U.S. political climate and the media lens through which everything is filtered, we won’t accept them. Thus, our only option is to cut our state government, specifically education, or pass taxes on the back of the middle class to pay for our shortfalls. The end result is a bad economy.
For a country so desperate for a cure to our economic ills, we sure don’t want to take our medicine.
Take our current economic crisis, for instance. State governments everywhere have massive, gaping holes in their state budgets due to the recession, and yet so far, the federal government hasn’t done anything to aid states. Politically, everyone is trying to merge what works for individuals with a solution for government, saying things like, “we’ll just have to tighten our belts,” and “we need to cut spending.” And that sounds really great until you think about it for a second and you realize it’s a complete load of baloney. If we cut spending, that means we are cutting education. Anywhere between 50 and 75% of most state’s budgets are spent on education. If we cut education, we negatively impact our economy in 3 ways: 1) in the immediate short term, teachers are cut, and no new teachers are hired, which means we have more people on unemployment, and less people with stable careers buying goods and services and otherwise stimulating the economy; 2) the cost of a college education is driven higher, meaning it is accessible for fewer students, meaning less qualified, trained, and creative people able to enter the work force in the near future; and 3) in the long term, we create a working class that is less well educated and skilled in general.
Obviously, the knee-jerk reaction is: how can you say teachers are stimulating the economy when our tax money pays their salaries? Well, the simple explanation is that the tax rate isn’t going up—no more money needs to come out of your pocket to pay to keep teachers in the classroom. I am not suggesting that we raise taxes to fund our state budget shortfalls, but that we redirect federal money to fill them (yes, in Oregon, 66 and 67 were supposed to do just this, but 95% of Oregonians are completely unaffected by those taxes, and the few that are can afford to be).
Unfortunately, this idea exists that we don’t have enough revenue to accomplish all the things we need to accomplish as a country, and that is simply a myth. The real problem is that too much of our federal and state budgets go toward industries that generate little to no economic benefit for our country. We spend far too much money on the military ($663 billion a year, plus $52 billion for the department of veterans affairs) and far too much money on incarceration (states, more so than the federal government, but to the tune of $69 billion).
Here’s a hint: lets get out of Iraq and Afghanistan, OR cut the military budget by $100 billion—since that’s only 2/13 of the overall budget, we really ought to be able to manage that. Additionally, if we decriminalized marijuana, we could cut our incarceration and enforcement costs tremendously as well.
The problem again, is that doing either of these things would allow a lot of people with interests contrary to those of the American people to say a lot of things that would sound good. Things like: “You can’t cut the military—we’ll be attacked!” and “Obama and the Democrats legalized marijuana—what’s next? Pornography on the White House lawn?” And the media would beat the issue to death in a totally unprofessional way, and poor, conservative Americans would be outraged, and the Republicans would be swept into office in the next election in order to reverse these supposedly egregious policies.
So, maybe Obama is smarter than I think, or at least more pragmatic. It’s not that our country isn’t ready for single payer health care, the legalization of marijuana, or scaling back the military industrial complex, but given the modern U.S. political climate and the media lens through which everything is filtered, we won’t accept them. Thus, our only option is to cut our state government, specifically education, or pass taxes on the back of the middle class to pay for our shortfalls. The end result is a bad economy.
For a country so desperate for a cure to our economic ills, we sure don’t want to take our medicine.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Bud Selig's Epic Fail
By now I’m sure you’ve heard about umpire Jim Joyce’s blown call, spoiling Armando Galarraga’s perfect game on the last out. It was a blatantly bad call and everyone knows it; Joyce and baseball commissioner Bud Selig have both made public statements admitting it openly. However, in a stunning example of assholery, Selig has decided not to reverse the call, even though the call had zero effect on the game’s outcome—the next batter grounded out. The problem is that as Americans, we are all too used to this exact scenario: people in power making decisions not to decide, and using the excuse of adherence to principles as a justification for waffling out of responsibility, instead of showing real leadership and doing what everyone can clearly see is right.
While Joyce is certainly at fault for making a god-awful call (what was going on in his mind behind his stupid, handlebar mustached face is beyond me), he is after all human, and he has admitted his mistake. That is really all he can do; in my book he’s forgiven. The problem is that this country is crawling with morons that lack the ability to think clearly, and Joyce, as well as his family, are now receiving death threats. And Bud Selig could have easily ended the whole fiasco, for Joyce, his family, and Galarraga by making a simple decision that would have been lauded by all as the just and right thing to do…but somehow, stunningly, he didn’t.
Somehow, as I suspect today’s Republicans must do, Selig concocted a crackpot argument that allowed him to make a tremendously bad decision, a decision totally and utterly divorced from rationality—a choice that exists as the absolute antithesis of honor, decency, and all that is right. In this case, he said, we have to accept the fact that the human element is an integral part of baseball, and changing the call would endanger the very foundation of the game (yes, just in case you were wondering, that is among the top 3 dumbest things someone has ever said to justify making a terrible choice, right up there with: “he may not be smart but he’s the type of guy I could really sit down and have a beer with,” and “sure he’s only sixteen, but he said he really loved me”). Assholes and charlatans everywhere celebrated. Republicans, for the first time in recorded history, tipped their waitresses and hookers more than 8%. Surely, they thought to themselves, if someone in power can get away with such a deliberately bad choice, there must still be room for the party of swindlers, cheats, and liars.
The real tragedy for Americans is that this continues to happen time and time again: a terrible decision backed by horseshit reasoning, if any reason is given at all. Some examples: the BCS system, despite popular opposition and outcry for a playoff system, will remain in place. Single payer health care, by far the best solution for providing universal coverage and cutting the cost of our health care system, was not even an option because our government, including Obama and many of the Democrats, decided that taking the side of big insurance and pandering to the Republican party was more important than doing the business of the American people. The U.S. system of education, by and large, still operates on an outdated agrarian calendar, where students have summers off. NBA referees are hacks. We continue to fight three wars (drug, Iraq, Afghanistan) that are costing taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars and have no end in sight. The field for March Madness, one of the most perfect events in all of sports, is going to be expanded so the sponsors and CBS can make more money. The Supreme Court has said that corporations are people, and that they can are to be totally unrestricted in influencing elections with campaign donations. A large proportion of the American public still believes that tax cuts and the deregulation of the marketplace is the best way to build the economy, even after the housing crisis and the shithouse state of our economy after 8years of Bush. Crystal Bowersox didn’t win American Idol. And for some asinine reason, neither BP, nor God, nor our Government can stop the fucking oil from leaking into the Gulf of Mexico (by the way, Southern jackasses, KARMA IS A BITCH, AIN’T IT? That’s what you get for having Tea Parties and voting for Republican oilmen for the last 50 years, you fucking racist, redneck, reactionaries--I just hope it doesn't effect the responsible humans who voted using reasonable information).
When, oh when is the insanity going to end Bud Selig, you fucking assclown? When are you going to deliver on the CHANGE you promised, Obama—you do realize that no matter what you do the Republicans are going to continue to lie, right? It’s kind of what they do. Christians and Southerners: when are you going to accept that some people are different than you are, i.e. black, latino, or gay, and that it is OK? And when are you stupid douchbags going to stop being single issue abortion voters?
I guess what I would desperately like to know, is when is our nation going to wake up and say, ENOUGH! It’s high time to have the courage in our convictions and make some real changes for the better. It’s high time for our leaders to act with justice and leadership in mind. It’s high time for our businesses and corporations to be better corporate citizens. It’s high time to do what the majority of Americans want instead of kowtowing to the whining minority, who usually happen to be idiots. And if the people in power can’t get it done, then it’s high time to get the pitchforks and torches out and go down to the capitol and get some of these fucking guys, because we can’t vote their asses out of office fast enough, and neither party is willing to nut up for the American people.
Your time is coming Bud Selig, and if you don’t think so, go down to Louisiana and ask some of those rednecks. Ask those idiots who were supporting the Republicans and their siren song of “drill baby, drill.” Ask ‘em Bud. Because they’ll tell you that Karma is big, fat, oily bitch.
While Joyce is certainly at fault for making a god-awful call (what was going on in his mind behind his stupid, handlebar mustached face is beyond me), he is after all human, and he has admitted his mistake. That is really all he can do; in my book he’s forgiven. The problem is that this country is crawling with morons that lack the ability to think clearly, and Joyce, as well as his family, are now receiving death threats. And Bud Selig could have easily ended the whole fiasco, for Joyce, his family, and Galarraga by making a simple decision that would have been lauded by all as the just and right thing to do…but somehow, stunningly, he didn’t.
Somehow, as I suspect today’s Republicans must do, Selig concocted a crackpot argument that allowed him to make a tremendously bad decision, a decision totally and utterly divorced from rationality—a choice that exists as the absolute antithesis of honor, decency, and all that is right. In this case, he said, we have to accept the fact that the human element is an integral part of baseball, and changing the call would endanger the very foundation of the game (yes, just in case you were wondering, that is among the top 3 dumbest things someone has ever said to justify making a terrible choice, right up there with: “he may not be smart but he’s the type of guy I could really sit down and have a beer with,” and “sure he’s only sixteen, but he said he really loved me”). Assholes and charlatans everywhere celebrated. Republicans, for the first time in recorded history, tipped their waitresses and hookers more than 8%. Surely, they thought to themselves, if someone in power can get away with such a deliberately bad choice, there must still be room for the party of swindlers, cheats, and liars.
The real tragedy for Americans is that this continues to happen time and time again: a terrible decision backed by horseshit reasoning, if any reason is given at all. Some examples: the BCS system, despite popular opposition and outcry for a playoff system, will remain in place. Single payer health care, by far the best solution for providing universal coverage and cutting the cost of our health care system, was not even an option because our government, including Obama and many of the Democrats, decided that taking the side of big insurance and pandering to the Republican party was more important than doing the business of the American people. The U.S. system of education, by and large, still operates on an outdated agrarian calendar, where students have summers off. NBA referees are hacks. We continue to fight three wars (drug, Iraq, Afghanistan) that are costing taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars and have no end in sight. The field for March Madness, one of the most perfect events in all of sports, is going to be expanded so the sponsors and CBS can make more money. The Supreme Court has said that corporations are people, and that they can are to be totally unrestricted in influencing elections with campaign donations. A large proportion of the American public still believes that tax cuts and the deregulation of the marketplace is the best way to build the economy, even after the housing crisis and the shithouse state of our economy after 8years of Bush. Crystal Bowersox didn’t win American Idol. And for some asinine reason, neither BP, nor God, nor our Government can stop the fucking oil from leaking into the Gulf of Mexico (by the way, Southern jackasses, KARMA IS A BITCH, AIN’T IT? That’s what you get for having Tea Parties and voting for Republican oilmen for the last 50 years, you fucking racist, redneck, reactionaries--I just hope it doesn't effect the responsible humans who voted using reasonable information).
When, oh when is the insanity going to end Bud Selig, you fucking assclown? When are you going to deliver on the CHANGE you promised, Obama—you do realize that no matter what you do the Republicans are going to continue to lie, right? It’s kind of what they do. Christians and Southerners: when are you going to accept that some people are different than you are, i.e. black, latino, or gay, and that it is OK? And when are you stupid douchbags going to stop being single issue abortion voters?
I guess what I would desperately like to know, is when is our nation going to wake up and say, ENOUGH! It’s high time to have the courage in our convictions and make some real changes for the better. It’s high time for our leaders to act with justice and leadership in mind. It’s high time for our businesses and corporations to be better corporate citizens. It’s high time to do what the majority of Americans want instead of kowtowing to the whining minority, who usually happen to be idiots. And if the people in power can’t get it done, then it’s high time to get the pitchforks and torches out and go down to the capitol and get some of these fucking guys, because we can’t vote their asses out of office fast enough, and neither party is willing to nut up for the American people.
Your time is coming Bud Selig, and if you don’t think so, go down to Louisiana and ask some of those rednecks. Ask those idiots who were supporting the Republicans and their siren song of “drill baby, drill.” Ask ‘em Bud. Because they’ll tell you that Karma is big, fat, oily bitch.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Schools Reflect Society's Values
Lately, there’s been a litany of commentary and news articles on education, its status, and what, if anything, can be done to improve one of the most public and important aspects of our society. As a teacher, I welcome the scrutiny, because as a person on the front lines, I agree that there are many problems for which we desperately need solutions. However, before everyone gets into a total frenzy, let me at least comfort you with this: the state of education in Oregon is simply a reflection of our society’s values.
One of the biggest problems people complain about is the drop in state test scores and graduation rates. While the numbers are alarming, the decline can be correlated with a general increase in students that are not fluent in English as well as the number of students that live in, near, or just above the poverty line. Students that aren’t fluent in English are obviously not going to achieve at the same level as their fluent counterparts, and students that have to worry about access to basic necessities such as food, clothing, shelter, and medicine are at a well documented disadvantage in the classroom. The decline of the middle class, as well as the increase in illegal immigration, in other words, has a lot more to do with low test scores and graduation rates than the quality of teachers or the success of administrative programs.
Moreover, look at the shape of our society. Nearly every student has a cell phone. Nearly every home has a high definition television. At the same time, involvement in community organizations is down. People spend less time reading, and more time in front of a computer or television screen. We are by far a more self-indulgent, self centered, alienated society than we ever have been.
On top of all this, responsible parenting has fallen by the wayside. At the school I work at, it is not uncommon for a student to have excused absences for more than 20 or 30 days of the year—and these are the kids with parents who are responsible enough to call the school. It says nothing of the unbelievable number of students who skip class on a daily basis, for whom, apparently, there is no penalty (the school makes automated calls home for every recorded unexcused absence). More amazing is that many of my students say that they don’t make it to class because they can’t wake up in the morning, which always makes me wonder: where are the parents? Ultimately, whether the excuse is that they’re at work, they’re sleeping, or they’re too busy, kids need responsible parents to be successful in school, and for a lot of my students, that is simply not the case.
The fact is, by and large, administrators and teachers are far more educated and well trained than they ever have been. Most teachers in Oregon earn their masters degree in teaching before they ever get inside a classroom, and the few that don’t have to earn it within 5 years. On top of this, every district in the state has regular mandatory professional development programs, and some districts, like Salem-Keizer, have mentor programs that pair experienced educators with new teachers to ensure students receive quality instruction.
While it is convenient to blame schools, teachers, and administrators for the lack of student success, ultimately, we must reconcile ourselves with the fact that our schools are merely a reflection of the direction that our society is headed. We live in a society where the middle class is being destroyed by unemployment, underemployment, and the rising cost of living, especially healthcare. In addition, the plain truth is that we are an increasingly alienated people plagued by self-indulgence, instant gratification, and a tendency to pass the buck rather than accept personal responsibility for our problems. Schools can certainly do better, but if we’re going to turn our schools around, we’re going to have to make drastic changes—not only to our schools, but to the larger society which they serve.
One of the biggest problems people complain about is the drop in state test scores and graduation rates. While the numbers are alarming, the decline can be correlated with a general increase in students that are not fluent in English as well as the number of students that live in, near, or just above the poverty line. Students that aren’t fluent in English are obviously not going to achieve at the same level as their fluent counterparts, and students that have to worry about access to basic necessities such as food, clothing, shelter, and medicine are at a well documented disadvantage in the classroom. The decline of the middle class, as well as the increase in illegal immigration, in other words, has a lot more to do with low test scores and graduation rates than the quality of teachers or the success of administrative programs.
Moreover, look at the shape of our society. Nearly every student has a cell phone. Nearly every home has a high definition television. At the same time, involvement in community organizations is down. People spend less time reading, and more time in front of a computer or television screen. We are by far a more self-indulgent, self centered, alienated society than we ever have been.
On top of all this, responsible parenting has fallen by the wayside. At the school I work at, it is not uncommon for a student to have excused absences for more than 20 or 30 days of the year—and these are the kids with parents who are responsible enough to call the school. It says nothing of the unbelievable number of students who skip class on a daily basis, for whom, apparently, there is no penalty (the school makes automated calls home for every recorded unexcused absence). More amazing is that many of my students say that they don’t make it to class because they can’t wake up in the morning, which always makes me wonder: where are the parents? Ultimately, whether the excuse is that they’re at work, they’re sleeping, or they’re too busy, kids need responsible parents to be successful in school, and for a lot of my students, that is simply not the case.
The fact is, by and large, administrators and teachers are far more educated and well trained than they ever have been. Most teachers in Oregon earn their masters degree in teaching before they ever get inside a classroom, and the few that don’t have to earn it within 5 years. On top of this, every district in the state has regular mandatory professional development programs, and some districts, like Salem-Keizer, have mentor programs that pair experienced educators with new teachers to ensure students receive quality instruction.
While it is convenient to blame schools, teachers, and administrators for the lack of student success, ultimately, we must reconcile ourselves with the fact that our schools are merely a reflection of the direction that our society is headed. We live in a society where the middle class is being destroyed by unemployment, underemployment, and the rising cost of living, especially healthcare. In addition, the plain truth is that we are an increasingly alienated people plagued by self-indulgence, instant gratification, and a tendency to pass the buck rather than accept personal responsibility for our problems. Schools can certainly do better, but if we’re going to turn our schools around, we’re going to have to make drastic changes—not only to our schools, but to the larger society which they serve.
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