It is a great feeling to see the budget actually include everything we need to spend as a nation in one place instead of the shell game that the last administration played since the 2003. It is also great to the see the shift towards more logic driven policy funding, it is the best way to avoid situations that result from ideologically driven policies such as the "ownership society" that was the genesis of the housing bubble.(http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/27/some-housing-pictures/)
This isn't going to be an easy or short trip from the Greenspan driven "self-regulating markets", another ideological misstep that lasted past Reagan for another two decades mainly due to most people hoping that the myth that markets had an inherent morality that would create a fair work place. Despite the evidence (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_inequality) of an increasing inequality in income and mounting debt requirements of the lower and middle income earners the idea that this "rugged individualist" was how society work.
This was wrong, both currently and historically, the countries that have the highest "happiness rating" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happiness_economics) also have the highest levels of common interests, elevating the provision of care to people that are not coping with the challenges of life as well as most. Reaching that level of common caring is very difficult for the US as the diversity that has lead to our innovation also come with elements that make it harder to integrate concerns and causes.
No one likes to feel they are biased but tests tell a different story, if you don't believe me try a few, (https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/demo/selectatest.html) and don't get angry if the tests show something that you don't like, use the knowledge to change the way that you react in the next situation that may be affected by a biased decision or reaction.
The reason that this primer on bias was inserted into a post on the budget is that a key component of acceptance of any proposal is fairness, and biases are at the center of biases, one way that biases express themselves in society is in the validation of self entitlement based on race, gender, physical characteristics and handicaps, religion, ethnicity, geography, or culture.
We need to look at the budget at a kitchen table of 300,000,000 and counting and agree to find a way to help those that need it, reducing suffering first and increasing opportunity as close to simultaneous as can be managed. Will it be fair on an individual basis? Most likely not, we have a tax system based on proportionality and that can be a tough concept for some people to grasp, talk to a "flat tax" advocate and you'll see what that means.
The right question to ask is if the country, and indeed the world, is served by this budget as well as we can tell at this time. It should always come with a set of Key Performance Indicators to avoid floating objects, and be adjusted if the facts are showing that a change in the situation or an erroneous assumption has altered the need.
This kind of societal focus driven by an effective government of the people has been seen before, here and around the world, and this is a time for the concept to go global. There is no better way forward than with objectives aligned, self interest tempered and a concern for all future generations.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
Forgive the Young and Those seeking knowledge.
This is my second post on the idea of asking the government to forgive all student loans as part if the stimulus spending, the first post dealt mainly with the logical reasons, and there will be more of that in this post.
The main purpose for the second in this series that could be titled “Let’s help people that were more victims that perpetrators”, is to focus on the moral imperative that we have as an adult generation to right the wrongs of the financial debacle created by the need to get an education past high school to earn a living wage and the banking industry’s exploitation of our youth on every complicit campus.
At the root of the problem is the exact same factor that drove the housing bubble, a financial opportunity for bankers and lenders fueled by the pursuit of the “American Dream”, a good dream that we all understand and appreciate emotionally. In fact, it was this emotional component enhanced with it’s own urban myths, “look at history, the more education the more money you will make, paying it back will be easy”, recognize the parallel between this claim and “Housing Prices Always Go Up?
If you do see the comparison it should come as no surprise, the same cast of characters were running the same scam, only this time instead of lower income blue collar workers and envious professionals keeping up with the Jones the targets were young students and their optimistic parents, who couldn’t say no to private schools they couldn’t really afford.
Driven and manipulated by their desires to compete and get into the schools on the “lists” people looked back decades and assumed that the past would predict the future, and in this case again that turned out to be a poor strategy.
The results for the financial institutions were the same sweet ride as housing, the false market they created with the loans did what economics 101 tells you it always will, it increase demand and therefore prices. A Lot, I mean at least double the rate of inflation, at the same time the market value of college degrees (outside of the fantasy land of Wall Street, until recently) were going down.
Bankers knew this, colleges knew this, some parents knew this (some still couldn’t say no, college search has become more emotional than logical), but since the kids could get the money themselves, and the banks were there to help with the forms, adding a credit card in for good measure (and 24% APR), they preyed on the youth of American like vultures on the buffalo shot from trains, with equal concern or remorse.
This is an evil act, worse than terrorism, at least they tell us they want our heads, whereas the banking community pretends to be helping us as they remodel million dollar offices, fly in private jets and hold parties that would make Croesus blush.
So what to do? Get mad, write your reps and senators and tell them before another dime goes to the perps we want a little to go the victims, the most innocent victims, the future of our country! Forgiveness will get our young folks back to spending on what’s next, instead of decades on an overprices product sold in a ponzi scheme every bit as heinous as Bernie Madoff’s grand rip off, and those investors were supposed to be experts. If you feel one iota of sympathy for those damaged by Madoff then you have to feel for the debt-laden kids.
The main purpose for the second in this series that could be titled “Let’s help people that were more victims that perpetrators”, is to focus on the moral imperative that we have as an adult generation to right the wrongs of the financial debacle created by the need to get an education past high school to earn a living wage and the banking industry’s exploitation of our youth on every complicit campus.
At the root of the problem is the exact same factor that drove the housing bubble, a financial opportunity for bankers and lenders fueled by the pursuit of the “American Dream”, a good dream that we all understand and appreciate emotionally. In fact, it was this emotional component enhanced with it’s own urban myths, “look at history, the more education the more money you will make, paying it back will be easy”, recognize the parallel between this claim and “Housing Prices Always Go Up?
If you do see the comparison it should come as no surprise, the same cast of characters were running the same scam, only this time instead of lower income blue collar workers and envious professionals keeping up with the Jones the targets were young students and their optimistic parents, who couldn’t say no to private schools they couldn’t really afford.
Driven and manipulated by their desires to compete and get into the schools on the “lists” people looked back decades and assumed that the past would predict the future, and in this case again that turned out to be a poor strategy.
The results for the financial institutions were the same sweet ride as housing, the false market they created with the loans did what economics 101 tells you it always will, it increase demand and therefore prices. A Lot, I mean at least double the rate of inflation, at the same time the market value of college degrees (outside of the fantasy land of Wall Street, until recently) were going down.
Bankers knew this, colleges knew this, some parents knew this (some still couldn’t say no, college search has become more emotional than logical), but since the kids could get the money themselves, and the banks were there to help with the forms, adding a credit card in for good measure (and 24% APR), they preyed on the youth of American like vultures on the buffalo shot from trains, with equal concern or remorse.
This is an evil act, worse than terrorism, at least they tell us they want our heads, whereas the banking community pretends to be helping us as they remodel million dollar offices, fly in private jets and hold parties that would make Croesus blush.
So what to do? Get mad, write your reps and senators and tell them before another dime goes to the perps we want a little to go the victims, the most innocent victims, the future of our country! Forgiveness will get our young folks back to spending on what’s next, instead of decades on an overprices product sold in a ponzi scheme every bit as heinous as Bernie Madoff’s grand rip off, and those investors were supposed to be experts. If you feel one iota of sympathy for those damaged by Madoff then you have to feel for the debt-laden kids.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Iraq was a mistake
There has been a subtle but steady shift in the dialog around the Iraq War that has all but eliminated discussion of the actual merit of the invasion. The talk has been about the surge, did it work? How Iraq is now peaceful and ready to become a harmless, even supportive friend to the west. Bush and Cheney left town claiming that the war was won, we were safer for it, and they had saved lives.
The claim of saving lives is hard to believe when multiple reports put the violent deaths since the invasion at over 500,000. Keeping Americans safer doesn't seem to apply to the over 4,000 killed while serving in Irag, 1,000 more than the 9/11 event, with official estimates of wounded at over 30,000.
Under what scenario can one imagine Iraq attacking the US and causing those kinds of casualties? Call 9/11 all of the bad things that it deserves to be called but military genius doesn't apply to this action, it was truly a "Black Swan" of terrorist attacks, down to the collapse of the towers when the pilots were just hoping to hit the towers.
The question isn't whether anything like that can ever happen again, that answer is always maybe, but whether it is less likely to happen because of what we have been doing in Iraq. Is the pain and suffering this has injected into to the lives of those whose families fall into the groups affected by the gruesome death and injury statistics mentioned above outside of the benefits, and if so then who benefitted? You say 25 Million Iraqi's, but with 1 million killed, millions more displaced and a new set of alliances with Iran is that really true?
The reaction of the world community to 9/11 was an overwhelming extension of sympathy and support, but we took that opportunity and turned it into a strange vendetta for the Bush family, providing a war to make a Great Man out of Bush, with Rumsfeld and Cheney trying to out Churchill each other.
The Surge is a paradox, it is a timely event that has been met with calmer times, but it is also given sole credit for something that happened that may be due to other reasons. Some other factors include the payments to Iraqi's so that they wouldn't shoot at Americans, essentially protection money to for our soldiers in their country. Another factor is the switch from anger to greed that led Iraqi's to realize that the longer we stayed the more money we would spend, as indicated by the huge new Embassy which will be a significant part of non-oil GDP for Iraq. (Iraq gets 90% of its GDP from oil).
I'm glad there is less violence but also know that an American died yesterday and there is a very good chance that another will die before the week is out, good people who go back again because war is a strange drug that builds relationships and emotional ties that defy understanding to those that haven't experienced it firsthand.
The surge is the distraction that allowed the Hawks to divert discussions from the folly of the primary action with the idea that there was something that could be called success, and we all feel better because people like success more than failure. But the truth is closer to Vietnam and Korea than WWII, there is no success here, just the same old war stories we've had since Homer to be recorded in books and movies for the next generation to understand as history.
The only relevant point is this, would we have been less safe without going into Iraq, and the clear answer from all available facts is no. Would more than 4,000 more Americans have been killed by terrorists, would 30,000 be wounded, many disabled for life, all scarred forever? Would 500,000 people be dead from war related violence? Would hundred of thousands of peoples lives been changed forever due to a tour of duty in a war zone? Would over $1 Trillion and counting of US dollars have been spent on nonproductive efforts, much of it going into the hands of the people we are fighting?
You can talk about the surge all day long but the facts are clear, Iraq will go down in history as one of the worst presidential blunders of all times.
It is the big daddy ego trip of all ego trips in a time where we are living in the land of the giant ego trips. From the Mission Accomplished debacle to the plans for getting greeted with roses and riches by the Iraqi's, this has been one last drunk for W and a set of war games for the administrations neo-con war machine.
But above all, and finally, invading Iraq was a mistake.
The claim of saving lives is hard to believe when multiple reports put the violent deaths since the invasion at over 500,000. Keeping Americans safer doesn't seem to apply to the over 4,000 killed while serving in Irag, 1,000 more than the 9/11 event, with official estimates of wounded at over 30,000.
Under what scenario can one imagine Iraq attacking the US and causing those kinds of casualties? Call 9/11 all of the bad things that it deserves to be called but military genius doesn't apply to this action, it was truly a "Black Swan" of terrorist attacks, down to the collapse of the towers when the pilots were just hoping to hit the towers.
The question isn't whether anything like that can ever happen again, that answer is always maybe, but whether it is less likely to happen because of what we have been doing in Iraq. Is the pain and suffering this has injected into to the lives of those whose families fall into the groups affected by the gruesome death and injury statistics mentioned above outside of the benefits, and if so then who benefitted? You say 25 Million Iraqi's, but with 1 million killed, millions more displaced and a new set of alliances with Iran is that really true?
The reaction of the world community to 9/11 was an overwhelming extension of sympathy and support, but we took that opportunity and turned it into a strange vendetta for the Bush family, providing a war to make a Great Man out of Bush, with Rumsfeld and Cheney trying to out Churchill each other.
The Surge is a paradox, it is a timely event that has been met with calmer times, but it is also given sole credit for something that happened that may be due to other reasons. Some other factors include the payments to Iraqi's so that they wouldn't shoot at Americans, essentially protection money to for our soldiers in their country. Another factor is the switch from anger to greed that led Iraqi's to realize that the longer we stayed the more money we would spend, as indicated by the huge new Embassy which will be a significant part of non-oil GDP for Iraq. (Iraq gets 90% of its GDP from oil).
I'm glad there is less violence but also know that an American died yesterday and there is a very good chance that another will die before the week is out, good people who go back again because war is a strange drug that builds relationships and emotional ties that defy understanding to those that haven't experienced it firsthand.
The surge is the distraction that allowed the Hawks to divert discussions from the folly of the primary action with the idea that there was something that could be called success, and we all feel better because people like success more than failure. But the truth is closer to Vietnam and Korea than WWII, there is no success here, just the same old war stories we've had since Homer to be recorded in books and movies for the next generation to understand as history.
The only relevant point is this, would we have been less safe without going into Iraq, and the clear answer from all available facts is no. Would more than 4,000 more Americans have been killed by terrorists, would 30,000 be wounded, many disabled for life, all scarred forever? Would 500,000 people be dead from war related violence? Would hundred of thousands of peoples lives been changed forever due to a tour of duty in a war zone? Would over $1 Trillion and counting of US dollars have been spent on nonproductive efforts, much of it going into the hands of the people we are fighting?
You can talk about the surge all day long but the facts are clear, Iraq will go down in history as one of the worst presidential blunders of all times.
It is the big daddy ego trip of all ego trips in a time where we are living in the land of the giant ego trips. From the Mission Accomplished debacle to the plans for getting greeted with roses and riches by the Iraqi's, this has been one last drunk for W and a set of war games for the administrations neo-con war machine.
But above all, and finally, invading Iraq was a mistake.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Education and why we all may be teachers...and students
In full disclosure I am not a education expert, a teacher, or even a school board member. Heck, I wasn't even much of a student, even though I managed to scrape together an engineering degree.
That was 35 years ago and it has served me well, although being more of a manager and business owner for the last 20 years has taken the hard edge off of my technical training years ago. What became more interesting to me than the hardware or software was the "wetware" , in other words, me and you.
So I became a consultant for technology start ups, building business models that incorporate behavioral characteristics of both company personnel and customers, much of it based on the work of Kahneman/Tversky.
It was with some surprise that I found myself working with a company that was applying technology to the educational field, an area of business that was typically not interesting due to the tight, old boy supplier networks (see upcoming post on text book publishers) and myriad layers of red tape along with a dash of corruption for good measure.
Great potential for the company was apparent from the beginning, the founder was a smart person that spent two years tutoring to gain insight into the learning process, the technology was the outcome of 14 years of investment into a military training system that focused on the best ways to teach math so that it can be retained and applied. They had developed a product that was excellent on all counts.
All good things until you looked at the market, and since they were paying me to do just that I found myself reading story after story, post after post, about No Child Left Behind, the schism in the opinion of the believers and nay sayers were of Grand Canyon proportions with both sides trying to make points with statements deeper in ideology than in fact.
Having some time to read into the subject over the holidays there were several things that became clear, the first was that the school systems have had a continually increasing mandate to provide more than education, while the schools themselves were spending more time on financial management issues than educational issues.
In addition to education schools must provide racial equality, economic compensation (e.g. free lunches), social exposure and discipline. Some school personnel would add to this list but you get the idea.
The second point is apparent to any of us that listen to politicians, starting in California home owners have rebelled against paying more for schools at the same time that teachers unions have increased their demands for higher pay. As a result teachers have gone from being the "lowest paid professional" to being near the top of the scale when actual hours worked is factored in, and do pretty well even when it isn't.
Teachers continually resist performance pay, the weeding out of bad teachers and other aspects of the work place that are the norm for most.
What has emerged from the research is amazing in some sense, but for those of us that always look for the counter intuitive "Truths" that don't hold up under scrutiny, is getting to be expected.
Most surprising was the small correlation between a teacher's credentials and the classroom performance, there seems to be no advantage to the extra bonus we pay teachers to get Master's and other certifications as measured by the only way we know how to measure school performance in the near term, testing.
This explains the some of the rapid increase in the cost of public schooling with no detectable improvement, from a business perspective schools should actually discourage many teachers from getting a graduate degree so that salaries can be tied to student performance instead of teacher scholastic performance as prescribed by parts of NCLB.
The facts show that almost anyone with a college degree and many without, know enough to teach elementary or middle school material. It is also becoming clear that the ability to effectively teach is not known until someone actually teaches, add to that the differences in classroom teaching and tutoring and you see a profession that has become unsure how to measure quality.
The Home School results were reinforcing to this "credentials are the answer" myth that has driven increasing costs in early education, there is very low correlation between the home school "teacher's" education and qualifications and their students outcomes. On an average the home schooled student will out perform public or private schooled kids by 15-30% on a wide variety of tests regardless of the parents education.
There is enough history now to see that Home Schoolers do better in college and on the job, debunking the common complaints of lacking social skills. The socialization aspect of school has always been a farce to those of us who spent more time in school trying not to get picked on that socializing.
So what do we do with this information?
We take a shot at thinking the main thing to teaching is the connection between teacher and learner, and that it is not a one size fits all solution.
We teach our kids, everyone should take a shot at teaching somewhere along the line. I've tutored on Saturdays for the last 5 years, there are online sites that need tutors and will pay a little money for doing it, we all have a little to teach and some have a natural talent that could make them life long teachers.
But the number of life long teachers is going to go down, while the number of life long learners is going to go way up, almost all of us will be in that group to keep skills relevant and sharp.
The disruption that has changed every field of work, computers, many of them mobile, the Internet and massive online data storage, is about to hit education. Just in time in my view, we need smart people with access to education regardless of where their parents went and what football team they like, at prices less than half of their lives salaries.
As for the materials for teaching, companies like Apangea Learning that I'm working with, and others are developing something we call a Student Centric, Adaptive Learning System (SCALS). This is a hybrid teaching solution that combines, problem tutors, concepts teachers and interactive Avatars to deliver a learning experience that outperforms classroom teaching on nearly every dimension.
Anyone, anywhere, anytime is where education is going, so we can life long learn and intermittently teach, from a simple computer. We pay to learn and teach to earn, compounding knowledge and shortening the path to a smarter, higher skilled society.
So the next time you are wonder what a teacher thinks, listen to your self and if you want to hear from a student head to the mirror. We are in a global economy and the next 100 years will be all about learning how to create true equality and 100% utilization of resources, Human resources in this century, not minerals or materials.
That was 35 years ago and it has served me well, although being more of a manager and business owner for the last 20 years has taken the hard edge off of my technical training years ago. What became more interesting to me than the hardware or software was the "wetware" , in other words, me and you.
So I became a consultant for technology start ups, building business models that incorporate behavioral characteristics of both company personnel and customers, much of it based on the work of Kahneman/Tversky.
It was with some surprise that I found myself working with a company that was applying technology to the educational field, an area of business that was typically not interesting due to the tight, old boy supplier networks (see upcoming post on text book publishers) and myriad layers of red tape along with a dash of corruption for good measure.
Great potential for the company was apparent from the beginning, the founder was a smart person that spent two years tutoring to gain insight into the learning process, the technology was the outcome of 14 years of investment into a military training system that focused on the best ways to teach math so that it can be retained and applied. They had developed a product that was excellent on all counts.
All good things until you looked at the market, and since they were paying me to do just that I found myself reading story after story, post after post, about No Child Left Behind, the schism in the opinion of the believers and nay sayers were of Grand Canyon proportions with both sides trying to make points with statements deeper in ideology than in fact.
Having some time to read into the subject over the holidays there were several things that became clear, the first was that the school systems have had a continually increasing mandate to provide more than education, while the schools themselves were spending more time on financial management issues than educational issues.
In addition to education schools must provide racial equality, economic compensation (e.g. free lunches), social exposure and discipline. Some school personnel would add to this list but you get the idea.
The second point is apparent to any of us that listen to politicians, starting in California home owners have rebelled against paying more for schools at the same time that teachers unions have increased their demands for higher pay. As a result teachers have gone from being the "lowest paid professional" to being near the top of the scale when actual hours worked is factored in, and do pretty well even when it isn't.
Teachers continually resist performance pay, the weeding out of bad teachers and other aspects of the work place that are the norm for most.
What has emerged from the research is amazing in some sense, but for those of us that always look for the counter intuitive "Truths" that don't hold up under scrutiny, is getting to be expected.
Most surprising was the small correlation between a teacher's credentials and the classroom performance, there seems to be no advantage to the extra bonus we pay teachers to get Master's and other certifications as measured by the only way we know how to measure school performance in the near term, testing.
This explains the some of the rapid increase in the cost of public schooling with no detectable improvement, from a business perspective schools should actually discourage many teachers from getting a graduate degree so that salaries can be tied to student performance instead of teacher scholastic performance as prescribed by parts of NCLB.
The facts show that almost anyone with a college degree and many without, know enough to teach elementary or middle school material. It is also becoming clear that the ability to effectively teach is not known until someone actually teaches, add to that the differences in classroom teaching and tutoring and you see a profession that has become unsure how to measure quality.
The Home School results were reinforcing to this "credentials are the answer" myth that has driven increasing costs in early education, there is very low correlation between the home school "teacher's" education and qualifications and their students outcomes. On an average the home schooled student will out perform public or private schooled kids by 15-30% on a wide variety of tests regardless of the parents education.
There is enough history now to see that Home Schoolers do better in college and on the job, debunking the common complaints of lacking social skills. The socialization aspect of school has always been a farce to those of us who spent more time in school trying not to get picked on that socializing.
So what do we do with this information?
We take a shot at thinking the main thing to teaching is the connection between teacher and learner, and that it is not a one size fits all solution.
We teach our kids, everyone should take a shot at teaching somewhere along the line. I've tutored on Saturdays for the last 5 years, there are online sites that need tutors and will pay a little money for doing it, we all have a little to teach and some have a natural talent that could make them life long teachers.
But the number of life long teachers is going to go down, while the number of life long learners is going to go way up, almost all of us will be in that group to keep skills relevant and sharp.
The disruption that has changed every field of work, computers, many of them mobile, the Internet and massive online data storage, is about to hit education. Just in time in my view, we need smart people with access to education regardless of where their parents went and what football team they like, at prices less than half of their lives salaries.
As for the materials for teaching, companies like Apangea Learning that I'm working with, and others are developing something we call a Student Centric, Adaptive Learning System (SCALS). This is a hybrid teaching solution that combines, problem tutors, concepts teachers and interactive Avatars to deliver a learning experience that outperforms classroom teaching on nearly every dimension.
Anyone, anywhere, anytime is where education is going, so we can life long learn and intermittently teach, from a simple computer. We pay to learn and teach to earn, compounding knowledge and shortening the path to a smarter, higher skilled society.
So the next time you are wonder what a teacher thinks, listen to your self and if you want to hear from a student head to the mirror. We are in a global economy and the next 100 years will be all about learning how to create true equality and 100% utilization of resources, Human resources in this century, not minerals or materials.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Education Take II - Bringing Everyone Inside the Society
The last post that was on Global Gleanings was written in disgust of the way that school children of a certain social status were being continually deprived of their civil rights that guaranteed them an equal education. While this problem is not new, these times are, and without an education in today's world life gets tough pretty damn quick.
Solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short is how Hobbes described the outcome of empowering the common man back in the 1600's, it turns out that history proved him to be perfectly wrong, that is exactly the fate of an uneducated man in the age of Capitalism. We know now because of Jefferson for one, who knew that for any Democracy to survive and thrive the population had to be literate. The US, with policy based on those principles became the best place on earth to be average.
It holds forth then that for Democracy to be fair, every citizen must be provided the opportunity to become equally literate. Despite the 3rd President's best efforts we still have children being sentenced to a life of mediocrity for no other crime than being born in a bad school system, not having a parent that can pay for better schools or provide an alumni advantage into an Ivy.
Imagine the world of the future where nutritional advantages are gone, education is as free as broadcast television and the lessons that are to be learned fit each child like a well made glove. The benefit to all of mankind would make the middle class, or even the rich of the last century appear deprived, there would be few limits to what can be accomplished with an entire globe of educated people. Education won't solve every problem, but it will allow everyone to participate in the effort to solve every problem. It will bring about the real decline in exploitation of populations and it will bring everyone into society.
Bringing people into society sounds like a odd goal, what does that do for an individual, does it feed people, cure people, end bigotry and bias? The answer to all of those questions, somewhat surprisingly, is yes. History has shown that the initial ingredient of empathy is inclusion, newspapers in the 1700's never covered poor people's problems, they didn't cover slaves deaths, or the problems of people that were deemed to be exotic or foreign.
We still do this today, we call people aliens when they live 50 miles south of San Diego, because the Hutus and Tutsi's have funny names and live in Africa we ignore their slaughters while we make movies and build museums about the Holocaust, a slaughter of people that were "outside of society". We don't enslaves people of color in the US anymore because we work, serve in the Army and now even elect them President.
Education has always been an exclusionary device, and still is today. We need to end it soon so we can become the world that we should be, breaking down all barriers for all individuals, lineage, economics, geography and ethnicity is what we must do.
Until we do this the US and the world will be less than it should be, and in the future be looked at as "the dark ages" are today.
Solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short is how Hobbes described the outcome of empowering the common man back in the 1600's, it turns out that history proved him to be perfectly wrong, that is exactly the fate of an uneducated man in the age of Capitalism. We know now because of Jefferson for one, who knew that for any Democracy to survive and thrive the population had to be literate. The US, with policy based on those principles became the best place on earth to be average.
It holds forth then that for Democracy to be fair, every citizen must be provided the opportunity to become equally literate. Despite the 3rd President's best efforts we still have children being sentenced to a life of mediocrity for no other crime than being born in a bad school system, not having a parent that can pay for better schools or provide an alumni advantage into an Ivy.
Imagine the world of the future where nutritional advantages are gone, education is as free as broadcast television and the lessons that are to be learned fit each child like a well made glove. The benefit to all of mankind would make the middle class, or even the rich of the last century appear deprived, there would be few limits to what can be accomplished with an entire globe of educated people. Education won't solve every problem, but it will allow everyone to participate in the effort to solve every problem. It will bring about the real decline in exploitation of populations and it will bring everyone into society.
Bringing people into society sounds like a odd goal, what does that do for an individual, does it feed people, cure people, end bigotry and bias? The answer to all of those questions, somewhat surprisingly, is yes. History has shown that the initial ingredient of empathy is inclusion, newspapers in the 1700's never covered poor people's problems, they didn't cover slaves deaths, or the problems of people that were deemed to be exotic or foreign.
We still do this today, we call people aliens when they live 50 miles south of San Diego, because the Hutus and Tutsi's have funny names and live in Africa we ignore their slaughters while we make movies and build museums about the Holocaust, a slaughter of people that were "outside of society". We don't enslaves people of color in the US anymore because we work, serve in the Army and now even elect them President.
Education has always been an exclusionary device, and still is today. We need to end it soon so we can become the world that we should be, breaking down all barriers for all individuals, lineage, economics, geography and ethnicity is what we must do.
Until we do this the US and the world will be less than it should be, and in the future be looked at as "the dark ages" are today.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Taking Learning to the Streets
I realize that anything I write will pale compared to my last post, President-elect Obama's acceptance speech, but there are important issues at hand, so I'll do my best.
The last two weeks have been a blur of excitement, besides the election my every waking moment, and there have been a lot of them, have been taken up thinking about a company, Apangea Learning, that can help change the world. It is a learning system that teaches math over the Internet very, very well. The world needs this right now, and I'm going to tell you why.
In the guise of SWS Network, our Model Based Marketing firm, we have discovered things about the education system that belong in a Dickens Novel instead of the 21rst Century. We weren't looking at the shining successes we are all familiar with, but rather the underside of the system known in the vernacular of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 as "Failing Schools".
The NCLB Act has been praised by some and trashed by others, but after a while one thing is perfectly clear, as a country we are guilty of a perpetuating a terrible wrong to a class of citizens for decades. Children born into districts with failing schools, those which are defined as being unable to teach their students at a level that allows them to compete for positions in colleges and jobs, are essentially given a life sentence simply for being born.
How in the hell did we let this go on so long? I've spent many hours this week crying with joy due to Obama's election and crying with the pain of the suffering that we have let continue generation after generation. The reason we can't do anything about this travesty are as long as Donald Trump's Xmas list, everyone gets blamed from teachers, parents, neighborhoods, government, God and the devil and most wrongly, even the Kids.
You can read a million reasons why things can't get better, not enough good teachers, not enough money, even the evil comments that imply they just can't be taught, a sickening comment that once came out of the mouth of a man that headed the United States Department of Education.
This is unacceptable and so wrong you can taste it, feel it like a cold wind on bare skin, it is as wrong as apartheid, as wrong as slavery, as wrong as the holocaust and we can't tolerate for one more second, one more minute, certainly not one more generation.
You say we can't fix it, then you weren't listening over the past year, you weren't listening the last month, and you sure weren't listening last Tuesday night because you would know this, "Yes We Can".
Starting with Apangea Learning we are taking learning to the people and we are going to teach them Math, that's right Math. Math is the key to knowing how to solve problems, how to reason , how to compare, how to calculate, how to measure, how to be fair, if you know Math you can do almost anything. Math will take you more places than any car, will keep you warmer than a coat and give you more confidence than a beautiful woman or man on your arm.
Yes We Can give every child born into that life sentence early parole so that we can hear their voice, they won't all be scientists or chemists or accountants, but with the confidence that they will have by passing those same tests that kids out the suburbs pass without a second thought. And we will all be better for it, and another age of slavery will end and a new era of equality can begin.
I need to go now, there is much to do to make this real, but we have the tools now and as long as we work these tools and we can find people who embrace this effort like Abraham Lincoln, Rosa Parks, MLK and JFK embraced theirs with help and support and yes a little money we make this happen in our lifetimes and the last generation will look back on educational inequality with the same distain as any type of slavery.
Yes We Can!
The last two weeks have been a blur of excitement, besides the election my every waking moment, and there have been a lot of them, have been taken up thinking about a company, Apangea Learning, that can help change the world. It is a learning system that teaches math over the Internet very, very well. The world needs this right now, and I'm going to tell you why.
In the guise of SWS Network, our Model Based Marketing firm, we have discovered things about the education system that belong in a Dickens Novel instead of the 21rst Century. We weren't looking at the shining successes we are all familiar with, but rather the underside of the system known in the vernacular of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 as "Failing Schools".
The NCLB Act has been praised by some and trashed by others, but after a while one thing is perfectly clear, as a country we are guilty of a perpetuating a terrible wrong to a class of citizens for decades. Children born into districts with failing schools, those which are defined as being unable to teach their students at a level that allows them to compete for positions in colleges and jobs, are essentially given a life sentence simply for being born.
How in the hell did we let this go on so long? I've spent many hours this week crying with joy due to Obama's election and crying with the pain of the suffering that we have let continue generation after generation. The reason we can't do anything about this travesty are as long as Donald Trump's Xmas list, everyone gets blamed from teachers, parents, neighborhoods, government, God and the devil and most wrongly, even the Kids.
You can read a million reasons why things can't get better, not enough good teachers, not enough money, even the evil comments that imply they just can't be taught, a sickening comment that once came out of the mouth of a man that headed the United States Department of Education.
This is unacceptable and so wrong you can taste it, feel it like a cold wind on bare skin, it is as wrong as apartheid, as wrong as slavery, as wrong as the holocaust and we can't tolerate for one more second, one more minute, certainly not one more generation.
You say we can't fix it, then you weren't listening over the past year, you weren't listening the last month, and you sure weren't listening last Tuesday night because you would know this, "Yes We Can".
Starting with Apangea Learning we are taking learning to the people and we are going to teach them Math, that's right Math. Math is the key to knowing how to solve problems, how to reason , how to compare, how to calculate, how to measure, how to be fair, if you know Math you can do almost anything. Math will take you more places than any car, will keep you warmer than a coat and give you more confidence than a beautiful woman or man on your arm.
Yes We Can give every child born into that life sentence early parole so that we can hear their voice, they won't all be scientists or chemists or accountants, but with the confidence that they will have by passing those same tests that kids out the suburbs pass without a second thought. And we will all be better for it, and another age of slavery will end and a new era of equality can begin.
I need to go now, there is much to do to make this real, but we have the tools now and as long as we work these tools and we can find people who embrace this effort like Abraham Lincoln, Rosa Parks, MLK and JFK embraced theirs with help and support and yes a little money we make this happen in our lifetimes and the last generation will look back on educational inequality with the same distain as any type of slavery.
Yes We Can!
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Remarks of President-elect Barack Obama, as prepared for delivery
This is the most inspiring speech I've heard since I was 9 years old and listened to JFK, I'm so excited I couldn't sleep, really.
Remarks of President-elect Barack Obama, as prepared for delivery
Election Night
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Chicago, Illinois
If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference.
It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled--Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America.
It's the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.
It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.
I just received a very gracious call from Senator McCain. He fought long and hard in this campaign, and he's fought even longer and harder for the country he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine, and we are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader. I congratulate him and Governor Palin for all they have achieved, and I look forward to working with them to renew this nation's promise in the months ahead.
I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on that train home to Delaware, the Vice President-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.
I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last sixteen years, the rock of our family and the love of my life, our nation's next First Lady, Michelle Obama.
Sasha and Malia, I love you both so much, and you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the White House. And while she's no longer with us, I know my grandmother is watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight, and know that my debt to them is beyond measure.
To my campaign manager David Plouffe, my chief strategist David Axelrod, and the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics--you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you've sacrificed to get it done.
But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to--it belongs to you.
I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington--it began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston.
It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give five dollars and ten dollars and twenty dollars to this cause. It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy; who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of Americans who volunteered, and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this Earth. This is your victory.
I know you didn't do this just to win an election and I know you didn't do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime--two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century.
Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make the mortgage, or pay their doctor's bills, or save enough for college. There is new energy to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build and threats to meet and alliances to repair.
The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America--I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you--we as a people will get there.
There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president, and we know that government can't solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And above all, I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it's been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years--block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.
What began twenty-one months ago in the depths of winter must not end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek--it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you.
So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers--in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people.
Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.
Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House--a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity.
Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, "We are not enemies, but friends ... though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection." And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn--I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your president too.
And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world--our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear this world down--we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security - we support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright--tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.
For that is the true genius of America--that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.
This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing--Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.
She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons--because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.
And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America - the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.
At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot.
Yes we can.
When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.
When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.
She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that "We Shall Overcome." Yes we can.
A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.
America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves--if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time - to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth--that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people.
Yes We Can. Thank you, God bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.
Remarks of President-elect Barack Obama, as prepared for delivery
Election Night
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Chicago, Illinois
If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference.
It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled--Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America.
It's the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.
It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.
I just received a very gracious call from Senator McCain. He fought long and hard in this campaign, and he's fought even longer and harder for the country he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine, and we are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader. I congratulate him and Governor Palin for all they have achieved, and I look forward to working with them to renew this nation's promise in the months ahead.
I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on that train home to Delaware, the Vice President-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.
I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last sixteen years, the rock of our family and the love of my life, our nation's next First Lady, Michelle Obama.
Sasha and Malia, I love you both so much, and you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the White House. And while she's no longer with us, I know my grandmother is watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight, and know that my debt to them is beyond measure.
To my campaign manager David Plouffe, my chief strategist David Axelrod, and the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics--you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you've sacrificed to get it done.
But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to--it belongs to you.
I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington--it began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston.
It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give five dollars and ten dollars and twenty dollars to this cause. It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy; who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of Americans who volunteered, and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this Earth. This is your victory.
I know you didn't do this just to win an election and I know you didn't do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime--two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century.
Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make the mortgage, or pay their doctor's bills, or save enough for college. There is new energy to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build and threats to meet and alliances to repair.
The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America--I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you--we as a people will get there.
There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president, and we know that government can't solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And above all, I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it's been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years--block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.
What began twenty-one months ago in the depths of winter must not end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek--it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you.
So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers--in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people.
Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.
Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House--a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity.
Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, "We are not enemies, but friends ... though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection." And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn--I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your president too.
And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world--our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear this world down--we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security - we support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright--tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.
For that is the true genius of America--that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.
This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing--Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.
She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons--because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.
And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America - the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.
At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot.
Yes we can.
When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.
When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.
She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that "We Shall Overcome." Yes we can.
A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.
America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves--if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time - to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth--that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people.
Yes We Can. Thank you, God bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.
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