I read the piece offline, hence I'm a bit late with my comments. I am not going to quibble with anything you wrote, I am just going to notice something you didn't write - you didn't write about food.
How can someone learn if they haven't had a nutritious breakfast? How can someone learn if their belly is rumbling? How can someone concentrate on Athens and Sparta if they're counting down the time until lunch?
There have been a number of pieces over the last couple of days about the effects of that truly big ugly bill, how it has affected SNAP and Medicaid and earlier today I read a piece about the cuts at WIC, which is cutting access to fruit and vegetables. It would not surprise me if I found that they were monkeying with (free) school meals as well.
Yes, proper schooling is important for children to learn, but so are the basics like food and shelter!
Food is certainly an element of all this, as are other essentials, such as sufficient sleep, a safe home environment, parents taking an active role in a child’s school work (vs. screaming and shouting at the board meetings). These are things which deserve a separate piece. To have included food in my 2nd piece, highlighting the widening gap between the highest and lowest achieving, would have muddied the message. You can’t just spread your wings and include everything.
This is a valid point! A very valid point. (My attention has just been focused on the issue of food via a number of recent articles.)
On the point of sufficient sleep, there was a campaign a few years ago, where a newspaper was running a christmas charity appeal to get beds to children. Because there were so many children who did not have their own beds. They were sharing with their siblings or sleeping on a sofa or some other arrangements.
And yet there are people who think that 'welfare' should be cut. I would like to ask them 'where'? Where do they think 'welfare' could or should be cut? I would also like to ask them two additional questions, one is how much money is required to able to live and what they think people on 'welfare' are getting. It would probably be an interesting discussion!
Anyway, I'm about to go and climb down from my high horse, I've got some admin stuff to do and later on I need to go out and collect a prescription. Can I get you anything while I'm at the shops?
I don’t know if it’s going to get better before I die, but yes, it will clean itself up eventually. Fascism typically doesn’t survive. And yes, being in Ireland, England, France and Italy in the past 18 months has afforded me the opportunity to witness what worked and what didn’t. I have, in my mind, an ideal nation-state, but nobody cares what I think, I’m just an old fart with tired, old ideas.
And then I started thinking (and now you better duck, because it can get dangerous when I start thinking on a Thursday afternoon): You’ve just come back from a very old country (leaving aside that the modern Italian state was created in the 1860s). By your accounts you had a great time there - maybe you could take some inspiration and encouragement from the place? It used to be the centre of a global empire, it fell apart into small/city states, it hosted a theocracy, it created modern universities and a lot of aspects of the modern banking system, it got unified, it had fascism, it got bombed to smithereens, the state was under serious attacks by organised crime and terrorism …. at each and every stage, the people got together, muddled through the problems and survived to another day. Italy isn’t perfect, but it’s a great place to live!
Which is a looong way of saying, no, your country is just fine. It’ll sort itself out, these dark times will be over, they will probably be over faster than the dark times of other countries. You’ll be fine.
Great! June is a great place to come and visit, and I’d recommend including a place in the north on your itinerary, Inverness and maybe even a bit further north. The places where you can sit outside and read the newspaper at 11pm because it is still so light, it goes dark round about midnight and at 2am you can see the first bits of light in the east.
June is also a great time to visit as regards the weather, it often is really nice then. (But then I’ve worn a winter coat while visiting the Royal Highland Show …. )
Thank you, Gloria. We’re letting education, at least public education, deteriorate to the point it will further increase the wealth gap. Public education, the kind many of us grew up with in the late 50s and 60s, helped create a thriving middle class. Education has always been the great leveler of the playing field. Now the middle class is dwindling and I’m not sure certain groups of people know what long term effects that may have on our economy.
I’m new here but I’ve been complaining that it doesn’t seem like education curriculum has kept up with the world. Specifically the digital, online world. One extremely important tool would be to teach (yes I’m going to say it) critical thinking skills so they have the tools to filter the enormous information load online these days.
There also should be re-evaluation of the rest of the curriculum. Should the students be taught higher mathematics when they don’t have any signs of mathmatical aptitude. Or memorizing dates in history class when the important part is what happened, why and what was learned and maybe the circumstances of the time. The dates can be obtained in on demand anywhere anytime now.
They would be better off learning to use the computing skills available to them to excel in the future rather than learning the skills needed before electricity was invented.
I agree with much of what you’re saying. I’ll only comment on two things you said. One, dates are important. Unless you learn chronological concept when studying history, much of it won’t make sense. Yes, you can drag a date up from thousands of places online. But unless you know the full context, and dates provide cultural context, too, you really lack the understanding that goes along with the old, but extremely appropriate and accurate expression, ‘those who don’t know history, are doomed to repeat it.’ Secondly, I’m not sure what you’re labeling “advanced mathematics”. For me, the higher math classes I took both taught me how to think, but also they often gave me perspectives on the world that I’ve applied in social, cultural and business environments. And that’s all I’ll say on those two subjects. I could raise a detailed academic argument, but that’s maybe another piece I’ll write,
I believe I did mention time as far as what was going on around that time physically and the chronological sequence of events. But in any case I agrees the setting is as important as the story. Thanks! Many just not the dates.
I read the piece offline, hence I'm a bit late with my comments. I am not going to quibble with anything you wrote, I am just going to notice something you didn't write - you didn't write about food.
How can someone learn if they haven't had a nutritious breakfast? How can someone learn if their belly is rumbling? How can someone concentrate on Athens and Sparta if they're counting down the time until lunch?
There have been a number of pieces over the last couple of days about the effects of that truly big ugly bill, how it has affected SNAP and Medicaid and earlier today I read a piece about the cuts at WIC, which is cutting access to fruit and vegetables. It would not surprise me if I found that they were monkeying with (free) school meals as well.
Yes, proper schooling is important for children to learn, but so are the basics like food and shelter!
Food is certainly an element of all this, as are other essentials, such as sufficient sleep, a safe home environment, parents taking an active role in a child’s school work (vs. screaming and shouting at the board meetings). These are things which deserve a separate piece. To have included food in my 2nd piece, highlighting the widening gap between the highest and lowest achieving, would have muddied the message. You can’t just spread your wings and include everything.
This is a valid point! A very valid point. (My attention has just been focused on the issue of food via a number of recent articles.)
On the point of sufficient sleep, there was a campaign a few years ago, where a newspaper was running a christmas charity appeal to get beds to children. Because there were so many children who did not have their own beds. They were sharing with their siblings or sleeping on a sofa or some other arrangements.
And yet there are people who think that 'welfare' should be cut. I would like to ask them 'where'? Where do they think 'welfare' could or should be cut? I would also like to ask them two additional questions, one is how much money is required to able to live and what they think people on 'welfare' are getting. It would probably be an interesting discussion!
Anyway, I'm about to go and climb down from my high horse, I've got some admin stuff to do and later on I need to go out and collect a prescription. Can I get you anything while I'm at the shops?
https://www.independentadvertising.com/the-independent-launches-appeal-to-give-beds-to-children-this-christmas/
I don’t know if it’s going to get better before I die, but yes, it will clean itself up eventually. Fascism typically doesn’t survive. And yes, being in Ireland, England, France and Italy in the past 18 months has afforded me the opportunity to witness what worked and what didn’t. I have, in my mind, an ideal nation-state, but nobody cares what I think, I’m just an old fart with tired, old ideas.
I am optimistic, I think the fever will break rather soon!
As regards your last sentence, don't be too down on yourself, you've got a platform, here, and many people care about your thoughts!
As regards those thoughts, yes 'Government by the people for the people' has been around a bit, but it's still a good idea.
('Nation State' is a different discussion though.)
A new country would be nice, but don’t get it if it’s too much trouble 😁😉
This made me laugh, thank you for the chuckle.
And then I started thinking (and now you better duck, because it can get dangerous when I start thinking on a Thursday afternoon): You’ve just come back from a very old country (leaving aside that the modern Italian state was created in the 1860s). By your accounts you had a great time there - maybe you could take some inspiration and encouragement from the place? It used to be the centre of a global empire, it fell apart into small/city states, it hosted a theocracy, it created modern universities and a lot of aspects of the modern banking system, it got unified, it had fascism, it got bombed to smithereens, the state was under serious attacks by organised crime and terrorism …. at each and every stage, the people got together, muddled through the problems and survived to another day. Italy isn’t perfect, but it’s a great place to live!
Which is a looong way of saying, no, your country is just fine. It’ll sort itself out, these dark times will be over, they will probably be over faster than the dark times of other countries. You’ll be fine.
And BTW, Di and I are coming to Scotland next June, if Trump doesn’t wipe out all our retirement funds.
Great! June is a great place to come and visit, and I’d recommend including a place in the north on your itinerary, Inverness and maybe even a bit further north. The places where you can sit outside and read the newspaper at 11pm because it is still so light, it goes dark round about midnight and at 2am you can see the first bits of light in the east.
June is also a great time to visit as regards the weather, it often is really nice then. (But then I’ve worn a winter coat while visiting the Royal Highland Show …. )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s83pM1bBGjE
Excellent article!
Thank you, Gloria. We’re letting education, at least public education, deteriorate to the point it will further increase the wealth gap. Public education, the kind many of us grew up with in the late 50s and 60s, helped create a thriving middle class. Education has always been the great leveler of the playing field. Now the middle class is dwindling and I’m not sure certain groups of people know what long term effects that may have on our economy.
I’m new here but I’ve been complaining that it doesn’t seem like education curriculum has kept up with the world. Specifically the digital, online world. One extremely important tool would be to teach (yes I’m going to say it) critical thinking skills so they have the tools to filter the enormous information load online these days.
There also should be re-evaluation of the rest of the curriculum. Should the students be taught higher mathematics when they don’t have any signs of mathmatical aptitude. Or memorizing dates in history class when the important part is what happened, why and what was learned and maybe the circumstances of the time. The dates can be obtained in on demand anywhere anytime now.
They would be better off learning to use the computing skills available to them to excel in the future rather than learning the skills needed before electricity was invented.
I agree with much of what you’re saying. I’ll only comment on two things you said. One, dates are important. Unless you learn chronological concept when studying history, much of it won’t make sense. Yes, you can drag a date up from thousands of places online. But unless you know the full context, and dates provide cultural context, too, you really lack the understanding that goes along with the old, but extremely appropriate and accurate expression, ‘those who don’t know history, are doomed to repeat it.’ Secondly, I’m not sure what you’re labeling “advanced mathematics”. For me, the higher math classes I took both taught me how to think, but also they often gave me perspectives on the world that I’ve applied in social, cultural and business environments. And that’s all I’ll say on those two subjects. I could raise a detailed academic argument, but that’s maybe another piece I’ll write,
I believe I did mention time as far as what was going on around that time physically and the chronological sequence of events. But in any case I agrees the setting is as important as the story. Thanks! Many just not the dates.