Not Without Guilt 2 (A Working Title)

I continue below with thoughts on the divisions within our nation. It is best considered as a continuation of the post linked in the first line of the body. It also is incomplete -- merely a beginning at looking at the divisions within the United States.

Education is obviously one of the issues that must be considered when we look again at the CNN example of the destroyed repossessed homes. But again, we must dig into the question of what we mean by education. This brings up the moral and cultural issues that are at the heart of our divided nation. We must seek to bridge the gap between at least two radically different ways of viewing the world.

So, where to begin? I think first we must look at different ways in which individuals are “educated.”

When we speak of education, the most common frame of reference is the public school system. It is the body to which we have consigned our children in the expectation that they will be provided with a basic set of skills which will allow them to not only function properly within society but which will allow them to succeed. But, then, I’m looking at education from my frame of reference which differs from some other group’s point-of-view.

If we look at a poor single mother who is trying to raise children, provide an income and basically just survive on her own, she may not see school so much as a place where her offspring can obtain a basic set of skills as she sees it as a babysitter. Perhaps she sees it merely as a place to keep those children out of her hair while she lies in a drugged stupor. Perhaps – well, there are thousands of “perhaps” that could encompass only a portion of the potential scenarios. But, what is a key here is that we first realize that the public schools are being asked to function in a role for which they were not designed. They should not be babysitters. They were designed to function as a place of learning for those who are motivated to learn – either through the threat of punishment from a parent who wanted the situation of their children to be improved from their own, or because the child truly desired to learn and improve his own situation. That is often not what we have today.

So, we see that the public schools as a source of education is a barely functioning entity today because it is tasked with goals for which it was not designed and is inadequately prepared. That leaves us with other forms of education.

The greatest source of education is a mentor. Most often, a mentor – especially for young children – is a parent who seeks to create a desire for learning and a sense of purpose for that desire. What happens to that portion of the learning process when both parents are working sixty hour weeks because they want to “get ahead” in life? What happens when the child is reared in a single-parent home in which survival takes precedence over special attentions to the needs of the child? What happens when the influences of our friends and neighbors seek to degrade the desire for success by replacing it with a desire for disruption or excess? What happens when the family is disconnected in such a way that “extended” family members are merely a phone number or address in a book and not a vital part of life? Grandparents can sometimes fill the role of a mentor when the circumstances cause an inability on the part of the parents. The disintegration of the family is a factor in the failure of our children to obtain an education that will lead them to function well in society.

...perhaps to be continued.

Not Without Guilt (A Working Title)

I present below, what might be considered the beginning of an essay -- or, perhaps it is the entirety of the essay in the event that I decide not to continue. Whatever it is, it is only a small piece of the puzzle that must be solved if the nation that we call the UNITED States of America is to truly be re-UNITED into a single nation. Today, we are not UNITED. Anyway, here are some thoughts....

Today as I ate my pizza from the buffet line at Gatti’s in Bowling Green, Kentucky, I watched CNN Headline News on the big-screen television hanging on the wall. Please realize that I don’t normally watch CNN, just as I don’t watch MSNBC or NBC or CBS or ABC news as a general rule. I find that their biases often get in the way of their reporting. However, when the proprietor has the television set to a particular channel, that’s usually what you are stuck with – just like in the breakfast area of whatever motel chain I happen to be using as my current home-away-from-home.

Anyway, the talking heads seemed incredulous that the repossessed homes in the particular Chicago area neighborhood where they had chosen to base their “news” story were in terrible shape. Commodes were ripped from the floor, there were holes in the walls, doors were off their hinges, trash was piled everywhere and the general shape of the property was worse than pitiful. The reporters seemed shocked that the homes were in such condition and felt certain that it could only be because of the ill treatment of the previous “owners” by whatever lender that had so viciously evicted them.

Is it a symptom, or is it the disease? I’m of course referring to the reaction of the newscasters, not the behavior of the previous occupants of the repossessed houses – but, then again, the same question could be asked about those former occupants. Was their behavior a symptom, or was it the disease? However, upon further reflection, perhaps we should define “what” behavior is the object of our question. Are we observing a behavior of protest at poor treatment, or are we observing a general attitude about life and a lack of caring for property? Is it an issue of education? Is it an issue of an oppressed group of citizens? Is it the result of drug abuse? Is it something else altogether?

There are no easy answers, just as there are no easy questions – at least no easy questions that have been properly framed with clearly definable intent. I believe the frame of reference from which the “talking heads” were seeking to deliver a “newsworthy” story was so totally foreign to the actual events about which they were reporting that they had no idea of how to pose proper questions or in any way to relate to the events. They fell back instead on the dogma of their beliefs – namely, that it was an issue of victims and bad guys – of course, the actor of bad behavior is never the bad guy, it is always the one who suffered at their hands that was being punished for bad behavior – i.e. the bank, or landlord, or the builder, or whoever.

The age-old dilemma of communication between men and women is a piece-of-cake compared to the ability of the liberal media to communicate with the average human being in the United States – or the other way around. (I considered including all people but really have no good concept of the ability of media in other countries to connect with their people – although I suspect the issue is universal.) Why is it that way? Is it due to cultural biases? Is it a result of education? Is it a function of personality types that seek media careers as opposed to those who don’t? What exactly makes it so difficult for media figures to connect with the average person? Is it an elitism springing from a career-based attitude that inculcates the “successful” media personalities? Whatever the source, there is clearly a disconnection between the reporters and their subjects – unless they are talking of other media types – which would include television, movie and many music personalities.

So, where am I going with this? I guess I am seeking to reason through what is happening in our country. The example of the CNN Headline News reporters is a symptom of many things. It is a manifestation of deep moral and cultural issues that are on the verge of tearing apart the basis for our nation – that is, the ability to present reasoned arguments and through the art of seeking accommodation through shared values and balanced compromise to arrive at solutions to issues of the day by seeking the common good. There is no commonality. There is instead a deep divide that is growing wider by the day. If it is not addressed, it will bring about the end of the United States of America – not just as we know it – but as a nation.