Teaching Survivors

It seems quite wonderful that we whites are now digesting the notion of white privilege. It’s very subtle. Next, can we look at ‘intellectual privilege’? 

Can we look at a grading system in schools that brands the slower learners as ‘D-students’, making them want to contend physically for that which they can’t yet do mentally, and to bully their way through life? Can we look at competition in schools that allows the weakest to feel ashamed? 

We are told that this models the world, that we will need to compete with our peers to survive, but survival in the world today requires the ability to cooperate and adapt to other peoples’ needs to create fertile spaces where we all can be nurtured.

Re-seeding The Center

I'm concerned about whether a rational two-party system can survive.

Two feet make us mobile. Two eyes let us see depth. Two parties - if they meet at the center - convey the best ideas from all directions into the decision-making process.

Meeting at the center depends on agreeing on what is true, and on what is good. If a center could be defined by asking what principles we all have in common and what facts we all agree on, perhaps we can build from there. A majority on all sides might agree on...

The sacredness of life.

The right to autonomy.

The right to associate equally with others.

The right to build a common good.