Society needs both conservative and progressive voices. We need both traditions and change, both productivity and equality, both “what works” and “how it should be.” For politics to be healthy, conservatives should identify and draw attention to contradictions in progressive programs, and progressives should do the same for conservative programs. Lazy political discourse between progressives and conservatives leads to corruption and inefficiency.
So anyway, here goes:
The libertarian strain is what gives today's Republicans their intellectual depth. Economic freedom is one of the primary adversaries to the vast dehumanizing social forces that democratic socialism easily stumbles into. Freedom is more than just economics though. Freedom is the use of creativity, the use of imagination. Children instinctively know this, but as adults we seem to forget.
Creative freedom is incompatible with the militant paranoia that sadly defines the Republican party today. When today's Republican leadership use the word 'freedom', it is a dead word. It is hypocritical to talk about freedom while refusing to accept a rational level of uncertainty regarding one's security. The exercise of our freedom implies a certain level of uncertainty.
Creativity feeds off of the new. And as adults we know that the new is dangerous in the 'real' world. The new is risky, and our financial futures contain enough risk as is. That is the reality of adults, and there is some truth to it. But not to the extent that current Republican leaders would have us believe. Is the 'risk' of being a victim of terrorism really worth perpetual war? Is the 'risk' of being a victim of a serial killing really worth never talking to strangers? Is the 'risk' that marijuana poses to our youth really worth the criminalization of criminalization of a normally harmless, non-violent activity?
You cannot exercise freedom without accepting a rational level of uncertainty regarding your security. People have trusted in the common humanity of strangers for millennia. All the major religions encourage it. But we are told to give up the new, to stop exercising our freedom, in the name of security. We as citizens are to be contented to simply have the freedom provided to us by military sacrifice. Freedom is a thing for us to be proud and thankful for, but only rarely to be exercised. That is the contradiction behind today's Republican leadership. They paint themselves as the protectors of freedom, but their freedom is an abstraction, a buzzword. Freedom is like any other ability--it shrivels when not exercised. Unexercised freedom becomes small and withered, a meaningless freedom.
This corruption of freedom, this 'baby-sitter freedom' we are told to accept, is the Achilles heal of today's Republican leadership. Freedom is not maintained by the paranoid elimination of every conceivable threat to one's security. A toleration for a reasonable amount of uncertainty, and a trust in the humanity of others, is an essential part of exercising our freedom. Just as it was for Jesus, just as it was for Muhammad, just as it was for Buddha. Liberals should hammer this point relentlessly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTABIxEMoAw
Friday, January 22, 2010
Monday, December 21, 2009
Teach for America essays
Letter of Intent:
I want to join Teach for America because I believe in the program's mission of providing equal opportunity and equal education for all students. School, as I understand it, has two distinct functions. One role is economic--to provide equal opportunity, to give students an equal chance to earn scholarships to top universities, and to help each student find a specialization they can use to make a living. The other role is social--to teach students how society as a whole works. In other words, school should not only determine where in the economy a student will "fit in", but also should give students an understanding of how the different pieces of society "fit together."
As much as we would like to, these two roles seldom can be combined. Someone can become a highly successful lawyer, doctor, or even (scarily) politician, without understanding much about the rest of society.
Standardization helps achieve equal opportunity, the economic role of schools, but makes it harder for teachers to explain how a topic relates to society as a whole. A student's "Why are we studying this?" is increasingly likely to be met with "Because we have to", "Because I said so", or likely the most common, "You want to go to college, don't you?" Such responses leave huge blank spots within a student's understanding of how different sectors of society are related.
I hope to teach mathematics. Often, mathematics is taught without mentioning non-mathematical subjects, and the subject can be taught quite well this way. Some students benefit from the focus on pattern-recognition that such an approach would bring out. But for others, the class can become needlessly boring. Technologies such as the TV, radio, and the electronic computer would never have occurred without mathematics. More relevant to most high-schoolers, mathematics teaches logic--it asks students to determine what they can know for certain. Just as we use logic in mathematics to determine what we know for certain about a problem, we can use logic in our lives to maintain consistency in our relationships.
During the past two years since graduating, I have spent time substitute teaching and volunteering in GED and after-school tutoring programs. Now that I have a 2.5 GPA, I look forward to continuing my career in education with Teach for America.
I believe many students are eager to understand how society fits together. I hope to provide that understanding to as many students as I can.
two examples of the jobs or activities that best highlight your leadership and achievement:
1 - interim Alabama organizer for 2008 Nader for President
What are/were your primary responsibilities in your current or most recent role?
As the Alabama State Coordinator, it was my job to collect the sheets of signatures that the state requires for a presidential candidate to appear on the ballot. I was in charge of collecting the signature sheets from 2 paid petitioners and from 6 or 7 volunteers. I also sent out a biweekly email updating donors about the campaign and took part in a weekly phone conference.
What was your most significant accomplishment in your current or most recent role?
I turned in the over 9,000 signatures to the Alabama Secretary of State's office in Montgomery, Alabama on August 19th, 2008, fulfilling Alabama's requirement of 5,000 signatures of registered Alabama voters for third-party candidates to be on the state ballot.
For number 2 I have two options - A) the conservative "after-school volunteer" or B) the more personal, but abstract "self-directed student" option
A) - Sarah Tate Reading Room
What are/were your primary responsibilities in your current or most recent role?
I served as an after-school tutor for 2nd-5th grade kids. After snack, I would work with one or two students usually on their math work. After working, students were free to play outside, use a computer, or create another activity such as a group game or chess.
What was your most significant accomplishment in your current or most recent role?
I introduced some kids to chess, helped them learn to use a laptop, and (most importantly) got to play some awesome games of wall ball.
B)
Many people today define success within the game of limitless acquisition. They get jobs because it pays well, because it has “upward mobility”; usually not because they believe in their work. I believe my greatest success in school has been to escape form this approach to education, and begin to truly learn about our society, and how I can contribute to its progress.
(And I could reword some of that of course.)
Leaning toward option A)
hopefully math degree + caring about education + talking the phone interview about starting a technology club after school will be enough, so play conservative i'm thinking.
I want to join Teach for America because I believe in the program's mission of providing equal opportunity and equal education for all students. School, as I understand it, has two distinct functions. One role is economic--to provide equal opportunity, to give students an equal chance to earn scholarships to top universities, and to help each student find a specialization they can use to make a living. The other role is social--to teach students how society as a whole works. In other words, school should not only determine where in the economy a student will "fit in", but also should give students an understanding of how the different pieces of society "fit together."
As much as we would like to, these two roles seldom can be combined. Someone can become a highly successful lawyer, doctor, or even (scarily) politician, without understanding much about the rest of society.
Standardization helps achieve equal opportunity, the economic role of schools, but makes it harder for teachers to explain how a topic relates to society as a whole. A student's "Why are we studying this?" is increasingly likely to be met with "Because we have to", "Because I said so", or likely the most common, "You want to go to college, don't you?" Such responses leave huge blank spots within a student's understanding of how different sectors of society are related.
I hope to teach mathematics. Often, mathematics is taught without mentioning non-mathematical subjects, and the subject can be taught quite well this way. Some students benefit from the focus on pattern-recognition that such an approach would bring out. But for others, the class can become needlessly boring. Technologies such as the TV, radio, and the electronic computer would never have occurred without mathematics. More relevant to most high-schoolers, mathematics teaches logic--it asks students to determine what they can know for certain. Just as we use logic in mathematics to determine what we know for certain about a problem, we can use logic in our lives to maintain consistency in our relationships.
During the past two years since graduating, I have spent time substitute teaching and volunteering in GED and after-school tutoring programs. Now that I have a 2.5 GPA, I look forward to continuing my career in education with Teach for America.
I believe many students are eager to understand how society fits together. I hope to provide that understanding to as many students as I can.
two examples of the jobs or activities that best highlight your leadership and achievement:
1 - interim Alabama organizer for 2008 Nader for President
What are/were your primary responsibilities in your current or most recent role?
As the Alabama State Coordinator, it was my job to collect the sheets of signatures that the state requires for a presidential candidate to appear on the ballot. I was in charge of collecting the signature sheets from 2 paid petitioners and from 6 or 7 volunteers. I also sent out a biweekly email updating donors about the campaign and took part in a weekly phone conference.
What was your most significant accomplishment in your current or most recent role?
I turned in the over 9,000 signatures to the Alabama Secretary of State's office in Montgomery, Alabama on August 19th, 2008, fulfilling Alabama's requirement of 5,000 signatures of registered Alabama voters for third-party candidates to be on the state ballot.
For number 2 I have two options - A) the conservative "after-school volunteer" or B) the more personal, but abstract "self-directed student" option
A) - Sarah Tate Reading Room
What are/were your primary responsibilities in your current or most recent role?
I served as an after-school tutor for 2nd-5th grade kids. After snack, I would work with one or two students usually on their math work. After working, students were free to play outside, use a computer, or create another activity such as a group game or chess.
What was your most significant accomplishment in your current or most recent role?
I introduced some kids to chess, helped them learn to use a laptop, and (most importantly) got to play some awesome games of wall ball.
B)
Many people today define success within the game of limitless acquisition. They get jobs because it pays well, because it has “upward mobility”; usually not because they believe in their work. I believe my greatest success in school has been to escape form this approach to education, and begin to truly learn about our society, and how I can contribute to its progress.
(And I could reword some of that of course.)
Leaning toward option A)
hopefully math degree + caring about education + talking the phone interview about starting a technology club after school will be enough, so play conservative i'm thinking.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Sufi Wisdom
Some quotes I especially liked from a book I read recently (Edenborn, good if you like sci-fi and thinking about broad social issues):
pg. 61 -
Echoes of my father's words permeate my mind and my heart. Vividly, I remember him sitting me down when twin fears of death and failure twisted me in their coils. He sat me down, dried my tears, and armored me with the wisdom of Abu Sa'id ibn Abi'l Khayr, a Persian Sufi master who lived a thousand years ago. The master said:
pg. 160 -
"This is an old trick," he explained, while unloading [coconuts] from my copter. "The monkey reaches into the hole to grab the treat but cannot pull his paw free without letting go. Because he is unwilling to let go, he is trapped by the force of his greed."
Though they are low-tech contraptions, my nieces and I find them wonderfully resourceful, the kind of outdoor-savvy skill set Isaac's kids have inherited, and Vashti and Champagne's kids have not. And Mu'tazz is Isaac's son in another respect as well, using the event as an opportunity to teach. "We all carry coconuts," he told the curious girls. "They are our problems, our woes, and we drag them around, shortsighted, too proud to let go and welcome God into our lives."
pg. 232 -
We remember your lessons We embrace the future. We fight for life with every drop of blood in our veins, but the microbes that threaten us come from God, and with God what can we do but surrender completely to whatever fate He has prepared?
pg. 254 -
When I tell the story about the frogs, I never tell it the same way twice. Sometimes they are green frogs, and sometimes they're brown. Sometimes I describe them with warts and other times without. They could be your common bullfrogs or Okinawan green tree frogs. They might even be toads. There could be ten, twenty, or a whole army of them, but the core of the story is always the same.
A group of frogs was traveling together, when two suddenly fell into a pit. The others rushed to the edge to see how very deep it was, and they realized the pair would never be able to get out. Don't even bother, they croaked, but the two trapped frogs started hopping anyway. They jumped and they hopped but they couldn't quite reach the top. All the time the crowd kept yelling for them to quit suffering and just give up, lay down and die. Finally, one of the two did exactly that. But the other ignored his fellow frogs and kept jumping with all his might. Against all odds, he made it out.
The others were amazed. Why did you keep trying? they asked. Didn't you hear us yelling for you to quit?
Oh, is that what you were doing, said the bewildered frog. I'm afraid I'm going deaf. All the time I was down there I thought you were encouraging me.
pg. 61 -
Echoes of my father's words permeate my mind and my heart. Vividly, I remember him sitting me down when twin fears of death and failure twisted me in their coils. He sat me down, dried my tears, and armored me with the wisdom of Abu Sa'id ibn Abi'l Khayr, a Persian Sufi master who lived a thousand years ago. The master said:
'Whatever you have in your mind, forget it.They are freeing words.
Whatever you have in your hand, give it.
Whatever is to be your fate, face it!'
pg. 160 -
"This is an old trick," he explained, while unloading [coconuts] from my copter. "The monkey reaches into the hole to grab the treat but cannot pull his paw free without letting go. Because he is unwilling to let go, he is trapped by the force of his greed."
Though they are low-tech contraptions, my nieces and I find them wonderfully resourceful, the kind of outdoor-savvy skill set Isaac's kids have inherited, and Vashti and Champagne's kids have not. And Mu'tazz is Isaac's son in another respect as well, using the event as an opportunity to teach. "We all carry coconuts," he told the curious girls. "They are our problems, our woes, and we drag them around, shortsighted, too proud to let go and welcome God into our lives."
pg. 232 -
We remember your lessons We embrace the future. We fight for life with every drop of blood in our veins, but the microbes that threaten us come from God, and with God what can we do but surrender completely to whatever fate He has prepared?
pg. 254 -
When I tell the story about the frogs, I never tell it the same way twice. Sometimes they are green frogs, and sometimes they're brown. Sometimes I describe them with warts and other times without. They could be your common bullfrogs or Okinawan green tree frogs. They might even be toads. There could be ten, twenty, or a whole army of them, but the core of the story is always the same.
A group of frogs was traveling together, when two suddenly fell into a pit. The others rushed to the edge to see how very deep it was, and they realized the pair would never be able to get out. Don't even bother, they croaked, but the two trapped frogs started hopping anyway. They jumped and they hopped but they couldn't quite reach the top. All the time the crowd kept yelling for them to quit suffering and just give up, lay down and die. Finally, one of the two did exactly that. But the other ignored his fellow frogs and kept jumping with all his might. Against all odds, he made it out.
The others were amazed. Why did you keep trying? they asked. Didn't you hear us yelling for you to quit?
Oh, is that what you were doing, said the bewildered frog. I'm afraid I'm going deaf. All the time I was down there I thought you were encouraging me.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Music!
Why do we demand that our popular music have words? For the same reasons that American pop culture remains so emotionally stunted? That when the individual is made to feel politically and economically powerless, when economic life dominated by the interests of big government and big business, it leads to an emotional regression in the general public? Probably so. (Maybe separating words from music is what allows Jay-Z and Lil Wayne to sound more authentic/honest about their life?)
But no matter. Music is still awesome. It writes the stories we live by. It both defines and reflects our emotions. This is all as it should be. A story ties together emotional progressions. A melody ties together chord progressions. It’s a tight analogy. ‘Melody’ and ‘story’ are very much synonyms.
Take Beethoven’s Fur Elise. It starts in darkness, in a minor chord. Not quite darkness though, just a shady dimness, as we move from the tonic A minor, down to dominant E major (0:04 to 0:05), then back to the tonic again(0:05 to 0:06). This progression of minor tonic, down to major dominant, back up to minor tonic--from darkness, then a distant flicker of light, darkness again-—repeats three more times (0:07-0:23). Then finally—Hope!—light penetrates our darkness, C major followed by G major chords, (0:23-0:25). This beam is quickly drowned out again by the canopy as A minor follows (0:26), but the memory of light echoes for a moment in our minds (the dominant E major) making us search upwards that much harder (0:28-0:30). We end in the darkness of A minor, as we must (0:31-0:37).
The chord progression of music IS an emotional progression at the same time. The melody in music IS a story that ties that progression together. If self-consciousness is primarily a story, music is quite literally the stuff our minds are made of.
“Breathe, breathe in the air,
Don't be afraid to care”
- Pink Floyd
But no matter. Music is still awesome. It writes the stories we live by. It both defines and reflects our emotions. This is all as it should be. A story ties together emotional progressions. A melody ties together chord progressions. It’s a tight analogy. ‘Melody’ and ‘story’ are very much synonyms.
Take Beethoven’s Fur Elise. It starts in darkness, in a minor chord. Not quite darkness though, just a shady dimness, as we move from the tonic A minor, down to dominant E major (0:04 to 0:05), then back to the tonic again(0:05 to 0:06). This progression of minor tonic, down to major dominant, back up to minor tonic--from darkness, then a distant flicker of light, darkness again-—repeats three more times (0:07-0:23). Then finally—Hope!—light penetrates our darkness, C major followed by G major chords, (0:23-0:25). This beam is quickly drowned out again by the canopy as A minor follows (0:26), but the memory of light echoes for a moment in our minds (the dominant E major) making us search upwards that much harder (0:28-0:30). We end in the darkness of A minor, as we must (0:31-0:37).
The chord progression of music IS an emotional progression at the same time. The melody in music IS a story that ties that progression together. If self-consciousness is primarily a story, music is quite literally the stuff our minds are made of.
“Breathe, breathe in the air,
Don't be afraid to care”
- Pink Floyd
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
If baseball were fair...
Tomorrow night, the Yankees and Twins open the AL playoffs. Both teams have deserving players, but so do some of the teams that were left out of this year's playoffs--that's bound to happen when a 30 team league only has 8 playoff spots. The problem with MLB though, is the disparity in teams' payroll.
What if baseball were fair? What if the playoffs were seeded according to the teams that earned their wins, rather than buying them? To find out, I seeded the teams according a new metric I call "final grade", calculated by dividing a team's number of wins at the season's end by the 4th root of team payroll.
Without further hesitation, here are your 2009 deserving Division winners:
Interestingly, both LA teams deserve wild card spots, with the Dodgers and Angels finishing just ahead of the Padres and Red Sox, respectively. 5/8 of the deserving teams made the actual MLB playoffs. The players for the Devil Rays, Rangers, and Marlins are more deserving than those for the hulkishly-rich Yankees, Red Sox, and Phillies.
More interestingly, without needing any adjustments, the ratio produces a report card-type score that gives fair assessment of each team's season, punishing neither big nor small market teams. (I think most reasonable fans would actually agree with the final grades the system cranks out.) Pretty cool!
Other notes:
*** Again, final grade was calculated by the equation:
Final grade = Total Wins / (team payroll in dollars)^(1/4)
*** The Marlins won 2.36 games/million dollars spent, almost 5 times that of the Yankees, who led the majors in victories but still finished dead last in wins/million dollars spent at 0.51.
*** Obviously, the system does not take injuries into account, which played a large part in the Mets and Indians poor seasons.
Oh yeah, and my world series prediciton:
I'm gonna go Angels over Rockies in 6.
What if baseball were fair? What if the playoffs were seeded according to the teams that earned their wins, rather than buying them? To find out, I seeded the teams according a new metric I call "final grade", calculated by dividing a team's number of wins at the season's end by the 4th root of team payroll.
Without further hesitation, here are your 2009 deserving Division winners:
AL East Tampa Bay
AL Central Minnesota
AL West Texas
AL Wild LA Angels
NL East Florida
NL Central St. Louis
NL West Colorado
NL Wild LA Dodgers
Interestingly, both LA teams deserve wild card spots, with the Dodgers and Angels finishing just ahead of the Padres and Red Sox, respectively. 5/8 of the deserving teams made the actual MLB playoffs. The players for the Devil Rays, Rangers, and Marlins are more deserving than those for the hulkishly-rich Yankees, Red Sox, and Phillies.
More interestingly, without needing any adjustments, the ratio produces a report card-type score that gives fair assessment of each team's season, punishing neither big nor small market teams. (I think most reasonable fans would actually agree with the final grades the system cranks out.) Pretty cool!
Other notes:
*** Again, final grade was calculated by the equation:
Final grade = Total Wins / (team payroll in dollars)^(1/4)
*** The Marlins won 2.36 games/million dollars spent, almost 5 times that of the Yankees, who led the majors in victories but still finished dead last in wins/million dollars spent at 0.51.
*** Obviously, the system does not take injuries into account, which played a large part in the Mets and Indians poor seasons.
Team Wins Wins/ "final grade"
$mil spent
Marlins 87 2.36 1.12 A++++
Rockies 92 1.22 0.99 A+
Twins 87 1.33 0.97 A+
Rangers 87 1.27 0.96 A
Dodgers 95 0.95 0.95 A
Rays 84 1.33 0.94 A
Angels 97 0.85 0.94 A
Cardinals 91 1.03 0.94 A
Padres 75 1.75 0.93 A
Giants 88 1.07 0.92 A-
Red Sox 95 0.77 0.90 A-
Phillies 93 0.82 0.90 A-
Braves 86 0.89 0.87 B+
Yankees 103 0.51 0.86 B
Mariners 85 0.86 0.85 B
Reds 78 1.10 0.85 B
Brewers 80 1.00 0.85 B
Athletics 75 1.20 0.84 B
Tigers 86 0.75 0.83 B
White Sox 79 0.82 0.80 B-
Blue Jays 75 0.93 0.79 C+
Cubs 83 0.61 0.77 C+
D-backs 70 0.95 0.76 C
Pirates 62 1.27 0.74 C
Astros 74 0.72 0.73 C
Royals 65 0.92 0.71 C-
Orioles 64 0.95 0.71 C-
Indians 65 0.80 0.68 D+
Nationals 59 0.99 0.67 D
Mets 70 0.52 0.65 D-
Oh yeah, and my world series prediciton:
I'm gonna go Angels over Rockies in 6.
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