Just A Thought from This Side

We are at that point where we have to stand and deliver, yet we have not been totally honest with ourselves. In fact we have turned an apathetic eye to important realities ignored for far too long.


On the one hand Health Care reform after all these years will be very cool . But speaking as someone who has some chronic health care ssues I have to ask: why did t take so long? More importantly: after the dust settles then what? Are we all going back to our old ways of doing things like a herd of cats?

The question is: how do we not, when thinking like a herd of cats describes much of our collective human nature?

I'm talking about Gay people all over America starting with reinterpreting the so-called barrier between natural rights and legal rights and push that redefinition all the way to the Supreme Court. Stop expecting all your eggs to COME OUT of one basket named Mr. President.

 I'm also talking about taking the Health Care issue and continuing to refine state and federal law: especially those laws dealing with regulations  that make it perfectly legal for an individual to make a killing with Private derivatives. But for Public Derivatives for a public who incidentally, bailed them out not to long ago,  such a egalitarian Cooperative Financial Instrument all the sudden can't be done.

I say: make it happen, what have we got to lose except the pride of a few rich MEN and a lot of sagging national debt.

But why stop there. Why not interconnect Health Care reform to the Environment. Federal Incentives for States diversifying their Municipal Bonds Securities with Green Technology and Green Jobs will make all the changes men like the late Sen. Ted Kennedy fought so long for, much more systematic and internationally competitive.

The fact is, if America is the first country to pull so much under one tent while turning a profit from streamlining and reorganizing the way she has done things, the results will make the spirits of Washington, Jefferson and Adams swell with pride. That will be a good thing.

But standing and Delivering doesn't only mean reorganizing our domestic structure when our foreign affairs are far from stable for much of the same core reasons.


 First, in Afghanistan, we have  to step back a little and take a look at some often overlooked  and in our case, essential facts. One, the Taliban, who derive their name from the word Talib: meaning Sunni student of Islamic law, are by definition  essentially "students." Like Al Qaeda, we can trace their roots back to a single man, who according to the Wikipedia was named Al Ghazali who lived in the latter 11th an early 12th Centuries in what is Modern Day Iraq and Iran.

The Wikipedia  recognizes Al Ghazali, as a "great Philosopher" who rejected Aristotle and Plato in the light of a kind of Systematic Skepticism which would later come to influence the likes of Rene Descartes and David Hume. The point is Al Ghazali believed in an inner mysticism, Sufism and his beliefs are what is at the core of both the Taliban and al Quaeda: the idea of there being a direct cause and effect in human nature determined by God and Angels.

 Thus a large part of what we were and still are fighting in Iraq and now in Afghanistan, is determined by various kinds of Occasionalism: a deep seated non-secular perspective centuries old.

Secondly, if we look at Al Ghazali as a starting point, I argue we will begin to see possible inherent divisions between the Taliban and Al Quaeda, we can use both to our advantage, and the advantage of all the people in Central Asia  without worrying about "changing" the region into a democratic one.

 On the one hand, as Talibs: students, what is the one thing all students have in common everywhere regardless  of culture or custom?  They want recognition the "work of the mind": they want to publish their theories with their colleagues and add the field, and they want to support their families with the products they create and are create from their ideas.

On the other hand there is Al Quaeda: a radical and mobile Sunni Muslim, yet Visigothic Movement of deep seeded Occassionalist fundamental beleifs.

 I used the term "Visigoths" in describing Al Quaeda because, like Alaric who sacked Rome centuries ago, Al Quaeda, based on the old mujahadeem of "The Charlie Wilson Years" sacked the then Soviet Union, and would very much like to sack the Whole Western world of today. Furthermore, according to the Wikipedia, like Alaric who was first in the employ of Rome, and then after being betrayed by her, took up a successful rebellion which ultimately led to Rome's Fall, Al Quaeda in its "Mujahadeem" form was first heavily involved with and then later abandoned by the United States of America.

 There are other comparisons, but the point is: if now is the time to stand and deliver in general, and we're looking for some kind of way forward, not just in Central Asia, but ALL the remaining, and may I add "COSTLY", under developed and "left out" world, then let's start in Afghanistan.

 The United States alone can't give al Quaeda and the Taliban what they want. But as a Globe, those who Have, will have to do whatever it takes to Develop the World we are all still so afraid of.

In my Philosophy, stand and deliver means putting everyone everywhere on the same page. In the case of Central Asia, I am talking about the World Wide Web. A Global Initiative spreading the cost, could pay for. The existing troop concentration plus extra troops in the persons of Special Forces Regiments, will be able to effectively monitor the area and support local authorities in getting the system's infrastructure up and running.

 Furthermore, once installed, this kind of development will ensure that the people of that region will never be  abandoned again.

So, are we  ready to Deliver? I certainly hope so.

Just a Thought from
Tom

Just a thought October 2009

So, I'm not placed this fall for student teaching and because of the needless worry and excessive self medication and more than enough self pity, I suppose, the asthma and the bronchitis and the long nights of healing cleanse in the way of coughing up maybe a liter or two of snot have taught me one essential truth I am going to hereby stand by, no matter what. For all those out there who feel as though I am not capable of student teaching, I have three well used and thoughtfully chosen words: Kiss My Ass ("_^

And as far the elective nature of speech in many of today's high schools who are so very concerned with making students competitive in today's market place, I argue that the current approach is not only ridiculous, it is grossly inefficient: All you guys out there who subscribe to this approach to general pedagogy and the humanities are wasting the time and money of the communities you have taken an oath to serve to the best of your ability.

Why?

Because for one thing , in general the humanities are indispensable, to the overall development of any learner because of the inherent duplicity of human nature and the ongoing need for the kind of ethical and moral perspectives essential for sustaining individual and group effective long term competitiveness in a constructive sense : a collaborative sense other than greed or self aggrandizement or a desire to dominate. For all of our good intentions, we cannot forget that in our collective human history, when ever we have endeavored to make ourselves competitive we have used dogmas such as Manifest Destiny and Me First as if they were perspectives removed from personal responsibility

Speech Communication specifically, could and should teach a basic form of logical analysis:a little history about Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, a little bit about premise, premise conclusion and a little bit about premise, missing premise and conclusion. In addition, along these lines, Speech Communication could and should work closely with other classes such as Physics, and Math in matters of word problems.

Student Journals that keep record of student's thoughts and experiences learning basic logic in speech, applying those ideas in their other classes: both Science and Math related and not, would go a long way in establishing for the student a working context for understanding how all knowledge is interdependent and useful in adapting to problems that may require going beyond many of the existing barriers facing professionals in many of the Arts and Sciences today.

Consider for a moment ladies and gentlemen, the education of Copernicus, Kepler, Newton, Mrs. and Mr. Pierre Curie, Michael Faraday, Henri Poincare, James Maxwell, Albert Einstein or Max Planck. Ultimately, all of these men and women were indeed competitive yet I think the record clearly demonstrates that in almost every case, their education consisted of a well rounded appreciation for knowledge as a whole.

In nearly every case of a competitive and successful scientist, politician, engineer, lawyer or doctor we can trace their success to not just their understanding of their discipline, but also to how their discipline played a part in the orchestra of disciplines. Speech Communication is one of the oldest and strongest examples of how this Unified Field response to knowledge has shaped the historical nature of intelligence. And it has and will continue to work the way it does because logic is the language of knowledge: its lingua franca.

Far from being a mere elective, Speech Communication and her sister discipline Performance Studies, always have been the spark that makes overall learning competitive. And if we educators are seriously looking for more efficient and successful ways to teach our students, then we need to remember our common history as individuals who must at some point actually stand on the shoulders of those who came before us.

Just A Thought
Tom
('_^