Hierarchy

2009-02-19T20:52:00.000-08:00

I hate hierarchy. And it seems like its everywhere...especially in debate. I've been talking about this all day with my team....the debate community likes to break off into sects and they all are against each other in regards to who is "better". Its kinda sad. I refuse to join a side in this.

However, it lead to me start thinking about the overall system of hierarchies in almost every part of our daily lives. Except, we don't call them hierarchies...we call them everything else but hierarchies. This came up in a class last semester, take the idea of illegal immigration. We've all heard the economical arguments about why illegal immigration is bad and why it hurts the US and the "American identity". But really....why does a piece of paper declaring your "citizenship" make you somehow worthy of living here. The government, the media, and even our schools tell us that, to be a "citizen" or to be born here, somehow uniquely makes you superior to any who were born outside of our borders. We are told that it is a privilege to live here (not that we don't have privileges BY living here), and that if you are not born on our soil, you do not deserve the same privileges, allowances, or even rights, as someone who is. Not only does this display complete elitism based on nationalism, but it puts people against each other based on where you were born, and how you came to be in the US.

Thanks to American capitalism, we have been taught that since there are economic "costs" of people being here that are not citizens, we should reject them as people and generalize them as "illegals" who are all greedy, lazy, unworthy leaches that must be exterminated (via border patrol agents with guns, electric fences, INS facilities with an undisclosed holding period, or straight deportation to governments that typically have already violated their human rights in some way). Welcome to America.

In my opinion, this is just the basic starting point to teach all Americans that hierarchies are not only "OK" but perfectly natural and most importantly "patriotic". From here, we are able to open doors to all sorts of elitist mentalities from simple nationalism to racism to just plain hate towards anyone who is not on "your level". Obviously i don't think the debate community has reached the point of hatred, but it just started to make me think of all the ways I have used a system of thinking that lets me validate myself as "better than", or engaging in certain activities or associations that are "better than".

I definitely am going to try to stop.

Kids+School

2009-02-11T00:38:00.000-08:00

So I was sitting in my Nationalism class...thinking about how much i'm starting to hate the american public education system. For some reason growing up, i always thought i'd grow up, have kids, and send them to public school. I had this stigma against the idea of "private" school, and always wanted to make sure my kids were introduced into our society through a non-filtered lens.

However, now, my ideas about education couldn't be more different. Not because i plan on sending my kids (if i have any) to private school....but because i'm not even sure i want to send them to a typical school at all. Last semester i wrote my final paper on the ideas of Paulo Freire and the "banking system" of education. Basically, i stated that the way the American education system is set up, is much like a militarized system that uses power and dominance to control children, rather than the education and engage them. Oddly enough, i'm not even sure i'm going to have kids...at least right now, its not something i'm completely committed to. But whenever i think about it, I start to consider different education options for kids now a days. Our government says we have to enroll our children in k-12 education....but does it have to be the governemnt's education. In reality, they are they one who control what we learn....which is probably why most of us still don't have any idea what really went on in the Japanese internment camps or the cultural genocide committed against Native Americans. So what kind of alternative education is available in this country? I would much rather enroll my child in a school that emphasizes his/her ventures of education vs simply feeding him/her with facts and book work that will never be used again. I would much rather be a part of a school that engages the student, rather than lectures to them, that tells a student they are equal to the insturctor...rather than enforcing a dominance between the "teacher" and their subordinate "students".

I used to make fun of home school children who went on nature field trips or studied intensivily on strange subjects i'd never heard of. Now, i envy them. Although my public education made me the person i am today...i wonder what would occur if we were to teach our children the same way we teach college. Engaging them as a part of the conversation rather than someone to be lectured to and making sure they have a choice in what they study. I would think that would lead to a much more informed individual. Any thoughts?

Kirstin <3

Free/Radical

Hierarchy

Kids+School