The Monkeys of Typewriter Island

I write because I think. My thoughts need a form. I give them a form through the laborious machinations of word selection, ordering, and penning them on some hard- or soft copy media, following generations old rules.

My favorite author of all-time is Ray Bradbury. His prose is poetry. The meter, tone, tenor and lyrical nature of his writing captivated me early in my life. Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke are my other literary gods; Bradbury will always remain the pinnacle of the trinity for me.

Reading is a passion of mine. As a youth, I would hide under my covers with a flashlight so as to prevent any light from spilling out under my door, giving away my late night foray into adventure. Another decent trick was to take clothes from my dresser and push them against the bottom of my door. I would read into the wee hours, through Royals baseball, and into the radio show which dealt mostly about UFOs, Bigfoot, and government conspiracies.

My father asks, "Why do you buy so many books? Why don't you just use the library?"

The library was my home away from home, growing up. Located beneath a grocery store in a shopping center three blocks from home, I would spend hours every day during summer vacation reading and wandering among the shelves. Little stickers on the binding would give goers a hint about the book; a magnifying glass was "mystery," a rocket ship meant "science fiction." Other stickers might have existed, those were the two I cared about. I would read my books, write the titles on a pre-lined form, and upon reaching 25 titles, I would turn the list in to the librarian and I would receive a free book from a selection of brand-new books arranged on a table near the check-out counter.

But, for me, the library also had a downside. I had to give the books back. Spending a day, or three, or a week, developing a relationship with the characters, and indirectly the author, and then having to give the book back felt appalling. Would you play with a puppy for two or three days, then return the puppy to the shelter? Some would, I imagine. Not me. Characters, themes, scenes, story arcs, and the energy the author placed into developing his or her fictional world was a relationship to me, albeit a very one-sided relationship.

For some, sure, reading is purely entertainment, nothing more and nothing less. I am no different. However, I also consider the time, effort, energy which a book has been imbued by the author. A book is not merely a pulp-based product containing letters and words arranged in clever ways. Well, actually some books are not much more than a collection of words which at first blush appear to be intelligently arranged yet upon further inspection lend credibility to the existence of The Monkeys of Typewriter Island. I think Typewriter Island might be part of the Self-Publishing Archipelago; being a geographer one might think my geography skills should be more attuned.

For some, those who don't read and their counterparts, those who don't write, writing is seen not simply as drudgery but as a form of torture. I'm pretty sure water-boarding of most Americans would be unnecessary:

"You have a choice: write a 3-pg essay on the Man vs. Nature elements of The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper, or water-boarding."

I'm pretty sure most college students would elect water-boarding.

In my college-level geography classes I pose the following essay question:

You are a technology entrepreneur and have been working out of your garage for the last 18 months developing a new technology. You wife and family have had enough, and thankfully, you now have some financial backing, i.e. venture capital, to relocate to more substantive environs. Given the nature of your efforts is technology, locate three cities in North America which could make a good home for your new technology company. Then, narrow your selection to one city. Explain your selection process using the 7 Traits of a Technology Hub as discussed in class."

Sometimes, the responses (which I have captured, errors and all, below) border on literary bankruptcy:

"I would either go to California or Texas or Florida. California would be a nice place to continue a business it has a high yeild to gain economic profit and so does Texas. Californica and Florida are located on the ocean so they would have easier shipping access for products. All three states for the most part have a high level of population. All three have about the same amount of rail way routes but since Florida is a smaller state it seems they would have more travel consumptions to other states. Florida and Taxas are smoother flatter states as to California has the rocky mountains making vehicle travel harder but if i had to place to continue the business i would settle in Miami Florida because it has the best of the most the features i mentioned."

"The three cities I choose were Atlanta, Philidelphia, and Dallas. Each of these cities are driving more than every and are continuously growning...One reason is beacuse the city offers tax incetives for new jobs created. Another reason is because there are colleges there. Which intern means, newly educated people looking for employment."

Frequently, I boggle at the presumed importance of barge traffic, river systems, and the need for unskilled labor in response to questions about technology-based businesses. While the importance of UPS and the USPS is without question highly important in the delivery of books to my doorstep, and the delivery of consumer electronics to Best Buy, Target, and Wal-mart is also highly desirable, I fail to see how Google, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, or Twitter might even remotely find barge traffic part of their business plan.

After reading about globalization, non-governmental organizations, broad issues of immigration, and the growing interconnectedness of our global societies, I pose another writing assignment.

After having read about the nature of Globalization, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and a number of societal issues and concerns, I want you to communicate your own personal geography. You drive through your town, the countryside, on your way to work, school, church, and now, with a little bit of training, you are hopefully more aware of the life going on the other side of your windshield. Describe your Personal Geography."

Think about your personal geography. Let your mind ferment some thoughts as you read these responses.

"I see geography at work all the time, especially what I was younger and we went on road trips. On those road trips we would drive through the mountains and they were so beautiful. There was so much definition it makes you wonder how they got to be that way. I have also been through the dessert. Even though there is really nothing out there to see but the sunset and how everything grows...It is amazing to realize that all this goes on and how it affects us in our everyday lives but also wiht geography...We can always count on our surroundings and our environment to always be there for us."

"In this section of studying its made known that peoples geography is much different than other peoples geography...someone who lives in the United States has total different geography than someone who lives in the Country of Asia, Australia, or Germany."

"In my everyday life i use geography in more of a younger way. For me being a Freshman college student I use geography for simple things. Like mapping out how to get to ____ from louisville, How to get around a mall without back tracking, and also how to use development to pick where i want to go to school at. Geography is not that big thing in my everyday life sense i am so young."

"The area around us is very unique, we have two large rivers that combine to make a larger area that formed into a larger lake because of a dam. Also to the east of us we have the appilation mountains that forms a location of intrest if your into high altitudes hiking or into snow sports. The demograhics have a major influces in the how you live to because the different age ranges of people means you cant just talk to people about local gossip if thier 80 years old and doesnt no about that."

These are actual responses from college students. College students, meaning these individuals have been passed along through our U.S. educational system, from kindergarten beyond high school. These people either graduated from high school or worked to earn a GED.

Reading and writing is fundamental to education. Reading provides us with examples of how are written language should appear, the form and function our language should assume. Reading helps our brain create imagery, trains our brains to transform symbols into meaning and then into images. I'm describing communication and I feel stupid doing so. Everyone should have basic fluency in reading and writing skills. U.S. citizens proclaim, "ya gotta speak English if ya want to live in this here country!" Yeah, well, apparently reading English and writing English isn't all that necessary, even for natural-born citizens.

Reading truly provides us with brain "food" for thought. Writing, on the other hand, helps us sow more brain "food," by helping us not only train our brains for thought but also aids us in communicating those ideas and notions to other people. Writing, to continue my agrarian-themed analogy, is pollen, seeds of thoughts, notions, ideas, and images which take root in and yield potentially yield luscious fruit. Or, fall lifeless in the desert of Dogma, awaiting for the literary equivalent of Climate Change, er, "Idea Warming," as in, "I'm warming to your idea of selling cupcakes door-to-door."

Meanwhile, China, India, Brazil, Japan, South Korea, and an entire host of other countries cannot learn English fast enough. Many of my international students struggle with American English. Rightly so; American English is the 4th hardest language to learn, behind Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese, Japanese, and Arabic. I would throw in Korean, too.

Our American Education System cannot continue to dilute the importance of reading, math, and science. As a society, we will ultimately fail. Social fragmentation along income and educational lines will occur, and these ruptures could potentially fall along regional boundaries. The New England states do very well in school-aged spending, median family incomes, ACT scores, and overall academic achievement. The Southwest states of Arizona, New Mexico, along with Oklahoma do not fair well, and neither does Tennessee, Mississippi, or Louisiana.

I provide writing samples simply to illustrate efforts by recently enrolled students in Higher Education. These students have been passed along through Primary and Secondary Education, and now find themselves in Higher Education. As new adults, students often do not recognize they are now responsible for their own effort, not Mommy or Daddy, and they now have to engage their brains and use what they should have been taught in high school. So often, I am told, Standardized Testing rules the classroom, with little room for creativity. Additionally, with "blended" classrooms containing Special Education students through gifted, teachers are often forced to "teach to the middle" abandoning either end, or focusing on the time-consuming needs of the learning disabled to the detriment of other students. In the end, the students lose, and the loss permeates our society creating fractures in our economic and social systems about which I have previous posted.

I hold students accountable for their efforts. One cannot simply say, "that's what I was taught," or "I was't taught that." As an adult in Higher Education, a student has to bring an effort to the classroom and not simply be a respirator of oxygen anchoring a chair. However, I also want to say to administrators and drafters of previous education reform efforts, "thanks for making my life difficult and creating class after graduating class of adults who are barely literate and are unable to abide the rigors of college. Furthermore, you should be ashamed of what you have wrought upon these people, in molding them into people unprepared for Life outside of high school, and setting them up for failure. Only by their own graces will these students be able to correct the damage your policies have inflicted upon them."

Education is a fundamental right, not a privilege.

Accolades to my Map Use & Analysis Class

I'm sure I'm like many college faculty. We become so frustrated with our students. Frustration builds like a storm as we feel stymied class after class by the apparent lack of knowledge absorption by our supposedly eager students.

"What can I do different to encourage them to soak this stuff up?"

The reality is we have limited control. Student must provide their own energy to learn, even in the face of lackluster performances of faculty. What you get out of Higher Education is more often than not what are are willing to put into your education.

On the other hand, there are students and classes which are completely validating. One student in a course can make the course completely worthwhile, and at times, an entire class becomes infected with a desire to assemble knowledge gained in other classes, or extracurricular activities, and do something interesting.

My Spring 2012 Map Use and Analysis course did some nice work this semester I thought I would share (with their permission.)



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What makes these maps different, you ask. People can use many web apps these days for creating maps, so what makes these maps and these students different?

They are using the industry standard GIS software, ArcGIS, from ESRI. The software is notoriously challenging to use, regardless of the propaganda issues by the company. At one time, the number of programming objects available in the software was second only to Microsoft's .NET programming environment. The software is way-powerful, though, and if the functionality is not present, nearly every language is supported for coding the needed functionality. ESRI's software controls about 45%-50% of the global mapping market and people skilled in ArcGIS are typically in demand at local, state, national, and international levels, in both public and private sectors.

Students are learning about what I call the "backstage" of mapping activities. Its one thing to sit down to a web app running in a browser and pump out a map. There is still a need for a entire industry of people to know how to create, alter, edit, and manage all of the geographic data floating around the Internet. Those cool map apps do not magically appear; humans fluent in the use of spatial data are making those apps happen. Some of the backstage mapping activities are what my students are learning.

My students are developing an understanding of appropriate uses of data. The Internet represents an overwhelmingly vast repository of data. Literally anyone anywhere can grab an Excel XLS file, or Access MDB file, or a simple comma-separated value (CSV) text file, and push numbers around. That anyone can do this does not mean everyone knows what they are doing, though. Learning how to "lie with maps" is tantamount to learning how to "lie with statistics." Maps, in one sense, are the visual representation of numbers, and if you know how to manipulate numbers then one can also manipulate the message of a map. And, as we all know, a "picture is with a thousand words." People who control maps can steer public sentiment and public policy, and in some cases, foreign policy. Think of Colin Powell and his use of maps to incite the discourse in the run-up to deposing Saddam Hussein and the alleged Weapons of Mass Distraction...

Yes, I teach my students how to "lie with maps." I even bought them the book of the same title by Mark Monmonier, "How To Lie With Maps."

My students chose their own topics, collected their own tabular data and their own spatial data. While I had hoped someone might have selected topics outside the United States. Often, U.S. data is easier to access, and understanding data limitations can be challenging when a language barrier is involved. The only advice I gave them was to pick a topic meaningful to them.

Surprisingly, I was involved very little this semester, as most student sought out each other for help and advice. I took some pride in that; frustrating as it may have been to the students, the most valuable learning experiences arise from overcoming obstacles on one's own. In one case, I spent about 30 minutes with a student whose database file was uncooperative. We fixed the problem but I could only speculate as to the cause of the issue, as the problem was not self-evident.

Every student adopted a topic not only meaningful to them, but also has the potential of being a stepping stone for further research. Crime and Education, Education and Child Abuse, Prevalence of Community-Supported Farms, Retail Site Location, and Use and Type of Energy Products are all current U.S. domestic policy concerns. I was glad they avoided, "Prevalence of Bigfoot Sitings 1970-2011," genre of topics, though there is a place for those, too.

The technology behind many of today's iPhone, iPad, and Android apps arrives via people skilled in knowing how to weave computer technology, programming, and geospatial skills together. And, that is the knowledge my students are working diligently towards.

Are You Raising A Global Child?

A good friend of mine lived abroad when she was of middle-school age. Her mother was in the military, stationed in Okinawa, Japan. Living abroad when old enough to notice the life going on around you, having a life in the States to compare to, and being old enough to appreciate the details and differences of people with whom your rub elbows with every day has an effect on a child. I would argue a good effect. While living abroad is rough on a young person, away from friends, having to learn to adapt to a different culture, she learned to appreciate the differences she saw. Having to adapt meant having to develop initiative to problem-solve, learning to use the subway, buses, eat a different diet, work at a different pace, and perhaps be differential towards elders.

Children, foreign nationals living outside their country of birth, may have a distinct advantage above children which do not live abroad, or later in life, choose to "study abroad." Children exposed at early ages to different food, a different set of cultural or societal rules, different languages, and even different climates should develop skills and attitudes which should make them more successful later in life than their stay-at-home peers in our increasingly globalized world society.

I see adult students every day, living in fear of moving to another county or an adjoining state for education. Students, male and female alike, literally tremble at the thought of the unfamiliar a mere 60+ miles (90km) away. Meanwhile, 10%-15% of campus is comprised of students not hundreds of miles from home, but 8,000 miles or more from home.

The United States' geography is both blessing and course. The U.S. has avoided the devastating effects of two world wars. Historically, North American was not the convenient cultural crossroads of Asia Minor or Europe. The benefit of distance has encouraged us to be aloof, buffered from political, economic, and cultural interactions common throughout Europe. Sure, we have experienced our own discord, our Civil War, our Civil Rights, literal battles over organized labor. We have had the added benefit, though, of not also having to worry about disagreements brought about by cultural factions, as evidenced by the controversial European Union, language barriers, or multiple currencies, to name only a few complicating forces.

Our geography has made us aloof, given us a sense of protection and ease, which few other global realms enjoy. We have only two immediate neighbors, Canada and Mexico. Canada is very similar to the United States culturally, politically, and with a shared British and French history. We expect immigrants to conform to our society and make little to no allowance to accept theirs. Immigrants fare better in urban areas where cultural diversity is normal and people from the same ethnic background offer support. Rural areas, locations of most state colleges and universities, immigrants and foreign students are met with more varied reactions.

The remainder of the world, I argue, does not realistically have an option to ignore or downplay the influence of their neighbors. They are forced to learn, listen, cope, i.e. interact with their neighbors as a part of doing business.

Children capable of handling diversity, being introduced to diversity in language, arts, culture, and expression I see as being the future.

For more reading: How To Raise A Global Kid (Lisa Miller, Newsweek)

The above article highlights many issues associated with the increasing amount of global interaction our current generation is a part of. But, we cannot simply be a part of the interaction without some analysis of how to better prepare both ourselves for what lay ahead tomorrow and prepare our children for lies ahead for them.

"I a worried that in this interconnected world, our country risks being disconnected from the contributions of other countries and cultures" (Arne Duncan, U.S. Education Secretary, 2010.)

I am worried, as well. I can't raise a global child; I don't have any children. I spend most of my time attempting to convince adults to become "Global Adults." My hopes are my students will accept some of what we discuss in class, what they learn themselves by reading English-language editions of foreign newspapers, and what they read in their textbooks, and through what little exposure I coach, the realization will dawn on them how much they need to pay attention to current events, if not for themselves, but for their children, and their children's children.

200 million Chinese schoolchildren are studying English

Some U.S. citizens say, "Yeah, our language is important. Good for them!" I don't disagree but the problem is the learning transaction is only one-way. Few of us are learning Chinese. They have a greater ability to understand us than we have of understanding them - and there are 4x's more Chinese than U.S. citizens.

"South Korean parents ... demand that their children begin English instruction in the 1st grade, rather than the 2nd grade."

Again, no argument from me, yet South Korea is one of the most important economies in all of East Asia and Southeast outside of China. Having competent people who can play well with others, and raising competent people who can play nice can has all sorts of benefits, from the individual to our general U.S. social fabric.

"Not training our kids to be able to work and live in an international environment is like leaving them illiterate."

Raising a global child is about helping your kids be successful. Traits developed in making them a "global child" also make them into good people. There is no downside. Essentially, parents of "global children" are helping their children be "globally literate" and "globally functional." Our geography impairs us, creating a sense of aloofness, a false sense of security, and an inflated ego, that we are better than we really are.

We can see evidence of our national ego today. Our foreign policy certainly exemplifies our national ego, e.g. "You either stand with us or against us," and our unilateral policies associated with Afghanistan, Iraq, and our demands for China to devalue its currency against the dollar. We can literally stand apart and command without having to face any immediate threat or retaliation, unlike South Korea, Taiwan, or Israel.

Some U.S. schools are making some progress. Last year, I wrote a brief post on a Delaware school introducing Chinese language classes ("Red Clay CSD Building Chinese language program".) I have not followed-up with the program, and one of the concerns voiced was how well the program would fare in light of the demands of state and federal curriculum standards and assessments. To wit, I respond with, to hell with those standards; those standards obviously not only do not set a very high bar, they do not address the future needs to students, the state of Delaware, or our country, in general.

At times, I often wonder why "algebra" has not been banned. Or, perhaps not banned, but legislation written, changing the name of the bane of all high school and some college students to a more Anglo-friendly term, like "Freedom Math," or "Patriot Math," or other nonsense. Our so-called "English" language is rife with foreign words and derivatives and I await the pronouncement from some heretofore anonymous group to announce they have written legislation removing all Arabic, Chinese, or African words from the American language lexicon. Yep, I'm cynical.

See, the another danger of being so physically remote from other cultures is the perceived threat Americans have from those different from us. Should our children learn Chinese, they could become stark raving mad atheist Communists. Or, even worse, should they learn Arabic, they might come home one day with a mullah beard, reciting the Qu'ran, and proclaim the house and all which falls under the roof as the "domain of Allah."

Recently, in Arizona, some people were upset over the term, "haboob." No, not because the second syllable references slang for human anatomy, but because the term is of Arabic origins, meaning "dust storm." No seems upset over "alcohol" or "banana," though.

For further reading: "Haboobs cause storm of complaints" (July 12, 2011; Time)

Antagonism towards diversity has only negative consequences. At an individual level, antagonism to diversity inspires fear, trepidation, bigotry, and bias. We succumb to stereotypes and myths are are no better off today than yesterday, and the future won't be much different. Adults who ascribed to these traits pass them along to their kids. A mother in one of my classes related how her son was called names and berated for looking Arab during local high school games. Even more disgusting, the coaching staff of the opposing team not only did nothing to stop the abuse but assistant coaches were right there with the players shouting the same insults. The family was not Arab but Greek, but dark-skinned. The family has since moved from the area.

Old news, from last year, a Texas school tried to institute Arabic language classes. Community outcry halted progress on implementing the language program.

For further reading: "Teaching Arabic Is No Cause For Fear" (February 2011, CNN)

As long as all domestic policy is viewed through the lens of 9/11, we will never be as free, as creative, or as adaptable as we need to be in order to ensure our long-term economic and social success. Yes, 9/11 was tragic, yet the more insular we become, the more fears of diversity we harbor and pass along to our kids, the weaker our society becomes. Our leaders, from local school boards, governors, to National figures, have allowed our society to be compromised and undermined and weakened by the actions of 19+ men. Even Europe has overcome aversion to Germans, the Wehrmacht, and the Nazis, for the most part.

So, to you parents coaching yourselves to be "Global Parents" so your kids will be "global kids," you tuck the Fate of the World in every night. You should be proud of that.

Education, Economics, and Kurma the Turtle

Forbes magazine ran an article 6 May 2012 alluding to "creating innovators." Tony Wagner is an Education Fellow at Harvard, and author of The Global Achievement Gap. His research on identification of skills necessary for people to compete in the 21st century global workplace is outlined. More interesting is his web site, TonyWagner.com. I am not familiar with Dr. Wagner's work, though I apparently will need to find a copy of his book. He and I seem to be on the same page, at first blush.

If you are involved in Education, Homeschooling, even parenting, the "HomeschoolingMiddleEast" blog cannot be missed. I am humbled being followed by HSME, indebted by HSME's patronage, and after having whole pieces of a recent post used as fodder for a HSME post, I feel undeserving of the attention.

HSME raises so many valid points related to my comments I am compelled to clarify. To communicate my current sentiments about Education in the U.S. I'm going to borrow from Hindu mythology. Kurma the Turtle is the reptile upon which the world rests. In homage to Stephen Hawking, its "turtles all the way down," but the crux of my perspective remains unchanged regardless of the number or type of turtles.

Education is the U.S.'s Kurma, the turtle upon which all else rests. Our social fabric, the lens through which personal, local, state, and federal decisions are made, and the economic basis of our individual livelihoods are all founded upon Education. And, Experience; I can't omit experience. Together, Education and Experience are the elemental components of our economy. In lieu of experience, people attend colleges and universities to develop essential tools and earn BA/BS degrees which really indicate a unitary trait: how "trainable" a person is. I cannot express the importance of Education enough. But, I still haven't answered, "why?"

To show all of my cards, I am worried about the slipping position of U.S. Education vis-a-vis Japan, Germany, South Korea, Taiwan, and China, and India. 50 years ago, the U.S. was THE PLACE to be educated. For 5 decades, the U.S. enjoyed unparalleled success in being the go-to place to receive a college education. In fact, Thomas Friedman and Fareed Zakaria have both stated the U.S. Higher Education System is the most important U.S. industry, employing more people, responsible for more innovation, driving the evolving knowledge economy, and educating unprecedented numbers of international students. The U.S. has, and continues to, educate the world.

Over the last 12 years, give or take, politicians and well-meaning and purportedly educated adults have been diligently working to undermine K-12 education in the United States as well as weaken Higher Education across all 50 states. "No Child Left Behind" is only a single example of policy meant to hold adults accountable, yet in attempting to do so neglected to consider the downstream deleterious effects, the creative stifling and restraint imposed, and the fudging of standardized tests by teachers.

Next consider the statistics of incoming freshman students needing remedial courses prior to even enrolling in college. In 2010, the Fairbanks, AK Sun-Star reported "50% of incoming freshmen entering the UA system require at least one remedial course." In 2011, the Columbus, OH Business Journal wrote, "the share of students under 20 needing remedial help has grown to 39 percent from 36 percent in the past five years, while that same measure for older students has grown to 46 percent from 40 percent."

I have my own anecdotes. A rough napkin calculation performed one afternoon, I estimated around 2,500 students have passed through my courses. Most of the writing is horrible. No punctuation, no capitalization, little attempt at sentence structure, or developing a thought or argument. Writing assignments look like they were typed as a text message, all lower case, missing vowels. In my syllabus I state, "do not write to me as if I am your mee-maw, mee-mee, grannie, or whatever you call your grandmother." Doesn't matter, though; I still get poor writing. A friend of mine who has taught in Missouri schools attributes poor writing skills to the lack of writing evaluation in K-12. Journals are written without regards to grammar, spelling, punctuation, or organization.

When I was a parent, I attended Parent-Teacher Organization workshops. Every seminar or workshop I attended. I also was a parent-volunteer, coming in at my appointed time to read, or center work, or help in the lunch room. The elementary school had one of the highest parent volunteer participation rates in the state. I cannot find the data to support my next comment, but I would swear the participation rate was ~23%. Less than 1 in 4 parents volunteered at their kids school, and according to school officials, we were in the "high" range. I have no trouble believing them. Parents, painting with a broad brush, place a huge amount of faith in a few people. Parents in Japan, South Korea, China, India, Germany, you name the country and pretty much the parents in said country emphasize education more than U.S. parents. I would guess a child from Vietnam, Thailand, or Ghana would adore a U.S. education.

A new freshman I am familiar with graduated from a local high school with honors. She felt very good about her abilities, as she had been groomed throughout her K-12 academic career, told how "smart she is," and apparently never hearing much in the way of constructive criticism. After her first semester of university, she enrolled in the local community college. Her opinion of herself shattered, her high school education an elaborate collection of lies, and feelings of betrayal. How could I be the valedictorian of my high school class and almost fail-out of university? I was totally unprepared for the rigors of university writing, math, and biology.

Some people have taken the education of their children upon themselves. Many of these parents are doing amazing work with their children. Some of these children will be progeny, the new Creative Class of Innovators, of Critical Thinkers who will carry forward their parent's intellect and will be remarkable among their peers. I follow some of these parents on Twitter and read their accounts. Not only are these parents giving their children an education but they are also helping encourage a Global Child who will become a Global Adult who will see the world in new and brilliant ways. The wife of a friend of mine homeschools their five children. Recently, the entire family had the fortune to spend a few months in Spain. By the time of their return to the states, their eldest was almost conversational in Catalan and the family had toured and explored Spain, and indulged in Spain's cuisine. How great of an experience for a 14-yo boy?!

On the other hand, a friend of mine related her experience. When two homeschooled graduates enrolled in the local community college they met with little success. Their lack of success was not due to a deficit of knowledge, their issues revolved around the fact none of their professors were as "good as their mom."

Everything is an ecosystem. Its not the homework assignment which is solely important, not in-and-of itself. No, I submit the homework assignment is also a testament to patience, perseverance, of being able to work through a problem set, to build patience and intellectual endurance. We encourage these behaviors not merely because we want our children to do well in school, but also because these traits will help them be successful as adults. Being able to focus, be single-minded, patient, to assemble skills to problem-solve are traits to be used not just to get through our 5th Grade math homework, but as a future college student, or future chemist, the child will need many traits to be both happy and successful. While the surface appears simple, complexity lies in the composition.

I'm not especially angry about being a witness to the U.S. government's critical neglect of Education; I am dismayed, saddened, chagrined, stymied, and incredulous, and usually all of these simultaneously. I can completely appreciate homeschooling of children by smart educated parents, technologically savvy and with more than a mere wit Socratic exuberance themselves who see the world as a laboratory, and have a thirst for learning.

I see our economic foundation fracturing as politicians, policy-makers, and parents tilt at windmills, chasing the spectres of school prayer, standardized tests, same-sex marriage, spreading the myths of "you're unique and special" when the World cares not one iota. Yes, Mom and Dad cares, and grandparents, and a teacher or two; the World, in general, does not.

China is closing the Education Gap. India is closing the Education Gap. The U.S. imports willing international students and exports educated chemists, physicists, engineers, financiers, and computer programmers. The Knowledge Export closes the education gap abroad as the Educated in turn educate. As these societies become more educated, their industry and technology will compete with ours. By allowing ourselves to be distracted by Same-Sex Marriage, Oil, and terrorism the U.S. economic infrastructure is undermined by our belligerence towards education.

The lethargic adoption of educational, social, and economic reforms collude to stagnate our society, a stagnation perpetuated by backward-focused, parochial, calcified, entrenched and dogmatic conservatives who fear The New and The Different. Without renewed and energetic focus on Education, the U.S. will find itself fighting not simply for economic stability and growth but merely to remain relevant in the face of China, India, and Brazil.

Thanks, again, to HomeschoolingMiddleEast for inspired thoughts and comments, for commenting, for revealing the weakness in my writing, and in doing so, helping to strengthen my rhetoric. Yes, due to the diligence of parents like you, "saviours" will no doubt erupt from future generations.

PAX

How My Generation Ruined Education

I have to admit, I think my generation ruined the U.S. Educational System.

I think I am Generation X, falling in the 1965-1980 era, just a little beyond the World War Two "Baby Boomer" scope. My generation is the generation "in power," so to speak. We are the ones who occupy a good portion of the seats of leadership, authority, and power, especially in Educational roles.

The other day at coffee, the thought of my generation being responsible for the decline of our current educational system occurred to me. Identification of a problem is not always enough. Immediately, problems should be recognized, addressed, and remedied. Then, a more detailed analysis needs to be performed to understand why the problem developed initially; what conditions were created or encouraged which led to the problem, what I like to call the "downstream effects."

My parents generation, those born right at the onset of World War II, the progeny of the Greatest Generation, detailed in Tom Brokaw's book of the same name, were hard working people. Their parents, members of the Greatest Generation, were very hard-working people. One grandfather worked in the oil fields of Kansas and Oklahoma, a roughneck and prize fighter. He literally scratched a living from the earth with his hands and barbed-wire. My dad's family lived in a tiny little house in central Kansas and often their groceries consisted of rabbits my grandfather would catch among the oil field equipment. My other grandfather was a Nebraska farmer who also literally scratched a living from the earth's soil. He raised cattle and row crops, from the Great Depression until the 1990s. He lived all of his years, but two days, in the very same house in which he was born.

These men and their wives, and their children knew the value of hard-work, a work ethic. They appreciated everything they earned and instilled in their children the very same values. Some of those values were passed down to me (inherited culture) and my sister through my grandparents, as I was very fortunate to have know them a fair portion of my life. No amount of gratitude can express my thanks for their contribution to who I am today. By the same token, my parents reflected the values of hard-work, sacrifice, and commitment of their parents, and kept these traits alive after the passing of my grandparents.

I honestly do not see these traits in my peers. Even worse, my peers as parents are not communicating any of the aforementioned traits to their children in any meaningful way.

A nearby county high school has a policy which allows students in their senior year to avoid doing any homework. Across the country, K-12 teachers, parents, and administrators argue for shorter school days, shorter school years, and less homework for school kids. Furthermore, local, state, and federal politicians actively engage in debates encouraging cuts in education spending, cutting teacher benefits, cutting teacher salaries, and further constricting financial aid dollars available to college students.

Now, I don't mean to castigate all teachers, parents, and administrators, as there are woefully few who are witnessing a once brilliant educational system slide into mediocrity. Yet, there are vocal teachers who do not want to take work home with to grade, do not want to attend summer training and workshops, and do not want any obligation imposed upon them outside of the classroom. Parents do not want to assist their children in homework after school. Parents would much rather watch TV, shuttle their kids among soccer and baseball, or spend time at the beach than prepare their child for the world, and instill any kind of work ethic. In fact, more and more children are arriving in college with a sense of entitlement,

"If I cannot do the work while I am in class, I will not do it. I will not spend my time outside of class doing your work. You expect too much."

I have a rule-of-thumb which says only about 15% of students really will apply a work ethic. These students are the ones who recognize,

"what I get out of Life is what I put into my Life. The more I work hard and apply myself, the better my situation will be. By taking charge of my Life and my responsibilities, I will eventually be ahead in Life's Rat Race."

The "15%" probably have a good role model somewhere, a parent or grandparent. The potential exists the student may be self-actualized enough to have evolved a good work ethic in spite of having parents who could care less.

My peers, other Generation X-ers, appear to lack the same discipline my parents encouraged in me.

"I remember having to do 4 hours of homework each night and I'm not going to ruin my kid's childhood with that."

"High school is a time for fun; she can worry about what she wants to do with her life in college."

"Kid's spend their childhood in school. I hated school. Why should I imposed on them something I didn't like, either."

"Childhood is for fun, and we push too much stuff on them too soon"

All of the statements end the say way:

"And, I turned out fine."

Your logic is flawed based on what happened yesterday, based on looking into the past, and using the same myopic view to gauge the future. Good luck. One of my favorite quotes I like use goes like this:

"We ride into the future sitting backwards in the saddle watching the past go by with little notion or concern about what lies ahead."

The world is not the same world into which you were born. The economic, cultural, social, and educational demands are different. Adults who make the mistake of preparing their children for life today are dooming their children to failure. Adults need to be preparing for Life in 20 years, not tomorrow, not in two years.

To my peers, I say, your ignorance is appalling and thank you for undermining our entire economic system and ruining what the Greatest Generation and the Baby Boomer Generation spent their lives building. Your short-sightedness, ignorance, lack of competitiveness, and complete ineptitude to understand the consequences of your behavior on the lives who will one day be responsible for administrating our nation borders on criminal negligence. We can find plenty of money to fight wars abroad, when we can rationalize the spending of said funds, yet investing time, energy, and money in our children and their future - and our near future - seems to not only be too much to ask, but appears to be something many of my peers would working actively against.

I suggest a new name for my generation, the "Irresponsible Generation."

What Is An American?

One of the reasons I enjoy talking about geography is geography covers pretty much every topic. Every topic can be related to geography is some form or fashion.

In my geography classes, the second assignment my students work on is compiling a list of traits or characteristics which, in their mind, are unique to U.S. citizens, i.e. "Americans." We all know by now "Americans" is a broad term applicable to anyone living in the Western Hemisphere, though U.S. residents blindly accept the moniker applies only to them. But, that is not what this post is about.

One might think such an assignment is more sociology than geography. Therein lies the holistic nature of geography, the overlap among a great many disciplines. Yes, we are talking about cultural traits, and culture is part of sociology, yet no one should argue culture is not part of Discipline of Geography.

I had some trepidation about giving the assignment for the very first time many years ago. "What if my students feel bad?" Or, "what if I expose the underlying fragility of our American culture and my students  realize American culture doesn't really exist, that our culture is really an amalgam of multiple other cultures, and I undermine their confidence in everything they have ever been taught, bringing their entire life into question?"

Once I realized the later, my trepidation evaporated.

A few semesters ago, I learned a professor in Business had given his students the same chore, "Identify traits of American Culture." Now, why would a business student need to be aware of the cultural traits of an American? Aren't these kids "American" already? And, if an International Student, did they not show up in American with preconceived notions of American culture in their minds already?

In 2007, I attended an International Business seminar. A consultant on the panel discussing the delicacies of working in International business related an interesting story she encountered while working at NIKE. NIKE has an exceptional research and development division. Engineers measure feet, study materials, collect all sorts of biometric data - on U.S. residents. The problem is the world is not full of Americans and American-style feet. NIKE sold a line of footwear in China. Sales were horrible. NIKE sales staff stood back and tried to figure out why lines which sold so well in the U.S. sat on the shelves in China. After months of study, NIKE researchers discovered a few important details. First, the Chinese generally have smaller feet. The shoes on the shelves thus did not fit well. Second, the Chinese did not like the color options. The Chinese culture has an affinity for some colors and other colors are avoided at all costs. If you are familiar with Feng Shui then you might have some grasp of the importance of color in Asian lifestyles. Third, cost; not all Chinese have $100 to throw at a pair of sneakers.

NIKE suffered a form of cultural elitism, a subtle form of bigotry which essentially says,

"Whatever Americans like, everyone else will like, too."

Said another way,

"Whatever is good for Americans should be good enough for everyone else."

Now, to NIKE's credit, measures were taken to resolve design and color issues for their international footwear, having learned an important lesson:

...not everyone has the same tastes as an American, i.e. U.S. citizen.

The Business professor - I am assuming, I have not spoken to him - cognitive of biases Americans have been raised with, challenged his class to think about the general traits of you and I, of U.S. residents. Again, and I assume (yes, I know how dangerous 'assuming' can be but having given the same assignment a number of semesters running I feel confident in my safety) the professor wanted to wake his students to the notion not all people on our pretty planet look, think, or feel like Americans, and to be successful in business one needs to be cognizant of cultural differences.

I have compiled a list of "Characteristics/Traits of Americans as Indicated by College Students, 2007-2012."

1. We are easy-going
2. We are aggressive
3. We are arrogant
4. We are diverse
5. We are religious
6. We enjoy personal freedom
7. We love fast food
8. We persevere
9. We are social
10. We like buying stuff
11. We have ideas
12. We are entrepreneurs
13. We are selfish
14. We take Life for granted
15. We are family-oriented
16. We are lazy
17. We are fat
18. We are patriotic
19. We are sentimental
20. We are educated
21. We like our individuality
22. We are greedy
23. We thirst for wealth
24. We want the next "big thing"
25. We like celebrities

The problem I have with all of these "Traits of Americans" is every single one can apply to someone from another culture. A good number of these traits could apply to people of other ethnicities or cultures, anyway. The idea behind the assignment is to determine those traits which make "Americans" unique. 

In other words, imagine you are sitting in a cafe in Paris, France. A group of people walk by. Would you be able to tell if those people were native French or foreign tourists? Could you tell by their dress, their speech, their demeanor, or their physical characteristics if the members of the group were indigenous French, or non-indigenous visitors?

The question also becomes,

"Do Americans Have a Unique Culture, and If So, How Is Our Culture Defined?"

Would you be able to identify an American in a line-up of people from around the world?

On a trip to London, I was on a tour coach heading out into the English countryside. The tour guide inquired of us, "how many of you are from the States, and how many of you are from Texas?" The joke is Texans stand out wherever they travel due to their general loudness, inability to tolerate mild inconveniences, the twang in the speech, and insistence on being accommodated.

When we travel, we carry our culture with us, and apparently, can be picked out fairly easily by the locals as being non-natives. We might even call this a stereotype. When I travel, I try to buck the stereotype. I personally do not want to be identified as 'tourist.' I do my homework, examine street maps, plan walking routes, stops, and destinations in advance so I don't have a map in my hands. I try to pay attention to the locals, adopt some of their mannerisms. Blend in.

"Blending in" is called acculturation, the adoption of local traits or characteristics.

I have the sense Americans know themselves fairly well, as individuals. As individuals, we recognize our own traits and characteristics, how selfish and how gracious we can be. Under a political lens, or at a state, regional, or national scale we seem to avoid or shirk our knowledge in favor of allowing ourselves to be pandered to by self-righteous politicians. 

"I can call myself fat, lazy, an ignorant, but by God, I'm not going to allow someone from China or Russia to expose traits I will readily acknowledge in the privacy of my own home I have."

I often wonder why people are afraid of saying, "yeah, I'm that way. So? Move on, and tell me something I don't know so we can have a real conversation."

 

Three Decades of Spineless Governing of the World’s Waning Superpower

This is an old essay, written in December, 2011. After rereading, and committing some edits, my sentiments still feel the same.

As I write this, the country is caught in the midst of bickering that encroaches upon racism and bigotry. Two basic controversies test the U.S., under the guise of of one theme: Islam. First, we have the Birthers, people that despite all evidence to the contrary, believe Pres. Obama is an illegitimate president and a Muslim. Then, we have controversy surrounding the building of mosques and community centers. In Nashville, over the weekend, a building site was vandalized, building materials set afire. In New York, NY, a planned community center, two blocks from the former World Trade Center site, is driving a huge wedge between politicians and common Americans. The argument: Muslims are violent, anti-Christian, anti-American, and their places of worship, or simply of gathering, are places for the training of suicide bombers and terrorists, and therefore have no place in American society.

Stupid. People are just so stupid. Individually and in groups, regardless of size. A two-person group seems to be as ignorant as a 200-person group these days. And Americans do not seem to be aware that we are the root cause of this ignorance, bigotry, and racism. Those Americans that seem to be aware that we are the problem do not appear to be pointing the fingers in the right direction (“Republicans are evil,” or “Democrats are evil,” or “the government is evil”). The Finger of Blaming Pointing is too unidirectional, in my opinion, and therefore is pointless. And ignorance is a plague as deadly and destructive as any real disease.

Politicians are creations of the common people. We elect politicians and support them or not depending on their campaign rhetoric which translates via elections into a “win” or “loss.” The Body Politic was never meant to be a career. Politicians that have served for decades are really not people to be admired, at least not according to those that helped developed our federal system. Serve, then leave. Like serving on a jury. Represent your constituency then go home.

Rules change, and change they did. People today, especially the group known as the “Tea Party,” do not seem to grasp that. Which rules do they want to adhere to? The Constitution is not a very large document. Other documents, unarguably, carry more immediate weight, I argue. The Constitution is not going to protect your business against legal suits, or guide businesses in conducting businesses. The framers of the American Constitution did not construct the Constitution to cover such details. Instead, we have the Legislative Branch, and the Judicial Branch to handle laws and legalities. When Tea Party supporters argue against some topic as “not being in the Constitution,” or “not being allowed within the Constitution,” they are completely correct. But they miss the point. Nearly every claim about taxation that the Tea Partiers claim is unconstitutional, is constitutional because those laws were created by the Legislative Branch of our government, by duly elected representatives, and therefore are, in fact, legal. We might not like those laws, or those taxes, but the Constitution does give the Legislative Branch exclusive rights to raise taxes in order to cover the expenses of government.

And, guess what? We, the People, by voicing our needs to our legislators, create those government expenses. The Government does not do this; the government is nothing but a paper artifact. Human beings power that government, and human beings put people into positions of power to create that legislation.

Again, we have only ourselves to blame. We put our faith in strangers, really. We don’t know who these people are, what agendas he or she might have. Snapshots of careers and resumes really do not tell the complete tale.

Politicians are not evil, not inherently evil, anyway. Unless we are. No, they are a product of us, of our personal ignorance. Our ignorance about our government, our political system, our own society and culture. Really, our own ignorance about ourselves.

Our own ignorance will be the downfall of the United States. Our ignorance began over three decades ago, and has progressed unchecked, really. My unfortunate prediction is this: our momentum of ignorance has too much energy to stop, too much inertia to change direction.

We have already lost our edge. We cannot blame Pres. Obama; not his fault, not even close. Nor can we completely blame George W. Bush, though he is certainly culpable, certainly due to his ignorance of American energy addiction that was borderline criminal, and two fruitless wars which stole generations of American tax dollars that would have been better used at home. Nor can we blame Clinton, though, again, culpable, as he certainly was intelligent enough to create both an economic policy and energy policy, just too lazy to accomplish either. Nor can we place blame entirely on George Bush, Sr. However, if he had the foresight, he could have altered the course of American culture. Many idolize Reagan; however, had he the foresight, the temerity, the leadership zeal, Ronald Reagan might have been the right person at the right time, with the personality, to push America in the right direction. Instead, he failed, too. People castigate President Carter. He will always be associated with the 1979 Iranian Hostage Crisis, and viewed through the Oil Crisis Lens, his presidency has always been seen as a failure.

People forget Carter first bailed out General Motors in 1979. And we forget that he help begin the work to limit nuclear weapons in cooperation with the Soviet Union. Of even greater importance, especially when viewed today, was his interest in reducing America’s dependence on foreign oil, and his interest in pursuing alternative energy sources.

In the mid-70s, the oil crisis hit the world hard. Oil prices soared as OPEC nations organized, set production quotas, and set prices. Demand did not decrease, and people paid the higher prices for gasoline. OPEC nations were fed by higher oil incomes, including Russia. Russia funded a war in Afghanistan, and subsidized inefficient industries and agriculture with its oil income.

Carter seemingly saw what was happening, that the United States could be manipulated through our dependence upon oil. He took efforts to turn himself into a model of reduced energy dependence. Solar panels were installed on the White House, and temperatures were modulated such that people had to dress differently to compensate for warmer or cooler inside temperatures. He was trying to get it right, yet he too came up short.

Outside of Pres. Carter’s meager efforts to institute energy policy in the United States, no president in the last 30 years has shown the leadership nor the responsibility to be a steward of the American people. None.

Americans are at this point in our history due to a complete and utter failure of any true leader to assume responsibility and set America on the proper path. As a result, we find ourselves bickering and fighting over whether a president is an American or not, a Muslim, or not, or whether it is OK to build a mosque, or not, issues that are banal and soporific.

Such events are symptomatic of weak leadership and the related lack of goals, direction, fortitude, education, and over-abundance of ignorance, lethargy, greed, and selfishness prevalent among Americans.

Government must exist. People who argue to the contrary are simply morons. Really. Walk directly away from them. Unfriend them from Facebook. Never ever speak to them again.

People must be organized, and that is one job of government, to keep us organized. Government, ideally, helps us use our resources more efficiently. Believe it or not. Governments help us manage our resources more efficiently internally and between us and other countries. Representative governments do this better than monarchies, dictatorships, and Communism.

A primary weakness of representative governments is the election process. Election cycles churn people through the Legislative Branch. Campaign cycles burn copious amounts of time and stupid amounts of money, and thus consume irresponsible amounts of resources. Because of these cycles, legislators have very short attention spans, looking only as far as their next election cycle. These cycles being short, has benefits. An election can put new blood in relatively quickly, or get the bum out, relatively quickly.

An unfortunate result of short cycles is that a legislator can enact laws or policies that do not come into play until years down the road. Not in office in ten years, people have short memories, and people forget that that these laws were enacted a decade or so ago. All accountability is lost.

Again, weak government leadership is responsible. Long-term goals, policies that have a horizon that persists beyond an election cycle can mitigate against legislators in government for short-term gain.

For at least 30 years, the United States has not had the leadership needed to keep us ahead of the game, to secure a sound future as a world power and a world leader. As a result, our leadership role globally is being eroded. Eventually, China, and India, will have more bargaining power than the United States.

We concede our leadership to China, and eventually, India. Our leadership role was not taken away; our national leadership, or lack thereof, gave away our economic, political, and cultural competitive advantage.

Our national leaders gave away our competitive advantage through two utterly avoidable failures.

First, the United States has no comprehensive economic development plan. Every administration since Eisenhower has taken a liaise faire attitude towards economic growth and development. No president, to my knowledge, has ever developed a strategic plan identifying key areas of development or education to ensure that the United States is at the fore-front of research and technology, to ensure that our workforce is constantly adapting and forward-looking, Our national leaders have left these goals to individuals and corporations and has provided little guidance or leadership.

China, India, most of northern and western Europe, Japan, and South Korea all have long-term economic development policies that direct laws, investment, and policies. In particular, China and India.

The leadership of the United States has not leveraged our strengths to ensure that those strengths continue into the future.

Second, the United States has no comprehensive energy plan. Pres. Carter attempted to address our addiction to oil. He was laughed from office. Who is laughing today, as our oil dollars go to Venezuela and Hugo Chavez, who tells America to “go to hell.” Russia, who had its infant democracy stolen nearly overnight by Vladimir Putin, and who stole democracy yet again when his appointed successor, Medvedev, took over as president, and Putin assumed the role as Prime Minister.

Americans need to understand this: there is no way to drill all the oil we need to feed our addiction. China has 300 million people already that need oil, too. China also has five more “Americas” waiting, and they will want oil, too. India has thee “Americas” waiting for oil.

The media, the commentators, sound like people addicted to heroine or methamphetamine, “we just need to drill more. Come on, man, I need a fix! You can’t abandon me!” Like a junkie, America staggers down Energy Alley looking for their next hit.

Its time for rehab. Our national leaders run a perpetually irresponsible Methadone clinic. They get paid, and do not have any personal interest in changing a pattern of destructive behavior. They have figured out that Americans are addicted. And like addicts, we do not think rationally. Stupid issues rise to incendiary levels, and we turn on ourselves, like junkies.

And our elected leaders feed off of our irresponsible behavior, directly, by augmenting bigotry or racism, by propagating misinformation, or simply by out-right lies; or, indirectly by not standing up and making hard choices, or by going along with the crowd. or by remaining silent.

Even if a person were to rise above the national noise, with a clear, sensible message, that person would be drowned out amid the current chaos.

Even if a person were to rise above the national noise, and garner enough consensus to be elevated to a high office, or even the highest office, time to institute change may have already run out for the United States to affect any kind of positive change within a generation.

Instituting change is not easy. Changing people attitudes and behaviors to more moderate and inclusive modes is not easy. Overcoming inertia is not easy. Getting a nation of people, who have been led to believe that being an individual is a God-given right, and being allowed to be ignorant is a positive character trait, is nigh on impossible. Convincing people to work to their best ability, to work to their advantage, to ensure the future of their family and children and grandchildren might require more effort than reaching Mars.

And like a mission to Mars, convincing Americans to work towards national goals would require as much dedication.