Some resolutions for the New Year

[quote]Punishing companies simply because the owner may have a disagreement over politics strikes me as not something productive. This of course, is counter to the many times I support boycotts to change corporate behavior.[/quote]

I am not asking to shut down the company, just like FOTF does on a regular basis with shows. I just don't want to give my money to a guy that obviously is going to turn around and give 10-15% to people like Tom Delay (who is his senator) and George Bush.

Besides, I happen to have found a company where you can buy URLs for significatly less money. I have over 100+ domain names. Those $3 make a huge difference on my pocket at the end of the day. That's over $300 savings for me at the end of the year.

Now THAT is the question!

Any kind of choice you want to talk about, in any kind of rhetorical marketplace --from retail to reproduction to readin', writin' and 'rithmetic -- that is the question.

Liza, you're brilliant.

I love the discussions at PDE because I do feel like it's a place where I can flex my intellectual muscles in more ways than one. You and JJ and Paul and everybody else make think hard as well.

My resolution though is tough because answering to emails is a very different writing practice from blogging or writing articles or essaying. Yes, it's writing, but when I blog, I have to remind myself that most of my readers do not necessarily know all what I am talking about. Emailing in a list is definitely more of an intimate conversation.

And with that in mind, to y'all out there, the PDE list is a Yahoo!Groups list by the Parent-Directed Education group.

www.parentdirectededucation.org

See what I mean

Yep. It takes me a while, but I catch on eventually.

Nance

[quote=JJ Ross]Apparently we're supposed to accept "progressive" politics as not necessarily related to any actual progress toward any progressive goal?[/quote]

JJ, I love you but you need to get a chill pill and pronto.

I don't have all the answers, honestly, but I feel that what happens in the homeschooling community is such a micro-cosm of what happens at a much larger level among liberal/progressive/feminist groups, that if there is a way I can effect positively the homeschooling microcosm, maybe-just-maybe I'll find some of the answers to better deal with schizopolitics affecting the left.

I mean, schizopolitics may be a good thing, I don't know. I have yet to comprehend a lot of what Deleuze and Guattari wrote about Capitalism and Schizophrenia.

It's one of the many things I ponder and want to put to more of a national discussion that does not deal with the already annoying political noise machine coalescing around some of the top 'liberal' bloggers. Why? Because 'choice' is still a sticking point for them.

Well, you probably already have effected it positively.

It's what else you might want hsers to do that I am not clear on.

I just a had a snip forwarded to me from the HEM-networking list (is that a reference your other readers will get? it's a Yahoo list for hsers of a certain stripe -- not one I generally admire). Anyway, the snip was Helen (HEM owner) talking about their latest project --

"Stillwater Homeschool Alliance: A small group of researchers,
fact-gatherers, perspective-builders and others committed to the
background work of protecting homeschooling freedoms and
responsibilities, who will work toward developing factsheets, white
papers, legal and legislative opinions, etc.

"Whatever Homeschool Coalition: A bigger - very big - all-encompassing
umbrella (comprised of, ideally, a broad cross-section of the
homeschool movement) for anyone supportive of the same kinds of goals
and directions as the smaller group will be working on promoting.
This larger group is where much of the 'legwork' will be done in
disseminating the perspective developed by the SHA."

Now, I don't necessarily want to talk about this actual project. IMO, it's just HEM selling more mags. But do you notice, as I do, that this makes no sense?!

She wants an all-encompassing umbrella, a broad cross-section of the hsing movement. . . but members of the umbrella group have to be true believers and follow the line of the think tank, Stillwater.

So if you don't think like the think tank, you needn't apply to join the larger umbrella. I get it. I need not apply. I don't see charterhomeschoolers as a threat to hsing and I don't lose sleep over what HSLDA gets up to. Those are the basic tenets of any HEM-sponsored activity, so I know I won't fit. I get it.

But. . . otoh, we have the progressive Dems. Or just Dems. I am a homeschooler. An unschooler, even. And you want to effect me -- my little ole part of the microcosm.

I'm a Dem, always have been, can't help it, that's how I was raised.

But need I apply for any real involvement? Are my views eliminated from consideration out of hand because I am a hser?

Not by you. I know that. But in a more general, party that wants my support but doesn't seem to have a kind word to say about hsers, maybe because a lot of party leaders really don't know much about us, think we are all conservatives, but we aren't hard to find, and why not make the effort way.

Or does the Dem party sound good on the surface -- all encompassing even -- but really doesn't mean me?

Or are you not about -- you personally -- the big all encompassing umbrella -- really you want to focus on the left-hand side of the Dem spectrum?

I'm pretty much there with you on a lot of issues -- just not as vehement as you in your posting, as we've touched on -- even though I did live in the big city many moons ago -- but, if I understand the usage correctly, "where's the love" from my party?

And if we can get past that . . . somehow . . . the hsing microcosm is just as dysfunctional as any other group of people thrown into a community with nothing other than their ed choice in common. We don't expect all psers to vote a certain way, do we? No. And I don't think you can build the bridge across the canyons within the hsing community.

So, as in our previous talk, I am feeling unsettled about the whole plan here with regard to hsers -- if there is one.

Clear at all?

Nance

[quote]But in a more general, party that wants my support but doesn't seem to have a kind word to say about hsers, maybe because a lot of party leaders really don't know much about us, think we are all conservatives, but we aren't hard to find, and why not make the effort way.[/quote]

I so don't agree with us being easy to find. In the political liberal blogosphere, I am the only homeschooling parent. There are homeschoolers out there not affiliated with HEM like Lynn Siprelle, Julie Leung and Dru Blood but they're not known as political bloggers. They're more in the tech and academia realm.

Here in NYC, I have yet to have any of my fellow homeschoolers step up to the bat and go out and work with incumbents or candidates in a high profile level. It's one of my notorious pet peeves, that in NYC there are ONE MILLION KIDS GOING TO PUBLIC SCHOOL EVERY DAY because the homeschooling groups/associations of the area have never worked to make it a viable option for working parents. They see homeschooling as a "calling" that people come to on their own. What many don't get is that homeschooling is fucking expensive. Not as expensive as sending your kids to a private school but expensive nonetheless.

Prospective homeschooling families get turned off by the fact they have to reinvent the wheel --classes, social groups, playdates, resources-- because the perception is that parents do the "schooling". So the concept of individual and group learning is lost in the fray, the concept of "it takes a village" is furthere eroded by the belief that homeschooling has to only happen in the home, that it's a "nuclear family thing" that only the rich and highly educated can afford.

Because these distortions of homeschooling exist, the whole concept of homeschooling revolves around being white, upper middle class and college educated; and this affect conversations about learning alternatives in the political arena. The common myth is that if you are black or Puerto Rican you are poor and therefor you need a public school. Of course, I shatter that image, but there is so much I as a single individual can do.

We need more people in the public arena talking about homeschooling. More people who are not white, not middle class and certainly not college educated. We need to shatter those biases and that's why I feel the task of mainstreaming homeschooling has only just begun.

[quote] Or does the Dem party sound good on the surface -- all encompassing even -- but really doesn't mean me?[/quote]
Not only do I don't think Republicans are the party of choice unless you are a fundie; but when it comes to protecting the integrity of the Constitution, I believe Democrats consistently have done a much better job.

That's why I work with Democrats. Am I 100% happy with the party? Absolutely not. But I believe they're much, much better about inclusion and choice than the Repugs.

[quote]Or are you not about -- you personally -- the big all encompassing umbrella -- really you want to focus on the left-hand side of the Dem spectrum? [/quote]

Well, yeah. I don't have patience for the Joe Liberman's of the world; and Hillary Clinton better watch out. She is moving too far to the right for my tastes these days.

I honestly do not believe this is the time for 'centrist' compromises, politically or socially, because they are too much like what the Republicans have been able to impose on the country through the gutting of Roe vs. Wade; the misapplication of interstate commerce clauses and their advocating of "corporate rights" above individual human rights.

Were' in a political retrograde move at the moment. The words liberal, progessive, feminist have been turned into pejoratives in this country. We need to move "forward". Yes, a "centered", "tempered", "focused" energy is needed here. But the political outcome has to move forward.

Well - maybe the white, middle-class, college-educated folk (at least the willing Thinking Parents among them) are in a uniquely persuasive position to conduct a public seminar on the Emperor's wardrobe shortcomings?

Surely it can't hurt.

"Ask MisEducation" at ParentDirectedEducation.org

**Pardon my copying this to a text file and answering this way -- I can't follow the tinier and tinier columns on the blog -- yet.

About those big umbrellas
Submitted by liza on 30 December, 2005 - 12:26.

Nance: But in a more general, party that wants my support but doesn't seem to have a kind word to say about hsers, maybe because a lot of party leaders really don't know much about us, think we are all conservatives, but we aren't hard to find, and why not make the effort way.

Liza: I so don't agree with us being easy to find. In the political liberal blogosphere, I am the only homeschooling parent. There are homeschoolers out there not affiliated with HEM like Lynn Siprelle, Julie Leung and Dru Blood but they're not known as political bloggers. They're more in the tech and academia realm.

Nance: So liberal bloggers subdivide themselves into hsing liberal bloggers and techie liberal bloggers and academic liberal bloggers and, who knows, left-handed juggling liberal bloggers. And all of these people are hsers -- of some variety or other (more subdivisions). And you don't like the subdividing? You'd like all the liberal hsing bloggers to get on one blog or link up better or ?? And then there's me. Liberal hser but with a website that includes ed choices that don't fall under the Dem umbrella.

Liza: Here in NYC, I have yet to have any of my fellow homeschoolers step up to the bat and go out and work with incumbents or candidates in a high profile level. It's one of my notorious pet peeves, that in NYC there are ONE MILLION KIDS GOING TO PUBLIC SCHOOL EVERY DAY because the homeschooling groups/associations of the area have never worked to make it a viable option for working parents. They see homeschooling as a "calling" that people come to on their own. What many don't get is that homeschooling is fucking expensive. Not as expensive as sending your kids to a private school but expensive nonetheless.

Nance: Expensive in the sense that one income is lost/reduced? Not to mention that your state's hsing laws suck!

Liza: Prospective homeschooling families get turned off by the fact they have to reinvent the wheel --classes, social groups, playdates, resources-- because the perception is that parents do the "schooling". So the concept of individual and group learning is lost in the fray, the concept of "it takes a village" is furthere eroded by the belief that homeschooling has to only happen in the home, that it's a "nuclear family thing" that only the rich and highly educated can afford.

Nance: Don't the hsing support groups in NY have a clue?

Liza: Because these distortions of homeschooling exist, the whole concept of homeschooling revolves around being white, upper middle class and college educated; and this affect conversations about learning alternatives in the political arena. The common myth is that if you are black or Puerto Rican you are poor and therefor you need a public school. Of course, I shatter that image, but there is so much I as a single individual can do.

Liza: We need more people in the public arena talking about homeschooling. More people who are not white, not middle class and certainly not college educated. We need to shatter those biases and that's why I feel the task of mainstreaming homeschooling has only just begun.

Nance: It does sound like you've got your work cut out for you in NY. It is difficult to understand from the luxury of hsing in FL. Telling a neighbor or anyone else that we hs here usually gets a "ho hum" response. OTOH, the living is cheaper here. . .

Nance:
Or does the Dem party sound good on the surface -- all encompassing even -- but really doesn't mean me?

Liza: Not only do I don't think Republicans are the party of choice unless you are a fundie; but when it comes to protecting the integrity of the Constitution, I believe Democrats consistently have done a much better job.

Liza: That's why I work with Democrats. Am I 100% happy with the party? Absolutely not. But I believe they're much, much better about inclusion and choice than the Repugs.

Nance: Yep, the Dems have me on all the important issues. They just don't get the one that has to do with educating my children. Or we're not a big enough lobbying-type influence to matter. Choice does not seem to extend to ed choice for the Dem party but I could never vote Republican.

Nance:
Or are you not about -- you personally -- the big all encompassing umbrella -- really you want to focus on the left-hand side of the Dem spectrum?

Liza: Well, yeah. I don't have patience for the Joe Liberman's of the world; and Hillary Clinton better watch out. She is moving too far to the right for my tastes these days.

. . .snip. . .

Liza: Were' in a political retrograde move at the moment. The words liberal, progessive, feminist have been turned into pejoratives in this country. We need to move "forward". Yes, a "centered", "tempered", "focused" energy is needed here. But the political outcome has to move forward.

Nance: I had to explain to my son yesterday that apparently we are now "progressives" -- he got it, right away. "Oh, because liberal is an insult." Yep. And that's too damned bad. But he also saw it was a load of crap. The young get it.

**I hope this formatting works.

Nance

Dunno which bloggers you're thinking could use one of those nifty white noise machines, but I agree with you about the problem. 'Choice' is a sticking point for everybody, seems like, except we just just stick it in different places. That's what you'll be writing up from all those emails, I hope?

Speaking of annoying noise that gets in the way of the mission-- I caught some public systems news out of Johns Hopkins on NPR today. Seems since the 60s, hospitals have focused more and more on their main stuff, like cleaning up life-threatening messes and communicating everything to everyone all at the same time (just like politics) except unfortunately, in the process of 'workin' haaarrrrd' they inadvertently made their patient floors louder than than a constantly running lawn mower right outside your bedroom window.

All day, all night, until it's stressing the staff and making the pateints sicker.

The more they tried to improve their efficiency at the primary mission, the worse the noise got.

It's happening all over the world, but Johns Hopkins is among the first hospitals to decide to DO something serious and effective about it, whatever it takes, and to publicize the whole process as part of the larger solution - because you can't fix a situation you can't face.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5073189
. . .West says many hospitals are reluctant to discuss their noise problems publicly. He's pleased that Johns Hopkins is so open about its research, which the engineers have published in the December issue of the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. "The world will know that Hopkins is interested in this problem," West says. "But more importantly, the world will know that it is a real problem. And I'm not so sure that many people know that."

So maybe Liza can start the same process for liberal blogging and politics - figure out new ways to get the noise out of the way of the mission?

Everything is political and everything is about individual choice, yes, just not in the old ways. Pass all the laws you want, The Village ain't in charge anymore!

Families and society carefully, solicitously think we're preparing kids to make their own choices but then we're shocked - shocked! - when they actually do it. :O
There oughta be a law . . .

Take the screaming Power of Story in this morning's news, teens taking their own lives by the throats, their own learning and travel, interests and passions, groups and affiliations, expressions, investigations. It's an age-old theme in jaw-dropping new relief, with political implications way outside our traditional institutions and laws.

A Florida kid studying journalism leaves home for the holidays and hops a plane to Baghdad, figuring he'll experience some "immersion journalism" and write it up for the school paper. Dramatic, dangerous, totally self-initiated, beyond the rules or knowledge of his parents, teachers, or government-controlled Village.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/13512946.htm

School choice is more than homeschooling; reproductive choice is bigger than abortion; career choice is way more than college versus vocational school. Teens don't see their 'choice' realms limited to these, either.

What about church choice? Kids not only choose, they freely mix and match based on their own subjective view of what feels right for them, and reinterpret "programs" whether the relevant authority in their lives knows or approves.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/30/national/30church.html

[quote]. . .In a survey of 13- to 17-year-olds conducted from 2002 through 2003, the National Study of Youth and Religion found that 16 percent of respondents participated in more than one religious congregation. Four percent attend youth groups outside their congregations. Some critics, particularly conservative evangelicals and the ministers of various denominations, decry such practices as a consumerist approach to faith.

But sociologists say it is a growing practice, a reflection of how Americans today are less attached to a historical, family denomination. . .
Parents also want their children to have an "authentic" relationship to faith, and "if you don't choose it, it's not authentic for you," said Christian Smith, a professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina and director of the survey on youth and religion.[/quote]

We the Parents, or the Village, can worry desperately over the possible consequences for the kid or the country. We can argue about what to call it or how to control it, the kids don't care. They're getting on with their individual CHOICE culture whether we like it or see it, or not. Young captains of choice already are fighting their own battles, as well as ours --literally and figuratively -- and they're poised on the brink of participatory citizenship as voters, taxpayers, politicians and parents themselves.

America has at least one 18-year-old mayor. A homeschooled teen hit the bestseller lists (twice) as a mainstream author with Eragon. How hard is it to envision youthful political choices morphing our old rules and expectations into a new individualism that will absolutely shock us and defy fogey-understanding - anybody but me see that on the horizon?

Just because we learn to say it on a blog - some of us can barely do that! - rather than with email or writing a traditional letter to the editor, doesn't mean we think any new thoughts about the changing culture of choice, or that we connect our thoughts any better, to think up whole new ideas instead of just new rules to impose the old ones. We have to choose new thinking, not wait around until we see its taillights speeding toward that horizon without us.

I doubt Baby Boomers will be ruling the roosts and running the realms much longer. Talk about past our prime, have we already marginalized ourselves into political retirement, by clinging to "either-or" thinking and the power-unity model for change?

"Ask MisEducation" at ParentDirectedEducation.org

[quote]So maybe Liza can start the same process for liberal blogging and politics - figure out new ways to get the noise out of the way of the mission?[/quote]

I so don't want another political noise machine and I am with you on that. Unfortunately that is where a lot of people seem to be these days in the left blogosphere. They think they need to replicate the repugs noise machines. Check out this thread over at the YearlyKos forums

Building a Left Wing Noise Machine
http://www.yearlykos.org/node/173/

YearlyKos [which, btw, I designed] is the organizing site for DailyKos' first political convention. It does not shock me that the people coming out of DailyKos are thinking of noise machines as opposed to political action. It seems to me that all there is to DailyKos these days is popularity contests and shouting matches. As much as I love writers like Armando and Bill in Portland, I've grown tired of the antics of people on that site.

The problem is that this is not trend or culture you can just attribute to the owner of the website. The design of the site is very much part of the problem.

Noise machines are about Pavlovian responses to media; not about pro-sumer engagement of media. The media is the message and as long as people on the left keep thinking of politics as a consumer good, nothing is going to change.

That's why DailyKos-like sites for me does not hold much hope. That's why this site is different in it's technological design. Very different.

Yes, yes! You get me so excited, did someone here say you have this effect on everyone, regardless of orientation?

This is it exactly:

[quote=Liza]Noise machines are about Pavlovian responses to media; not about pro-sumer engagement of media. The media is the message and as long as people on the left keep thinking of politics as a consumer good, nothing is going to change.[/quote]

I'm beginning to see this for myself, and like what I see.

[quote=Liza]That's why this site is different in it's technological design. Very different. [/quote]

So maybe blogging is like home education - there's no way you can even begin to appreciate its real value or understand why it is what it is, until: a) you have a pressing personal need for it, and b) something much worse to compare it to?

The blogroll comment is more towards people outside of this community. You are part of the culturekitchen community.

As to the cultural reference of "riiiiight"? I LOVE the Austin Powers movies but, and here's where you'll know I watch too much TV, I think it comes from the Nickelodeon tvsphere.

I think the first one to use it consistently was Spongebob; but Angelica from the Rugrats and Sam from Danny Phantom also say it a lot.

I so outed myself

And they have a set US rate --it's not like your prices are beholden to the ups and downs of the dollar against the Euro.

I think it's worth it.