I don't share this for the "LOLs", this being the now-deleted tweet of an unwell man.
I share this for the Great Big Cultural Sad of our discourse having been driven in recent years by people who never had the chops for anything more than "thought-leading" by playing into fear and hatred.
How do we come back from an era of "public intellectual" grifters? How do we recenter dialogue that encourages better critical thinking, knowledge exchange, and democratic practices?
And can we do it online?
@MLClark In fairness, I don’t know how to fix all of it, but I feel it starts with how we educate. We need to return to the days of civics, social studies and history, and prioritize them. The primary goal of education must shift to encourage critical thinking, and the ability to work with opinions different than your own.
This would be groundbreaking, as it has never been done to full effect, but I feel the results would be seismic.
@MLClark I’m deep in southern Texas at the moment, and will be here for another week. I depart on the 19th for two days in Seattle then it’s off to Virginia.
Busy time, but it’s a joy to connect with you! You’re a truly groovy buddy!
@MLClark @NiveusLepus what also happened in the late '90s was that Wall Street suddenly realized they were missing potential profits in education.
@NiveusLepus
I wholeheartedly agree.
That's precisely why so many have come so hard for public education as of late. Even though what we had was nowhere near where it needed to be, it was already a threat to many who prefer people easier to manipulate through fear.
Now, changes toward teaching emotions and using Indigenous methodologies are arising in lockstep with horrific bans on teaching whole subjects. A bitter push-pull.
Thank you Becca--and happy Monday, wherever this one finds you. 🤗