Be Careful What You Vote For

Written by H. Michael Hartoonian
Guest contributor

What greater joke can God play on a man,

than to give him what he wants.

-Martin Luther

Within the last quarter century, the precept of “We The People” has been relentlessly battered and belittled by politicians, business leaders, and the media, to the point that it almost sounds corny to utter the phrase – the Constitution notwithstanding.  While dissatisfaction with government is a value that runs deep in American mythology, the recent manifestations of disgust for the nation and its democratic principles are an historic first.

The labels conservative, liberal, Democrat, and Republican have become meaningless as they are systematically used against one another with all the fury and myopia of warring barbarians.  Facts, reason, and logic have given way to fear, cunning, and loathing.  We are “cooking the book” of reality and replacing it with perceptions and lies that should make citizens wince; particularly when thinking of the American lives that have been given to establish and maintain the values and goals outlined in our Declaration of Independence and Preamble to the Constitution.  But what can you expect from a people who know little of their history and even less of their responsibilities as citizens.  Within the last twenty-five years, we have turned the United States from a culture to an economy – devoid of most values, save for greed.  And, we seem to lack any understanding of the first principle of capitalism – that a free market MUST be encased in ethics or it will very soon become sluggish, expensive, and corrupt.

The relationship between a republic and the market must be understood. Everyone who can, must contribute – through taxes, rightful behavior, and the building of ethical homes, firms, and communities. If we don’t attend to the material and ethical infrastructure of our communities, society will morph into a place where the bell-shaped curve of income and wealth, so necessary for a democratic society, will change into a wealth distribution pattern we call a “banana republic.”  This is where the wealth is held by the few and the very few, and the middle-class all but disappears.

Consider that within the United States right now, the top 400 richest people have more wealth than 150 million other Americans!  The rich also pay more taxes and contribute more to politicians than those 150 million.  For reasons beyond any sense of patriotism, people who can, now talk about moving their businesses to China.  Others refuse to work on improving their life’s condition and still others want to live in a more tax friendly state.  We have come to believe that the blessings of liberty, economic opportunity, and life itself are things for which we, rich or poor, are personally responsible.  How quaint this is, how historically and economically innocent; how un-American.  We can keep this republic only if we stay ethically engaged in the market and take personal responsibility for the civic health of every institution in which we live, work, and learn. It is in our self-interest to pursue PUBLIC happiness which is the true meaning of Jefferson’s list of inalienable rights – the pursuit of happiness.  A republic means, above all else, that without a conception of the common good, personal well being is problematic.

It seems clear that politicians and citizens in several states have neglected the principles and practices of democratic government.  This is certainly true in Minnesota where we have been living on our “seed corn” for over ten years – and now we have little left to plant for the future.  We should all be ASHAMED.

In Wisconsin, the birthplace of progressive government where the people built a civic culture and quality of life that became the envy of other states, politicians and others are trying to disregard that history.  Elected officials there are on the verge of setting their state back one hundred years.  What arguments have the governor and the “Republicans” made to show that unions really diminish the common wealth of Wisconsin?  What arguments have the Democrats made to show how common wealth has been enhanced by unions?  Was it all about the state budget that needed repair?  Is Wisconsin really broke?  Was it the flexibility that local governments needed to bargain with their workers?  Or was it an opportunity to rid Wisconsin of the Democratic Party?  All of this aside, the best arguments must be built around the concept of wealth creation and exactly how any political action will enhance the common wealth – the material and ethical infrastructure of the state.  Wealth is excellence, and creating infrastructure excellence is the only way that private wealth will grow and markets thrive.  Viewing the conflict from afar, I may not understand the whole story, but I recognize undemocratic practices and sloppy arguments, be they Democrat or Republican.  It should occur to us that all we have is each other.  As scary as that is, the people are the only ones who can create or destroy personal and common wealth, and we do it together.

Like you, I have always wanted my family to be healthy, well educated, and to be good citizens.  I want my school and team to be the best they can, my country to stand for the best that free people could conceive of and implement.  Taking humble pride in all the institutions to which we belong is what gives us our identity.  And that identity informs our responsibilities.  The problem I see in both of these states and in the people and their representatives is that they simply have no idea of who they are.  They believe themselves to be self serving, morally and financially broken warriors who want to starve the beast of government.  This view of the current people in government is rather humorous because most of these individuals have never served this nation in any meaningful way.  Who they should be or become, are loving critics of their state and nation who understand that meaning and happiness stem from what you contribute to family, firm, school, community, state, and nation.  It is, indeed, more sacred and joyful. At least that’s what I believe my church and family taught me.

Balance, fairness, and love of community will always lead to wealth creation.  But how can we create wealth when we are so removed from any working definition of excellence – whether infrastructure, management, labor, schooling, parenting, commerce, media, etc.  Until we understand the true meaning of wealth we will remain mediocre and superficial at best, and so will our families, firms and states.  Is this what we voted for?  Is this want we want?  Or is this simply what we deserve?

 

Michael Hartoonian is Scholar in Residence at Hamline University, St. Paul, MN and former Professor and Senior Fellow and Director of the Institute for Democratic Capitalism, in the Department of Educational Policy and Administration, College of Education and Human Development University of Minnesota. His research interests are in ethics, education and economics, and their integration in a democratic republic, as well as identifying democratic value tensions in American history and contemporary life.  He can be reached via email: mhart002@q.com

The Purpose of Schooling

Why are you here?  I often ask the freshmen in my American Government & Citizenship class this on their first day.  What is the purpose of schooling?  Is it so you can get good grades, get into a good college, get a good job and then buy a lot of stuff?  This last question is a joke of course…the sad thing is that often many don’t get the joke.

In the March 2011, issue of Educational Leadership, David Ferrero writes about the purposes of schooling.  “Historically, democratic societies have recognized three broad purposes of schooling: personal, economic, and civic.  At the personal level, schools have helped students discover and cultivate individual interests, talents, and tastes; form good habits; and develop an understanding of what it means to lead a good life.  Schools have prepared students to contribute productively to the economy by preparing them to pursue a vocation or further study leading toward some profession.  And schools have achieved civic goals by equipping students with the knowledge and skills necessary to be good citizens.  Together these three imperatives have constituted a holistic understanding of persons as having private, productive, and civic selves.”[1]

I like this description because it’s clear and to the point about why public schooling is essential in a republic.  However, it makes me wonder if those engaged in the current debate surrounding education reform share the same ideas?  Do the current critics of public education hold each of these ‘three purposes’ in equal light, or is there more attention and value placed upon the economic purpose?

With the rise of our nation’s corporate culture I’m fearful that schools are increasingly being examined solely through a lens of economic worth and that message is jeopardizing our cultural heritage.

Thomas Jefferson wrote extensively about the goals of education.  He cited a direct correlation between literacy, citizenship and successful self-government.  With literacy came knowledge and discernment and with these came the means of safeguarding self-government and independence.  Jefferson hypothesized that literacy and self-government work hand in hand and was a key component to self-preservation.  The basis for Jefferson’s beliefs on the merits of literacy was derived from his own personal experiences related to reading in the pursuit of knowledge.  Reading paved the way for self-discipline, self-governance, and self-efficacy.  Jefferson viewed the link between literacy and successful citizenship as unambiguous and direct.  He saw literacy as a liberating and transforming force – the equalizer for the masses and the essential mechanism necessary for human liberation.[2]

Jefferson’s ideas about schooling appear to have greater concern for the personal and civic purposes.  His writings do acknowledge the economic purposes of schooling but, on the whole it’s clear that he placed greater emphasis on a student’s personal growth and civic responsibility because he understood that “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.”[3]

What has happened to us?  It feels like the purposes of public education have been compromised and we’re all to blame. 

In 2009, the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) published a study which aimed to keep our focus on democratic principles and the health of our republic going forward.  Michael Hartoonian and Donald Bragdaw, in response to the NCSS survey wrote, “Almost everything being done in ‘education’ today works at cross purposes to the development of the educated citizen.  The citizen, as opposed to the subject, must understand the cultural heritage, be able to argue with civility and reason, conceivably communicate in several languages, and debate, influence, evaluate, and implement policies that bring all of us closer to the values delineated in the Declaration of Independence.  Above all, education in a democratic republic creates loving critics of our communities and nation.  All institutions must help educate, but in this republic the roles and responsibilities must be clear.  Families bring children into nature, communities bring children into culture and in democratic societies, schools bring students to love and critically evaluate their culture and civic responsibility.  This ability is fundamental because citizens must know what of their cultural heritage to keep, what to discard when no longer functioning, and what to create anew as life and situations demand.   From the survey data it seems that none of these tasks are being presently being adequately performed in our schools.  On the contrary, we seem to be moving away from our democratic responsibility – unable to comprehend that democracy is not encoded in our national DNA.   With each new generation, it must be recreated in the minds of citizens through educational processes and ongoing experiences afforded by such efforts.  Indeed, that’s what makes us citizens.  So much depends on the cultivation of attitudes, and the accretion of general knowledge toward achieving the civic process in a democracy.  The task of schools is to bring into being a worthy occupant of the “Office of Citizen.”  It is a cooperative effort by family and schools, but the latter must provide children with the will, the knowledge and the tools by which they may perform that supreme task.”[4]

This has been an interesting year in education – the films, Waiting for Superman, and Race to Nowhere, have sparked a national discourse.  The recent events in Wisconsin, although politically (not economically) motivated, have stirred tremendous emotion and debate about teachers and what is expected of the profession.   There are many problems in our schools today; but as a public school teacher for the past twenty-three years I can also say there are many good aspects too.  There are ‘bad apples’ within the teaching profession but there are many, many phenomenally talented teachers too.  All of this matters.  But all solutions must begin with an understanding of the true purposes of education in our republic.  I’m fearful that some reform advocates focus solely on the economic purposes of schooling and I shudder to think of the kind of citizens that may produce.

Hartoonian and Bragdaw brilliantly conclude, [that] “…educators care for the intellectual life of students. They are committed to construct a place where students will understand the joy, as well as the hard work, needed to be a scholar and democratic citizen.  Citizenship is not automatically conferred, but earned through the contributions that one makes to the well-being of family, school, firm, and society as a whole.  It is the interaction of the on-going life, and its need for knowledge that makes for a citizen who cares about the society in which he/her finds his/her life and destiny.  We must stop and examine what we are now imposing upon our society in the form of an inadequate consideration of our national heritage.”[5] 

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[1] Ferrero, The Humanities; Why Such a Hard Sell? Educational Leadership, Vol. 68 No. 6, March 2011, p.22-26

[2] Gilreath, Thomas Jefferson and the Education of a Citizen. Library of Congress, Washington, 1999, as analyzed by Sparagana, New Foundations, 2002

[3] as cited in Padover, 1939, p. 89.

[4] Bragdaw & Hartoonian, The Neglect of Heritage, 2009.

[5] Ibid.