Today is the 2nd of 11 days of our spring break. A part of me would like to totally ignore anything related to my teaching until I have to again start to plan, which I would like to delay at least for the next full week. But even though I assigned no work for over the break and all work was supposed tobe in before Friday 11:59 PM, realistically I have to be somewhat flexible: I have yet to be in the classroom with students this school year, most of them are in hybrid mode, some are like me still completely virtual — there are all kinds of issues that must be considered. The 3rd quarter ended on the 19th. Three weeks before I had at least 15 students in danger of failing. I nagged, encouraged, and prodded. I extended deadlines. In the end I had one failure and two more with incompletes whom I am allowing to finish the work over break. It was the right thing to do, but it was exhausting.
When we return our seniors will have their (modified because of Covid) senior retreat, which means I will not yet have students in class (not until Monday April 13). I will be one of the chaperones for the retreat, as 4 of my 5 classes are seniors, representing almost half of the senior class.
But there is more to this than the modified schedule and motivating students. Those four senior classes all study government, and thus recent events also weigh heavily on my mind.
I have taught government for the vast majority of my more than 2 ½ decades as a classroom teacher after I left my previous profession in computers.
I regularly have to consider what it is I teach my students. modifying my plans to connect with real events happening around them. THis is also true when I teach US History, as I do this year to one class of talented juniors. After all, there are often parallels from events in the past with things in our own time, and we should be able to see where problems of our past are still not resolved.
Clearly for both subjects, History and Government, America’s racial issues is still a contemporary problem. Who is included in our concept of American is as well, as we have long had issues on religion, gender, national origin, as well as race, and to these we now add issues of gender and sexual identity.
All of these to some degree need to be viewed through a variety of lenses,but when I comes to Government the intent of the Constitution and its amendments and how that is interpreted is of course a major issue. In theory this defines the landscape on which we examine differences between actions by government and actions by private individuals.
But individuals are not totally exempt from restrictions placed on government. If we are talking about areas of life subject to regulation by the government, that in theory should allow the government from prohibiting actions by private individuals or organizations from acting in prejudicial or discriminatory fashion.
We regularly will encounter areas which present us with possible conflicts of rights. For example, I as a Quaker may oppose the death penalty but that does not necessarily give me the right to without penalty refuse to pay taxes that support executions in any fashion or to refuse to response to summons to appear as a potential juror or witness in a capital case. As a private individual I may choose not to vote for anyone who supports capital punishment, but were I a responsible public official who has sworn (or in my case affirmed) to uphold the Constitution and laws of the US and/or my state, if I have a moral objection to carrying out a duly approved capital sentence my ony correct choice is to resign that position.
But what about private discrimination? What about the right to refuse to serve someone, either in a store or as a medical or pharmaceutical professional, on religious or moral grounds? The clear intent of the 1964 Civil Rights Act was that as a bar or restaurant or hotel/model I could not deny service on the basis of race, religion, or national origin (or to a lesser extend gender) because I was at least potentially engaged in interstate commerce, which Congress has the power to regulate. Congress also has the power to regulate a great deal of what happens with medicine, both because of government financing and also of licensing (the ability to prescribe and to distribute as a pharmacist controlled substances including prescription drugs requires a federal license). The question is why issues like this have not already been addressed fully by federal legislation.
This country was not originally a democracy. Franklin’s response to the woman who asked him what kind of government the Constitutional Convention had designed was “a republic if you can keep it.” Yet historically, for all of our flaws and failings, we have moved — almost inexorably — in the direction of becoming a liberal democracy, We protected certain rights against the federal government in the Bill of Rights, and over time expanded those protections against state governments through the 14th Amendment and the process of selective incorporation. The amendments since the first ten have expanded the franchise, with possibly the only exception being the 2 term presidential limit imposed by the 22nd Amendment.
But the meaning of the Constitution as amended has changed, and not always for the better, as a result of decisions and opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States.
We have in our history too many bad decisions to ignore, with Dred Scott, Plessy, and Korematsu immediately coming to mind. To these I would immediately add the footnote in Santa Clara Count v Southern Pacific Railroad, which established corporations as persons with some constitutional protections, even though unlike humans they cannot be compelled to jury duty or imprison or executed — I think this really needs to be rethought, as it has over time distorted both the legal and political landscapes in which we find ourselves.
That we as a society do not properly address major issues facing us is something that should bother us all. These can included the destruction of our environment, the extreme and tragic gun violence, the for violation of rights and even deaths that occur under color of law with in many cases a lack of accountability.
Rights can be in conflict.
No rights guaranteed by the Constitution are absolute.
Even Antonin Scalia in the Heller case acknowledged that governments could put reasonable restrictions on the types of weapons people could have as well as some restrictions as to which persons could have them.
I look at the voter suppression actions in Georgia — as well as the lawsuit just filed by Mr. Elias — and wonder if all or any of this should be allowed to stand. Perhaps I am somewhat heartened that Roberts and Kavanaugh joined the 3 liberal justices in a case involving potential police accountability, but wonder how if at all the issues in attempting to distort our electoral processes will pay out in courts.
If we have gerrymandered state legislatures that distort the power of the voters, these things can happen.
In theory those legislatures have the sole power to determine how a state’s electoral votes are to be awarded, and if before the election they passed directions to award them as the state legislature determine, and if SCOTUS ruled that the power belonged solely to the legislature and the Governor had no power to stop that action, then the electoral votes of AZ GA WI MI and PA would all go to the Republican, despite the fact that 3 of those states have Democratic governors. Yes in theory the provision of the 14th Amendment stripping those states of House representation would come into play, although it never has before (and the amendment does not say for how long).
One might argue that the US Senate is a problem- when the Constitution was adopted the largest discrepancy in House representation was 10 in Virginia to 1 in Delaware. Let’s even grant that Virginia would under current rules after the 13th Amendment have had more, say 13. Compare even that 13-1 ratio to the current 53 (CA) to 1 (7 states) ratio. Less populated states have an overwhelming advantage in the Senate, and this gets magnified by the current filibuster provisions often preventing needed and popular legislation from being enacted into law.
And yes, I am aware that the overwhelming Republican tilt of some of those states is a recent phenomenon. I can well remember Democratic governors in ID and WY, that both SD and ND had two Democratic Senators, and WV almost always voted D presidentially.
Politics driven by fear are part of the problem. There has always been a dark side of American populism, which can be nativist, religiously and racially prejudiced, and so on.
It is not just that I teach government. As a participant in American political culture since I was 10 (1956) I believe in a politics that should at least attempt to unite use, that should not seek to raise fears and hatred of “others” as a means for gaining and/or keeping political power. I believe we should be making it easier to register and vote, not putting up barriers to suppress the votes of my opponents.
I also believe that those with greater financial assets and incomes have a greater responsibility to support the government by paying a greater proportion of what they have in taxes — it is much harder of those of lesser resources.
All institutions can be corruprted, and I remember the corruption in the Teamsters of Dave Beck and first Jimmy Hoffa and the horrible corruption in the UMW that let to the death of an opponent of the corrupt union president, Nevertheless I strongly support the right of all workers to unionize and collectively bargain.
Of the last two paragraphs — this country thrived when under Eisenhower and enacted by a Democratic Congress we had incremental tax rates over 90% while at the same time about 1/3of the non-public workforce was in labor unions. From then even through Nixon, Ford, and Carter, we built the middle class, in part with government programs like the GI Bill, we did not have the huge discrepancies in wealth and income, we began to address civil and economic rights. It is thanks to unions that we got a 5 day 40 hour work week, paid holidays, paid vacation days, and so much more.
I have rambled. Why?
I have tried to make a difference by teaching young people about their government, their history, making them more willing to participate in shaping this country. I do that regardless of their political or other orientations. I try to empower them to be better advocates of what they believe, and as I tell them and their parents, in the process I may create my own worst nightmare, an articulate and persuasive advocate of a position I abhore. If so, I have done my job, which is to empower them so they have choices.
I look at what is happening now, and see this nation at a critical point. It has been developing since at least the Reagan administration, although I do not assess the blame as the sole responsibility of one side of our political divide,
But yet again, I begin to wonder what if any difference my efforts make.
When applied to my current school, I told them I was willing to stay for 4 years until my wife was eligible for full Social Security, and then reexamine, if they wanted to keep me. I am now coming to the end of the 2nd of those 4 years. This year has been difficult, but not merely because of the pandemic. I was told several months ago that they want me to continue. I am hoping that I can do so, but only if I can with integrity.
This week my wife found out her blood cancer is still in remission and she does not have to go back into chemo, so I am returning to school on April 7. On May 23 I will reach ¾ of a century.
I do not know what the future holds. I cannot help but worry about it.
But on April 1st we will sign a refinance of our mortgage. We have in the past few months adopted 2 male kittens and a 12 year old female cat with health issues. Those seem to imply staying in our current home for now, which means I continue working. That COULD change for a variety of reasons. For now I hope it does not.
I no longer post here as frequently as in the past. I joined here in December 2003, posting my first “diary” the following month. Since then I have posted almost 5,000 entries. I have been honored that this community has sought fit to honor me with recommendations, and when I participated in the annual blogger conferences to greet me warmly and to attend the sessions I organized.
I am getting old. My contemporary Meteor Blades has now retired from this site. I have not been here much myself. It is partly because I am not sure what I can add to the discourse, although I do comment from time to time.
A few years ago I got a stent put into my aorta because of an aneurysm, a result of having been a smoker until I was 28. In November of 2019 I had a stroke while in my classroom, a result of a 90%+ blockage of one carotid artery. I was treated quickly, recovered MOST of my functionality, an the blockage was cleared by surgery a month later.
But I now have some permanent neuropathy. Writing by hand is still difficult. I make many more typos. I tire easily. I need at least 7 hours sleep, usually 8, or I might crash during the afternoon.
There are still books I want to read, places I want to visit. It is harder to accomplish with less time and energy,
So I wonder — how much longer will I teach? How much longer will I stay politically involved.? How often might I engage here?
I congratulate you for still being here. I am not sure what if anything you gained by continuing to read, but I thank you for your patience and tolerance.
I do not know even the medium term future. For today I will watch some soccer, although I can no longer play, coach, or referee. I will also watch the Michigan tourney game since one of their starters was my student.
And I will play with our cats, read, listen to music, spend time with my wife.
Peace.