Via Everywhere..
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=325508
""I wanted that kid to lose sleep that night," a grinning Xinos says Wednesday, as he invites me for a nearly two-hour interview in his Mercedes-Benz in the gated Oak Brook community where he lives. "This is the real world and the lesson, you folks who brought your kids here, is if you want something, pay for it."
Xinos, who unsuccessfully sued to stop the building of the new library, which opened in 2002, sits on one side of the issue. He lost his election bid to be a village board member, but has been president of his home association since 1983 and worked to elect board members who agree with him about the library."
As I said on facebook not to long ago... When you look at how viciously people defend religion and the current system of capitalism, even in the face of evidence that their positions are untenable, it becomes really clear whose agenda is served by teaching people that faith is a virtue.
The devaluing of education (and by extension the intersection of the arts with intellectual development)in this country is a deplorable and shortsighted attempt to create a society of useful idiots. A lot of the focus on this story is that the mean man made a child cry, and while that's certainly shitty, the greater tragedy is that we live in a country that debates the value of public libraries and librarians with people who live in gated communities.
On this note I'll direct you to this post as well:
http://sophrosyne.radical.r30.net/wordpress/?p=1728&cpage=1#comment-4686
"Today’s students - the “millennials” - collectively idolize narcissism and ignorance. Admittedly, teachers have been complaining about their students for thousands of years, but things have really been gathering steam over the last 30 years. Today’s students have taken more life lessons from fictional TV characters than their parents. Today’s students spend more time with their iPod than any friend or “role model”. Today’s students are results-oriented hyper-consumers who expect to be entertained and resent any challenges to their narcissism. I try my best to break through this shell of egocentrism, but it’s never easy and is usually thankless. In most cases, they’re good soldiers who fight against their own interests."
In that post is a link to a worthwhile documentary which examines in part how the American attitude toward education will cost future generations dearly. Here's the trailer for that doc:
""I wanted that kid to lose sleep that night," a grinning Xinos says Wednesday, as he invites me for a nearly two-hour interview in his Mercedes-Benz in the gated Oak Brook community where he lives. "This is the real world and the lesson, you folks who brought your kids here, is if you want something, pay for it."
Xinos, who unsuccessfully sued to stop the building of the new library, which opened in 2002, sits on one side of the issue. He lost his election bid to be a village board member, but has been president of his home association since 1983 and worked to elect board members who agree with him about the library."
As I said on facebook not to long ago... When you look at how viciously people defend religion and the current system of capitalism, even in the face of evidence that their positions are untenable, it becomes really clear whose agenda is served by teaching people that faith is a virtue.
The devaluing of education (and by extension the intersection of the arts with intellectual development)in this country is a deplorable and shortsighted attempt to create a society of useful idiots. A lot of the focus on this story is that the mean man made a child cry, and while that's certainly shitty, the greater tragedy is that we live in a country that debates the value of public libraries and librarians with people who live in gated communities.
On this note I'll direct you to this post as well:
http://sophrosyne.radical.r30.net/wordpress/?p=1728&cpage=1#comment-4686
"Today’s students - the “millennials” - collectively idolize narcissism and ignorance. Admittedly, teachers have been complaining about their students for thousands of years, but things have really been gathering steam over the last 30 years. Today’s students have taken more life lessons from fictional TV characters than their parents. Today’s students spend more time with their iPod than any friend or “role model”. Today’s students are results-oriented hyper-consumers who expect to be entertained and resent any challenges to their narcissism. I try my best to break through this shell of egocentrism, but it’s never easy and is usually thankless. In most cases, they’re good soldiers who fight against their own interests."
In that post is a link to a worthwhile documentary which examines in part how the American attitude toward education will cost future generations dearly. Here's the trailer for that doc:
Click to view