RE: Political theory: general questions
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Thank you for your very interesting view, @agmoore.
Representative government is based on voters expressing choice. Is it not in the interest of the nation to have that choice be informed by an understanding of issues? In the current situation in which my country finds itself, constitutional challenges are in the fore. We can all have an opinion about the importance of the Constitution and the rule of law. But that opinion should be based on an understanding of how the Constitution came to be, of the underlying arguments that led to its drafting, of the history that preceded our revolution and the formation of government.
A representative government works best ("better") if its citizens are informed and make informed decisions. That is, if its citizens are educated.
I fully agree. People should have education and should be informed. Who should be responsible for the education? The state/government? Who defines what is information, misinformation, fake news, etc.? In my opinion people increasingly doubt the truth or veracity of information published by the mainstream media, and that is partially based on their failure to objectively and neutrally report about topics such as inflation, Covid-19, vaccines, and many more. My next post will be about home schooling as I am in the process of thinking about the "right" decision for our children. That also plays into the important question about who should have the authority to choose which information should be fed to children or to the people (which is under the tutelage of the state?).
There are factions in my country that try to get around the first Amendment, the separation of Church and state. They talk about morality, and principle. What they mean is their morality, their principle. This is a path we've known through history. It led to strife and oppression in Europe. Our founders knew that, and they tried to protect against it.
Yes, and I consider that as bad, too. Other factions want to abolish the second amendment. Is that amendment worth less than the first? I hope the constitution will be held high and that the people's rights will be preserved.
Thank you for your response. I often find that views we think are far apart may have a kernel of agreement in them.
When I became a teacher it was by accident. I was trained in history, comparative literature and the humanities, not education. I taught social studies (history/government). Every year in my first class I would tell the kids not to believe me. Even if I wasn't lying, I could be wrong. Once a week I'd bring in newspapers with contrasting points of view. I'd show them how editorializing began even before a word was written. What the paper chose to cover, the size of the headline, the placement of the story. All were compelling elements in coverage.
Fake news is not new. And ideologically slanted school books are not new.
As parents, how do we protect our children? I struggled with that challenge also. Education of my children began before nursery school. I taught them both reading and basic math. I changed schools. Tried private school. As you suggest, there was no ideal solution. Home school for me was not an option because I lead a very quiet life (no tea parties, no bowling club) so my kids would have been isolated. That's a serious issue.
I tried to educate/socialize my kids at home by spending a lot of time with them. They were the major focus of my life for the early years (I stopped working for those years).
If you follow @jaki01's blog, and his wife's, @kobold-djawa, you will see they struggled with this issue also as their daughter reached school age.
Good luck. I don't think there is an easy answer to this problem (and yes, I think parents are responsible for children's education).
As for the Second Amendment: We were founded as a frontier country. Every man/woman for himself/herself. Guns were essential. They are now part of our culture. My husband hates guns (he does not have happy memories from Vietnam), but my kids, my nieces and nephews mostly think guns are necessary in the home. I have no problem with that. I do have a problem with AK47s. Military grade weapons are not necessary. I draw the line there.
Thank you!!!!