Let me start by saying that I'm no longer really angry.
When I picked up a newspaper and read about the AIG bonuses, I was stunned and fired off a rapid fire, stream-of-consciousness blog about the hypocrisy of unconditionally bailing out an AIG while our schools and the students who depend on our schools continue to suffer. Apparently, I was not alone in my outrage. But today my mood has changed. Anger has given way to introspection. This morning, I find that I am far more more reflective.
I find myself thinking a lot about choices.
Life is not a zero sum game. Too often, we create these arbitrary ideological splits, these unnecessary "either/or" dichotomies that fail to account for nuance or shades of gray. I try not to do that. I try to look at the big picture, at the totality of opinions and varying points of view, but I also think it is fair to say sometimes life requires that we take a side and make a choice. In fact, I will go one step further. I think, in the end, our lives and our legacy are defined by the choices we make.
AIG was not the only news of the day. I also learned that over 1000 people have died as a result of the Mexican drug wars. (You might be thinking, what does this have to do with education technology? Please bear with me for just a moment, I'll get there). Over 1000 people dead is a staggering number. A tragic, stunning loss of life. It was this fact--over 1000 people have died--coupled with the news about AIG that made me focus so much about choices.
In a world too often defined by political correctness and efforts to offend no one while concurrently trying to appeal to everyone, we often find ourselves afraid to voice a simple opinion. We're afraid to make a choice. I absolutely abhor most of Rush Limbaugh's politics, and I find his self-aggrandizing style alternatively amusing and offensive, but, like it or not, the man has an opinion and he's not afraid to let it rip. I respect that. I sometimes wonder if Hillary Clinton's political fortunes would have been different had she simply told the American people what she thought. I thought her speech at the Democratic National Convention was amazing. I thought, where was that Hillary for the past 18 months? She finally let it rip. Sometimes it's okay to stand before the world and say, "Here I am. This is what I believe. Tear it down if you want, but this is where I stand."
Choices, everyone. We must all make choices.
I've made mine.
How many more innocent people have to die before we realize we can't win a war against drugs? Our jails are filled beyond capacity with poor black boys and poor Hispanic boys many of whom will be denied the opportunity to participate meaningfully in the American Dream because they have criminal records. How many more young children simply walking down the wrong street at the wrong time will die in a crossfire of bullets as rival gangs fight over "territory" and the right to control a street corner? We spend billions of dollars on this war, but what ground have we seized? Where is our Normandy? What have we gained? More importantly, how many innocent souls have we lost?
The point I'm making here isn't about drugs. It's about choices. We can only do so much. Our tax dollars will only go so far. Average people have to make difficult choices everyday about where and how they will spend their money. You may need a new car. But your child needs braces. What do you do? You may need a new suit, but your child needs clothes for school. What do you do? The house needs a new roof, but your son or daughter also needs tuition for college. What choice do you make?
I'm not a politician. I'm one man writing a blog that only a relatively few number of people will read or see. But if asked to make a choice, I will say it again and again and again...we have got to invest first in our children. We have got to invest more in our schools. Our schools should be models of innovation that educators from every nation follow and admire. Students in every district, rich or poor, should be able to walk into any classroom in any school and put their hands on the very best, most sophisticated, most powerful learning tools available to 21st century learners.
But that is not now the case.
So if asked to choose, I'd rather we took the monies fighting a war that it seems we cannot win and invest this money in the war we must win--a war for the hearts, minds and future of our children. Let's invest this money, dollar for dollar, in education. Let's refurbish our schools. Let's create 21st century classrooms. Let's get technology out of the labs and into our student's hands. Let's make wireless access a public utility; available to every household. Let's create new scholarships, fund new grants and provide universal access to low, fixed rate student loans. Let's blow open the doors of opportunity for every child by creating a system of public education that embraces every child, empowers every child and equips every child to compete and succeed in the global economy of 21st century.
Ask yourself this--If you could spend 100 billion on developing a cure for colon cancer or 100 billion on developing toxin free, hormone free, pesticide free, easily mass-produced food that is both healthy and inexpensive, food that could be made readily available to everyone irrespective of income, which would you choose? It is a difficult decision. But I would choose the latter. I would choose to invest in something that creates life. I'd rather invest in avoiding a problem than fixing a problem.
So in a strange way, the AIG story and the causalities as a result of the Mexican drug wars formed mental bookends in my mind. Both stories, in the end, are about the battles we choose to fight and the choices we choose to make.
I've made my choice.
Want to bolster our economic future?
Create better schools.
Want to wage a meaningful war against drugs?
Create better schools.
That's where I stand. In plain and simple language.
And I'm not afraid to go before anyone, anywhere, anytime, make my case for schools and for children, and say tear it down if you want to but this is what I believe.
But what about you?
What's your choice?
When I picked up a newspaper and read about the AIG bonuses, I was stunned and fired off a rapid fire, stream-of-consciousness blog about the hypocrisy of unconditionally bailing out an AIG while our schools and the students who depend on our schools continue to suffer. Apparently, I was not alone in my outrage. But today my mood has changed. Anger has given way to introspection. This morning, I find that I am far more more reflective.
I find myself thinking a lot about choices.
Life is not a zero sum game. Too often, we create these arbitrary ideological splits, these unnecessary "either/or" dichotomies that fail to account for nuance or shades of gray. I try not to do that. I try to look at the big picture, at the totality of opinions and varying points of view, but I also think it is fair to say sometimes life requires that we take a side and make a choice. In fact, I will go one step further. I think, in the end, our lives and our legacy are defined by the choices we make.
AIG was not the only news of the day. I also learned that over 1000 people have died as a result of the Mexican drug wars. (You might be thinking, what does this have to do with education technology? Please bear with me for just a moment, I'll get there). Over 1000 people dead is a staggering number. A tragic, stunning loss of life. It was this fact--over 1000 people have died--coupled with the news about AIG that made me focus so much about choices.
In a world too often defined by political correctness and efforts to offend no one while concurrently trying to appeal to everyone, we often find ourselves afraid to voice a simple opinion. We're afraid to make a choice. I absolutely abhor most of Rush Limbaugh's politics, and I find his self-aggrandizing style alternatively amusing and offensive, but, like it or not, the man has an opinion and he's not afraid to let it rip. I respect that. I sometimes wonder if Hillary Clinton's political fortunes would have been different had she simply told the American people what she thought. I thought her speech at the Democratic National Convention was amazing. I thought, where was that Hillary for the past 18 months? She finally let it rip. Sometimes it's okay to stand before the world and say, "Here I am. This is what I believe. Tear it down if you want, but this is where I stand."
Choices, everyone. We must all make choices.
I've made mine.
How many more innocent people have to die before we realize we can't win a war against drugs? Our jails are filled beyond capacity with poor black boys and poor Hispanic boys many of whom will be denied the opportunity to participate meaningfully in the American Dream because they have criminal records. How many more young children simply walking down the wrong street at the wrong time will die in a crossfire of bullets as rival gangs fight over "territory" and the right to control a street corner? We spend billions of dollars on this war, but what ground have we seized? Where is our Normandy? What have we gained? More importantly, how many innocent souls have we lost?
The point I'm making here isn't about drugs. It's about choices. We can only do so much. Our tax dollars will only go so far. Average people have to make difficult choices everyday about where and how they will spend their money. You may need a new car. But your child needs braces. What do you do? You may need a new suit, but your child needs clothes for school. What do you do? The house needs a new roof, but your son or daughter also needs tuition for college. What choice do you make?
I'm not a politician. I'm one man writing a blog that only a relatively few number of people will read or see. But if asked to make a choice, I will say it again and again and again...we have got to invest first in our children. We have got to invest more in our schools. Our schools should be models of innovation that educators from every nation follow and admire. Students in every district, rich or poor, should be able to walk into any classroom in any school and put their hands on the very best, most sophisticated, most powerful learning tools available to 21st century learners.
But that is not now the case.
So if asked to choose, I'd rather we took the monies fighting a war that it seems we cannot win and invest this money in the war we must win--a war for the hearts, minds and future of our children. Let's invest this money, dollar for dollar, in education. Let's refurbish our schools. Let's create 21st century classrooms. Let's get technology out of the labs and into our student's hands. Let's make wireless access a public utility; available to every household. Let's create new scholarships, fund new grants and provide universal access to low, fixed rate student loans. Let's blow open the doors of opportunity for every child by creating a system of public education that embraces every child, empowers every child and equips every child to compete and succeed in the global economy of 21st century.
Ask yourself this--If you could spend 100 billion on developing a cure for colon cancer or 100 billion on developing toxin free, hormone free, pesticide free, easily mass-produced food that is both healthy and inexpensive, food that could be made readily available to everyone irrespective of income, which would you choose? It is a difficult decision. But I would choose the latter. I would choose to invest in something that creates life. I'd rather invest in avoiding a problem than fixing a problem.
So in a strange way, the AIG story and the causalities as a result of the Mexican drug wars formed mental bookends in my mind. Both stories, in the end, are about the battles we choose to fight and the choices we choose to make.
I've made my choice.
Want to bolster our economic future?
Create better schools.
Want to wage a meaningful war against drugs?
Create better schools.
That's where I stand. In plain and simple language.
And I'm not afraid to go before anyone, anywhere, anytime, make my case for schools and for children, and say tear it down if you want to but this is what I believe.
But what about you?
What's your choice?
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1 comment:
Excellent points, Michael. I just ran a leadership class at work, talking about the tough choices we sometimes have to make as leaders. Political correctness and appealing to the majority of constituents does have its place, but it can never come at the expense of staying true to who you are and what you believe. We can't be afraid of that. I admire your decision to weigh all the inputs and take a stand.
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