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If there are no plastic bag recyclers in Oregon, and so few in general according to the Senator, where do our plastic bags go when we return them to Safeway?

posted 3 years, 3 months ago
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It's too bad your friend made that decision.

posted 3 years, 5 months ago
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Certainly, if you are too self-centered to realize that your children are a blessing and fantastic responsibility, then you are letting down the kids and the world.  That said, the current tendency for many middle class, educated people to go child free is mostly a matter of wanting a certain lifestyle that does not conform to the responsibilities inherent in the rearing of children.

However, I should have made clear my admiration for those people who happen to be child free and who put all that extra time and energy into service to humankind.  I know many teachers who are child free and put an immense amount of effort and love into helping other people's children, and this is certainly praiseworthy. They are all much better people than I.

My initial point was that parenthood taught me a great deal about selflessness I would not have otherwise garnered, NOT that it made me selfless.  Yet my point stands that a fantastic opportunity is being missed by those who CHOOSE to be childless, but certainly they can make up for that with other efforts for the good of humanity.

posted 3 years, 7 months ago
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Sorry to offend you m97219, I will try to be more careful with my wording in the future.

posted 3 years, 7 months ago
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Simply put, having a child is the greatest opportunity for personal growth and selflessness possible.  If you really feel you are too selfish to have a child, then great, please avoid doing so.  That is very responsible of you.  However, children should be seen as a blessing, not an inconvenience as they so often are seen in our society.

posted 3 years, 7 months ago
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I do not shop at WalMart as a general rule, despite the lower prices.  There are many reasons for this, including labor practices in store and abroad, driving out small business, etc.

However, the main reason I avoid WalMart is the atmosphere in the store.  It is unfriendly, impersonal and just an unpleasant experience to shop at WalMart.  The lights, the layout of the store, many different factors keep me away, even if I could save $1.50 on a case of Coke.

posted 3 years, 7 months ago
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This show reminds me of a story I read about a Peace Corps volunteer's first day in a Papua New Guinea village.  He was showing pictures of back home in Chicago, and the people were baffled by a particular photo showing a homeless man sitting in front of a luxurious highrise building, with well-dressed people walking past him. 

The villagers were very disturbed by this, but the volunteer explained that this was just how it was.  Early the next morning, there was a loud knock on his door.  He opened the door to find a group of men who'd stayed up on all night consulting on this disturbing issue, and they'd come to a conclusion: if the U.S. government wouldn't help this man, they could just send him to this village and they would make sure he had a home and even fruit trees to feed himself and a couple of chickens to start making a living.

This is a profound story.  Homelessness is not universal or inevitable, it is a cultural anomaly. 

People need to be given a place, not just physically to live, but a place in society.  Too many people are kept outside of our society and feel they have no stake, no part in it all.  This is a shame for the emotional and spiritual effect it has on the homeless, and it is also a waste of human capital.

I'd like to hear more about how homeless people are not just being helped off the streets but also are being helped to feel (and be) productive and helpful, with a positive role in society, not just getting by.

posted 3 years, 7 months ago
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Thank you for bringing up this important issue. As a teacher, I completely understand why people are tempted to vote for this bill. It seems like common sense to demand that a worker, particularly a public servant, should show results. We are, after all, entrusted with the most precious of "commodities", the gems of parents' hearts, the very future of our world.
However, merit pay as it is being proposed is not the answer. It will simply punish those teachers who take on the most difficult jobs, such as teaching special education students or English language learners, or working in high-poverty schools. Standardized test scores will most likely be the basis of a merit-pay system, while these tests have been shown to have only limited success in demonstrating student mastery of subjects.
Teachers must certainly show success in teaching via student growth, but the formula used for merit-based pay is too simplistic and will ultimately harm the most needy students.
Teachers are not the enemy, nor the chief impediment to the betterment of public education. We go into our profession out of love and dedication, making on average less than others with similar educations. It is time we changed the tone of the debate from attacking teachers to re-ordering our priorities. We should focus our energies on creating smaller classes, offering more hands-on, service-based learning, as well as other improvements. Our schools should not feel like they are constantly under fire. They should be lauded and assisted as much as they are criticized. After all, we are all responsible for the well-being of our youth, and will either benefit from, or pay for, the degree to which we support public education.

posted 4 years, 8 months ago
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Well, I'd say you were of the same social class that I was raised in, namely, educated parents who didn't make a whole lot of money but got by. There is a tremendous difference between uneducated lower- to lower-middle class and educated lower-middle class. Educated parents can educate their children to be independent learners, and that's great.
Now, it appears that you took my post as a criticism of your upbringing, however I was simply wondering, asking, how unschoolers get exposed to social and ethnic diversity. How did you manage this? How did you manage not to just be stuck with your family's social or ethnic group, as opposed to being exposed to the cross-section of humanity that public schools offer?
Also, I am extremely curious how single parents managed to unschool their children. How did they do this without committing neglect by leaving their children while they were at work? Did they rely on welfare to get by so they could stay home and educate their children? If so, I can't think of a better use of welfare funds than to allow a parent to stay home with their children.
Thank you Christian for your reply, and I hope to hear your thoughts on these questions.

posted 4 years, 9 months ago
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I'm curious why no one is discussing the topic of diversity. Quite frankly, this appears to be a very class-specific practice. It's great to foster a sense of life-long learning (something we teachers are trying to do each day in public schools), but it needn't be done at the expense of exposure to a variety of social and ethnic classes.
I'm curious how unschoolers manage to be exposed to the kind of diversity that public schools present, because if they are not, this would seem to be quite detrimental to their development.
Education isn't just about intellectual development, but social development as well.

posted 4 years, 9 months ago
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