The Cost of Knowledge

I made a big decision today.

I decided I would like to make knowledge accessible to my children.

I did this when I decided to spend the mind-blowing $108.00 on a subscription to the magazine History Today. I think I do not have to explain why this is such a big decision.

My problem, at its root, is not the cost; I find the publication incredibly helpful, not only in research, but just because I enjoy reading it. I will gladly pay $108.00 for a subscription to something that enhances my research, and deepens my pool of knowledge.

What I take issue with is the fact that it will cost me $108.00 to gain knowledge and perspective academically, and yet I can purchase a two year subscription to Cosmopolitan for just "$1 per Issue!", or so their website advertises. For a mere $28.00 I can learn exactly what makes him tick/squirm/squeal, and keep up on the very latest fashion trends out of Milan, for a whole two years. For less than thirty dollars, I can immerse myself in feeling like a woman every - single - day. And by "feel like a woman" I mean to say that I can compare myself to every woman in that magazine and come up feeling worthless, look at all the items I can't afford and wind up feeling like a financial failure, and peruse through all the articles and come out the other side no more knowledgeable about how to actually have healthy relationships than I was prior to reading.

Why the disparity? And what does this say to our children?

Well, I haven't officially researched it, and I don't have any truly sound academic arguments as of yet - anthropologically, historically or otherwise - but I'm still pretty confident in my answer: because our priorities are seriously effed up. And yes, that's my official, academic answer.

With the cost of academic texts so high, and the cost of magazines like Cosmo so low, is it any wonder our children are confused? We show them, in myriad ways, what they should be prioritizing high on their list. We feed them a constant barrage of toys and tinkers in commercials, plug the Christmas tree with enough gifts to make a Sudanese child die of shock, and then proceed to leave our choice of reading materials out on the coffee table.

Some may say that I'm being overly harsh on those publications I've mentioned, and may point out, embarrassingly, that my mouth is unzipped and my bias is showing. Speaking directly to that, I would agree that these publications do have value. As with most anything, I believe its how we use the tool that defines the tool. Viewing anything - including entertainment or fashion publications - with a critical eye and yearning to understand can only enhance us as thinking creatures. For example, viewing Vogue from an academic, anthropological standpoint can provide incredible perspective on our treatment of gender in the West; author Beth Harbison produced an illuminating work, Hope in a Jar, which covers the history of women's beauty products - and it's a fascinating work. The magazines and editorials themselves are not the problem; how our children - and how we ourselves - receive and process the information, and what we use those texts for, are the issues.

We parents in this country, in good portion it would appear, are unconcerned whether our children know who Shakespeare is, let alone whether they can name even one of his works. Educating our children on why Salvador Dali was so revolutionary is low on the 'to do' list, and introducing them to History (yes, you all know this is what appalls me the most) in any form is about as high on parents' list of priorities as 'change the oil in the car.' And even that at least gets done when it can't be put off any longer. And I have been just as guilty as anyone else.

I see this as one of those root problems in society for which there is no quick-acting elixir. In our current culture, pop culture is valued higher than education and critical thinking, for the most part. I must acknowledge that this does not apply to everyone; I have met parents who take a very proactive stance on their children's education. Yet, the majority are more focused on tangible, applied knowledge, than they are conceptual or theoretical knowledge. I do not blame the parents, truthfully; indeed, blame itself seems fairly inconsequential. What we need instead of blame, instead of pointing fingers and judging, is to understand the problem so that we can address it.

"The problem" is problematically condensed, but I cannot speak to "the problem" in less than two thousand words. What I've brought up here is just a tiny speck of the overall "problem". I am neither educated enough, or arrogant enough, to tackle the job of actually outlining what "the problem" is. Instead, I write about this today to ask myself - and any one of you reading - what signals am I sending to my children about what is important? How likely is it that my child will fall in love with education, if I do not make it fun, relevant, and most importantly, accessible to them?

It cost me $108.00 to have History Today delivered to me in my medium of choice. I will gladly pay the $15.00 each for one year subscriptions to National Geographic, and National Geographic Kids. I will keep every textbook I have purchased for school, and leave them in the bookcase that is most accessible to my kids. I will get on the computer with my five-year-old and show her the great masterpieces of the Renaissance, as well as the works of great contemporary artists. I will read her poetry - both of the goose sort, and also the Blake, Whitman, and Shakespeare sort. I will value her literacy above all kindergarten academic pursuits, and my husband will teach her that math and science are not to be feared, but embraced and questioned.

Mostly, I will value these things myself, and eschew the urge to pick up that newest issue of Vogue at the grocery store.

And, if I'm very lucky, and my and my husband's love of knowledge and critical thinking take root within our children and grow, one of my daughters will shake their head firmly at me while I am in that grocery line, take the fashion magazine out of my hand, and parrot to me just as I have a thousand times about candy bars, "No, Mama - you don't need that. You can read History Today when we get home, if you continue to choose good behavior."

I will conclude by acknowledging that Our Culture Sucks: Why Our Children Are Getting Dumber is not a sound academic thesis. It is, however (I think) a perfectly sound question for us to be asking ourselves, so that we, as parents and educators, can provide to the newest generations easy access to knowledge, and more difficult access to consumerism and trend.

People's Party 2010!

It's come to my attention that we are living in a time of economic, social, and political chaos. It's also come to my attention that this isn't a unique thing, from the perspective of history. Partisan politics have taken over where good sense left off, and for not the first time in our country's history. I'd like to take you back a century or so, and introduce you to the People's Party, otherwise known as the 'Populist Party.'

I've taken this excerpt from 'historymatters.gmu.edu', and cross referenced much of it with other historical documents and texts. The actual text is taken from the World Almanac of 1893. I was going to talk *about* the People's Party, but I thought it best to let their constitution speak for itself.

As you're reading this, consider the following: I would suggest that healthcare, specifically the insurance companies, are the equivalent to the issue of the railroads for those involved in the People's Party.

I would also urge you to consider reading about the rise of the People's party, what they stood for - and most importantly WHY they stood for what they stood for - because our political, economic, and social climate is not *all* that different today than theirs.

Where is our generation's People's Party?

"We have witnessed for more than a quarter of a century the struggles of the two great political parties for power and plunder, while grievous wrongs have been inflicted upon the suffering people. We charge that the controlling influences dominating both these parties have permitted the existing dreadful conditions to develop without serious effort to prevent or restrain them. Neither do they now promise us any substantial reform. They have agreed together to ignore, in the coming campaign, every issue but one. They propose to drown the outcries of a plundered people with the uproar of a sham battle over the tariff, so that capitalists, corporations, national banks, rings, trusts, watered stock, the demonetization of silver and the oppressions of the usurers may all be lost sight of. They propose to sacrifice our homes, lives, and children on the altar of mammon; to destroy the multitude in order to secure corruption funds from the millionaires." -- The Omaha Platform, Preamble - People's Populist Party of 1892

Spring - In Sunshine or in Shadow?

It's almost that time again. You know the time - the walls in your house are starting to close in. How many days in the past week has the sun been out? At all? The snow isn't pretty anymore - it's muddy and old, and the cold is past refreshing. At the end of summer it almost seems we yearned for the cold, to inhale the crispness of autumn, to escape the sweltering of summer. Now we're pacing, anticipating the arrival of Spring like an anxious mother with one hand on her round belly, counting the days until - or past - her due date. We are SO ready. We were ready a month ago.

But there are signs a change is coming. Whether consciously or not, we notice the days are getting longer. Wasn't it dark at 4:30 yesterday? It's only twilight, and it's already 5:30! Somehow, somewhere in our beings, we can almost hear the growth happening beneath the snow and soil, and yet the trees stand chattering, not at all looking like they believe for an instant Spring will ever come again.

While we yet inhabit the inner places that Winter facilitates, we are readying to cross the threshold. We are preparing to step outside, to feel the warmth of the sun and smell the daffodils and wonder again (as when we were children) at those pretty yellow weeds that we will later in the summer be yanking up to save our lawns: the dandelion. But before the first tulip pops up through the snow, before the grass dons its green dress, we will be for a time in-between.

The liminality of February comes each year, bringing with it the groundhog, Valentine's Day, myths and stories and rhymes. Here in the US the Groundhog watches for his shadow, while in Ireland and Wales they still watch to see whether the Cailleach will have enough sunshine at Imbolc to gather more firewood for a long, deep Winter, or will instead be thwarted by storms - which in this tradition actually heralds an imminent Spring.

Each year I myself await this birth with as much anticipation and impatience as I did the year before. I'm intolerant of the in-between - like most of my generation I'd much rather either submerge myself in one place or another. It's frustrating to know something wonderful is coming, yet be stuck with the burden of an over-ripe Present. Growth must be harvested, or it will die. And there is a pinnacle, it seems, where something has grown just about as much as it's going to, and we are inspired with a sense of urgency for change.

This is the human condition - we move in cycles of life and death, of birth and rebirth, and with each cycle brings a new in-between. This year, I have committed to making the most of this in-between, rather than missing the scenery because I'm too busy focusing on tomorrow's Spring. This is a time of reflection. What am I going to miss about this season of my life? What unexpected possibilities might this next season bring? What has my time in the darkness of Winter yielded me, and what do I intend to plant this Spring?

Yet for all my plans, I wait in the doorway of Winter and Spring, knowing full well that the miracle of life and the universe is that I don't know! I will make plans, but always knowing that both Sunshine and Shadow will be a part of this next new season. There will be storms breaking on the horizon, and as with any storm, they will bring damage....and also life giving rains.

This moment is beautiful, for all its frustrations and anxieties. When we stand liminal we have an opportunity to look back with an honest eye, and also to look forward with that most treasured of gifts: hope.

Spring is coming. You will miss the overgrown baby in your belly, just as much as you celebrate the joy of sunshine again coming into your life. Take the time to grieve the things that will be passing. All too soon the heat of Summer will be here again, and you will wonder why it was you never appreciated Winter when it was here.

May your Spring bring you new hope, new possibilities, new joys, and just enough storms to nurture your future harvest.