Aretha Probably Said It Best

When Aretha Franklin wailed her soulful plea in "Respect", she was addressing one man. I, however, have my own version of this song, in which, I want to pose a question to all Americans: "R - E - S - P - E - C - T, where'd it go in this country?"

America is suffering from a fundamental lack of respect, in all forms. What do I mean by a "fundamental lack of respect"? Let me begin by offering my basic definition of respect. To me, respect is recognition and acceptance of the inherent worth of an object, being, or idea. I do believe that there are many levels of respect and that the relative amount of respect that any one consciousness grants to a thing depends on their unique relationship, but everything in our universe is deserving of a modicum of consideration. Apparently, much of America does not subscribe to this belief. In fact, it seems that our respect and appreciation for a great many things is continually waning. I am deeply concerned that the declining general spirit of this country will encourage further listlessness among its people, which could, in turn, seriously undermine the efforts of those who zealously labor to achieve peace and greater equality in all areas of life.

Perhaps the root problem is that the notion of respect seems antiquated in a time of unabashed selfishness and rampant greed. In other words, the idea of respect is, itself, no longer respected. As I flip through television channels, I find myself overwhelmed by the endless stream of mind-numbing idiocy being projected on my retinas. It seems as though life, a la reality TV, has become a contest to see who can show the most flagrant disregard for things and other human beings while collecting the fattest paycheck. And anything is a potential target for this game: ideas and beliefs (new and old), physical appearances, lifestyles, and everything in between. I constantly hear and see Americans mocking other societies that demonstrate high levels of respect, particularly those where spiritual and/or intellectual enlightenment is more valued than material wealth. Many of these same Americans also claim to promote and support the individual's right to think, speak, and live as he or she believes. So, not only do many Americans exhibit a total lack of respect for the world, they are also incredible hypocrites.

Am I just worried about the United States of America? No, of course not, but I am an American living in the United States of America, so it is the American social landscape that dominates my field of view. The more I observe and reflect on my recent experiences as a young American, and then compare them to the sentiments that have been related to me by senior citizens and the writings of Americans from the distant past, the more I get the sense that we are becoming a kind of social, spiritual, and economic jack-o-lantern. We have carved up our guts, containing the eternal springs of life, and offered them on the open market in exchange for a menacing but temporary facade and a cheap, finite fuel source that can only lead to burnout. And I fear that if America continues on its current course, it will, like so many hollowed and rotting post-Halloween squash, eventually get dumped into the compost bin to be recycled.

As a group, Americans work very hard to maintain the image that we are fierce and mighty, even unconquerable, and yet, we seem to lack a definitive cultural core on which we can rely to give us direction and an identity. I feel that, as a country, we have lulled ourselves into a false sense of security, a state of complete denial, and we continue to have increasingly smug attitudes and use self-centered diplomatic approaches when dealing with other nations. If we don't soon wake from this stupor, I sincerely believe that we are in jeopardy of being swept away in a moral mudslide of our own making, and with it could go our dreams of a peaceful, vibrant future for our progeny.

When respect seems like a forgotten value in a society, that society is in grave trouble. I don't know when the tide will begin to turn in favor of a more respectful way of living in the United States of America, but I do believe that this change is inevitable. In the meantime, as a teacher and father, I will continue to try to instill the idea in all young people that "just a little bit" of respect can go a long way.

Original Publication Date: 10-02-2003 6:00 PM PST

The JSBlog Pipeline Flows Again!

I cannot promise daily or even regular postings this summer, but I do fully intend to end the current publishing drought.

During the next couple of months I will post a series of articles and short essays that I penned over that last decade (between 2001 and 2011). I want these words to be read by others, and since I do not believe there is any chance of these entries being published by another person or group in the future, I am going to share them on my blog now.

MBOFVG 2010 (Garden #5)

My fifth personal garden is now up and growing. And it won't be the last one I create either.

Mostly herbs at this point. Needs mulching.

When Pools Attack

Random Injury Report

Today I jammed my left pinkie so bad I wanted to scream. It was one of those how-stupid-was-that kind of injuries, too. I did it on the bottom of an inflatable kiddie pool of all places. Now it's black and blue and hurts like a @#$%*! This one's going to smart for a long time.

Black Box World

I need to know how things work. To the greatest extent possible, I MUST know how things work--it's just my nature. I suppose this is the reason I have become a jack-of-many-trades (master of none). As I stated on my "Interests" page, "Trying to understand and appreciate how the many, seemingly incongruous elements of life interact to form the spectrum . . . that we know as our physical reality is, I believe, one of the grandest pursuits in life."

Soul in Austin, Body in Cali

Shall we blog? Let's!

This is the kind of stuff that makes me miss Austin the most:

http://www.urbanpatchwork.org/blog/

I can live without the hot sticky air, the ravenous swarms of mosquitoes, the chihuahua-sized cockroaches, and the near lethal winter allergies, but boy do I miss the powerful sense of community and neighborly love!

Round Students, Square Schools

While reading Herbert Kohl's "I Won't Learn from You": And Other Thoughts on Creative Maladjustment, I was particularly struck by one paragraph in his vignette describing the "not-learning" efforts of a particular student he calls Rick:

It's interesting how stuck parents and school authorities are on a single way to learn. Any youngster who refuses to perform as demanded is treated as a major threat to the entire system. Experts are consulted, complex personal or family causes are fabricated, special programs are invented, all to protect the system from changing itself and accommodating difference. People like Rick then get channeled into marginal school experiences and, too often, marginalized lives.

As an adult education instructor, I frequently worked with students who had finally thrown themselves out of the system Kohl describes, only to find an outside world that was just as unaccommodating and rigid. And as a high school teacher, I see students who are clearly not being helped by these label-happy bureaucracies.

The idea of public education is certainly a noble one, but I don't think many astute and concerned educators would disagree with me if I were to say that the typical American public school approach to educating students is nothing short of stultifying, offering limited opportunities for profound social and intellectual development.

Earlier in the chapter, Kohl raises another important point when he essentially says that it is important to allow learners of all ages to make decisions about what is or is not appropriate learning for themselves. That doesn't mean we should never try to teach something to someone who is reluctant to learn it; it does mean that we may need to take some time to show that student how the learning can benefit them or connects to something they do care about, though.