Memo to Obama: Moving to the Middle Is for Losers
This is a very important article, namely because it shows that criticism of Obama's redefined position and principles (from his original declaration during the primary campaign) extends far beyond what the media considers "fringe, 3rd party candidates" like Ralph Nader. The author, Ariana Huffington, is runs one of the leading progressive media resources on the web (the Huffington Post), and her opinion carries a certain amount of weight within progressive circles. More importantly is shows that the progressive community is not necessarily 100% behind Obama and his continued move towards the center is not welcomed among all supporters. Consider is a torpedo fired across the bow of the Obama campaign: a warning that "staying the course" will lead to an inevitable confrontation.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Interesting Day - Part 2
The second experience which brought on this reflective mood in me was centered around Teacher Auditions which I conducted for Margaret at the Princeton Review (where I work as a teacher/tutor). The purpose of the Audition is similar to that of an interview, only for TPR it's usually the first step of the process (the second and third being scoring well on a practice test and then surviving training). My job in these auditions is really easy. I basically sit there and watch as potential teachers get up and teach something (ANYTHING). I evaluate the candidates on how articulate, engaging and comfortable they are up at the board and basically decide whether or not I feel they'll survive our training process (which isn't very easy).
Today, two older gentlemen were among the candidate I was evaluating. As we got into their auditions I noticed that neither of them really incorporated the criteria Margaret had covered (as characteristics of TPR teachers at the beginning of the interview) into their teaching styles. In fact, aside from perhaps a couple really open-ended questions they asked, their auditions were not engaging or using a Socratic Approach (asking questions which lead the audience in a specific direction). They were not engaging at all, and a couple time they mumbled making it difficult for me to really understand what they were saying. I rejected them from the training because of their performance. Something which still is on my mind (perhaps as guilt) is that I did pass another candidate in the audition who wasn't entirely too different. His energy was rather low, he didn't use the Socratic method so much as lectured and wasn't very engaging. Nonetheless, I passed him. When I consider why I did him, but not the two older gentlemen I have only one answer in mind: because he was younger.
It's that simple. I felt that because of the younger candidate's age he was a better candidate for training. I felt he could learn, incorporate and excel at the methods TPR teachers used to teach their students in an active, engaging way. I won't go so far as to say that my mind is free of prejudice. Nonetheless, I did try (as much as I could) to justify sending the older gentlemen to training, but I couldn't. I looked in their resumes, but couldn't find comparable work or teaching experience. In terms of their overall presentation, they just weren't a good fit for the company. I had a job to do, and that's exactly what I did.
But there's more to it than that. The excuse for aiding in genocide made famous at Nuremburg is hardly enough to take one off the hook. Sure the situation is different, but a certain principle remains true. It is simply not enough for us as individuals, as supposedly responsible members of society (which this world needs many many more of) to goose step on in front of the Swastikas, raising our arms in salute and continuing to claim that we were only doing our jobs; that we cannot possibly afford to care, because caring in this exploitative, uber-competitive world requires simply too expensive.
In that instance I saw why Social Security (yes, a monthly living stipend provided by the government) is such a necessity. It is necessary for the elders in our society to have some form of support-system, some variety of safety net, when they arrive at the age when they may no longer be able to provide for themselves as they once were able to (provide for themselves and others). Through no fault of their own, but because of their old age and perhaps buying into the long-forgotten promises of our government support all citizens no matter their color, creed, gender or age, these men simply had,to use the horribly dehumanizing language of modern business, fewer marketable skills. Their auditions didn't showcase good presentation skills. Their resumes weren't particularly effective. They didn't have any skills I, representing an employer, could really use.
In youth pursuing our dreams is easy because the world is fulfilled with infinite potential and opportunities. As we grow older though and our minds potentially close and our positions grow harder and harder; our roots growing deeper and deeper into the familiar grounds, the ground we have always known and are afraid to be uprooted and leave; we cannot so easily adapt to the exponentially competitive knowledge economy. Mark my words, for one day it will happen to us who are young and think we can conquer the world. It will happen to us too, unless we create our own way in the world. Perhaps that is why we race to accumulate wealth for it gives us a means to an end that is increasingly difficult to achieve in this world without some form of wealth or power: freedom.
Pursuit of monetary wealth can never be an end in and of itself, though. It is a slow poison that spreads throughout your body; wrapping its deadly tentacles around your soul and transfixing your gaze onto the glitter of material wealth; slowly killing us from the insider out. That poison now grips this society as we teeter on the edge of a sharp precipice. We are no longer a city on a hilltop. Our foundations eroded from under us just as we have eroded them. We have killed all that we were and we will continue to kill all that we could potentially be because we simply cannot stop. Like the heroin addict whose cravings he cannot escape, we too love our lifestyles. After all, how can we let go when they just make us feel so good?
If you cannot see the signs of decay within our society, simply look at the decay that surrounds us. Look a the decay of our environment upon which all life itself depends. The earth is feverish; in the throes of a most virulent illness. This is not progress!
This is madness.
Today, two older gentlemen were among the candidate I was evaluating. As we got into their auditions I noticed that neither of them really incorporated the criteria Margaret had covered (as characteristics of TPR teachers at the beginning of the interview) into their teaching styles. In fact, aside from perhaps a couple really open-ended questions they asked, their auditions were not engaging or using a Socratic Approach (asking questions which lead the audience in a specific direction). They were not engaging at all, and a couple time they mumbled making it difficult for me to really understand what they were saying. I rejected them from the training because of their performance. Something which still is on my mind (perhaps as guilt) is that I did pass another candidate in the audition who wasn't entirely too different. His energy was rather low, he didn't use the Socratic method so much as lectured and wasn't very engaging. Nonetheless, I passed him. When I consider why I did him, but not the two older gentlemen I have only one answer in mind: because he was younger.
It's that simple. I felt that because of the younger candidate's age he was a better candidate for training. I felt he could learn, incorporate and excel at the methods TPR teachers used to teach their students in an active, engaging way. I won't go so far as to say that my mind is free of prejudice. Nonetheless, I did try (as much as I could) to justify sending the older gentlemen to training, but I couldn't. I looked in their resumes, but couldn't find comparable work or teaching experience. In terms of their overall presentation, they just weren't a good fit for the company. I had a job to do, and that's exactly what I did.
But there's more to it than that. The excuse for aiding in genocide made famous at Nuremburg is hardly enough to take one off the hook. Sure the situation is different, but a certain principle remains true. It is simply not enough for us as individuals, as supposedly responsible members of society (which this world needs many many more of) to goose step on in front of the Swastikas, raising our arms in salute and continuing to claim that we were only doing our jobs; that we cannot possibly afford to care, because caring in this exploitative, uber-competitive world requires simply too expensive.
In that instance I saw why Social Security (yes, a monthly living stipend provided by the government) is such a necessity. It is necessary for the elders in our society to have some form of support-system, some variety of safety net, when they arrive at the age when they may no longer be able to provide for themselves as they once were able to (provide for themselves and others). Through no fault of their own, but because of their old age and perhaps buying into the long-forgotten promises of our government support all citizens no matter their color, creed, gender or age, these men simply had,to use the horribly dehumanizing language of modern business, fewer marketable skills. Their auditions didn't showcase good presentation skills. Their resumes weren't particularly effective. They didn't have any skills I, representing an employer, could really use.
In youth pursuing our dreams is easy because the world is fulfilled with infinite potential and opportunities. As we grow older though and our minds potentially close and our positions grow harder and harder; our roots growing deeper and deeper into the familiar grounds, the ground we have always known and are afraid to be uprooted and leave; we cannot so easily adapt to the exponentially competitive knowledge economy. Mark my words, for one day it will happen to us who are young and think we can conquer the world. It will happen to us too, unless we create our own way in the world. Perhaps that is why we race to accumulate wealth for it gives us a means to an end that is increasingly difficult to achieve in this world without some form of wealth or power: freedom.
Pursuit of monetary wealth can never be an end in and of itself, though. It is a slow poison that spreads throughout your body; wrapping its deadly tentacles around your soul and transfixing your gaze onto the glitter of material wealth; slowly killing us from the insider out. That poison now grips this society as we teeter on the edge of a sharp precipice. We are no longer a city on a hilltop. Our foundations eroded from under us just as we have eroded them. We have killed all that we were and we will continue to kill all that we could potentially be because we simply cannot stop. Like the heroin addict whose cravings he cannot escape, we too love our lifestyles. After all, how can we let go when they just make us feel so good?
If you cannot see the signs of decay within our society, simply look at the decay that surrounds us. Look a the decay of our environment upon which all life itself depends. The earth is feverish; in the throes of a most virulent illness. This is not progress!
This is madness.
Interesting Day - Part 1
FYI - This is a very somber, reflective post. I initially wanted to make it Private, but couldn't figure out how. Now I figure, I've got nothing to hide; so read up gossip-mongers. This is my life.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So today was a VERY interesting day. As it seems with almost all my days almost too much happens for me to believe that what I remember all happened within the confines of a consecutive sunrise and sunset. Nonetheless, the events that transpired today merit transcription and reflection.
Today started early, or earlier than usual. I arose (permanently) around 8:17am to the sound of my father calling me. We talked about something or the other (not terribly important...my availability to travel to New York/Niagara Falls area around August-time). Afterwards I had to wake up and get ready anyway, because my mom and brother were en-route to pick me up and go meet with the Dean and Associate Dean of the Honors College. The purpose of my mother's visit was to "know that he is progressing". Mostly, she wanted to hear (from someone other than myself) that I was "on the right track". What exactly "progress" and "the right track" means I cannot quite say. The source of power that propels and determines the direction of my life is only a deep seated desire to do the most good and the least harm to others (person, plant, animal, world) and to improve some small part of the community before I leave the circles of this world.
Either way, after meeting with Dr. Y, the Associate Dean, my mother certainly felt much more reassured of the current (and potential future) state of my affairs. Dr. Y did a fantastic job speaking to my mom. It's always strange to hear speaking about you, especially when you're sitting right next to them in the same room. I hardly ever feel as if I am somehow an incredibly accomplished person. In fact, I've never felt a need or a desire to identify myself to others as being a particularly accomplished person. Hell, I hate even mentioning titles I may have to others unless the situation particularly requires it. Sure I am smart and I get good grades, but that's only because the first 17 years of my life, that was practically all I knew (or all my parents taught me to value besides my family and my Indian heritage). I know too, that I am active at USF in leadership roles, but I also recognize that I am only in these roles because others usually place me in a position where they perceive me as a leader or (as when I was younger and more inexperienced with such roles) because others empowered me and trusted me enough (thank you, Joe) to place rather large responsibility in the hands of a very inexperienced, wide-eyed freshman at USF. I suppose I'm of the school of thought (who else is in this school? I must find an alumni website or something from it) that believes leadership is more a burden than a privilege. Perhaps that somehow relates to the way I formulate or believe in power which in turn is connected to my conception of my role and dharma within the great cosmos.
I am not in the mood right now to re-count a CV of leadership roles while here at USF, but in terms of self esteem (and I'll be the first to admit mine gets rather low from time to time) it was really encouraging and reinforcing to hear Dr. Y speak so highly of me. My mother spoke to Dr. Silverman afterwards and during that time I was not in the room (I figured I'd be more comfortable not knowing what Dr. Silverman spoke) but apparently he did not disappoint. I will certainly thank them both for their time, though the best way I can thank them is by showing to both them and my parents what I am truly capable of accomplishing when I dedicate myself to a achieving a certain end. By this I mean applying for (as in filling out and not simply downloading applications) and receiving prestigious national fellowships (got the Fulbright, Marshal and Rhodes on my mind; yea I'm looking at you Oxford!) as well as admissions (with aid) to the History of Consciousness graduate program at UC Santa Cruz. Achievement of such goals is not my end game. But somewhere deep within, I have a need to prove to both my parents and myself exactly what I am capable of. My concern in all of this, my priority in fact, is to, as Gandhi said, remember the poorest, most desperate man (or woman) I can and think every step along the way if what I am doing helps him or her. I suspect that the accomplishment of these goals (with the possible exception of graduate school at HisCon) does not, but is only some form of prestige that I am able to accrue to my name. Does it make a difference if the collection of such prestige places me in a more competitive position for jobs where I can affect change on a national level? Perhaps, but such change is slow and difficult to enact, especially because in such cases one puts oneself in an environment divorced from the real circumstances and suffering in which many many people live their lives. If I pursue study in Ivory towers of Cambridge or Oxford can I still be connected to those alongside whom I need to struggle?
I think I can. If we can truly be who we want to be in this life, then I do not believe one needs to join the rat race or forget the causes and the people who one truly wants to help. In fact, I make the pledge, right here, right now, that no matter through which valleys, over which hills, and across which oceans my path in life takes me I will never lose my talisman. I will never allow myself to forget the suffering of my brothers and sisters in this life. I will labor for their spiritual uplift until the final breath leaves my body.
Getting to the point where I am helping them with the full dedication of all my vital energies may take until after graduation.
On that note, I am increasingly looking for opportunities after graduation to spend time travelling in Asia and Latin America and to work with social and economic justice movements during that time. Perhaps that will last for about a year or so.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So today was a VERY interesting day. As it seems with almost all my days almost too much happens for me to believe that what I remember all happened within the confines of a consecutive sunrise and sunset. Nonetheless, the events that transpired today merit transcription and reflection.
Today started early, or earlier than usual. I arose (permanently) around 8:17am to the sound of my father calling me. We talked about something or the other (not terribly important...my availability to travel to New York/Niagara Falls area around August-time). Afterwards I had to wake up and get ready anyway, because my mom and brother were en-route to pick me up and go meet with the Dean and Associate Dean of the Honors College. The purpose of my mother's visit was to "know that he is progressing". Mostly, she wanted to hear (from someone other than myself) that I was "on the right track". What exactly "progress" and "the right track" means I cannot quite say. The source of power that propels and determines the direction of my life is only a deep seated desire to do the most good and the least harm to others (person, plant, animal, world) and to improve some small part of the community before I leave the circles of this world.
Either way, after meeting with Dr. Y, the Associate Dean, my mother certainly felt much more reassured of the current (and potential future) state of my affairs. Dr. Y did a fantastic job speaking to my mom. It's always strange to hear speaking about you, especially when you're sitting right next to them in the same room. I hardly ever feel as if I am somehow an incredibly accomplished person. In fact, I've never felt a need or a desire to identify myself to others as being a particularly accomplished person. Hell, I hate even mentioning titles I may have to others unless the situation particularly requires it. Sure I am smart and I get good grades, but that's only because the first 17 years of my life, that was practically all I knew (or all my parents taught me to value besides my family and my Indian heritage). I know too, that I am active at USF in leadership roles, but I also recognize that I am only in these roles because others usually place me in a position where they perceive me as a leader or (as when I was younger and more inexperienced with such roles) because others empowered me and trusted me enough (thank you, Joe) to place rather large responsibility in the hands of a very inexperienced, wide-eyed freshman at USF. I suppose I'm of the school of thought (who else is in this school? I must find an alumni website or something from it) that believes leadership is more a burden than a privilege. Perhaps that somehow relates to the way I formulate or believe in power which in turn is connected to my conception of my role and dharma within the great cosmos.
I am not in the mood right now to re-count a CV of leadership roles while here at USF, but in terms of self esteem (and I'll be the first to admit mine gets rather low from time to time) it was really encouraging and reinforcing to hear Dr. Y speak so highly of me. My mother spoke to Dr. Silverman afterwards and during that time I was not in the room (I figured I'd be more comfortable not knowing what Dr. Silverman spoke) but apparently he did not disappoint. I will certainly thank them both for their time, though the best way I can thank them is by showing to both them and my parents what I am truly capable of accomplishing when I dedicate myself to a achieving a certain end. By this I mean applying for (as in filling out and not simply downloading applications) and receiving prestigious national fellowships (got the Fulbright, Marshal and Rhodes on my mind; yea I'm looking at you Oxford!) as well as admissions (with aid) to the History of Consciousness graduate program at UC Santa Cruz. Achievement of such goals is not my end game. But somewhere deep within, I have a need to prove to both my parents and myself exactly what I am capable of. My concern in all of this, my priority in fact, is to, as Gandhi said, remember the poorest, most desperate man (or woman) I can and think every step along the way if what I am doing helps him or her. I suspect that the accomplishment of these goals (with the possible exception of graduate school at HisCon) does not, but is only some form of prestige that I am able to accrue to my name. Does it make a difference if the collection of such prestige places me in a more competitive position for jobs where I can affect change on a national level? Perhaps, but such change is slow and difficult to enact, especially because in such cases one puts oneself in an environment divorced from the real circumstances and suffering in which many many people live their lives. If I pursue study in Ivory towers of Cambridge or Oxford can I still be connected to those alongside whom I need to struggle?
I think I can. If we can truly be who we want to be in this life, then I do not believe one needs to join the rat race or forget the causes and the people who one truly wants to help. In fact, I make the pledge, right here, right now, that no matter through which valleys, over which hills, and across which oceans my path in life takes me I will never lose my talisman. I will never allow myself to forget the suffering of my brothers and sisters in this life. I will labor for their spiritual uplift until the final breath leaves my body.
Getting to the point where I am helping them with the full dedication of all my vital energies may take until after graduation.
On that note, I am increasingly looking for opportunities after graduation to spend time travelling in Asia and Latin America and to work with social and economic justice movements during that time. Perhaps that will last for about a year or so.
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