The power of narrative

 From the introduction to "Culture & Imperialism" by Edward Said:

"The power to narrate, or to block other narratives from forming and emerging, is very important to culture and imperialism."

Classroom management: the enemy of critical thinking

 I understand that classroom management is tough, but suppressing the native intellect, initiative and originality of students is a deplorable way to do it.

Freedom's erosion begins with "correct speak" - RESIST

 Man must be “master of his own thoughts,” said Spinoza. He must never be “compelled to speak only according to the diktats of the supreme power.” That is the first task of the heretic, then: to resist compulsion. To speak as he sees. To never fear to express the truth. To refuse, at all costs, to say anything as abominable as “her penis.”

Brendan O’Neill is the chief political writer for spiked magazine, based in London. The above was taken from his new book, A Heretic’s Manifesto: Essays On The Unsayable, in which sources for the above quotations and references can be found.

No one can tell you what to think...

 but they can erode your confidence in your ability to trust your own thoughts.

First - teach conclusions, not basis for conclusions.

Second - deny correct answers that do not match the answer guide (even if true and correct).

Third - belittle with facial expression and tone of voice, those whose conclusions differ from the accepted narrative.

Fourth - count as correct, answers that are clearly incorrect.

Fifth - communicate impatience if you are caught thinking before replying (orally or in writing).

Censorship - requiring libraries to "include" limits freedom

All libraries -- public, private and school -- contain curated collections. None can hold EVERYTHING; all must select how they allocate limited physical and financial resources. The goal is to serve the community without prejudice and collection development has to have a basis.

Today, too often, the basis for a place in the collection is it's immediate popularity (not quality) -- to serve the library's desire for circulation numbers which help directly and indirectly in obtaining funding.

When a child, I used the Carnegie Public Library in Pawnee City, Nebr. One person curated that library's large collection -- Miss French. The variety of material was broad but each passed her test of quality.

Illinois just passed a law REQUIRING inclusion of some material. This is censorship of a library's independence. How can you prohibit a negative? Failure to include a resource in the library is distinctly different from "banning" it. The vague law is government overreach and so vague as to be unenforceable -- except when selectively applied.

Illinois has become the first state to penalize public libraries for removing books under a new law signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker on June 12.

The law requires public libraries across Illinois to adhere to Chicago-based American Library Association’s (ALA) Bill of Rights in order to remain eligible for state funding.

While the ALA standards require libraries to provide materials presenting “all points of view on current and historical issues” and not to exclude books because of the author’s background or views, the Illinois law specifically focuses on just one tenet, which says that library books “should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.”

The stated goal of the law, which takes effect in January 2024, is to encourage libraries to either adopt the ALA standard or develop their own polices that “prohibit the practice of banning specific books or resources.”

In Philately - Dealers are the bridge between the halves and the halve-nots

 Watching this hobby from an emotional but physically proximate distance, I am troubled by the current expressions that dealers and collectors are in conflict and an organization representing one cannot merge with one representing the other, as a "conflict of interest" would result.

Philatelic dealers are the link between available items and those that seek them. Much work is involved in pulling together these resources, accurately identifying them, and facilitating collector access to them -- whether through listings online, or schlepping them to a stamp show.

Being married to a man whose deepest love (perhaps besides his family) is the hobby he's pursued since childhood, I've been openly puzzled and skeptical about the validity and value of this hobby. Forty-plus years in, I can bear witness that it does indeed have value -- to the individuals for whom it meets any of various functions in their lives. The fact that the pursuit and joy is not limited to one thing, but is highly individual and various, affirms the value I observe.

A digression for a moment - the area I'm least in awe of is exhibiting. Unfortunately, for some who are overly concerned with medal levels achieved, exhibiting provides external motivation to what is otherwise a pursuit of intrinsic motivation. Numerous studies affirm that the application of external rewards, diminishes intrinsic motivation. Therefore, contrary to popular philatelic views, I see exhibiting as a diminishment of the hobby, rather than its apex.

Back to the perceived conflict of interest - I deny it wholeheartedly. Dealers are facilitators, not the enemy. Again, I've watched close up as my husband's love of the hobby  has traveled the path of sharing -- from writing to publishing to hosting stamp clubs to maintaining vigilance on authenticity ... to now serving his beloved hobby as a dealer.

Yes, there are dealers whose primary personal driver is profit and who will offer appallingly little to a widow for her husband's collections. Shame on them. These are actions we feel are morally reprehensible. Yet, even then, the dealer is providing a service in disposing of something of no value to a non-collector (in this case the widow) and making it available to those who seek those items.

I can't imagine there are many who have the time or connections to scour the country for the little pieces of paper they seek. Dealers are the work horses who do this for them. We should thank them, not deride them. They are not the enemy. They are the facilitators -- most doing it secondary to the same joy they share with the collectors they serve.

Postscript - as I was writing this, an email came in from my sale of a postcard through Ebay:

Dear vintagedoky,

Hi from the UK, I just wanted to say "Thank you!" for the great post card, which arrived a couple of days ago. It was really fantastic and looks like a genuine 1950's card. My son is studying Graphic Design in Falmouth UK, so I posted it to him as well as the envelope it came in (I live in Oxford UK) and he was really pleased. He loved the stamps on the envelope you sent it in - Thomas Jefferson etc. and he also loved the post card itself. I realised that the street scene is of Gallup New Mexico and I was telling him how it was in the song "Route 66", so he is going to look it up. Anyway I just wanted to say thank you, as we both love your postcards and I will be buying more. There's nothing like this in the UK that I've seen, and they are a very reasonable price. Thanks again, Paul Galley, in Oxford.

Perfection as the enemy of progress -- From my 2018 Facebook post

I don't want to live in a world where only perfect people's contributions are accepted. (And where the definition of perfection is fluid and changeable.)

 

I don't want to live in a world where only perfect people's contributions are accepted. (And where the definition of perfection is fluid and changeable.)

 

I don't want to live in a world where only perfect people's contributions are accepted. (And where the definition of perfection is fluid and changeable.) 

Great art can be created by not-great people. Great literature can be created by flawed souls. Great legislation can come from not-great individuals. All forward progress of civilization stops when the process of reaching for new and better is frozen by the fear of error; when moments of clarity are denied based on the struggles that preceded them.

 In this great demand to remove Chuck Close portraits from art museums and rethink displaying Picasso's work, remove Confederate monuments, etc., where does it stop? If we are to be consistent, we must next remove all Catholic churches.