Nick, There are several public schools in Santa Fe where more than 100 children go "home" each night to the back of a truck or car, or to a tent in the S.F. National Forest. Their families are homeless. We are looking into how to open the schools at night for meals and a safe place to sleep. I'll be stunned if it can happen, but what the hell.
Have you seen the latest research on how increasingly impossible it is to move from one class to another in America? You were so right in your post above. Born into working class, marry within working class, raise working class children, they marry working class spouses, etc. Occasional breakthrough, but those cases are for statistical purposes anecdotal. A suite of complex variables, but certainly no adaptation here. Interesting birds at my feeder. Want to go for a walk? On Fri, Apr 11, 2014 at 9:56 AM, Nick Thompson <nickthomp...@earthlink.net>wrote: > Merle, > > > > I am sure we CAN’T figure it out without your help as a “emergentist”. > The damage done by discrimination is a great example of non-zero-sum > losses. The problem is similar to the problem of inequality of opportunity > generally. The attractor is for the children of better-off people to be > better-off and for better-off children to become better-off adults and have > better-off children. As an example I give you the Wood-Gormely > [elementary] school here in Santa Fe, which has a richer educational > program because the parents throw resources and time at it. And, I assume, > simply because it has an aura of a place where Parents give a damn. Thus, > despite being a Public School, it becomes by virtue of these investments of > time and resources and energy, a “better” public school. To deprive all > parents of the possibility of investing in the school their kid goes to is > to deprive all schools of something essential; but the possibility of such > investment leads inevitably to the genealogical flow of social benefits. > Which is why we have to revive the notion of social Democracy in this poor > sad country of ours. > > > > FRIAMMERS could be crucial to such a discussion, if only by virtue of > having the conceptual tool of the “attractor” at our disposal. In > complexity terms, what is it that social democracies do? Is it basin > filling? > > > > Take care, > > > > Nick > > > > Nicholas S. Thompson > > Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology > > Clark University > > http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/ > > > > *From:* Friam [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] *On Behalf Of *Merle > Lefkoff > *Sent:* Thursday, April 10, 2014 10:48 PM > *To:* The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group > *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] Openness amplifies Inequality? > > > > In Iceland woman make more than men (working part-time); the gap is only > 2.5% in Slovenia. Women are not equally represented in some of the highest > paying professions, which accounts for much of the difference > > > > Women lost their equal work status 10,000 years ago when the plow was > invented. This is a complicated issue. It will take time. > > > > I'm sure you guys can figure it out. > > > > On Thu, Apr 10, 2014 at 5:09 PM, Gary Schiltz <g...@naturesvisualarts.com> > wrote: > > On Apr 10, 2014, at 5:51 PM, Marcus G. Daniels <mar...@snoutfarm.com> > wrote: > > On Thu, 2014-04-10 at 16:22 -0600, Nick Thompson wrote: > > > > IMO, lurking in their minds is: What is this employee's absolute > > priority? Is it the bottom line of the company or is it taking their > > kids to school and helping with their homework and building treehouses? > > What will be the employee's top priority on a day to day basis? If I > > am cost constrained, who should I choose? Who is loyal to me? Who is > > predictable and reliable? > > A very North American (and simply human, I suspect) perspective. I don’t > have personal experience, but I believe the more “advanced” democracies of > the world have recognized this tendency and legislated to regulate it. I do > remember on one job where we worked in conjunction with folks in Germany, > and I learned that employers were much more constrained in how many hours > they were allowed to require. I’m uncertain as to what is the “best” > balance between employers’ and workers’ rights. > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > > > > > > -- > Merle Lefkoff, Ph.D. > President, Center for Emergent Diplomacy > Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA > me...@emergentdiplomacy.org > mobile: (303) 859-5609 > skype: merlelefkoff > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > -- Merle Lefkoff, Ph.D. President, Center for Emergent Diplomacy Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA me...@emergentdiplomacy.org mobile: (303) 859-5609 skype: merlelefkoff
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