I'm sure a number of you are familiar with much of the literature of the
1970's that dealt with the commodification of human beings: Erich Fromm;
Norman Brown , Marcuse and others are among those who wrote extensively on
the way human beings are damaged by the emphasis on 'having' (as opposed to
'being') and on the terrible price we all pay when we value people in terms
of how they 'perform'-from the price for children in kindergarten and
younger to the price in the bedroom for both women and men who may fall
short of what they believe is satisfactory 'performance'.
It is inspiring to know of efforts to do away with or circumvent the grading
system in schools ( I , too, had some experience with that) but they don't
go very far when we are looking at possible changes to hope for in the
society as a whole.
Do any of you have any ideas about how we might even begin to weaken the
value system that so prizes status and performance and the commodification
of people?
When I hear about the waiting lists for pretigious pre-schools that charge
tens of thousands of dollars a year in tuition, my blood runs cold. The teen
suicide rates, especially among the 'honor students' , the 'high achievers',
etc are dramatic testimony to the way our children suffer from this ugly,
anti-human value system, and these dramatic examples are only among the most
visible signs of the cost of human commodification.
In my long life I have not found any group of people willing to attempt to
discuss the possibility of bringing about changes of this kind. Most of the
time it is because they don't even know what I'm talking about; when I am
with people who do understand and may or may not agree, the task seems so
overwheming and virtually impossible that it becomes painful to even
contemplate what might be done.
Seeing this conversation on this list sparked a small hope in my heart that
we might at least attempt to think about how we might begin to bring about
some changes that would turn us in the direction of at least weakening that
ugly, anti-human value system.
I am grateful to know there are at least a few of you on this list who
recognize the possibility of human beings living in an environment that
values them simply for their existence.
I strongly believe that there is a way to incorporate those values into our
lives and still enjoy the advantages of the advances in human comfort and
pleasure that 'developed' civilizations enjoy.
One of the subjects that was briefly mentioned here within the last couple
of weeks was what I believe is a distinction between status and authority;
that is, when people are valued for their skills, talent, knowledge, etc.
and their authority in those areas is recognized and rewarded but their
status and value as human beings is not enhanced or admired more because of
their superior competence or expertise; the reason for this being that ALL
human beings are equally valued as human beings and entitled to the same
dignity and respect regardless of whether they collect garbage, manage a
large institution, or compose beautiful music. An issue closely related to
this is, of course, the way we value certain jobs above others and why, for
example, running corporations is valued more than raising children.
As you might imagine, there is much, much more I would like to say about
this but I would rather hear from some others who might pinpoint some
specific areas for us to explore.
Selma
----- Original Message -----
From: "Brian McAndrews" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Ray Evans Harrell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Thursday, December 19, 2002 11:18 AM
Subject: Re: About language, war and the Future if there is one.
> At 1:54 AM -0500 12/19/02, Ray Evans Harrell shared Rupert Ross'
> learned wisdom:
> > When I am submerged for some time in a
> >group of Aboriginal people, knowing that I am not expected to judge
> >everything that everybody says or does {much less declare my judgments as
> >quickly as I can come to them!), it's as if a huge weight lifts off my
> >shoulders. It's a weight I didn't know I was carrying until recently, the
> >weight of this obligation to form and express opinions at all times and
> >about almost everything.
>
>
> Hi Ray,
> Every time I read Ross' words I am inspired. Few have learned as much
> as he from Aboriginal peoples. What I copied above, from your post,
> connects in my mind with what I sent yesterday to this list from an
> interview with David Noble. Towards the end of it he said:
>
> At 5:01 PM -0500 12/18/02,David Noble said :
> > In my classes, students have to be lulled away from their anxiety
> >about producing, and lulled into the idea that we're getting
> >together, maybe we're reading something in common and discussing it,
> >but that's it! Socrates didn't give grades, from what we know; he
> >had dialogues with people and that was it! I like the impulse. We
> >are so out of it, given the content of education today, and it's
> >just getting worse and worse. When I announced I was no longer
> >using a syllabus, to avoid the commoditization of my work, there was
> >simply no documentary evidence that my course ever happened and it
> >upsets everything, everybody. A lot of people can't handle this
> >idea of education. They can't function outside of its institution.
> >We're then talking about livelihoods, job security, and people get
> >very nervous because universities won't tolerate much. After I gave
> >270 A's at York University, some of the executive committee wrote a
> >letter to my department chairman and to me demanding an explanation.
> >You know, I just told them to fuck off-politely-and haven't heard
> >from them again, but it's in my file. I don't care about my file,
> >but a lot of people do, especially people who don't have any job
> >security at all. I have tenure at York and until they get rid of
> >that-but, who knows?
>
> Ross describes the burden of judgements and there is nothing more
> burdensome for teachers than marking and report cards. We grade
> roads, eggs and meat; should we be grading students? Marks get in
> the way of so much rich learning. So do gold stars, incentive plans,
> praise and other bribes. When I was teaching Grade four in 1983, I
> wrote anecdotal descriptions of each child's learning in lieu of
> report cards. The local newspaper advertised that a local Video Games
> place was giving free tokens for each 'A' on students' report cards.
> My students complained that they didn't have any, so I got hold of
> some report cards and gave them all A's. They were ecstatic.
> Ross' book fundamentally challenges our concept of justice. I believe
> it could do the same to our concept of education. I dearly hope we
> "Return to (discover) the Teachings".
>
> Take care,
> Brian
>
>
> --
> **************************************************
> * Brian McAndrews, Practicum Coordinator *
> * Faculty of Education, Queen's University *
> * Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6 *
> * FAX:(613) 533-6596 Phone (613) 533-6000x74937*
> * e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *
> * "Education is not the filling of a pail, *
> * but the lighting of a fire. *
> * W.B.Yeats *
> * *
> **************************************************
>
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