Lake Champlain, Burlington, VT, 7:29pm today

Lake Champlain, Burlington, VT, 3:28pm today

The days of treating the opposition as well-meaning and thoughtful peers are over for Democrats. It’s hard to believe, but if the Washington Post is right that much of the GOP is on-board with the Taylor Swift conspiracy theories, I must conclude that the GOP are just gullible oafs and patsys.

I don’t usually talk about my family here but I need to say how proud I am that my son, Gabriel, has chosen to be a part of this incredible production. If you live near by, please come see the Hanover High School Footlighters’ performance of “I’m Fine,” the North American premiere of a 2022 play by Ukrainian playwright Nina Zakhozhenko. Tickets and details at footlighters.ludus.com.

Gift giving adventure of the day: Amazon just shipped an electronic gadget and a heavy stone mortar and pestle in the same box. Crossing my fingers… 🤞🏻

The New England School of the Arts is having a special fundraiser today. If you are able, please support this amazing project to bring an arts-centric approach to education by donating on their fundraising page.

Balance, order, symmetry, rhythm, creativity, curiosity. These are properties of great art and of great mathematics, science and engineering. Our world needs people with minds who can think about the problems we face in new ways to find solutions that work for everyone.

Wouldn’t it be great if our educational system integrated this way of thinking into every class period? What would happen if every subject were taught in a way that brought forth these human ideals? What would those students look like?

Let’s find out. If this sounds like something you want to be a part of, please support the New England School of the Arts.

There’s an important hearing before congress today. The right to repair and maintain the things we buy like cars, tractors, phones, computers and printers is rapidly being eroded by the corporate entities that produce them. The environment is being sacrificed in the name of profit. If you are not already aware of this issue, this hearing may cast some light on this important subject.

My previous post about racism is less about race than it is about seeing. The world can be experienced in many layers, all of which combine to make up reality. I don’t subscribe to the view that “it’s all in your head.” That gives too much credit to the brain and ignores the reality of the stomach. And the heart. Nor do I subscribe to the view that the only thing that matters is how we relate to one another. That puts too much separation between how we act and what we think. What goes on in our minds matters, and it matters a great deal.

We need to work on healing this fictional rift between our inner and outer worlds. Remember, reality is all of it taken together. There is a yawning gap between what we think we are saying and what people hear. It takes effort, every time, to close that chasm. And there is still another gap between our intentions and our actions. The discord between the inner and outer spheres of our lives is at the heart of much suffering.

Now, how does this apply to race specifically? The people who receive the most privilege from ideas about race would prefer that you not see how the system works to their advantage. They themselves may not wish to see it, so prefer to “ignore race” as a solution. This approach means adopting as reality the dreamland occupied by privileged people. Ignoring race does not alter the historical and present reality that people labeled with certain races have been at a disadvantage for their entire lives. The construct of race may be a fiction, but the daily penalties are real. The dreamland of the privileged conveniently does not see this suffering. In fact, it is largely constructed around shielding privileged eyes from “others” who don’t have the same privileges.

Being woke is not about some sort of political correctness. It is about seeing the reality of the world for what it is: not the land of opportunity and freedom dreamed up in the whitewashed history books from which many of us were taught, but a land of oppression and barriers for some and opportunity and freedom for others. Until more people open their eyes to see the realities of other people’s lives, nothing will improve. Democracy can only bring about change if voters can see each other clearly.