• Home
  • About the Book and Author
  • ENDORSEMENTS AND REVIEWS:
  • MEDIA LINKS
  • Upcoming Appearances
  • Buy the book: DOING THE RIGHT THING: A Teacher Speaks

DCGEducator: Doing The Right Thing

~ A Teacher Speaks

DCGEducator: Doing The Right Thing

Monthly Archives: November 2018

THE NEW CIVIL WAR:

09 Friday Nov 2018

Posted by David Greene in Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

My emotional and rational selves have been at odds for 2 years. I am angry yet try to remain calm. I try as much as possible to avoid the bombardment of hatred and outrage. It’s impossible. I skim read articles instead of attacking them. I try to calm people down.

I have joined BETTER ANGELS (www.better-angels.org), a group devoted to bringing “red and Blues together to hear each other, have civil discourse, and hopefully spread that idea to those on their political sides. I think I have lost a similar number of friends on either end of the political spectrum because neither group can deal with rational thought. They respond 100% emotionally. I may lose more by saying that. This is what President Trump has done to us.

Until recently I felt that, “This too will pass”. However recent events have changed me. Twelve bombs mailed to various blue leaders, celebrities and journalists. A Synagogue shot up in Pittsburg. This is serious shit. It is too similar to what happened in Bloody Kansas in the 1850’s…just before the Civil War exploded. We must figure out how to stop this.

Tuesday was election day. I was optimistic about a blue wave, not a tsunami, as some overzealous fellow blues keep saying would happen. Yes, Democrats took the House. But they lost Senate seats as well.

The House may continue to be more representative of those areas while the Senate will continue to unequally represent rural states with entire populations less than 2 million (Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, Idaho, Utah, North and South Dakota, Vermont, Delaware, Nebraska, West Virginia, Hawaii, New Hampshire, and Maine). Those 28 senator’s votes far outweigh the 8senators from states with at least 10 times that population (Florida, NY, California and Texas).

Geographic divisions are getting more entrenched. In the 21stcentury the division is between mostly blue urban/ suburban areas and mostly red rural.

b96b2-popudensityvs_party2

Seventy percent of Americans live in areas of 500, 000 or more. Thirty-one cities have populations greater than the entire state of Wyoming (@573,000). The top ten most populous cites each have greater populations than 7 entire states. This is a big divide. Few issues unite them, especially today.

What will be the result of the now Democratically controlled House and now even more Republican controlled Senate?  A split Congress will perhaps be more active and effective. Or not, in this highly partisan world. They will have a shot at conversation and compromise, but I doubt it. Urban/Suburban vs rural will be the rule of thumb.

Now add the president to this split. Trump may up as bad as James Buchanan, primarily blamed for the Civil War. His continued stoking of the R/US divide what I prefer to now call Red/Blue has already set off a new civility war.

The celebrity apprentice president will keep doing what he is doing. He will enrage and enflame. He will sign executive orders whether or not they can actually do anything. He will mangle the English language, much to the chagrin of most blues and howls of “Yeah Baby” from many reds. He will continue to be Con-man in Chief. He will continue to divide us. That is the reason he is the least presidential president ever in our history. He will be the worst.

There is nothing wrong with a powerful president, even with their faults. We have many examples of strong presidents; Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Wilson, both Roosevelts, even LBJ, who (even with faults) who made us a better nation. That is very different from this president who sees himself as a president of a family business, to be run as he likes, not the United States, to be run as the Constitution demands.

It is not enough to appeal to one’s base. It is not presidential to purposely use language that separates, that ignites, that leads to violent acts. You must lead “the whole people”.

Even John Adams, President during the extremely contentious late 1790s and during election of 1800, the most controversial of them all said, “The people cannot be too careful in the choice of their presidents.”

Harry Truman, who has risen in the presidential ranks to #6 this past February, has said about presidents, “You can’t divide the country up into sections…and you can’t encourage people’s prejudices. You have to appeal to people’s best instincts, not their worst ones.”

Truman also said, “The country has to awaken every now and then to the fact that the people are responsible for the government they get, and when they elect a man to the presidency who doesn’t take care of the job, they’ve got nobody to blame but themselves.” 

We can only blame ourselves. We were not careful enough in 2018. It will be harder now.

As a former history teacher, I tend to take the long view about our crazy time and look back at what was worse: The Civil War. The Great Depression. World Wars 1 and 2. My long view has said we will bounce back, just as we have done in the past. But even my faith has slipped.

I keep trying to hear Lincoln’s pre-Civil War plea,

“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”

In 1861, that did not happen. It MUST now.

Advertisement

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
  • Tumblr
  • Print

Like this:

Like Loading...

Archives

  • April 2022
  • February 2022
  • September 2021
  • May 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • September 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • August 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • February 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • April 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014

Blogs I Follow

  • HE COULD MAKE WORDS SING
  • stopcommoncorenys
  • Momentary Lapse Of Sanity
  • Education Opportunity Network
  • deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog
  • Seattle Education
  • Crazy Normal - the Classroom Exposé
  • BustED Pencils
  • With A Brooklyn Accent
  • EduShyster
  • Living in Dialogue
  • Washington Post
  • Jersey Jazzman
  • CURMUDGUCATION
  • Diane Ravitch's blog
  • Badass Teachers Association Blog
  • Schools of Thought Hudson Valley, NY
  • Deborah Meier on Education
  • Teacher Under Construction
  • Failing Schools

Profile

David Greene has spent 58 of his 66 years in Public Schools. He taught high school social studies and coached football for 38 years. He was an adjunct and field supervisor for Fordham University mentoring new teachers in the Bronx and formertreasurer of Save Our Schools. He is presently a program consultant for WISE Services. David Greene’s book, DOING THE RIGHT THING: A Teacher Speaks is a result of his experiences and his desire to pay forward what he has learned over the years as he continues to fight for students and quality education in PUBLIC schools. His essays have appeared in Diane Ravitch's website, Education Weekly, US News and World Report, and the Washington Post. He wrote the most responded-to Sunday Dialogue letter in the New York Times entitled, “A Talent For Teaching”. He has appeared on radio, local TV, Lo-Hud newspaper articles, and has given several talks about Common Core, APPR, TFA, teacher preparation, the teaching profession, and other issues regarding education. Most recently he appeared on: The growing movement against Teach For America, December 11, 2014 11:00PM ET, by Lisa Binns & Christof Putzel He is presently a contributor to Ed Circuit: Powering The Global Education Conversation.

Dave Greene

Dave Greene

Upcoming Events

No upcoming events

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

POSTS

November 2018
M T W T F S S
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
2627282930  
« Oct   Dec »

Categories

Blog at WordPress.com.

HE COULD MAKE WORDS SING

An Ordinary Man During Extraordinary Times

stopcommoncorenys

Helping parents and teachers end common core.

Momentary Lapse Of Sanity

Education Opportunity Network

deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

Mostly Education; a Smattering of Politics & Pinch of Personal

Seattle Education

For the news and views you might have missed

Crazy Normal - the Classroom Exposé

An insider's look at education, teaching, parenting and coming of age.

BustED Pencils

With A Brooklyn Accent

A Teacher Speaks

EduShyster

Living in Dialogue

hosted by Anthony Cody

Washington Post

A Teacher Speaks

Jersey Jazzman

A Teacher Speaks

CURMUDGUCATION

A Teacher Speaks

Diane Ravitch's blog

A site to discuss better education for all

Badass Teachers Association Blog

A Teacher Speaks

Schools of Thought Hudson Valley, NY

Where Education, Law, Psychology, Politics, Parenting and Sarcasm collide.

Deborah Meier on Education

Views on Education

Teacher Under Construction

Failing Schools

Are schools failing, or are they being failed?

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • DCGEducator: Doing The Right Thing
    • Join 123 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • DCGEducator: Doing The Right Thing
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: