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Haven’t read everything yet. This is going to be my last post on this.
1. And most importantly, I’m very sorry that I essentially turned this thread into the Politics Forum. That’s bad form on my part. This board is set up to clearly delineate where to talk about what so I apologize to everybody for bringing this here and then just going off in post after post.
2. I apologize to the people that I have offended. I know better. Looking back, I did a horrible job expressing myself. It really does read as if I’m coming at PEOPLE and individuals. That’s not the intent of my comments to come at individuals, who they are, what they do and the life choices they’ve made.
3. What my intent was (and I shit the bed on this) was to criticize things on a macro level. I was calling out a culture that I refer to as a mythology. Right or wrong, I am critical of certain aspects of our culture that give deference just because something comes from law enforcement. Back in the day the assumption was if it’s from a cop it’s gold and it’s pure. Society is changing and starting to realize that’s flawed. I’m on the side that calls that stuff out. On the military, I believe that throughout human history here’s what happens with war. The 1% engage in conflict to gain power and riches. Instead of them physically getting on the battlefield and doing their own dirty work, for thousands of years, they’ve sent the poor to their bidding under the umbrella of things like nationalism and religion to convince the poor to go kill and potentially die for their economic gain they have no intention of actually sharing with the grunts they go and send to their bidding. I think our culture fuels this situation with rah rah mythology that allows this mind fuck to continue.
4. My thoughts on both of these things were developed fully through my experience teaching in inner city Philadelphia for 11 of my 23 years in teaching. I came to understand why kids didn’t have the same deference for law enforcement that I did. I heard about their life experiences and the way they and their families were treated and it opened my eyes. In teaching, you encounter kids who make an impact on YOU and who you are. One such student of mine was John Kihm. John was an awesome kid with such energy and promise. He would often write of his desires to be a solider and to serve his country. He was fueled by what I now call this soldier mythology we have created in our country. John was in country in Afghanistan for just a sure time before he was KIA. He left behind many that loved him. And I ask for what? The Taliban today is in power despite us spending 20 years worth of financial and human treasure there. I’m sorry but that bothers me. Here’s a little bit about John
One year later, military family still mourns fallen son - Pavement Pieces
A year after Johnny Kihm died in Afghanistan, his family is still coming to terms with his passing.pavementpieces.com
My teaching experience has given me context because I’ve taught in the inner city and I’ve taught on the Main Line (affluent Philadelphia suburb) and I’ve seen two different approaches to recruiting my kids from the military. At the inner city school, I would see recruiters once a week. They were there so often that I knew them like I knew my colleagues. I knew their wives names. I knew what grades their kids were in. They were a staple in our school full of low income families. This was the pathway to college for many of them. Fast forward to my experience in the affluent school. I have yet to see a military recruiter for enlistment at our lunch periods in my 12 years there. Not a single one. Once a year however we are visited by a representative from the Academies to present about going to West Point or Annapolis or Colorado Springs. You may draw another conclusion but for me this is evidence that has me conclude that they prey upon the poor for the meat grinder. This is why I’m critical of this culture that we cultivate. We tend to romanticize these two experiences I’m calling out and we don’t advertise the “real”. I think people can easily be manipulated and that’s why I don’t like them.
Before anybody goes there…my thoughts are for here, message boards like this one. It would be immoral and an abuse of my position as teacher for me to bring these attitudes with me to the classroom. I let my kids discuss these topics. I don’t share my opinions. In my eyes, that’s blatant malpractice. My job isn’t to tell kids what to think. My job is to get them to think critically.
Again, I’m very sorry that I have offended or even just may have offended the people who post here. I know better and this should have been left for the politics forum. You guys can have the last word (as much as it pains me to give anyone the last word). I have done too much already to muck up this thread.
This post of yours is exactly why the off topic thread exists and why I allow political discussion in it, even though I'm technically not supposed to. Most of us here aren't fans of the PF and would rather not spend much time in it. But that doesn't mean we don't have opinions on politics and current events that we'd like to express.
It's mostly a group of regulars in the NBA forum and most of us have been posting together for a long time over multiple sites. This, imo, gives us a fairly unique ability to discuss controversial topics, even heatedly, and still all get along.
In short, it's all good. Just try not to take it too far...I hate having to ban @dtgold88
