As someone who grew up proud of the ideals that a modern, democratic Israel stood for__an ingathering of nations__it is a sad to read how far it's moved from its foundation of democracy, plurality and freedom of speech. With the recent passing of the anti-boycott law by the Knesset, Israel has moved away from reconciliation and a two-state solution with the Palestinian people toward a de facto annexation of Judaea and Samaria but without equality for all. The law basically forbids distinguishing doing business within Israel proper and doing business with those profiting from within the Occupied Territories taken in 1967. Regardless of how people feel about the status of Jerusalem, there is a distinction to be made between the lands partitioned in 1948 and the lands occupied since the Six Day War. As Bradley Burston recently wrote in "A Special Place in Hell," Israel is moving away from democratic ideals. But why should it matter to Americans?
As a student on a one year program to Israel in 1984, I remember the topic coming up: should the United States give military aid to Israel? "Of course; Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East; it's an ally." What if Israel stopped being a democracy? "No way," I said. Preserving democracy, human rights, equality and justice were paramount in my opinion. Just the discussion of hypothetically cutting off aid to Israel caused a classmate to say, "Israel could go it alone if it had to. In fact that might be a good thing."
At the time the first Lebanon-Israeli war was coming to a close; the Labor party diplomat Shimon Peres was prime minister. No one seriously considered Israel turning toward monarchy or a dictatorship. That was absurd. At the time those living in settlements in the "Occupied Territories" were primarily transplanted, newly-religious Americans or devout followers of an extreme rabbi who shot at stone-throwers.
Those of us studying at the Hebrew University on Mount Scopus were technically within the "West Bank" since it lay in Eastern Jerusalem. However, the Hadassah hospital and the university had withstood the blockade those many years to remain an island of sorts...one that continued to breach the divide. Palestinian or Arab-Israeli doctors worked side-by-side with Jewish Israelis. Students of all faiths attended the university. The mayor at the time, Teddy Kollek, was a pragmatic idealist who brought people together. That's not to say all was perfect. But the potential for connecting to something wonderful was almost palpable. Clouds seemed a little closer to the earth in this landscape. The sun's rays cast an aura over hillsides where stone facades glistened in late afternoon. And then a sonic boom from an invisible jet brought one back to reality.
Wanting to visit the historical burial place of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, my roommate and I chose to ride the Arab bus to Hebron one Saturday morning. Wending its way south through the hills, the bus traversed Bethlehem and skirted a large refugee camp on our way to the tombs of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs. As American students we had no problems on the way there. Arriving at the city center, we walked the streets toward the Cave of the Machpelah; an Israeli soldier protecting a tiny Jewish barb-wired enclave chided us for our seeming recklessness. We made sure to speak to him in English, in this largely Arabic-speaking town, and walked on toward the historic site.
Hebron held its history close. Holy to three paternal monotheistic religions slaughters have occurred as recently as the 1994 attack on worshippers by a deranged Jewish gunman, but at this time the most memorable "recent" event was the 1929 massacre of 67 of Jewish residents by Arab attackers. What sometimes gets overlooked is the fact that 19 Arab families hid 435 Jews in their homes and saved them at great risk to themselves. Doing good in the midst of evil deserves remembrance.
My friend and I toured the tombs, had lunch at an outdoor cafe and visited a tourist shop where one could buy painted ceramic drums with sheepskin heads and other various trinkets. After purchasing a souvenir I explored another room where a tall, blonde tourist was speaking with the proprietor who was declaiming about "the Jews." The European nodded and the men paid no mind to this American eavesdropping on their conversation. The shop owner complaining about the occupation but didn't say "the Israelis." His gripe was with Jews in general. There was no pretense in working out a peaceable solution. This man was looking for allies, and I noted with irony the German-accented tourist commiserating with him.
I didn't confront the men; my friend and I left to return to the bus station. I contemplated the drum I now carried and how it would always remind me of this moment and a few minutes later.
As my roommate and I boarded the bus back to Jerusalem, a young man took notice of us and started heckling my friend. He sat across from us and asked if she was a Jew. Because she looked "Jewish" to this Palestinian and I apparently didn't, she was verbally berated on the twenty minute ride from Hebron to the Dehaishe refugee camp outside of Bethlehem. My friend__who had chosen to learn Arabic, to meet Palestinians as equals and wished to make a peaceful life in the land where her mother was born__stoically withstood the contempt after our attempts at talking with him failed. Thankfully, other riders did not join in; he vented and left the bus as it stopped at the Deheishe camp. The refugee camp was created after the Israeli War of Independence after the Jordanians conquerors of the West Bank didn't accept the Palestinians onto their lands and so made them stay in the slum. Generations later they remained trapped in an open-air tenement of despair, eloquently described in David Grossman's, The Yellow Wind.
We were grateful to be rid of the bully, and I felt for my friend. She had borne the brunt of the abuse with strength and courage. Later, she would verbally defend me from xenophobic bigots as I dared to walk through their neighborhood. But that's another story.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Sunday, May 15, 2011
My Year in Jeruslaem
Everything changes; the trick is keeping the whole from breaking into fragments...people divided by fear and hatred.
Back in 1984 I left my midwestern college behind and headed abroad. After two years of isolating depression, I was ready to risk exploring the world. Jerusalem seemed an obvious choice.
I had grown up with National Geographic and a full bookshelf, worlds waiting to be explored. Like many I was naive about the Middle East/Near East--if you prefer, the "Holy Land." I remember a picture edition of the 1967 Six Day War. Israeli underdogs having captured the Old City of Jerusalem from the Jordanians, they stood awestruck before the Western Wall of the Temple Mount; a bare-headed, young soldier surrounded by his helmeted brethren transported me to that moment.
Looking through Leon and Jill Uris' Jerusalem I imagined a modern people living in an ancient land. The massive stones in the photography were no longer called a wailing wall of a defeated people; they were liberated touchstones of our collective past, a symbolic gateway to the off-limits world above (the Temple Mount now hosting the "Dome of the Rock"--the site of Abraham's almost-sacrifice of his son and, as another story goes, the place from where Mohammed rode a horse to heaven. Maybe that site also had an earlier origin, like the kaaba stone in Mecca where once the female aspect of divinity was also acknowledged); they were now tangible to all. Poring over Yigal Yadin's Masada I gazed at Judaea's famous plateau overlooking the Dead Sea. I envisioned scenes out of Sunday School...Israelites battling Roman soldiers, and then committing suicide instead of being taken as slaves.
I went to Hebrew school twice a week from age 8 onward until my Bat Mitzvah in the eighth grade. I remember inviting my friends from my school to attend. I loved singing the songs and read a speech about Ahad Ha'am and his vision of a modern Israel rooted in justice for all people.
The one-year program at the Hebrew University on Mount Scopus, where Einstein's library was kept, attracted a polyglot of foreign students mixing with the Israelis, both Arab and Jewish. It would be a dream come true.
Arriving at the Givat Ram campus located in the Western half of Jerusalem, I enjoyed the exotic birds and eucalyptus trees. It truly was a blooming desert. In the evenings I listened to kids from California and Canada playing guitars and singing Cat Stevens and Leonard Cohen songs. On one of my first city bus rides across town to Mount Scopus, I happened to sit next to woman in Arab dress. I spoke of my excitement of being there for a year, learning about the people of this land. Before she exited I said, "Salaam Aleikum;" she answered, "Shalom Aleichem."
Up on Mount Scopus in Eastern Jerusalem overlooking the Old City on the next hill, there was a different feel to the place. The University resembled a concrete fortress awaiting a siege. Across from the dorms stood Hadassah Hosptial (cut off during the War of Independence, many lives were lost bringing it supplies from Western Jerusalem). Behind it the hazy desert valleys leading down toward the Dead Sea, a Palestinian shepherd and his goats were the only sign of life.
Although the war with Lebanon was ongoing, Jerusalem seemed unaffected. The occasional sonic boom overhead reminded me I was no longer in Michigan. My ulpan teachers in Hebrew class were two young Israelis right out of the army of Iraqi and Yemeni descent. Moreh Yossi tossed a bit of chalk at me whenever I spoke English. Soon I was even dreaming in Hebrew. In my class were kids from around the globe including non-Jewish Germans who wished to make a difference and a Lutheran from Georgia whose father led a Jerusalem church. Slightly disturbing was her disappointment that extremists had recently failed to blow up the Dome of the Rock.
At the Mt. Scopus dorms my hallmates were mostly American and Canadian, although there was one from Morocco and even an Israeli Arab. A friend, who studied both Hebrew and Arabic, introduced me to a classmate with whom we debated.
One evening a young religious woman knocked on my door as I studied. She was going around inviting students to come to the Western Wall on Friday afternoon to be paired with a family for Shabbat. I told her my story and about my family. That's when she told me with sincerity that I wasn't a Jew. "Excuse me," I said. She went on that because my mother hadn't converted according to Orthodox standards, she and therefore I weren't Jews. Shock overtook me. What matter, I said, if she studied with rabbis of the Conservative tradition? She used the mikveh and won the approval of the beit din, the council of rabbis. It wasn't good enough, the young woman told me. Stunned and angered I declined her invitation to convert according to orthodoxy. I was already a Jew, I told her. I had no desire to become like her. Thus began an education.
[DRAFT...to be continued]
Back in 1984 I left my midwestern college behind and headed abroad. After two years of isolating depression, I was ready to risk exploring the world. Jerusalem seemed an obvious choice.
I had grown up with National Geographic and a full bookshelf, worlds waiting to be explored. Like many I was naive about the Middle East/Near East--if you prefer, the "Holy Land." I remember a picture edition of the 1967 Six Day War. Israeli underdogs having captured the Old City of Jerusalem from the Jordanians, they stood awestruck before the Western Wall of the Temple Mount; a bare-headed, young soldier surrounded by his helmeted brethren transported me to that moment.
Looking through Leon and Jill Uris' Jerusalem I imagined a modern people living in an ancient land. The massive stones in the photography were no longer called a wailing wall of a defeated people; they were liberated touchstones of our collective past, a symbolic gateway to the off-limits world above (the Temple Mount now hosting the "Dome of the Rock"--the site of Abraham's almost-sacrifice of his son and, as another story goes, the place from where Mohammed rode a horse to heaven. Maybe that site also had an earlier origin, like the kaaba stone in Mecca where once the female aspect of divinity was also acknowledged); they were now tangible to all. Poring over Yigal Yadin's Masada I gazed at Judaea's famous plateau overlooking the Dead Sea. I envisioned scenes out of Sunday School...Israelites battling Roman soldiers, and then committing suicide instead of being taken as slaves.
I went to Hebrew school twice a week from age 8 onward until my Bat Mitzvah in the eighth grade. I remember inviting my friends from my school to attend. I loved singing the songs and read a speech about Ahad Ha'am and his vision of a modern Israel rooted in justice for all people.
The one-year program at the Hebrew University on Mount Scopus, where Einstein's library was kept, attracted a polyglot of foreign students mixing with the Israelis, both Arab and Jewish. It would be a dream come true.
Arriving at the Givat Ram campus located in the Western half of Jerusalem, I enjoyed the exotic birds and eucalyptus trees. It truly was a blooming desert. In the evenings I listened to kids from California and Canada playing guitars and singing Cat Stevens and Leonard Cohen songs. On one of my first city bus rides across town to Mount Scopus, I happened to sit next to woman in Arab dress. I spoke of my excitement of being there for a year, learning about the people of this land. Before she exited I said, "Salaam Aleikum;" she answered, "Shalom Aleichem."
Up on Mount Scopus in Eastern Jerusalem overlooking the Old City on the next hill, there was a different feel to the place. The University resembled a concrete fortress awaiting a siege. Across from the dorms stood Hadassah Hosptial (cut off during the War of Independence, many lives were lost bringing it supplies from Western Jerusalem). Behind it the hazy desert valleys leading down toward the Dead Sea, a Palestinian shepherd and his goats were the only sign of life.
Although the war with Lebanon was ongoing, Jerusalem seemed unaffected. The occasional sonic boom overhead reminded me I was no longer in Michigan. My ulpan teachers in Hebrew class were two young Israelis right out of the army of Iraqi and Yemeni descent. Moreh Yossi tossed a bit of chalk at me whenever I spoke English. Soon I was even dreaming in Hebrew. In my class were kids from around the globe including non-Jewish Germans who wished to make a difference and a Lutheran from Georgia whose father led a Jerusalem church. Slightly disturbing was her disappointment that extremists had recently failed to blow up the Dome of the Rock.
At the Mt. Scopus dorms my hallmates were mostly American and Canadian, although there was one from Morocco and even an Israeli Arab. A friend, who studied both Hebrew and Arabic, introduced me to a classmate with whom we debated.
One evening a young religious woman knocked on my door as I studied. She was going around inviting students to come to the Western Wall on Friday afternoon to be paired with a family for Shabbat. I told her my story and about my family. That's when she told me with sincerity that I wasn't a Jew. "Excuse me," I said. She went on that because my mother hadn't converted according to Orthodox standards, she and therefore I weren't Jews. Shock overtook me. What matter, I said, if she studied with rabbis of the Conservative tradition? She used the mikveh and won the approval of the beit din, the council of rabbis. It wasn't good enough, the young woman told me. Stunned and angered I declined her invitation to convert according to orthodoxy. I was already a Jew, I told her. I had no desire to become like her. Thus began an education.
[DRAFT...to be continued]
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Cowboys and Indians
Naming the ongoing attempt to bring Osama Bin Laden to justice as operation “Geronimo” is telling; this left-over legacy of the Bush administration ironically displays a false equivalency between a terrorist seeking to attack the Twin Towers and what they signified and a Native American chief defending his homeland and people.
Perhaps, it was a name to obfuscate; however, it has belied the intentions of some to rewrite history. Never before in my lifetime has the frantic rush to deny the truth of what is__or to demand one extreme version of what is perceived__been presented as the truth (unless you count fundamentalist religious leaders of all faiths presenting their point-of-view as fact).
Politically the neo-con point-of-view has shaped much of the past ten years. While I have always been against those who would kill, torture and bully others who disagree with them, the present propaganda seems to know no bounds. Or maybe it’s just racism.
For the sake of life on this planet, we each must examine our beliefs and prejudices. Were we taught as children to think of ourselves as superior to others or as part of a larger family of equals? As we grew did we take the lessons learned from meeting others as proof that our way of thinking was right? did we see the potential and peril in certain narrow paths, including our own? Do any of us know the whole story?
Why, you might say, am I focusing on the silly tag given an ultra-secret mission to kill or capture Osama bin Ladin? Because it blurs the line between the pursuit of the mastermind of the most-horrific attack on U.S. civilians and the misguided superiority of those set on vanquishing Native Americans.
It isn’t the first time that some people focused on the middle East have falsely compared the two hemispheric struggles. Simplistically, some have claimed the mantle of THE indigenous while denying the rights of their own extended family members who could claim the same. The patriarchal legacy of sibling struggle for dominance has ironically co-existed within the larger vision that all are worthy of an equal portion. Fervent disregard of women’s rights__as something that must wait until the foe is vanquished__and the fearful attack on the feminine as holy is a living legacy to this day. It is a shame that pits the most fervent of any of the patriarchal faiths against the rest of humanity and its worth. But I digress.
Muddying reality is the tendency of calling one thing another. Of saying this is just like that. It is not. Geronimo was no bin Laden. He stood up against the military might of an army set on making him and his people virtual slaves on the most worthless plots of land; for daring that he was made into a symbol of the broken, dominated savage. He was neither. When Chief Geronimo’s grave was robbed and skull purportedly stolen by scions of privilege to be used in unknown ritual at a secret society, it was not he who was diminished but the honor of each member of that club. That the former Republican president seated just prior Al Qaeda’s airplane attack is a member (son and grandson) of Skull & Bones is telling. Perhaps in giving his nemesis the Geronimo nickname, he contemplated a replacement for the secret rites of the so-called “cream of the crop,” one that would stir no pangs of remorse. Or maybe it was just randomly chosen. I think not.
Conflating the struggles of the Native American people with those of terrorists is wrong. It’s used to advantage by neo-conservatives and ignoramuses alike, seeking advantage in the moment while providing cover for their own shenanigans. In reality it is hiding the neo-cons’ own similarities with the bin Ladens of the world…those who would kill and maim their own people and others against an even “more evil” foe. There are many more unanswered questions about how we presently came to this moment.
The truth is that bad things can happen to good people and have time and again. Might does not necessarily make right. Childhood rivalries acted out on the world stage are ultimately impotent and shameful.
When we demand equality and respect for all people and combat injustice and slavery of all kinds, then maybe the world will have peace. Perhaps victors do get to write history, but that doesn’t prevent truth from surfacing…when the battle’s lost and won.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Egypt (1985)
Wow. Revolution. I remember that January twenty-six years ago. A ten day trip to Egypt...Misr. I'm hoping that people stay safe in this transitional time.
Egypt is an amazing place. I'm hoping a more just future awaits the people there. I hope the peace process continues with bullies pushed aside.
Egypt is an amazing place. I'm hoping a more just future awaits the people there. I hope the peace process continues with bullies pushed aside.
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| The Sphinx at Giza, just outside of Cairo |
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| Kufu's (Cheop's) pyramid and dromedary |
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| Life along the Upper Nile, facing West |
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| Near Kitchener's Island and Aga Khan Mausoleum (facing NE) |
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| Entrance to the Valley of the Kings, across the Nile from Luxor (reminds me of Shelley's "Ozymandius") |
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| School girls of Luxor, Upper Eqypt |
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| Karnak Temple (it's HUGE!) |
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| Karnak Temple, Luxor (there's a hall w/@ 200 of these pillars) |
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| Abu Simbel (the Temple of Rameses II was moved to Southern Egypt by UNESCO to save it from the Aswan Dam project). |
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| Gate Keeper (notice the Ankh) |
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| Inside Abu Simbel |
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| Tomb painting |
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| Visiting Cairo's oldest university, Al-Azhar |
Friday, November 26, 2010
Limbaugh's Learnin's
What Rush Limbaugh doesn't know about being an American:
--Our Pilgrim forbears were mostly grateful for the assistance that the Wampanoag gave the settlers of Plimoth Plantation;
--Blaming all Native Americans for selling Manhattan twice to the Dutch is like blaming all New Yorkers when you find out you don't own the Brooklyn Bridge after all__and who really lost out there anyway?
--General George Washington's troops included Native Americans:
In fact soldiers at Valley Forge were saved from starvation by people of the Oneida nation:"Some were still boys--as young as 12--others in their 50s and 60s. They were described as fair, pale, freckled, brown, swarthy and black.While the majority were white, the army included both Negroes and American Indians."
Blaming tobacco addiction on Native Americans is silly, especially since it primarily was/is used in a ceremonial way (note to Limbaugh: the overuse of any "medicine" isn't good for you);
Most Americans don't grow up hating Native Americans...what's with that anyway?
Instead of peddling historical revision Limbaugh should read some actual history (I recommend the local library or public school) for everything he missed during his formative, spitball years.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Pam Geller Does NOT Speak for Me.
Having just read the New York Times article on blogger, Pamela Geller, I am disgusted with her arrogant bigotry. As a Jewish American I am annoyed that this narrow-minded person thinks she speaks for me. She does NOT.
She has taken a legitimate concern of women's rights in Islamic societies and has defamed an entire faith. And by trying to link all Palestinians to Hamas, she makes an opening for those who would call all Israelis right-wing expansionists. Unfairly generalizing in such a complex situation breeds ignorance and more hatred...exactly what we don't need in the world.
It's ironic that she's against Islam tearing down the West, but is critical of the Hagia Sofia being turned first into a mosque and now a museum.When you enter the portico of that building you can still see the gilt-tiled portrait of Jesus sitting on a throne. That could've been destroyed and wasn't...
(The actual sacking of Constantinople came not from the Muslims but by the Roman Christians taking over from their Eastern Christian brethren.)
Having had a narrow point-of-view does not make Geller an expert on anything except her own biases. How does she justify urging the destruction of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem? How would that help in making the Earth a more peaceful place? It's more likely to bring on a needless, self-fulfilling Armageddon scenario.
If there is ever to be a third Temple built on the Temple Mount, wouldn't it be better for that to happen in a future time when everyone agrees that that is the way forward? Like a real Messianic Era and not a us-and-them kind of thing. Forcing an issue before its time, at the expense of others, is wrong. The fairly secular leaders of Israel until now have been smart in not allowing the zealots to take over.
Geller is a kind of extremist bully that moderates would be wise to shout down. Fomenting this kind of culture war leaves room for that kind of thing to happen here in the United States, and I for one won't stand silently on the sidelines. Any society can become uncivilized, and she is a perfect example of someone cluelessly peddling that while sidling up with would-be fascists and Nazi sympathizers. We don't need more apologists. We need to defend our democracy for all its citizens. Whom does she think she's kidding? She does not speak for me!
[Links to come]
She has taken a legitimate concern of women's rights in Islamic societies and has defamed an entire faith. And by trying to link all Palestinians to Hamas, she makes an opening for those who would call all Israelis right-wing expansionists. Unfairly generalizing in such a complex situation breeds ignorance and more hatred...exactly what we don't need in the world.
It's ironic that she's against Islam tearing down the West, but is critical of the Hagia Sofia being turned first into a mosque and now a museum.When you enter the portico of that building you can still see the gilt-tiled portrait of Jesus sitting on a throne. That could've been destroyed and wasn't...
(The actual sacking of Constantinople came not from the Muslims but by the Roman Christians taking over from their Eastern Christian brethren.)
Having had a narrow point-of-view does not make Geller an expert on anything except her own biases. How does she justify urging the destruction of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem? How would that help in making the Earth a more peaceful place? It's more likely to bring on a needless, self-fulfilling Armageddon scenario.
If there is ever to be a third Temple built on the Temple Mount, wouldn't it be better for that to happen in a future time when everyone agrees that that is the way forward? Like a real Messianic Era and not a us-and-them kind of thing. Forcing an issue before its time, at the expense of others, is wrong. The fairly secular leaders of Israel until now have been smart in not allowing the zealots to take over.
Geller is a kind of extremist bully that moderates would be wise to shout down. Fomenting this kind of culture war leaves room for that kind of thing to happen here in the United States, and I for one won't stand silently on the sidelines. Any society can become uncivilized, and she is a perfect example of someone cluelessly peddling that while sidling up with would-be fascists and Nazi sympathizers. We don't need more apologists. We need to defend our democracy for all its citizens. Whom does she think she's kidding? She does not speak for me!
[Links to come]
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Public Education and Why It's a Necessity, Part I (Revised)*
I'm heartened to know that friends still support their local public schools even while their children attend private schools. When millages come up for a vote, they vote "yes". They could easily focus on only their own kids' school and lives, but in supporting public schools they are helping to strengthen democracy in our republic.
It's sad when people don't support public schools. Last year a county-wide millage, proposed to help Washtenaw County schools that are underfunded by the state of Michigan, failed. It had enough votes to pass in the city of Ann Arbor but failed in the outlying, more rural districts that tend to vote Republican. One local real estate speculator spent thousands of dollars on signs to "vote against the millage" because it would mean more taxes to pay. He succeeded in convincing struggling families and pensioners to keep the next generation of students from having a competitive education__for the time being.
And now that corporations can be treated as individuals and congresspeople can be paid for, it's frightening to think how the disparity of opportunity may grow in our country.
The billionaires behind the Tea Party movement, the Koch brothers, are for abolishing the public education system, federal regulatory agencies, social security and the FBI. The Koch brothers are John Birchers and are against "government enterprise that would either inhibit business profits or increase taxes." A plutocracy of mediocrity could overtake our country if these folks come to power.
Some wealthy people find the Kochs' vision of the United States anathema. They realize their position of opportunity to try and make the future a better place for all children__by endowing scholarships, contributing to foundations, working with non-profit groups, supporting public education and more.
Thankfully, Ann Arbor has a very proactive, independent fund-raising parent group such as the Ann Arbor Public Schools Educational Foundation. Because of this endowment our kids won't go without the extras that enrich a student's experience. There will be cultural events. There will be technology in the classroom.
Other county schools aren't so lucky. Their hardworking parents may not have the resources to fund or take the time to create such an institution as AAPSEF. And that's the rub. Statewide bureaucrats have taken money away from the public schools and have disregarded the next generation's chance of success. This is unacceptable.
It's imperative that we have leaders in state capitals and everywhere who are up for this struggle. Call out those who work against public education and support those who do.
Your legacy, your country, your world depends on it.
It's sad when people don't support public schools. Last year a county-wide millage, proposed to help Washtenaw County schools that are underfunded by the state of Michigan, failed. It had enough votes to pass in the city of Ann Arbor but failed in the outlying, more rural districts that tend to vote Republican. One local real estate speculator spent thousands of dollars on signs to "vote against the millage" because it would mean more taxes to pay. He succeeded in convincing struggling families and pensioners to keep the next generation of students from having a competitive education__for the time being.
And now that corporations can be treated as individuals and congresspeople can be paid for, it's frightening to think how the disparity of opportunity may grow in our country.
The billionaires behind the Tea Party movement, the Koch brothers, are for abolishing the public education system, federal regulatory agencies, social security and the FBI. The Koch brothers are John Birchers and are against "government enterprise that would either inhibit business profits or increase taxes." A plutocracy of mediocrity could overtake our country if these folks come to power.
Some wealthy people find the Kochs' vision of the United States anathema. They realize their position of opportunity to try and make the future a better place for all children__by endowing scholarships, contributing to foundations, working with non-profit groups, supporting public education and more.
Thankfully, Ann Arbor has a very proactive, independent fund-raising parent group such as the Ann Arbor Public Schools Educational Foundation. Because of this endowment our kids won't go without the extras that enrich a student's experience. There will be cultural events. There will be technology in the classroom.
Other county schools aren't so lucky. Their hardworking parents may not have the resources to fund or take the time to create such an institution as AAPSEF. And that's the rub. Statewide bureaucrats have taken money away from the public schools and have disregarded the next generation's chance of success. This is unacceptable.
It's imperative that we have leaders in state capitals and everywhere who are up for this struggle. Call out those who work against public education and support those who do.
Your legacy, your country, your world depends on it.
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