americaspower

Recently we had the President trying to gather his base in asking colleges and universities to suspend the double-digit yearly increases in tuition and board. The burden of paying for college has fallen on the backs of middle class parents in the forms of personal loans, remortgages, cashing out life insurance policies and subtracting from retirement savings.  This still leaves Federal funded school loans of no less than 20,000 dollars on graduating undergraduates and close to triple the amount for graduate students. Making college affordable in tuition should be the top of agenda of university presidents and politicians who wish for their state to prosper.

So Governor Corbett Raising College Tuition by cutting more state funds to state related schools, like Penn State, Temple and University of Pitt, and state schools such as West Chester, Cheney and Indiana University of Pennsylvania, doesn’t make any sense. Corbett’s new budget punishes students and their families by making it impossible for universities not to raise tuition just to meet their budget needs.

Whether he is trying to mock the President’s position or he is trying to make all state affiliated schools the same price as private colleges, is still unclear. But what he is doing is wrong, even in an era where not raising taxes is considered patriotic and rising debt in inevitable. Corbett is setting a Harrisburg agenda that is anti education, anti middle class, and illogical.

Pennsylvania needs educated workers who have the critical thinking skills to push traditional areas of work forward. If our state system is not a viable cost effective system, the consumers will leave the state and probably their residency for good. Making it harder for colleges to lower cost by cutting aid leaves not only a sense of helplessness for parents and students, but increases layoffs, stops future constructions jobs, and curtails technological advances in communication and security.

For Corbett and his administration, there is no link between an educated, university-trained workforce and a bright economic future for Pennsylvania.

New Jersey has lost students to PA colleges for years because of their lack of state funded and reasonably priced schools. In an attempt to keep more students and hopefully attract more from out of state, Governor Christie is trying bring a third research university to South Jersey. Though the news has only focused on Rutgers name change to Rowan in Camden as negative, it is a positive step in supporting development of a university and medical presence below Princeton for the first time. In creating a national research school fighting for its own grants and students (instead of it being flown away to New Brunswick), this move is making going to school in New Jersey and attending a state funded and better priced University a real option.

Cuts to University education in state budgets should be done carefully and with tact. If they need to be made, then they should be done in a way that supports a system and attracts the most students from the state. Trenton and Christie are doing it right because their plan is to attract more students and federal funding in research. Corbett and Harrisburg are alienating their own schools, the middle class, and risking one of the best and most comprehensive state run educational systems in the nation.

These attacks on higher education will have a profound impact on the future of students and will hurt the overall quality of the state schools. By preventing investment in education, we are in fact hurting our collective future. We are forcing good students and their families to look outside our borders. Maybe just over the river to Rowan University in Camden.  

You can follow James Dugan on Facebook and on Twitter @jamesduganlb

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 Is Public Education on Life Support?

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Ken Lund

Alejandrina Cabrera, a United States citizen, from San Luis, Arizona is Banned from Running for City Council Because of Poor English. She is appealing the ruling instigated by the mayor of the town who does have a history of discord with the emerging politician. She has been found grossly under proficient in her English skills and the mayor believes she could not serve her 87% Hispanic electorate with due diligence if elected. She of course believes differently and believes the system is discriminating against her.

Should someone be banned from elected office because they do not speak English? According to a 2006 law, English is the official language of Arizona and a much older law says that not understanding the language is reason to deny office. It should be settled.  Alejandrina Cabrera should go back to her Yuma high school, a bi-lingual school, and gain control of the official language, thus making her capable of performing her council duties.

Then why does it feel so wrong?

How can we deny a United States citizen access from being on the ballot because of language deficiencies? No one wants to go down the road that this is just flat out racism, but being Hispanic in Arizona seems to be a huge handicap when it comes to the law. This is an attack against the woman’s intelligence, based on her lack of English skills, by the city and state, which both refuse to change their policies as the electorate and culture changes.

Government should reflect the people. If Spanish is the language of the town and her ward, then it is with good faith that city council should take into account the changing demographics to better serve its people. If they do not, then it plain racism and using a language proficiency law from the early 1900s is an insidious way to keep Hispanic American citizens, who speak Spanish, from taking part in our democracy.

If it has teeth like a rat, it probably is going to bite us or spread disease.

The attack against Hispanic representation is happening in Texas with its redistricting. Though the population of Hispanics has boomed in the lone star state, the new state redistricting map has not gained any more political power for the group. This is just another example of overt discrimination using a system meant to keep incumbents and their power in charge.

The ability to speak English is not a sign of intelligence or stupidity. The ability to communicate in English is not a sign you are American. The sign you are an American is that you take your voting power and the great gift of democracy to change the country for the better. We should not deny political office because of developing English skills, because that is what Jim Crow tried to do to prevent Americans from voting with literacy tests.

The Hispanic population will continue to grow and change America unlike any non-English immigrant and citizen population before. To deny them their rights to participate in American democracy is unconstitutional and inherently racist. Sorry Joey, I do like Geno’s steaks though.    

You can follow James Dugan on Facebook and on Twitter @jamesduganlb

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English Only Pennsylvania: The New Political Lumpenproletariat

neighborhoods.org

Antioch College was Horace Mann’s dream. Horace Mann deserves the respect of any American  who believes that education is the avenue to create social and economic change. The latest move by Antioch, a school with a history of reform as an abolition save haven, was necessitated by financial desperation in the recent years. It is an appropriate measure of originality because this college was one of the first to educate teachers and provide women and African Americans educational opportunities that were never available. But with a strong alumni and a passion for its cause, the school has been able to find new funding to keep its doors open.

The same thing has been occurring in the local Philadelphia area as Monsignor Bonner and Archbishop Prendergast raised 1 million dollars to keep the schools open. This is an incredible show of alumni and friends' support in an economy rife with despair. In the same spirit of Horace Mann, a strong belief can make anything possible, and a strong belief in education can motivate people to do greater things. If that million dollars is used to create free tuition, Bonner and Prendie will be filled to capacity.

The cost of colleges and their affordability for the middle class will be a hot topic this election year. In fact, the rising cost of all education is causing many Americans to abandon Mann’s dream. But perhaps it is the alumni support that can change this. For years, many Americans gave back to their schools with blind faith that the school would use the money to keep the school alive and prospering. Colleges should use state and federal funding, as well as alumni money, to help create a thriving and potentially free tuition environment.

But as federal tax dollars disappear, perhaps the growth model can change to support model. The recent support in the local and national level to make college affordable is in the hands of common Americans. The alumni must hold schools accountable for making tuition affordable and give money for that purpose. We can be aware of the money that we use to support education and create opportunities in our state and private schools just as Antioch is doing in Ohio.

There is hope in taking control. There is faith that change is possible and we are not just pawns to be moved by economic forces. It is a belief in a core message and innovation through imagination that can make things possible. A small liberal arts college is doing it, just as Horace Mann would want, and examples of the changing ideas of education, from the insular to the communal, are taking shape throughout our area.    

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You can follow James Dugan on facebook and twitter @jamesduganlb

Gage Skidmore

With the release of Romney’s Money earlier this week, the furor and anger over his wealth was palpable. Most of the anger, from Republican candidate Newt Gingrich and Washington Democrats, was directed to the measly 15% in taxes that made up his 2010 and 2011 tax returns. Is this man, worth 200 million dollars, paying his fair share to our democratic country? How is it possible that he made 21 million dollars without out doing any work other than cashing dividends?  Are these tax returns so heinous that I would refuse my vote, even though he broke no US law or did any wrong to any American citizen, other than being super rich?

There is shallow nature to my inquiry. To dislike a man for his wealth is the same as disliking him for any other characteristic that he has little control over. I think myself too civilized to not vote for a person because of gender, race, or sexual orientation. And of course, I would not vote for a person just because they were too poor. So in this manner, if I do not consider Romney for President because he is too wealthy, I am discriminating and not basing my decision on logic and what is best for the nation. I voted for John Kerry, the richest man in Congress, and his net worth was 180 million.

But I do not like rich people and I certainly don’t trust their motives because I do not believe we even remotely share the same country.  

The distrust or essential nature for the wealthy in this nation has been cause for discussion right from the beginning of our democracy. John Adams “Natural and Actual Aristocracy” spoke to the idea that a wealthy group or nobles could help balance government. Adams believed that the aristocracy needed a place in government to help keep them in check. The fear is that they would use their influence in the other levels of government to overrun the checks and balances. He proposed that with a branch of their own, their usefulness could be exploited while their negative actions could be curtailed.

Thomas Jefferson, Adams political and philosophical sparing partner, also had similar ideas  on the aristocracy and what place, if any, the group had in government.  They both agreed that natural aristocracy [meritocracy – people who worked through education, industry, and culture to reach the apex of power and influence in society] was an invaluable aspect to our nation’s future success. They both despised the idea of artificial aristocracy [people who rose to the pinnacle through wealthy family connections] as a plague because of the empty influence of money to bend their voting populace. They decided to leave it alone and leave the aristocracy out of government hoping for the best.

It is no secret that the wealthy have a firm hold in this nation’s political structure.  Yet for two hundred years our democracy has survived and the values of industry and education remain the ideals of a good American. If Romney becomes president, he will be the wealthiest individual to hold the executive office, but I believe Adams and Jefferson would say he is part of the noble, natural aristocracy. They would have no problem listening to his logic and deciding if his platform would benefit America’s future.

But I am not Jefferson or Adams. I am someone who looks at a fat bank account and becomes skeptical. You only run for office to do two things: change the course of America or keep it the same. Romney has benefited greatly by America and one so blessed would not change anything. For me, I want America to change and fix the economic inequities that create poverty, injustice, and corruption.

There is no word for the dislike of the rich, but maybe Anti-Romnite might catch on.  

Courtesy of Sean McEntee

The truly eloquent will practice their craft for any number of reasons: sell a house, get elected, extend their curfew, save the environment, end war, etc.  Issues of varying size and value for sure.  Education though, amongst all these debatable interests, has become the most consistently written about, discussed, and speechified issue within our political, social, and communal landscapes- internationally, nationally, and locally.  Writers, parents, teachers, students, unions, economists, and politicians alike seem borderline obsessed with the current ills of public education.  And all have their solution.  Recently, however, New York Times editorialist, Nicholas D. Kristof, and President Obama added to the educational fray in a few recent articles and the State of the Union address respectively. 

Nicholas Kristof is an accomplished writer, one whose viewpoints on public schools, teachers, and students are respected in most educational circles.  Kristof approaches the subject with a reasonable head, realizing the multi-faceted dimensions to the complex equation.  Never one to draw simplistic conclusions, Kristof appeals to so many embroiled in the debate because he realizes that any true amelioration will in the end necessitate a collective effort.  Two recent articles, however, have caused some to question Kristof because he now seems to be aligning himself to the simplistic calls of firing bad teachers. 

In Kristof’s most recent article, “How Mrs. Grady Transformed Olly Neal”, he shares an inspiring story of one troubled young boy and one dedicated young teacher.  Olly Neal, described as “incorrigible” by most of his teachers, had once tormented his English teacher, Mildred Grady.  Olly’s senior year, he opted one day to cut English class and headed to the library instead and while there encountered a book by Frank Yerby, which he stole to avoid being made fun of.  When he returned the book the following week, Olly found another book by Yerby.  Again, the following week, another book stolen and returned and another Yerby book waiting.  Eventually, Olly became an avid reader, which changed the direction of his entire life.  Years later, after Olly Neal successfully became the first African American prosecutor in Arkansas, he attended a school reunion and ran into his former English teacher, Mrs. Grady, who revealed to him it was her who placed the different Yerby books in the library, driving 70 miles to Memphis each time to purchase them.

From Kristof’s perspective, this sweet anecdote only serves to validate the study by Columbia and Harvard researchers claiming a single teacher can raise a classes’ career earnings by $700,000.  Logically, a teacher of Grady’s caliber needs to be retained, paid more, and held as an example of what other teachers should strive to become.  If not, just as logically, the ineffective teachers must be removed and replaced by more valuable ones.  Unfortunately though, the paradox of this tale, the one that seems to elude Kristof, is that for all of Grady’s compassion, she still could be fired by the desire for data driven assessments of teachers, which Kristof is a proponent of.  If Grady’s students, all of them, even Olly, didn’t show improvement in their state assessments in reading and writing during their time with Grady, then rationally she should be fired, regardless of her unparalleled altruism. 

Nicholas Kristof is not alone in his contradictory educational ideals though, as last evening’s State of the Union reveals.  President Obama, too, seems unwilling to choose a clear stance on this issue, instead choosing to placate both sides of the table.  Seemingly alluding to the same Columbia and Harvard study, stating, “A great teacher can offer an escape from poverty to the child who dreams beyond his circumstance…Every person in this chamber can point to a teacher who changed the trajectory of their lives. Most teachers work tirelessly, with modest pay, sometimes digging into their own pocket for school supplies, just to make a difference”, President Obama didn’t shy away from the grandiose promises of education every advocate of the institution promotes.  However, Obama comes to the same the conclusion as Kristof, reasoning that to reform education, society needs to “to stop teaching to the test and to replace teachers who just aren’t helping kids learn”.

Unfortunately though, the President’s way of thinking is contradictory to his education cabinet’s and secretary, Arne Duncan.  As the President promises major reform, greater autonomy and creativity for teachers, and greater financial assistance, the reality is that more and more demands are being laid on teachers, more teaching to the test is occurring, and less aid is being provided to states from the federal government, causing more layoffs for teachers than ever before. 

These paradoxical ideas, of inspiring stories of kindness and idealistic goals contradicted by misunderstood policies and unfulfilled promises, convey an extreme disconnect between the journalists and politicians covering and effecting education and the teachers and students participating in it.  Education is important.  Good teachers matter.  And bad teachers need to be fired.  All simplistic and true, but all equally untrue in their complexity, which makes them rhetoric to be questioned rather than simply accepted.   

If you enjoyed this article, you may also like, The Case for $1,000,000 Parents.

Courtesy of Shockingly Tasty

Everyone knows the reality by now, that being overweight or obese dramatically increases the potential for serious health risks of diabetes and heart disease and less serious health complications of sleep apnea and sore joints.  If they don’t, they most certainly should because the ubiquitous coverage of these medical realities is addressed in schools, the media, and even the White House on a fairly routine basis.  Even culprits like McDonald’s and other fast food chains have taken it upon themselves to offer healthy alternatives to their otherwise artery clogging selections and the Cookie Monster has been claiming Cookies are only a sometimes food for a few years now.  The goals of good nutrition and daily exercise have never been more widely promoted- through blogs, expanding national gym chains, and community outreach programs- and yet according to recent studies, nothing seems to have improved, leaving researchers, scientists, and politicians stumped as to why. 

The most seriously impacted communities dealing with this weighty issue are yet again the poorest.  So it’s no surprise that amongst the poorest large cities in America, Philadelphia has once again reclaimed the throne of obesity, crushing the competition with abnormally high percentages of overweight and obese citizens.  Within the city itself this disparity is magnified in excessively poor areas such as North Philadelphia, where close to seventy percent of the community is overweight or obese.  Yet even with these shocking numbers, the city shows no signs of stopping its unhealthy ways as it prepares itself for its annual tradition (Wing Bowl) of binging and gorging on deep fried wings, sauteed in fattening buffalo sauce.  Nationwide, the unhealthiest states are two of the poorest, in Mississippi and Georgia, the latter of which has turned to a controversial campaign to assuage the growing calamity, airing commercials of obese children speaking about the damaging effects, physical and emotional, of being overweight. 

However, the poor are not alone in this battle to maintain a trim waist.  The recent revelation that celebrity chef, Paula Deen, has been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes has set off a swirl of controversy concerning her continued promotion of fattening and unhealthy comfort food.  The victim of her own successful cooking, Paula Deen has apparently changed her ways, but maintains that she won’t dramatically change her diet.  In addition to Deen, retired NFL players are increasingly struggling with the transition from physically elite, calorie consuming and burning machines to average, fat and sugar indulging loafers.  Such struggles reflect that even the well to do of society are sometimes incapable of resisting their snack time urges and can suffer the sad consequences. 

Even amidst all this disturbing data and reporting, while social programs and local, state, and national officials rack their brains to mitigate this growing problem and people’s growing waistline, there are some stories of encouragement.  Philadelphia’s own Biggest Loser, cheese steak connoisseur Tony Luke, has managed to shed over a hundred pounds, from 350 lbs. to 250 lbs., quicker than most people eat his cheese steaks and roast pork sandwiches.  Well, not that quickly.  After removing his sleep apnea mask, struggling to get out of bed, crawling to the bathroom because his joints hurt, and then seeing himself in the mirror, Luke decided to reinvent himself, literally, by exercising and changing his diet all to regain a sense of physical comfort and confidence.  However, as inspiring as Luke’s transformation is, it also conveys the unfortunate reality that not all people in his excessively large shoes can afford, financially, to alter their bodies so simply.  Luke had the luxury of personal consultation from a doctor and free training from a physical fitness specialist. 

Sadly, these stories leave us with more questions than answers.  Whose to blame, if we should blame?  Is it poor education, poor parenting, or just being poor?  How much should the government intervene, if at all?  How come some can alter their diets and increase their exercise while others seem incapable and unwilling?  Important questions and here’s hoping someone has the answers.  

Ron Cogswell

He believed in the power of education to change the course of the poor and thus end racism and economic apartheid. He would say what needs to be done in funding the schools through the end of the year and devising a plan for the future of our most vulnerable and neglected citizens.

Chester is the first settlement in Pennsylvania. It is where William Penn landed, though my Philadelphia sensibilities would like to argue. But perhaps even more importantly and certainly today, when we celebrate the legacy of civil rights activist, it was the educational center of King’s theological foundation. Only the cities of Atlanta (Morehouse) and Boston (Boston University) can join Chester’s (Crozer Seminary) claim in serving to shape the powerful ideals that would shape the world. If he had heard that the public schools of this impoverished city were shuddered, he would come to stand by the teachers and demand the services that the rest of Pennsylvania children have.

Martin Luther King Jr. was a believer in true learning as he wrote in the Purpose of Education. He believed education was a pathway to self-reliance and connecting to society in a meaningful way. He would confront the adults of the state who make a political mockery of the only avenue children have to improve their lives. Chester schools are plagued with problems, but it does not mean they are empty of value.

One of the most important lessons from King is that true education frees us from stereotypes and pushes us to investigate the truth on our own. He would not see government aid as a number to be balanced equally, but a means to assist in bringing about true equity through investment and encouragement. When we reach the true potential of education, nothing should inhibit us from seeking out justice and those in need of it. King would know justice was needed in the place he learned to be more than a Christian.

For the problems of Chester are not in education, but lie at the heart of all the social ills making this port city one of the most dangerous per capita in the country. King would stand in the frigid wind of the new state funded Philadelphia Union Soccer Stadium just a few football fields away from the glistening new Harrah’s Chester Casino and speak about Eliminating Poverty for All. He would include that 2/3 of all poverty victims are white. He would call it our problem.

He would call for the end of welfare, food stamps, and social security because they just placate poverty and create more problems, as neither the dignity of the individual is addressed nor economic disparity closed. He would call for a guaranteed income of the medium salary in the nation that would instantly eliminate poverty, end economic apartheid, and create a guaranteed tax structure in impoverished areas. This would end poverty but also never again allow the state to shut down a school because it deemed it not worthy of its money.

Martin Luther King Jr. would bring the leaders of the state into Chester to see the grim realities of poverty, violence, and lack of opportunity. It is not just a bankrupt city like Harrisburg; it is an abandoned city. There is no more truth to that than the shutting of the schools. He would talk of his school days in this city, a man whose mind almost changed everything, except perhaps what he was witnessing today in the city of Chester.   

Courtesy of Fibonacci Blue

Amongst the Catholic schools, and their respective students, parents, teachers, and communities, there are many that are struggling to accept these decisions.  However, they must come to terms with the truth that for all its posturing, the church never really cared about the education of its students and parishioners.  Yet, for all the heartache and disappointment, these students can find some solace in knowing they will have the remainder of the year to cherish their schools and there are new schools awaiting their arrival.  The same may not be true for the students of Chester Upland in Delaware County though. 

For the past ten years, at least, the Chester Upland School District has been in a state of disarray.  Poor performance on state tests, violent schools, corrupt administrators, and irresponsible fiscal management has brought the school district, its students and parents, and the state of Pennsylvania to a crossroads.  In what could be one of the most aggressive educational policy decisions ever, Governor Corbett and his Secretary of Education, Ron Tomalis, are standing firm in their refusal to bail out the district and instead are willing to let it completely collapse upon itself.  For its part, the district has accumulated a shortfall of $20 million, close to twenty percent of its $96 million budget. 

However, as much as the current administration wants to make it seem that the local community control is responsible for all these financial woes, the state can not deny its culpability in this disaster because they took the reigns of the district in 1994, handing over control to Edison Schools Inc. in 2000, which left five years later amidst great scandal.  Since 2001, the district has lost close to fifty percent of its enrollment, dropping to around 3,700 students, most leaving the district or transferring to Chester Charter.  No reforms, local, state, or private have managed to improve the situation, so now the remaining students must prepare for the bleak reality that there will no longer be public education in the city of Chester.  The only thing keeping the promise of quality education alive is the teachers that provide it, apparently willing to work for free for as long as they can.  But this is a sad effort, as noble as it seems, for no one should be forced into such situations. 

This is the new world of education though, and such absurdities don’t seem as far fetched today in a society that has lost touch with its principles.  Or have they?  Compulsory education is not really an American cornerstone.  Not until 1852, in Massachusetts, did the notion of mandatory schooling come to America and it wasn’t until 1917, in Mississippi, that all fifty states came to have laws requiring attendance to schools.  Prior to such legal reformation, the American system of education believed it was the responsibility of the parent, with the exception of some boarding and private schools, to prepare their child to enter society.  So are these recent developments a change to something new and unknown, or merely a return to something forgotten?  Moreover, could the quandary of Chester Upland and the lack of state intervention and assistance be an attempt to recreate education with a greater push toward Charter schools and Vouchers or is it an effort to return the burden of education to the parents?  Or is it both?

While the Pennsylvania Department of Education and Governor Corbett Administration remain silent and the rest of the region moves on, ignorant to this approaching storm, the parents and children of Chester are left to speculate what will become of their school district.  In the coming days and weeks, they will wait to learn if they will even have a district to call their own and if they will have schools to attend.  Even with the efforts of some concerned senators, there doesn’t seem to be much hope to save this embattled district.  Just as the Archdiocese of Philadelphia has determined to move in a new direction, it seems the PDE and Governor Corbett are equally prepared to move forward with their plans to dismantle public education, for whatever purpose, one impoverished school at a time.  It’s a sad fate, perplexing for sure, but it may just be the same fate more schools face in the future as public education continues to change.            

tedeytan

We three kings of Orient are
Bearing gifts we traverse afar
Field and fountain, moor and mountain
Following yonder star

We rich bishops of Roman Rule

Bearing news we waited so long

Students will follow field and mountain

To learn a new Catholic alumni song

O Star of wonder, star of night
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to thy Perfect Light

O Chaput of greatness, one so wise

Hired under child abuse suspicious light

West is closing, Bonner/Prendie proceeding

Taking away a Catholic's education right

Born a King on Bethlehem's plain
Gold I bring to crown Him again
King forever, ceasing never
Over us all to rein

Born in Philly slum and suburb

Gold is only in Homilies we heard

If Christ is forever, then why would he ever

Close a school where children learn

O Star of wonder, star of night
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to Thy perfect light

O Chaput of greatness, one so wise

Hired under child abuse suspicious light

Hubert’s is closing, Egan proceeding

Taking away a Catholic's education right

Frankincense to offer have I

Incense owns a Deity nigh
Pray'r and praising, all men raising
Worship Him, God most high

Frankincense is not what we need

When the schools the Church’s riches bleed

Prayer won’t save our schools from closing

Or satisfy Church’s need for greed

O Star of wonder, star of night
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to Thy perfect light

O Chaput of greatness, one so wise

Hired under child abuse suspicious light

The elementary kids keep on walking

Getting their Catholic's education right

Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume
Breathes of life of gathering gloom
Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying
Sealed in the stone-cold tomb

Morality is mine, its bitter perfume,

Taught in a Catholic education school room

Children are crying, parents are worrying

Another Catholic education tomb

O Star of wonder, star of night
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to Thy perfect light

O Chaput of greatness, one so wise

Hired under child abuse suspicious light

You were here for a just a little while

Thank you for this Little Christmas surprise

Glorious now behold Him arise
King and God and Sacrifice
Alleluia, Alleluia
Earth to heav'n replies

Glory will not remember this day

When alumni and Catholics mourn away

Their memories tossed for greater plans

That includes not our children or friends

 O Star of wonder, star of night

 Star with royal beauty bright

 Westward leading, still proceeding

Guide us to Thy perfect light

O Star of wonder, star of night

Bring me a wish this holy night

That the three kings will come with enough gold

To keep our schools from going cold. 

You might also like these posts from the Lunch Break: The Catholic Mass New Translations: Is the Church Going Backwards?, The Shutting of Tradition: Is Education better off without Catholic Schools?, and I Am a Bulldog.

Some rights reserved by Creativity103

Of course, we don't want to fall victim to Golden Age Syndrome, the exaggerated belief that somehow things were better in the past. Despite the flawed memories of those who say everything was perfect under Reagan or Clinton or whomever, the truth is that the present is always uncertain while it is being lived. But even if we take suffering as a given no matter the age, thinking back on 2011 still makes more life's doubts look more pronounced than usual.

An objective recap of 2011 reveals a lot left undone in the world. While Osama bin Laden's death will probably be the most memorable news story of the passing year, something about it didn't feel like we thought it would. Given the huge impact that the September 11th attacks have had on America over the last ten years, the surprise announcement of the al-Qaeda mastermind's death seemed to come and go all too quickly. Certainly bin Laden's death went a long way to deliver the justice our country was sorely seeking, but somehow the war on terror persists without the closure or draw down we might have expected after ten years and the death of enemy number one. Living in a country where indefinite war has hovered in the background for the last decade must certainly take a toll on America's collective psyche. Even as US military operations in Iraq finish, the threats from Iran, North Korea, and many other troubled regions leave more war looming on the horizon.

And then there's the economy. 2011 was supposed to be the year where Europe figured out the solution to its sovereign debt crisis, the wild card in the high stakes game of global finance. Yet, the Europeans still seem ill-equipped to offer the rest of the world any assurances. Despite many high profile conferences and changes in leadership, Greece, Italy, and others can only view the coming austerity with pessimism. In America, the economic mood is slightly improved, but still dubious. While our unemployment rate has finally dropped below nine percent, the risks of another banking crisis and double-dip recession ride heavily on what happens in Europe, as the trouble at MF Global has recently suggested.

America's dysfunctional political landscape is only adding to the uncertainty across the business community and the wider economy. Instead of passing a year long extension of the payroll tax cut as they wanted, the President and Congress went with a short term deal. Our elected officials managed to once again bolt out of a broken Washington for their Christmas holidays, but at the cost of leaving 160 million Americans wondering whether they will have to tighten their budgets in another couple months when the tax break once again expires.

Nationally, our debt continues to be a skyrocketing source of unease, even when we were promised a solution in August, and then again in November. Instead, the failures of the Congress, the White House and the ill-named Super Committee, have resulted in two more debt ceiling increases since August to the tune of $900 billion. In just few days, President Obama plans to ask for his third increase, a $1.2 trillion hike in the borrowing limits of the US government when the US national debt has already surpassed $15 trillion. Add to this the upcoming political fights for the presidential election and the challenges to ObamaCare in the Supreme Court and 2012 doesn't look any more reassuring than did the news of 2011.

On a brighter note, there remains a large store of common sense and wisdom in the people of America (and in popular uprisings around the world) even if our political and financial leaders seem lacking. As the Occupy and other protest movements will no doubt continue into 2012, let us hope that democracy is not duped again by nebulous promises of hoping and changing into something new, but ultimately unrealistic.

Rather, 2012 should be a year to go back to the principles of limited government, guarantees of individual liberties, and financial restraint that we know have worked in the past. While these things may seem like a pipedream for the current leadership, average citizens can at least set examples in our personal lives. Instead of embracing new fads and half-hearted resolutions, let us take a look back at the lessons in fortitude and wisdom that earlier generations have already taught. Instead of succumbing to panic and gloom, let us all do our best to steadfastly work on improving our own physical, mental, and spiritual health this year, so that we can withstand whatever it is that comes in 2012.