[AAACE-NLA] Is US foreign policy a relevant topic for this list?

Sun Sep 21 17:50:40 EDT 2003

This discussion reminds me as well of a debate currently going on in Boston on the City Council.  Several of the councilors (sp?) wanted to introduce a motion condeming the Patriots Act, but the chair of the Council wouldn't let the motion get to the floor because he said it wasn't relevant to the 'business' of the council.  As those who wanted to introduce it said, there is nothing that will affect the daily life of Bostonians more than this Act which jeopardizes the basic democratic rights of every inhabitant/resident of the city of Boston.  If that isn't council business, what is?

$87 billion to support a trumped up war (which increasingly is being shown to have been instigated on fraudulent grounds) has everything to do with adult literacy policy.  Where does that $87 billion come from? Who doesn't get services, education, health care, etc. because of this budget?  What could one one hundredth of a percent of that money (help--somebody do the math please) do for our field?  Where do we want our tax dollars going? Not to consider this is to consent to the liquidation of our field.  

Elsa Auerbach

> ----------
> From: 	Eileen Eckert
> Reply To: 	National Literacy Advocacy List sponsored by AAACE
> Sent: 	Sunday, September 21, 2003 1:47 PM
> To: 	aaace-nla at lists.literacytent.org
> Subject: 	Re: [AAACE-NLA] Is US foreign policy a relevant topic for this list?
> 
> George's post on foreign policy and Pam's response saying that's off-topic 
> reminded me of a study in the journal Cognitive Science on how experts (in 
> this case, radiologists) organize knowledge to solve a problem (make a 
> diagnosis). "Superexperts" included more information and knowledge in fewer, 
> larger, better connected "clusters." The more expert they were, the better 
> able they were to incorporate knowledge and information, interpret its 
> meaning, and connect it to other knowledge.
> 
> I've lost track of how many times people who try (successfully or not) to 
> make connections and see a broader context for our work have been berated 
> and insulted. Sometimes it happens straightforwardly and without malice, as 
> in "That has nothing to do with literacy policy, can we get back to work 
> now?" Other times it comes in the form of a comment that the writer must not 
> have much real work to do if he or she has the time to think all this 
> through and write about it. I find that incredibly insulting, and my 
> response is that it doesn't take George and some others as much time as it 
> would take others to think <some> complex issues through and form a response 
> presicely <because> they have made a practice of it and developed some 
> expertise.
> 
> My point is that if you don't see a connection, and you don't even want to 
> try to see a connection--if you've deemed some ideas not worthy of the 
> attempt to understand them--that still does not give you the power to 
> determine what others <should> consider worth discussing. Don't like it? 
> Delete it, but please don't attempt to shut down a particular line of 
> discussion.
> 
> Even if I don't always have time to answer them, or don't have anything to 
> say that I think is worth reading, I learn a lot from the posts that make me 
> consider the connection between literacy and the wider world of politics, 
> economics, and foreign policy. I also learn a lot from posts that help me 
> consider the deeper world of individual, personal struggle and meaning. I 
> say, if it seems relevant to you, write about it. We need more discussion 
> and shared attempts to understand, not fewer.
> 
> Eileen
> 
> 
> From: "George E. Demetrion" <sophocles5 at juno.com>
> Reply-To: National Literacy Advocacy List sponsored by 
> AAACE<aaace-nla at lists.literacytent.org>
> To: aaace-nla at lists.literacytent.org
> Subject: [AAACE-NLA] Is US foreign policy a relevant topic for this list?
> Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 16:34:51 -0700> 
> 
> I respect Pam Creighton's point of view.  The issue that she raises about
> the appropriateness of a discussion of US foreign policy on this list,
> along with Katheline McCook's response is worthy of the most serious
> consideration.
> 
> There really is no definitive answer in that one's response will depend
> in part on how broadly or strictly one interprets the range of factors
> impacting on adult literacy policy.  That one could make the procedural
> case is clear enough to me.  As my views are fairly well known whether it
> is I who should do that on this list at this time is another matter.  The
> linkage, though clear, would push the boundaries of this list and the
> patience of more than a few on this list, though it is fair to say that
> George W. Bush has pushed the patience of more than a few as well.  That
> is to say nothing about the impact of a war that many view as
> geopolitical and morally dubious in terms of the ethics that have driven
> it.  As war impacts adversely on domestic spending and national
> priorities perhaps a sharper picture of its relevance to this list comes
> into focus. a topic that could and should be included in any civics
> literacy program.
> 
> Underlying this is the policy that drove a discussion of this topic of
> the NIFL lists, even though a  discussion of US foreign policy could not
> be reasonably tied to lobbying.  As one considers the relevance of this
> topic to the list, the NIFL policy is an important sub text to this
> broader question.  When we're speaking of NIFL we're definitely entering
> into the realm of policy.
> 
> Still, as I have neither the time to carry this discussion on my own or
> with only a few others and I at least question the wisdom of
> reintroducing it at this time, I would rather  focus on the procedural
> issue as to whether list members view the topic as relevant.
> 
> Your responses will determine what transpires.
> 
> George Demetrion
> 
> 
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