November 2008 - Page 2 of 2

Recently I mentioned how, many (many) years ago, we’d found that different folks flourished in different contexts for classroom communication. My takehome was that you should be eclectic in where you look, what you read, etc. I realized another outcome of this yesterday as well.

Different people flourish in different media. Some are great to converse with. Some are great presenters (the regular returnees and featured speakers at conferences). Some create wonderful online media. Some are thoughtful bloggers (see my or others blogrolls), and, now, some are great tweeters (cf Jane Hart’s wonderful compilation of over 500!). Of course some of the most interesting folks flourish in several media, but what’s interesting is that some seem more prolific in some media versus others.

What’s the take home here? Keep trying new media for your own self expression, find a format for staying in touch with those you want to follow, and keep experimenting. I, for instance, am trying to figure out who of the 500 tweeters I should be following, without getting swamped. My best approach is to see who the ones I follow are following. You will find some folks have a style you aren’t interested in, or their personal beliefs intrude on your ability to read them, or something, and that’s to be expected (one of my learnings is that not everyone has to like you personally). However, there are still a lot of great thoughts, pointers, and more going on out there.

It’s too much of an opportunity to be ignored. Start small; follow a few more blogs, set up a twitter account and follow the tweets of a few people. Gung ho or slow and steady, but you can’t just wait. You gotta keep learning, or I reckon you’re dead. Too many zombies as it is. Go forth and learn!

Ok, this is currently for America, but hopefully it’s relevant to all who prefer and enjoy a democratic or representative government. Participate! No excuses. Don’t take your candidate’s status for granted, please, regardless. I’m a firm believer in civic duty (and was before I became a board member of the Center for Civic Education). I liked what Hunter Thompson had to say; if you haven’t participated in the process, you’ve no right to complain.

While I’m talking politics, there’s one thing I fail to understand: the negative association of the phrase “tax and spend”. To me, that’s just good practice. while the alternatives have some problems.

Let’s take for granted that there has to be some government spending. On national defense, for example. Infrastructure, like freeways. Heck, just to have a government, there has to be spending. Now, I’ll certainly agree that there has been unnecessary spending, and absolutely want to cut the ‘pork’. And we certainly should make sure that we’re being efficient in the services we spend for. No bloated bureaucracies, please. We need to ensure that our money’s being spent wisely, but we do need to spend. So…

Not to tax and then to spend is fiscally irresponsible. I mean, if it were a consumer, we’d cut up the credit cards! To tax and not spend is just mean. You’re taking money from people and not putting it to work. Maybe a little budgeting is ok, for the future or tough times. Finally, not taxing and not spending is fiscally responsible, but remember that base level of spending we need. So, we can fight about how much to spend or on what, but it seems to me that ‘tax and spend’ isn’t really an insult. And the best way to agree or disagree with me is, again, to vote. Take advantage of your privilege!

De Tocqueville, 1840: “The American Republic will endure, until politicians realize they can bribe the people with their own money.”

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