Comments on: The Audacity of . . . . Culture!

By: Danielle

Danielle — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 00:27:06 +0000

Honestly, this sounds like a great dream. I mean if we look at the way the government goes, children are great to have around but for 18 years they are a liability and not an asset. The government, as long as it is made up of old white men, will never see the necessity of providing culture for their future.

By: Education - Change.org: I have a Dream - That Obama will have Vision

Education - Change.org: I have a Dream - That Obama will have Vision — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 22:31:41 +0000

[...] I can’t close so pessimistically, because I do believe Obama has both the integrity and the intelligence to improve things. Beyond that, I find his championing of science, poetry, jazz, and classical – of culture – like water after an eight-year crawl across the Sahara. As I wrote elsewhere, [...]

By: Clay Burell

Clay Burell — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 13:36:52 +0000

Jose, if you don’t instantly write a post (or just copy/paste this comment as a post on your blog) about this, shame on you. There’s much to think about there.

By: Jose

Jose — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 02:59:06 +0000

I knew you were elitist, Clay, but this is beyond elitism. This is downright liberal! You mean to tell me we need to read stuff and have art in the White House? Don't we have better things to do than look at painted things and listen to nursery rhymes in our spare time? What next? We're gonna have national tea-time replace Daylight Savings? Maybe have a pretty statue erected in the Great Lawn so people can just stare at it, instead of, say, a dog or a cat, or anything more American or normal like that! OK, I need to stop playing. People might take me seriously. I wonder if, with the way things are now, every child will need 3 parents, 2 to work, and the other one to read with them and take them to the museum and do all the stuff the other 2 parents should be doing. I do wonder. Out loud. Joses last blog post..The Mouth and The Giggler

By: Clay Burell

Clay Burell — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 02:58:07 +0000

Yes indeedy.

I wish Obama had made the connection between culture and tough economic times more direct, like so: If you know how to enjoy, truly enjoy, culture, it saves you a lot of money. I’ve said it before: a used $2 copy of Keats’ poetry can give a month of free leisure that, to me, beats eating out or going to the movies.

And those savings make paying the bills easier.

Bush, of course, just wanted kids to be able to read and do enough math, it seems, to be good worker-drones. None of that untestable “creativity” and “engagement” for him. Reading is utilitarian only.

By: diane

diane — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 23:39:07 +0000

"Jazz. Poetry. Classical. Science. Reading " Imagine that! As young, involved parents, the Obamas are just the people to model the type of teacher-student-parent partnering that is essential in education. Lead on, Mr. President! dianes last blog post..CyberSmart! Africa