Interesting to hear Sec’y Rice’s perspective on things. She seems to acknowledge the importance of history, the bedrock of the separation of powers, the value of diversity, equity and inclusion and America’s responsibilities as far as the rest of the world. Wish she would be more outspoken about these things as they are being dismantled; or to use her analogy, as the bricks used to build democracy are being pulled away, one by one.
Just watched the clip of and had to share some stream of conscience thoughts. Planning to watch the full interview during lunch today.
It's fascinating to hear Dr. Rice speak after growing up during a time when she was often portrayed as a villain of democracy within the Bush administration. While I wasn't particularly interested in politics when she was in power and didn't align with either party, the administration seemed uncaring about the sacrifices they demanded for invading Iraq, and then tanked the economy in 2008. Obviously I do not blame her as an architect of either of those things, but she was part of that team.
My distaste for politics in general back then definitely came from a lack of civic education. For context, we are talking about a Northern California public school that often touted itself as great for quality education, graduating high school in 2003. I never even learned the meaning of the word "civics" until well into adulthood! We had history class every year, but other than some confusingly compressed general curriculum, we only had one semester about government structure in our senior year. Not having that foundation earlier on made American history much harder to understand, which made me tune out. I never got the point of history class and often expressed my frustration that it seemed like a waste of time - maybe people liked learning it out of curiosity, but its relevance was never explained. It is now so obvious how important it was, and I think most of my classmates missed the point.
High school government class was taught by the football coach who doted on the football players and was hard on anti-war students who expressed concerns about Iraq, making those kids justify having an opinion at all. I remember several weeks when the teacher let everything go off the rails pretending a "debate" was happening while jocks called names and threw objects at students who spoke against the Bush administration, and the teacher would just sigh and shake his head with a smile. Once a student left in tears from the bullying and got reprimanded for leaving without permission. I don’t remember learning much of anything in that class, but I do remember clearly how much the teacher talked about loving Hotel California by the Eagles for some reason. I’ve discussed this with friends and found out that this is not unique, many other schools had “government” class taught by the football coach. So strange. Civics was clearly a low priority as Sharon rightfully warns in the interview. And I don’t see public school education improving anytime soon.
Dr. Rice's thoughts on compromise sound great in a vacuum, but come on - she's part of a political party that has full control of the government and has shown zero interest in getting the minority party's voice represented. How can you expect the minority party to want to compromise when they don't have anything to gain from it?
That said, her point about removing cameras from some processes is intriguing. We all know what she means: those performances where people on committees demand yes/no answers from folks with nuanced stories to tell, mugging with furrowed brows as though this isn't a rehearsed confrontation engineered for a viral moment. Transparency is necessary, but maybe a written record would provide the same transparency without the corruption toward internet fame?
It was also interesting when Dr. Rice talked about democracy being a long process of building institutions brick by brick... I know she was talking about foreign governments but, hello? What about what her party is doing with those bricks right now? And her concern is that people can't have a civil conversation about the dismantling of those institutions with one party having all the power and the other left quibbling about which bad options they have to choose from? Ugh!
I often wonder what year exactly the dramatic shift from not focusing on teaching civics and government happened. I know it wasn't all at once. I'm about 5 years ahead of you in school based on who was in office when you were in high school. We had an entire semester of civics in 8th great. Our government teacher in high school also coached but he was brand new, it was one of his first years teaching. I distinctly remember him sitting on the desk in the front of our class after Operation Desert Fox and telling us to ask him anything that we were scared of. I don't remember much else from his class but I remember that.
I do think her point about removing cameras from Congress is something we should think about. I don't feel more represented because I can watch what my Representatives or Senators are saying on the House or Senate floor. I've listened now to a few Representatives/Senators on tv and then in more private settings. It can truly be night and day listening to them speak in those situations. I want to see more of the way they are in private settings. If removing the cameras from Congress helps force that I am all for it.
Fascinating about the coach-as-government/civics teacher for one semester thing being common. Which state were you in by the way? It sounds like your experience was a lot more engaging. Also interesting that for you it was before high school and for me it was the final semester before graduation, which i think teaching it early makes a lot more sense. Even if you don’t remember the curriculum, you do remember that he seemed to encourage thought instead of suppressing it. When you’re that young it probably doesn’t make sense to pretend kids are going to have fully formed, reasoned opinions of their own, but I like the “what are you thinking about?” framing, and hopefully from there learning about how to think critically about how the system works on their road to forming opinions.
I was in Virginia during that time! I was lucky to have great teachers for both of those classes. I wish I could remember more of the curriculum but 8th and 10th grade were a little too long ago for that. Just being made to feel like our concerns were valid was so important. We also watched Channel One news in our government/history classes and I also found the conversations that came from that were something that I still remember.
And yes the Coach as a government/civics teacher is sort of a cliche, but it appears to ring true. We also had a Coach as our health teacher. Maybe more of a cliche?
This might have been true at my school too! We were also a very small, rural school so it's not like they could pay people to be coaches and teachers. The teachers might have gotten a stipend to be a coach but I'm doubting it was enough to write home about. Just another thing that sticks out about that government class, him being called Coach.
Teachers being repurposed as coaches makes more sense than coaches being repurposed as government teachers. I hope the former is more common. My experience was the latter, at least in that my teacher was 100% focused on sports and seemed to hate the academic part.
Yeah we had coaches as physical education teachers too, that makes sense. I'm just surprised that Government/Civics class is treated as an afterthought whereas languages, math and science get specialized instructors.
Edging myself into your conversation here about coaches. I graduated high school in 2002 in metro Atlanta (still live here!). Almost all of our Social Studies (whey they called classes around govt, economics, political science, history, etc.) teachers were coaches. So it's definitely a thing and it has never made sense to me.
I agree taking the cameras away takes away the performative grandstanding. There are other ways for transparency like reporters that write their stories rather than record or sessions that are open to the public for observing but not recording or interrupting. There are ways for sure but the cameras need to go.
I had a whole thing written in my head about Rice and her positions during the Bush Admin. but sometimes I get tired of getting yelled at on here. So I’m glad you mentioned a few things. Rice is actually one of the people who started me toward the exits of the Republican Party (Sarah Palin got me through the door!). I had a lot of respect for her before the whole Iraq WMD and torture thing. But then she seemed determined to put party over principle, insisting that pretty much anything the administration did was “right.” Even after the torture thing blew up, she said of our legal obligations under the Convention Against Torture, “By definition, if it was authorized by the President, it did not violate our obligations under the Convention Against Torture.” That’s reminiscent of Nixon saying if the President does it, it can’t be illegal or more recently, Trump with his “he who saves the country does not violate any laws.” I think to this day she has never acknowledged the false premises of the Iraq War. She reeled me back in slightly when she did Jon Stewart’s podcast a few years ago alongside Hillary Clinton. They were both excellent and it was astounding to hear how much their views were aligned on foreign policy. But then this past year, when so many Republicans and past national security advisors were ringing the alarm bells about Trump, Rice and W were conspicuously silent. It was very disappointing. Lastly, on a personal note, my high school history teacher way back in the late 70s decided he wouldn’t cover the U.S. Civil War because since it happened so long ago it was irrelevant. Yes, he lost his job after that school year.
Kinda funny how someone who got accused of being a war criminal by Democrats 20 years ago could be perceived as a breath of fresh air now in comparison to current standards 🤔
And oh wow, that’s pretty nutty about not getting taught about the Civil War in that class. May I ask which state you were living in that maybe did the right thing in firing him after that? Did you have to figure it out on your own?
It was a small town in SW Ohio. My mom was one of the founders of the local historical society and also the editor of the local paper. She made sure I read the right books and understood the issues surrounding the Civil War. I would like to say the teacher was fired for that but in reality it was for other, shall we say “non-curriculum-related, issues.
Sounds like you were lucky to get your education supplemented at home, but your classmates were kinda screwed. I wonder what kinds of stories the kids of today are going to have, now that teaching the Civil War accurately might be considered illegal by some interpretations.
This is interesting about the civics education you received. I know education is "left to the states", but civics and government seems like it could be beneficial to require for all states. I'm in Minnesota and here, at least in my district, Civics is a year-long course. I took it in 9th grade over 40 years ago and it's been this way ever since and probably before me too. I think now they take it in 11th or 12th grade instead. I don't know if it's one of the reasons, but Minnesota does historically have a very engaged electorate with very high voting turnout. I think sometimes we had coaches teaching civics, but here they were social studies teachers first, coaches second.
Also, we are required to take Human Geography of Global Issues and Economics (semester each) in 11/12 grade as well.
I definitely think there's a connection between adequate civics education and political engagement as adults. Absolutely. And I think taking it as a foundation for your later learning of history is key. Saving it for the last thing you learn before you graduate doesn't make sense. That's like learning basic arithmetic after algebra. U.S History makes a lot more sense once you learn how the government works.
That is how it used to be in our district, Civics in 9th grade, American History in 10th, World History in 11th, then the Geography/Economics in 12th. Now they've flipped Civics and World History. Although, many choose AP Government instead of Civics in 11th/12th grade now. Before, they would have to take Civics and then they would choose to take AP Government in 11/12, but usually only the college-bound students take the AP class. I'm not sure if this is a change state-wide or just our district. My kids (twins) are graduating college this year, so I'm a little past the current high school curriculum.
I loved your discussion on compromise. The fact that the minority party wasn’t consulted or involved in conversation at all on the most recent budget bill is so disheartening. I think we can get back to a place of working together! But it’s really going to depend on “the tone at the top,” and putting in elected officials that have a genuine interest in others’ opinions and insight.
Really interesting interview! Thank you for sharing her words with us. I appreciated her depth, discussing the important parts of democracy. From the three branches of government down to our local book clubs. Meeting others from different backgrounds has had such an important impact on my life. I grew up rural and poor. I was lucky to get to go to college and meet others from all over the US. I then had internships that exposed me to people and places that I’ll forever be grateful for. Not everyone has to take the same path but putting yourself in a position to talk to others who are unlike you is so important. I loved her discussion on compassion as well.
I also know I’ve been listening to the Hamilton soundtrack too much when I hear her say George the 3rd and start singing, ‘And when push comes to shove I will send a fully armed battalion to remind you of my love!’
What a great interview! Loved the positive and hopeful tone of the conversation. Rice appeared humble and gracious. Really enjoyed hearing her perspective and about her experiences. Thank you, Sharon!
I really enjoyed this interview. What a breath of fresh air to hear two adults listening to each other and engaged in positive and constructive dialogue. Thank you, Sharon!
While I do appreciate a take from a more old guard republican, it's concerning to me that Ms Rice focused more on it being a good thing that our government is set up for change to take longer to change vs the current state of affairs of the president and shadow president acting like bulls in a china shop. We already know how our government is *supposed* to act/look, but the concern is that's not what's happening.
I agree with you. While I do appreciate the calm tone, I feel we must also adopt an urgent tone to deal with our current situation. We should probably strive to work with both a demeanor which is calm and urgent.
A small light bulb moment for me that’s a little off topic. When she said “it doesn’t matter where you came for, it matters where you’re going” I realized that a lot of Americans no longer feel this way. While it may still be true in this country run by oligarchs that the American dream is still achievable, it certainly doesn’t *feel* that way. (I’m not convinced it’s true either.)
I think this is part of the despair that many Americans feel right now. The cards seem stacked against us and pulling oneself up by our bootstraps no longer seems possible. It’s also something I’m not hearing from either party: that’s this is a country where you can become anything and anything is possible.
One of the things I’ve learned in caring for a disadvantaged population of kids is that the “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” mentality has always been a myth. It is physically impossible to do this if you were born without boots I.e. Hard work alone may not be enough if the odds are stacked so far in the wrong direction. You need help, and that’s where I feel like having a functioning govt that understands equity really matters.
Even with boots it’s impossible. This was never an admonishment for individualism. It was a sarcastic call that knew it was impossible to do and absurd to ask of anyone. Our own ignorance has turned the metaphor into something that means an accomplishment without assistance.
I think assistance for bootstraps dreams, help & respect everybody as neighbors as needed were core messages of one platform that didn’t fly for enough people. Many others resonated with a simpler vision of “we’ll fix the scary dangers & make eggs cheaper for you”… We would benefit from educating students & grown-ups on Civics to better understand the vision of “we the people”…. the rights, responsibilities & dangers. I give many approves for Condoleezza & Sharon doing just that.
Yes, if you look at a 200-year view of the U.S., democracy is on the upswing. If you look at the last 10 years, it's certainly declining. Both views are accurate. Sharon and Ms. Rice comment on how democratic institutions will not just persist without active attention and support. We are undoubtedly in a period where action is needed to contonue that overall upward trajectory.
Much like the stock market can look very different with different views, a sharp downturn like 2008 eventually looks like a blip, but it takes a lot of work in the moment to ensure it's just a blip.
Democracy is in sharp decline in this moment. I'm so glad for people like Sharon who are putting in work to help turn the tide so in 20 years, this is but a blip.
I really enjoyed watching this interview (both the clip and then the full piece) - and I'm not normally a fan video formats. She's incredibly experienced, knowledgeable and thoughtful, and I also appreciated the discussion about her outlook right now. How wonderful it would be to have her as a professor. Thank you for sharing.
Interesting to hear Sec’y Rice’s perspective on things. She seems to acknowledge the importance of history, the bedrock of the separation of powers, the value of diversity, equity and inclusion and America’s responsibilities as far as the rest of the world. Wish she would be more outspoken about these things as they are being dismantled; or to use her analogy, as the bricks used to build democracy are being pulled away, one by one.
Just watched the clip of and had to share some stream of conscience thoughts. Planning to watch the full interview during lunch today.
It's fascinating to hear Dr. Rice speak after growing up during a time when she was often portrayed as a villain of democracy within the Bush administration. While I wasn't particularly interested in politics when she was in power and didn't align with either party, the administration seemed uncaring about the sacrifices they demanded for invading Iraq, and then tanked the economy in 2008. Obviously I do not blame her as an architect of either of those things, but she was part of that team.
My distaste for politics in general back then definitely came from a lack of civic education. For context, we are talking about a Northern California public school that often touted itself as great for quality education, graduating high school in 2003. I never even learned the meaning of the word "civics" until well into adulthood! We had history class every year, but other than some confusingly compressed general curriculum, we only had one semester about government structure in our senior year. Not having that foundation earlier on made American history much harder to understand, which made me tune out. I never got the point of history class and often expressed my frustration that it seemed like a waste of time - maybe people liked learning it out of curiosity, but its relevance was never explained. It is now so obvious how important it was, and I think most of my classmates missed the point.
High school government class was taught by the football coach who doted on the football players and was hard on anti-war students who expressed concerns about Iraq, making those kids justify having an opinion at all. I remember several weeks when the teacher let everything go off the rails pretending a "debate" was happening while jocks called names and threw objects at students who spoke against the Bush administration, and the teacher would just sigh and shake his head with a smile. Once a student left in tears from the bullying and got reprimanded for leaving without permission. I don’t remember learning much of anything in that class, but I do remember clearly how much the teacher talked about loving Hotel California by the Eagles for some reason. I’ve discussed this with friends and found out that this is not unique, many other schools had “government” class taught by the football coach. So strange. Civics was clearly a low priority as Sharon rightfully warns in the interview. And I don’t see public school education improving anytime soon.
Dr. Rice's thoughts on compromise sound great in a vacuum, but come on - she's part of a political party that has full control of the government and has shown zero interest in getting the minority party's voice represented. How can you expect the minority party to want to compromise when they don't have anything to gain from it?
That said, her point about removing cameras from some processes is intriguing. We all know what she means: those performances where people on committees demand yes/no answers from folks with nuanced stories to tell, mugging with furrowed brows as though this isn't a rehearsed confrontation engineered for a viral moment. Transparency is necessary, but maybe a written record would provide the same transparency without the corruption toward internet fame?
It was also interesting when Dr. Rice talked about democracy being a long process of building institutions brick by brick... I know she was talking about foreign governments but, hello? What about what her party is doing with those bricks right now? And her concern is that people can't have a civil conversation about the dismantling of those institutions with one party having all the power and the other left quibbling about which bad options they have to choose from? Ugh!
Anyway, good morning 🐣
I often wonder what year exactly the dramatic shift from not focusing on teaching civics and government happened. I know it wasn't all at once. I'm about 5 years ahead of you in school based on who was in office when you were in high school. We had an entire semester of civics in 8th great. Our government teacher in high school also coached but he was brand new, it was one of his first years teaching. I distinctly remember him sitting on the desk in the front of our class after Operation Desert Fox and telling us to ask him anything that we were scared of. I don't remember much else from his class but I remember that.
I do think her point about removing cameras from Congress is something we should think about. I don't feel more represented because I can watch what my Representatives or Senators are saying on the House or Senate floor. I've listened now to a few Representatives/Senators on tv and then in more private settings. It can truly be night and day listening to them speak in those situations. I want to see more of the way they are in private settings. If removing the cameras from Congress helps force that I am all for it.
Fascinating about the coach-as-government/civics teacher for one semester thing being common. Which state were you in by the way? It sounds like your experience was a lot more engaging. Also interesting that for you it was before high school and for me it was the final semester before graduation, which i think teaching it early makes a lot more sense. Even if you don’t remember the curriculum, you do remember that he seemed to encourage thought instead of suppressing it. When you’re that young it probably doesn’t make sense to pretend kids are going to have fully formed, reasoned opinions of their own, but I like the “what are you thinking about?” framing, and hopefully from there learning about how to think critically about how the system works on their road to forming opinions.
I was in Virginia during that time! I was lucky to have great teachers for both of those classes. I wish I could remember more of the curriculum but 8th and 10th grade were a little too long ago for that. Just being made to feel like our concerns were valid was so important. We also watched Channel One news in our government/history classes and I also found the conversations that came from that were something that I still remember.
And yes the Coach as a government/civics teacher is sort of a cliche, but it appears to ring true. We also had a Coach as our health teacher. Maybe more of a cliche?
We had coaches as health teachers as well, but that's because health was part of Phy Ed so taught by PE teachers.
This might have been true at my school too! We were also a very small, rural school so it's not like they could pay people to be coaches and teachers. The teachers might have gotten a stipend to be a coach but I'm doubting it was enough to write home about. Just another thing that sticks out about that government class, him being called Coach.
Teachers being repurposed as coaches makes more sense than coaches being repurposed as government teachers. I hope the former is more common. My experience was the latter, at least in that my teacher was 100% focused on sports and seemed to hate the academic part.
Yeah we had coaches as physical education teachers too, that makes sense. I'm just surprised that Government/Civics class is treated as an afterthought whereas languages, math and science get specialized instructors.
Edging myself into your conversation here about coaches. I graduated high school in 2002 in metro Atlanta (still live here!). Almost all of our Social Studies (whey they called classes around govt, economics, political science, history, etc.) teachers were coaches. So it's definitely a thing and it has never made sense to me.
I agree taking the cameras away takes away the performative grandstanding. There are other ways for transparency like reporters that write their stories rather than record or sessions that are open to the public for observing but not recording or interrupting. There are ways for sure but the cameras need to go.
I had a whole thing written in my head about Rice and her positions during the Bush Admin. but sometimes I get tired of getting yelled at on here. So I’m glad you mentioned a few things. Rice is actually one of the people who started me toward the exits of the Republican Party (Sarah Palin got me through the door!). I had a lot of respect for her before the whole Iraq WMD and torture thing. But then she seemed determined to put party over principle, insisting that pretty much anything the administration did was “right.” Even after the torture thing blew up, she said of our legal obligations under the Convention Against Torture, “By definition, if it was authorized by the President, it did not violate our obligations under the Convention Against Torture.” That’s reminiscent of Nixon saying if the President does it, it can’t be illegal or more recently, Trump with his “he who saves the country does not violate any laws.” I think to this day she has never acknowledged the false premises of the Iraq War. She reeled me back in slightly when she did Jon Stewart’s podcast a few years ago alongside Hillary Clinton. They were both excellent and it was astounding to hear how much their views were aligned on foreign policy. But then this past year, when so many Republicans and past national security advisors were ringing the alarm bells about Trump, Rice and W were conspicuously silent. It was very disappointing. Lastly, on a personal note, my high school history teacher way back in the late 70s decided he wouldn’t cover the U.S. Civil War because since it happened so long ago it was irrelevant. Yes, he lost his job after that school year.
Kinda funny how someone who got accused of being a war criminal by Democrats 20 years ago could be perceived as a breath of fresh air now in comparison to current standards 🤔
And oh wow, that’s pretty nutty about not getting taught about the Civil War in that class. May I ask which state you were living in that maybe did the right thing in firing him after that? Did you have to figure it out on your own?
It was a small town in SW Ohio. My mom was one of the founders of the local historical society and also the editor of the local paper. She made sure I read the right books and understood the issues surrounding the Civil War. I would like to say the teacher was fired for that but in reality it was for other, shall we say “non-curriculum-related, issues.
Sounds like you were lucky to get your education supplemented at home, but your classmates were kinda screwed. I wonder what kinds of stories the kids of today are going to have, now that teaching the Civil War accurately might be considered illegal by some interpretations.
This is interesting about the civics education you received. I know education is "left to the states", but civics and government seems like it could be beneficial to require for all states. I'm in Minnesota and here, at least in my district, Civics is a year-long course. I took it in 9th grade over 40 years ago and it's been this way ever since and probably before me too. I think now they take it in 11th or 12th grade instead. I don't know if it's one of the reasons, but Minnesota does historically have a very engaged electorate with very high voting turnout. I think sometimes we had coaches teaching civics, but here they were social studies teachers first, coaches second.
Also, we are required to take Human Geography of Global Issues and Economics (semester each) in 11/12 grade as well.
I definitely think there's a connection between adequate civics education and political engagement as adults. Absolutely. And I think taking it as a foundation for your later learning of history is key. Saving it for the last thing you learn before you graduate doesn't make sense. That's like learning basic arithmetic after algebra. U.S History makes a lot more sense once you learn how the government works.
That is how it used to be in our district, Civics in 9th grade, American History in 10th, World History in 11th, then the Geography/Economics in 12th. Now they've flipped Civics and World History. Although, many choose AP Government instead of Civics in 11th/12th grade now. Before, they would have to take Civics and then they would choose to take AP Government in 11/12, but usually only the college-bound students take the AP class. I'm not sure if this is a change state-wide or just our district. My kids (twins) are graduating college this year, so I'm a little past the current high school curriculum.
I loved your discussion on compromise. The fact that the minority party wasn’t consulted or involved in conversation at all on the most recent budget bill is so disheartening. I think we can get back to a place of working together! But it’s really going to depend on “the tone at the top,” and putting in elected officials that have a genuine interest in others’ opinions and insight.
Oh how I miss a good, clear-thinking Republican. Thanks for the reminder that they still exist 💙❤️
It is refreshing!
I thoroughly enjoyed this interview! It was informative, educational, and provided a direction to a path forward. Thank you
Really interesting interview! Thank you for sharing her words with us. I appreciated her depth, discussing the important parts of democracy. From the three branches of government down to our local book clubs. Meeting others from different backgrounds has had such an important impact on my life. I grew up rural and poor. I was lucky to get to go to college and meet others from all over the US. I then had internships that exposed me to people and places that I’ll forever be grateful for. Not everyone has to take the same path but putting yourself in a position to talk to others who are unlike you is so important. I loved her discussion on compassion as well.
I also know I’ve been listening to the Hamilton soundtrack too much when I hear her say George the 3rd and start singing, ‘And when push comes to shove I will send a fully armed battalion to remind you of my love!’
What a great interview! Loved the positive and hopeful tone of the conversation. Rice appeared humble and gracious. Really enjoyed hearing her perspective and about her experiences. Thank you, Sharon!
This interview gave me a tiny bit of hope to start my day. Thank you for sharing. 💛
I really enjoyed this interview. What a breath of fresh air to hear two adults listening to each other and engaged in positive and constructive dialogue. Thank you, Sharon!
Great interview! Don't forget she's an incredible golfer! ⛳️
While I do appreciate a take from a more old guard republican, it's concerning to me that Ms Rice focused more on it being a good thing that our government is set up for change to take longer to change vs the current state of affairs of the president and shadow president acting like bulls in a china shop. We already know how our government is *supposed* to act/look, but the concern is that's not what's happening.
I agree with you. While I do appreciate the calm tone, I feel we must also adopt an urgent tone to deal with our current situation. We should probably strive to work with both a demeanor which is calm and urgent.
A small light bulb moment for me that’s a little off topic. When she said “it doesn’t matter where you came for, it matters where you’re going” I realized that a lot of Americans no longer feel this way. While it may still be true in this country run by oligarchs that the American dream is still achievable, it certainly doesn’t *feel* that way. (I’m not convinced it’s true either.)
I think this is part of the despair that many Americans feel right now. The cards seem stacked against us and pulling oneself up by our bootstraps no longer seems possible. It’s also something I’m not hearing from either party: that’s this is a country where you can become anything and anything is possible.
One of the things I’ve learned in caring for a disadvantaged population of kids is that the “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” mentality has always been a myth. It is physically impossible to do this if you were born without boots I.e. Hard work alone may not be enough if the odds are stacked so far in the wrong direction. You need help, and that’s where I feel like having a functioning govt that understands equity really matters.
Even with boots it’s impossible. This was never an admonishment for individualism. It was a sarcastic call that knew it was impossible to do and absurd to ask of anyone. Our own ignorance has turned the metaphor into something that means an accomplishment without assistance.
I think assistance for bootstraps dreams, help & respect everybody as neighbors as needed were core messages of one platform that didn’t fly for enough people. Many others resonated with a simpler vision of “we’ll fix the scary dangers & make eggs cheaper for you”… We would benefit from educating students & grown-ups on Civics to better understand the vision of “we the people”…. the rights, responsibilities & dangers. I give many approves for Condoleezza & Sharon doing just that.
Yes, if you look at a 200-year view of the U.S., democracy is on the upswing. If you look at the last 10 years, it's certainly declining. Both views are accurate. Sharon and Ms. Rice comment on how democratic institutions will not just persist without active attention and support. We are undoubtedly in a period where action is needed to contonue that overall upward trajectory.
Much like the stock market can look very different with different views, a sharp downturn like 2008 eventually looks like a blip, but it takes a lot of work in the moment to ensure it's just a blip.
Democracy is in sharp decline in this moment. I'm so glad for people like Sharon who are putting in work to help turn the tide so in 20 years, this is but a blip.
‘’Don’t look at what I don’t have but why I do have so much”. 💕💕💕💕💕
She is wonderful. Thank you!
I really enjoyed watching this interview (both the clip and then the full piece) - and I'm not normally a fan video formats. She's incredibly experienced, knowledgeable and thoughtful, and I also appreciated the discussion about her outlook right now. How wonderful it would be to have her as a professor. Thank you for sharing.
I was thinking the same- about having her as a professor. She is so calming!