As a teacher who has fed kids who otherwise would have gone hungry over the summer, I’m appalled.
As an Iowan, I have no idea what more to do. Voting certainly hasn’t worked so far and reasonable arguments fall on deaf ears. Yes, I could move, but is it really any better anywhere else? I would feel like I was abandoning my family, my students, and community. It is important to show through action and compassion that there is more than just this kind of conservative nonsense in the world. Of course, she fast tracked giving our public education dollars to private schools with no change in accountability measures…
I understand from experience that moving out of your home area has a huge cost, not only monetary but social, familial, cultural, and communal. It’s a big decision but an important one. I left because I saw no future in the culture that drove the politics, and have unfortunately been validated in my pessimism.
But by staying you implicitly approve and further that which you find distasteful or appalling. ’Staying to do good from within the system’ often isn’t as powerful as is thought - your influence is ringfenced by the culture and system around you and in cases you may prolong someone else tolerance of an untenable reality. Don’t wait until you are forced to move, build a plan and define your red lines. Encourage others to think the same about their limits. It gets better, honestly
As a teacher who has fed kids who otherwise would have gone hungry over the summer, I’m appalled.
As an Iowan, I have no idea what more to do. Voting certainly hasn’t worked so far and reasonable arguments fall on deaf ears. Yes, I could move, but is it really any better anywhere else? I would feel like I was abandoning my family, my students, and community. It is important to show through action and compassion that there is more than just this kind of conservative nonsense in the world. Of course, she fast tracked giving our public education dollars to private schools with no change in accountability measures…
I understand from experience that moving out of your home area has a huge cost, not only monetary but social, familial, cultural, and communal. It’s a big decision but an important one. I left because I saw no future in the culture that drove the politics, and have unfortunately been validated in my pessimism.
But by staying you implicitly approve and further that which you find distasteful or appalling. ’Staying to do good from within the system’ often isn’t as powerful as is thought - your influence is ringfenced by the culture and system around you and in cases you may prolong someone else tolerance of an untenable reality. Don’t wait until you are forced to move, build a plan and define your red lines. Encourage others to think the same about their limits. It gets better, honestly