Darryl & Natalia wrote:
I agree that there are many pseudo-elite schools laying claims to the
inspiration of young minds. I agree that the tone and emphasis in many
courses will be guided by politics. But you still don't get much more
than the three R's in most publicly funded US schools.
I'm sorry you found Yale lacking in the sixties. I'm sure you would be
doubly appalled today. Nonetheless, I believe it was Yale that was the
recipient of an anonymous $100 million dollar donation to cover all
tuition fees for music students. Provided they don't merely pump out
marching band music, the money isn't entirely wasted.
I'm glad you picked this example. The article I read about is said that
the shift
from the students paying to the students getting free tuition would
eliminate the students' sense of entitlement to good grades in return
for all the money they [the students] spent. Now the school
could be more selective/rigorous/...
Do you know the word from architecture education: Charette? It's
not an all nite booze and sex and drug and rock-n-roll
party which the students engage
in because they want [however wrongheadedly...] to!
I stand by my thesis: Leisure is the basis of culture. And the fact that
some succeed/accomplish *despite* living in an artists' garret and
waiting on tables and so forth only proves the same thing as that
not all mine workers get black lung disease (I think that's true?) --
oh, yes, it's also a bit like some alcoholics are able to make a life
for themselves as alcoholism councellors. As the man who spent his
last decade(s?) of life in madness said: "What doesn't
kill me makes me stronger."
If you want to suffer, please, give me the opportunity to have
what I thrive on, too: Lux, calme et volupte (Sp?). Not everyone,
apparently, has the same needs....
\brad mccormick
Private schools are the ones that by far offer the most art programs,
as well as diverse recreational ones. I cannot argue that most will be
graduating little Dubya's, and interpretation of subject matter by
those teaching is everything.
I have been mostly disappointed with modern art, architecture, music,
and literature. When one examines the rest of society, from the lack
of respect for our planet, to the lack of respect for our fellow
humans, one can easily argue the case for the lack of guidance and
leadership because of the elected's poor quality of
education/upbringing/environment.
As to favelas being unlikely to produce the next Shakespeare or
'massive erudition', for the most part you will be right. Most of the
best of the arts has been produced by rather more secure individuals
benefiting at least from Maslow's "most basic". It has also typically
been promoted by established agents. Yet, there are the
exceptions. Excellent song, music and literature came out of the
holocaust, and two world wars. In fact, the experience
of overwhelming emotional loss or anger has been the author of many
incredible works, and many inspirational leaders. We all grow from our
most painful moments, in one way or another. My preference would be
for happy upbringings, but this doesn't necessarily result in a
guarantee of sanity. Sensitivity develops out of many different factors.
What was interesting to me about the favelas was that there is
something there culturally for which tourists would risk the gang
violence.
I think those tourists are sick -- unless they are really
anthropologists, who,
like the MDs in public health, risk their lives for humanity.
They all have paid guides to walk them through the appropriate
behavior; what to wear in a place where donning the wrong color can
inspire the wrath of the wrong groups, and where sudden movements like
unbuckling a seatbelt can be fatal. But there seems to be enough there
today for a new tourist industry--and if a lot of it is for the
tourist mentality, then at least it's providing some income where you
would expect most to come from drugs, stolen goods or prostitution or
slavery. If drugs were the only game in town, everyone would be dead.
The slavery occurs primarily when the favela dweller gets a job on the
outside. Entrepreneurs are beating the odds, and women are the ones
who weave, prepare cloth, sew, bake and cook, along with countless
other tasks from which men have traditionally distanced themselves.
Word has it the street parties are happening most days and nights, and
some can't resist the allure of a good party.
We have a different type of security structure, with security systems
and police that may protect us. You could say that that defensiveness,
much like that of the Bush government, has been the direct cause of
aggression and subsequent guilt. Rio's favelas have a system in which
they don't tend to worry so much about their property being stolen
because their neighbors are extremely close, watching and ready to
protect, but they are all in the same boat. Religion has been central
to the culture, and Ed's point of this aspect affecting behavior has
validity. They also have little to lose--which puts a different value
onto property, putting it into a clearer perspective if one is to
value that which has no price.
The people and their unfortunate circumstances were there before the
gangs. The gangs did not bring the people, though it can be argued
that the gangs have led the people into worse predicaments. The people
didn't just come up with a whole new culture, though their experiences
there would add or subtract to something already vibrant. Quite a
sophisticated self-policing and scouting system has arisen which does
a fairly good job of warning people of imminent gang activity
and police retaliation. Most will stay indoors, or abandon activities
in certain areas when word gets out, or if gun shots are heard. They
have learned to cope, and given this, without the myriad restrictions
we have in our society, many will, I think, emerge as very powerful
and even very sensitive people. I think it unwise to underestimate
what may come from this new frontier. Europe, Asia, and America all
went through extremely violent pasts to arrive at where-ever they are
at today. Some is unwholesome, some is good, some is great.
Should you wish to review the findings of the Spring trip by Avril
Benoit, check out May 05/06 of CBC Radio One. This was an excerpt from
a series, done after the book Ed has recommended. I realize Planet of
Slums is an important work, and was discussed on the series, but it is
possible that the author is overlooking the cultural history the
people had to have brought with them to these slums. I wasn't
suggesting that anyone was well off, apart from the drug lords, but
that in Rio, at any rate, something is stirring, refusing to succumb
to despair.
I bow to your personal experience, Ed, but you were there some years
ago, and in a different location. Is Sao Paulo on the coast? It
doesn't appear to be on my ancient maps. But more to the point,
people never remain inert for long. Things had to have progressed,
apart from the violence. As an outsider, you lived in fear to begin
with, but I marvel that you lasted that long. Was protection was
provided for you as a special consultant/researcher? Did you sleep
behind cardboard? The people in Rio are used to it, you were not. The
kids laugh and play, but you would have been constantly comparing what
your kids have to what these kids haven't. Perhaps Sao Paulo was more
oppressed than in today's Rio favela.
Certainly, it's a crime to humanity that these places exist, but I for
one will be watching how they are going to change the world
in surprising ways for the better.
I think we can only hope the best for all, including such as the Soviet
sailor who went into
the reactor room of his stricken nuclear submarine
to stop a boiler leak that other wise would have
blown up the vessel -- and when he was finished his comrades could not
get the
hatch open again to let him back out. The ship did not explode; the
crew survived,
except for this hero.
Damn (and a pox on) all those who put persons unnecessarily in harm's way.
May we all have a good, safe, healthy and even enjoyable day! (At least
I personally am hoping for one!)
\brad mccormick
Natalia
----- Original Message -----
*From:* Brad McCormick <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
*To:* Darryl & Natalia <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
*Cc:* [email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>
*Sent:* Sunday, May 21, 2006 3:49 AM
*Subject:* Re: [Futurework] Natalia has sent you an article from
npr.org
Quoting Darryl & Natalia <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>>:
> American socialization has been shaped by the market place, by
the cold
> demands of corporate agendas--which at the last count very much
included the
> military agenda. If culture was still encouraged at school, which is
> unlikely at all but the elite private institutions today,
My experience at Yale in the mid 60's and elsewhere leads
me to think you are too optimistic here. If culture is
encouraged at "elite" schools, it is mostly, from my experience,
in the hypocritical way that honesty is also encouraged:
Don't cheat but if you get a low grade you may suffer
badly for the rest of your by-your-poor-performance-likely-
shortened life. The most important thing about the Iliad
is remembering who did what to who to answer questions
on the final exam. In this regard, the only reason the Iliad
is "higher" than a MacDonalds menu is that people generally
find it harder to memorize the facts in it and therefore can be
tested more "rigorously". Dickens is surely one of the
greatest authors because his books contain lots of difficult
to remember facts unlike, e.g., Sophocles' _Oedipus at
Colonus_, which clearly states: "Best of all not to have
been born; second best to have seen the light and go back
swiftly whence on came. The feathery follies of
his youth once past, what trouble is beyong the range of man?..."
[Sophocles didn't know about the SAT's....]
Shame on those who use high culture to hurt persons
[No, I am not talking about the Nazi leaders here but
about "our" teachers who are proud of being "tough"]
and thereby teach by example if not by their bocal (I believe the
Spanish word for mouth is "boca") effluents that
culture is truly anti-life.
\brad mccormick
then a revival of
> appreciation could occur. A steady diet of math and computers
leaves the
> soul rather empty, and the misguided concept of having
possessions to fill
> the emptiness inside results.
>
> Culture, much like sports and outdoor recreation, seem to have
their very
> specific place, not to mention their price. It's become rather cost
> prohibitive, unfortunately especially for the young. Street
musicians are
> now licensed, theatre and opera are a costly occasion, and pro
sports is
> costlier than the arts. Enjoying the parks can cost a pretty
penny too. It
> seems that the only things the feds fund freely these days are
corporate
> concerns.
>
> Interesting how the Favelas in Rio are actually doing well
culturally. So
> much so that their main source of income has become tourism. The
CBC Radio
> One toured a few of the major world cities' illegal communities, and
> discovered a vibrant community in Rio. People there live in
relative safety
> because neighbors watch out for each other. Most people abide by
a code of
> behavior that, once understood, inspires a general sense of
trust, and apart
> from gang violence, most people make the time for song and
music, art and
> even architectural accomplishments out of low cost/no cost
material. Women
> particularly have been thriving because of demand for arts and
crafts.
This, surely is very good. But it is not Bach or Josquin,
or Kant or Husserl, or Palladio or Louis Kahn....
and never likely will be.
The rough and tumble of the streets cannot produce "massive
erudition" and
connoisseurship. Callouses help one to survive at the price
of desensitizing, etc.
Perhaps high culture does not deserve to exist?
\brad mccormick
It's
> as if we have been provided assurance in this new dark age, as a
result of
> their budding successes, that arts and culture once again prove
to be the
> foundation of society and economy. I'm sure that Ray has been
following
> closely.
>
> Natalia
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Not that I would suggest that America must fall to its knees and
be deprived
> of all things material so that it could at last appreciate the
life that
> still pulses deep within...
>
> Natalia
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Brad McCormick, Ed.D." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Cc: <[email protected]>
> Sent: Saturday, May 20, 2006 2:41 PM
> Subject: Re: [Futurework] Natalia has sent you an article from
npr.org
>
>
>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>> > Natalia thought you would be interested in this story: NPR :
Tiny Houses
> Find a Friend on the Gulf Coast
>> >
>>
>> I heard this one. Some of the houses are 70 sq/ft -- but also in
> "daddy's"
>> back yard so that the tenant can use the facilities in the big
traditional
>> house.
>>
>> The Unabomber certainly was a proponent of small houses -- but with
>> self-sufficiency.
>> Today's NYT has a fine article: "Bigger Housese, Longer Commutes"
>>
>>
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/21/realestate/21cov.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
<https://www.mail.cloud9.net/horde/services/go.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2006%2F05%2F21%2Frealestate%2F21cov.html%3F_r%3D1%26oref%3Dslogin>
>>
>> I think the problem is largely that Americans' socialization --
even
>> many with
>> PhDs -- does not cultivate in them a love for high culture but
rather a
>> lust for more square feet.
>>
>> I knew the son of the person I consider one of the important
writers of
>> all times -- not comparatively, but irrespective of comparison:
Hermann
>> Broch.
>> "Broch's son" lived in a one bedroom apartment with his wife on the
>> upper east
>> side of manhattan. It was a small apartment: the kitchen was
especially
>> small,
>> perhaps 5 by 6 feet??? But it was a place filled with the
culture of
>> pre-WWII "Vienna" (and also a few chotchkies(sp?)). I am sure
there
>> are MacMansions in Westchester that are furnished to a higher
level of
>> culture than Broch's little apartment -- I am sure of this
because I
>> believe there exist persons in our society who have both a lot
of money
>> and also a
>> lot of cultivation -- but I suspect these are few. Broch's little
> apartment
>> was tight on square feet, but rich in "the life of the mind".
I loved
>> visiting
>> him and his wife -- I would always get a glass of fine cognac
(well that
>> would
>> probably be available in many of the MacMansions...), but I would
>> savor to look at the details in the apartment: the lovely japanese
>> screen on the
>> libing room wall, the cigarette holder on the table (not that I
smoked),
> the
>> bookcase, the poster of his father from Surkamp Verlag (sp?).
>> Aristocracy reduced to having to count its pennies, probably, but
>> a graciousness that generates a world of meaningful symbols,
not just
>> "space". Of course, the symbols were meaningful *to me*, and
>> another might have found it all not really serious compared to
>> acquiring another company or exceeding wall street's
>> expectations by a quarter percent....
>>
>> Was man made for the Sabbath, or was the Sabbath made for man?
>>
>> Was man made for space, or was space made for man?
>>
>> Of course, given my druthers, I'd like to live some place
>> like Katsura, or even just an apartment in one of Trump's towers
>> (there was once a piece in the NYT about an apartment in
>> Tudor City across from the UN, a "triplex", where the owners,
>> went away each weekend -- no, not to the Hamptons, no, not to
>> the Berkshires -- but to their *third floor* for the weekend -->
>> now *that's* where I'd like to live. But if I can't live there,
>> I'd rather live in a small place where I had the leisure to savor
>> my Glenkinchie in my Kakumi Seiho sake cup, than be
>> putting in sweat equity to earn square feet on the road.
>>
>> Why is it better to be a kamikaze pilot than to have
>> a long commute? Because the kamikaze pilot only
>> has to make the trip once.
>>
>> \brad mccormick
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> > <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5366823
<https://www.mail.cloud9.net/horde/services/go.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2Ftemplates%2Fstory%2Fstory.php%3FstoryId%3D5366823>>
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>> > This message was included:
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>>
>>
>> --
>> Let your light so shine before men,
>> that they may see your good works.... (Matt 5:16)
>>
>> Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (1 Thes 5:21)
>>
>> <![%THINK;[SGML+APL]]> Brad McCormick, Ed.D. / [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>> -----------------------------------------------------------------
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--
Let your light so shine before men,
that they may see your good works.... (Matt 5:16)
Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (1 Thes 5:21)
<![%THINK;[SGML+APL]]> Brad McCormick, Ed.D. / [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (1 Thes 5:21)
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