I hope that any readers will believe that I TRY to present a reasonably neutral position, politically speaking, in these posts. I have always believed that it was an abuse of power for an educator (which I have considered myself to be since I started teaching in the Fall of 1969) to express political opinions in the classroom. That’s not to say that I don’t (and haven’t) HAD political opinions, even pretty strong ones. However, I have certainly attempted to be properly diligent about not making them a part of my teaching. I think (and thought) that it was my job to present, as much as possible, the most appropriate and FACTUAL information available on the topic at hand, and that it needed to be as free as possible from personal, and/or political bias.
Now, I HAVE, on occasion, been asked by a student for my opinions, beliefs, etc., regarding matters about which there is some controversy. In those cases, I have tried to make it clear that I was expressing MY opinion; and I have, whenever possible, attempted to explain my reasoning, while acknowledging that there are other opinions.
Case in point: I have never seen what I could accept as a reasonable case being made for the idea that William Shakespeare of Stratford-Upon-Avon did not write the plays and poems which have been credited to him. I HAVE, in fact, been asked about this in the classroom. My response has always been to state that I have never seen any evidence which I would consider to be adequate to justify a belief that he didn’t write them. But, some people do have that opinion, as is their right. I hope that I have made it clear, however, that, I, PERSONALLY, don’t buy their argument.
The same sort of practice has been my attempt throughout my teaching career. Now, I am not stupid enough to believe that many of my students have not come to believe that I am fairly liberal-minded (which I would suggest tends to be true of most theatre people) and, therefore, I AM likely to espouse those sorts of positions PERSONALLY, but I have at least made considerable efforts to keep them to personal, not “teaching,” situations. I have also tried to maintain that sort of position in this blog, and I intend to continue to do so.
That does NOT mean, however, that I do not wish to take advantage of this format to encourage voting! Lots of people are making lots of noise these days about how “crooked” our elections are and how it really isn’t important to vote because “somebody” is going to prevent YOUR vote from being fairly counted.
I DISAGREE! The evidence which I have encountered suggests that the “election deniers” all seem to think our elections are highly flawed, but the people who actually RUN our elections say (and have demonstrated in court!) that they have evidence strongly suggesting that our elections are at least among the fairest and most equitable in the world, if they aren’t THE best. And it is true that it’s the United States which is frequently asked to send folks to judge the fairness of OTHER COUNTRIES’ elections, if you watch the news.
In 2020, I believe that there were 62 lawsuits filed challenging various aspects of voting procedures in a number of states. (Fact: look it up for yourself.) Of these, about half were summarily dismissed by the courts and in only ONE case was the judgement of a court in favor of the challenge, and that case had to do with something related to a county official’s ruling that the presence of COVID-19 did not automatically justify giving absentee ballots to everyone requesting such. In other words, I believe I am correct that there were NO successful court challenges to the actual propriety (or accuracy) of that year’s elections.
These facts suggest to me that the “election deniers” may well have some sort of stake in getting people to believe that our elections aren’t fair, even if the facts support a different conclusion. I won’t delve into trying to establish motives, but I will suggest that, I am not fond of people (critics, reviewers, politicians, any sort of person) who seem to think that their beliefs are the ONLY POSSIBLE CORRECT ONES! In fact, I’ll even stray far enough from neutrality to suggest that you do have a right to your opinion, but you DON’T have the right to just ignore FACTS, nor to insist that (for whatever reason you believe makes only YOUR opinion of value) that YOUR opinions should count and mine shouldn’t.
I’m sorry, but that’s not how a democracy works. It sounds a great deal to me like some sort of autocracy/monarchy. In fact, it sounds a lot like Fascism! Go ahead, look up that word’s definition! And I don’t think that’s what the Declaration of Independence and/or the Constitution were intended to establish when the Founders chose NOT to establish an autocratic form of government. The fact was, that that’s what they were rebelling against. Having read those “Founding” documents (I would suggest that they ARE worth reading!), I believe that their authors would support the idea that it’s not just the “right” of the people to vote, it is, in fact, their DUTY to do so as informed, thoughtful citizens.
That being the case, if you haven’t voted yet, please arrange to do so on/by election day. I urge you to thank any poll workers you encounter, most of whom are volunteers who spend their own time to make the elections as accurate, free, fair, and safe as possible. We owe them our thanks for their service, just as we do first-responders and our military, they are a large part of what makes our country great!
We also owe it to our fellow citizens to not just vote blindly, but to make careful, reasoned selections of who is our best choice to represent our personal interests as an official in OUR government. This is not just “checking a box” for a person you have heard of, or for a political party, it’s an investment in our, shared, future. These choices matter! Use your vote, but USE it wisely!
I’ll be back after the election to “ramble on” about something else. I’ll see you then. In the meantime, make sure you VOTE!
🖖🏼 LLAP,
Dr. B
IMPORTANT P. S. I (and apparently I am not alone) am currently having a good deal of trouble (which I have NEVER had before) in accessing my email on the AOL accounts I have been using since sometime in the early 1980’s. Obviously. I am not pleased. Consequently, I have setup an account on Yahoo, which I hope will serve until the AOL account difficulties can be resolved, assuming that they CAN be.
(My suspicion is that the AOL people have not made the software adjustments necessary to be able to handle the most recent generation(s) of computers and/or software, but what do I know.) Anyway, the problem does NOT seem to be unique to me.
Therefore, if you need to email me in the immediate future, I believe that I can be reached at: “[email protected].”
Please pass the word to other friends, colleagues, etc. It’s going to take me a good while to go through my entire “Contacts” list (assuming that I need to) and send messages to everyone. Help will be much appreciated. Dr. B
Now, I HAVE, on occasion, been asked by a student for my opinions, beliefs, etc., regarding matters about which there is some controversy. In those cases, I have tried to make it clear that I was expressing MY opinion; and I have, whenever possible, attempted to explain my reasoning, while acknowledging that there are other opinions.
Case in point: I have never seen what I could accept as a reasonable case being made for the idea that William Shakespeare of Stratford-Upon-Avon did not write the plays and poems which have been credited to him. I HAVE, in fact, been asked about this in the classroom. My response has always been to state that I have never seen any evidence which I would consider to be adequate to justify a belief that he didn’t write them. But, some people do have that opinion, as is their right. I hope that I have made it clear, however, that, I, PERSONALLY, don’t buy their argument.
The same sort of practice has been my attempt throughout my teaching career. Now, I am not stupid enough to believe that many of my students have not come to believe that I am fairly liberal-minded (which I would suggest tends to be true of most theatre people) and, therefore, I AM likely to espouse those sorts of positions PERSONALLY, but I have at least made considerable efforts to keep them to personal, not “teaching,” situations. I have also tried to maintain that sort of position in this blog, and I intend to continue to do so.
That does NOT mean, however, that I do not wish to take advantage of this format to encourage voting! Lots of people are making lots of noise these days about how “crooked” our elections are and how it really isn’t important to vote because “somebody” is going to prevent YOUR vote from being fairly counted.
I DISAGREE! The evidence which I have encountered suggests that the “election deniers” all seem to think our elections are highly flawed, but the people who actually RUN our elections say (and have demonstrated in court!) that they have evidence strongly suggesting that our elections are at least among the fairest and most equitable in the world, if they aren’t THE best. And it is true that it’s the United States which is frequently asked to send folks to judge the fairness of OTHER COUNTRIES’ elections, if you watch the news.
In 2020, I believe that there were 62 lawsuits filed challenging various aspects of voting procedures in a number of states. (Fact: look it up for yourself.) Of these, about half were summarily dismissed by the courts and in only ONE case was the judgement of a court in favor of the challenge, and that case had to do with something related to a county official’s ruling that the presence of COVID-19 did not automatically justify giving absentee ballots to everyone requesting such. In other words, I believe I am correct that there were NO successful court challenges to the actual propriety (or accuracy) of that year’s elections.
These facts suggest to me that the “election deniers” may well have some sort of stake in getting people to believe that our elections aren’t fair, even if the facts support a different conclusion. I won’t delve into trying to establish motives, but I will suggest that, I am not fond of people (critics, reviewers, politicians, any sort of person) who seem to think that their beliefs are the ONLY POSSIBLE CORRECT ONES! In fact, I’ll even stray far enough from neutrality to suggest that you do have a right to your opinion, but you DON’T have the right to just ignore FACTS, nor to insist that (for whatever reason you believe makes only YOUR opinion of value) that YOUR opinions should count and mine shouldn’t.
I’m sorry, but that’s not how a democracy works. It sounds a great deal to me like some sort of autocracy/monarchy. In fact, it sounds a lot like Fascism! Go ahead, look up that word’s definition! And I don’t think that’s what the Declaration of Independence and/or the Constitution were intended to establish when the Founders chose NOT to establish an autocratic form of government. The fact was, that that’s what they were rebelling against. Having read those “Founding” documents (I would suggest that they ARE worth reading!), I believe that their authors would support the idea that it’s not just the “right” of the people to vote, it is, in fact, their DUTY to do so as informed, thoughtful citizens.
That being the case, if you haven’t voted yet, please arrange to do so on/by election day. I urge you to thank any poll workers you encounter, most of whom are volunteers who spend their own time to make the elections as accurate, free, fair, and safe as possible. We owe them our thanks for their service, just as we do first-responders and our military, they are a large part of what makes our country great!
We also owe it to our fellow citizens to not just vote blindly, but to make careful, reasoned selections of who is our best choice to represent our personal interests as an official in OUR government. This is not just “checking a box” for a person you have heard of, or for a political party, it’s an investment in our, shared, future. These choices matter! Use your vote, but USE it wisely!
I’ll be back after the election to “ramble on” about something else. I’ll see you then. In the meantime, make sure you VOTE!
🖖🏼 LLAP,
Dr. B
IMPORTANT P. S. I (and apparently I am not alone) am currently having a good deal of trouble (which I have NEVER had before) in accessing my email on the AOL accounts I have been using since sometime in the early 1980’s. Obviously. I am not pleased. Consequently, I have setup an account on Yahoo, which I hope will serve until the AOL account difficulties can be resolved, assuming that they CAN be.
(My suspicion is that the AOL people have not made the software adjustments necessary to be able to handle the most recent generation(s) of computers and/or software, but what do I know.) Anyway, the problem does NOT seem to be unique to me.
Therefore, if you need to email me in the immediate future, I believe that I can be reached at: “[email protected].”
Please pass the word to other friends, colleagues, etc. It’s going to take me a good while to go through my entire “Contacts” list (assuming that I need to) and send messages to everyone. Help will be much appreciated. Dr. B
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