Hard lesson we must admit now

originally posted by: JAGStorm
If this pandemic has taught us anything it is that we have let our society go too far astray.

Excellent post, nothing I can disagree with, although I'd add...

The biggest lesson we should learn is to abandon our reliance on the entire charade known as 'modern medicine when it comes to biological health and chronic disease.

Our government should create a new organization dedicated to truly learning how to achieve real, vibrant health, and how to treat illness without toxic chemicals/drugs, but by supporting the body's own natural innate ability to heal itself.

originally posted by: JAGStorm
If this pandemic has taught us anything it is that we have let our society go too far astray.


#1 we must bring back home Ec and shop class to all schools starting in middle school.
I am appalled at the number of adults that can’t sew a basic square for a mask, or a single button.

The bulk of our food must be grown and processed here. Sending chicken to China for processing is nuts and dangerous.

I think some people had a rude awakening when they realized how little they cook at home. I hope cooking skills are reinvigorated. This will help with health in our society too.

Child rearing & discipline. Looks like it wasn’t the teachers fault you have a brat! I wonder if this quarantine has opened peoples eyes that it is so beneficial to have a parent at home.

The number one thing I hope this has changed in people is their personal finance. I learned that hard lesson in 08. Did anyone see the story about NBA stars living paycheck to paycheck?

As with everything, nothing is all bad. This pandemic will shine a light on hard truths we have been lying to ourselves about.

I think that if you at school need to be taught how to use a needle and thread there is something wrong with you in general.

No amount of school can solve Dumbassness

a reply to: Dumbass

I think that if you at school need to be taught how to use a needle and thread there is something wrong with you in general.

No amount of school can solve Dumbassness

If you don't catch what I'm saying, no about of explaining will do it.

a reply to: tanstaafl

Excellent post, nothing I can disagree with, although I'd add...

The biggest lesson we should learn is to abandon our reliance on the entire charade known as 'modern medicine when it comes to biological health and chronic disease.

Our government should create a new organization dedicated to truly learning how to achieve real, vibrant health, and how to treat illness without toxic chemicals/drugs, but by supporting the body's own natural innate ability to heal itself.

Absolutely! I think this would go right along with cooking/gardening.

It's hard to believe anyone would disagree with teaching kids more real life skills

The hardest lesson is that even supposedly enlightened people in the 21st Century are just about two steps away from being vicious pack animals full of fear and willing to force others to comply with what they believe is the right way do things. And a lot of people actually get a real kick out of feeling like they're on the "right" side of something and can scream at others they think are wrong.

You would hope that Nazi Germany would have been a good enough lesson, but no. Given the slightest provocation, most people are willing to throw reason and logic right out the window in favor of "agreement," and belittle and berate anyone who might have a different opinion. So much for "it couldn't happen here."

From now on, I'll be keeping an eye on my fellow humans and if it looks like they're going to start firing up the ovens again, I gotta be ready to make a quick exit. I can deal with a disaster, but I can't fight the sad majority of people dumb enough to gleefully load up the train cars.

I took Home Ec in 7th grade, sewed a skateboard pillow. I did it pretty well. Problem is, I've never sewed anything since and so, have no clue off hand how I went about it.

But it's thread and needle - it's not complicated for basic tasks and I'm sure I could figure it out.

What I believe is important for our kids to learn is HOW to learn. How to be independent and open-minded. How to use problem-solving skills. The subjects taught in school require these things to be present but they are not taught exclusively and ought to be.

Nearly everything I was forced to learn in school by rote (or that I had zero personal interest in), is gone. All that remains is what I use regularly and what I am personally interested in. So, when something unique/novel arises, the skill to learn, be open-minded and independent and be able to problem-solve is indispensable.

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: Dumbass

I think that if you at school need to be taught how to use a needle and thread there is something wrong with you in general.

No amount of school can solve Dumbassness

If you don't catch what I'm saying, no about of explaining will do it.

If you need to make a post giving a summary of basic principles. I do not need any explaining from you.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Man, that is my life guiding principle. No exact translation, but "A place for everything, and everything in its place" still doesn't approach the depth that French phrase can reach.

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: tanstaafl
Absolutely! I think this would go right along with cooking/gardening.

No question! I have to tell you, I re-read your post, and like it even more the second time.

Our government could also not only allow but promote home-schooling (tax credits, etc), and provide an online environment for accumulating and disseminating teaching material for children to learn husbandry, hunting, how to properly and safely slaughter and prepare an animal for consumption, how to farm using ancient techniques for properly maintaining healthy soil (crop rotation, etc)... and incorporate lots of the modern stuff we've learned in recent times (hydroponics, vertical farming, etc)...

Aaaaack! Sorry, I just woke up from my pipe dream... oh well, it was nice while it lasted...

School is horribly inefficient currently. Teachers have been lazy and failing Americans. They can figure it out. a reply to: ignorant_ape

a reply to: JAGStorm

While I see nothing wrong with your intent, you are missing the real culprit here: end-stage craptapitalism. MBAs have destroyed the value of everything we do. End of.

Healthcare is a boondoggle. By some estimates, 50-percent of our GDP as a nation goes into this black hole and we have worse outcomes overall than any other first-world nation. We "do" too much healthcare (and I say this as the SO of a healthcare pro with 25+ years of ICU experience). Most of this snip is designed to feed profit margins, not improve health. What our system is great at is emergent. Most people don't need a doctor. They need a better diet, more exercise and a stronger connection to their communities.

I hope the legacy of COVID19 is a bullet through the heart of fake capitalism, a refutation of lawyers and MBAs who are only doing what they are trained to do because whether they know it or not -- they are destroying the value of everything we actually are, create or "do."

Former journalists turned PR flacks are writing the disaster recovery plans for Kaiser Permanente folks. We need clinician lead healthcare (less is more). We need educator lead education (teach kids to learn, not memorize and ever-growing list of "things" suffocating the life out of shop, art, music, sport).

There are no magic bullets. The profit motive and hard work should feed innovation and not the other way around. This is a wake-up call to our entire way of life and if we miss it now, we are done.

PS -- Let's hold journalists and the media companies they work for responsible (socially) for the chaos and division they sow. The fruit of our nation is literally rotting on the vine right now and we have gone too far in extremis.

What's your saying is a safer more conservative approach.

When more then half the country feel it's ok to be liberal with these things

I've got two young boys ages 3 and 6. I'm always in constantly teaching them situational awareness and basic necessity critical thinking type of scenarios. It's very important for kids to learn the stuff and be Hands-On with everything. I don't sugarcoat anything for my kids. I tell them about the world exactly like it is. I think sugarcoating things for your kids is a bad idea and makes them ill prepared for real life.

a reply to: violet

"People can’t even peel a carrot"

You shouldn't peel carrots, potatoes or apples anyway. Just wash them well and eat the whole thing, there are so many vitamins packed to the 'peel', that it's insanity to throw it all away just so it's -slightly- easier to chew or something. Why peel anything? I never peel anything, and I haven't been ill for years, not even a slight flu.

It's almost ironic, considering the times we live in now.

a reply to: ketsuko
Interesting. I didn't get to public school until high school, the parochial system with nuns & priests had their own curricula, which didn't include anything that required more facilities or money. After all, besides K-8 there was a special school to support.

In Catholic High School, one either had sports, more college prep, or Jr. USMC ROTC.
I was eager to get to public school because they had the one thing Catholic High did not: GIRLS!

From 8th grade through high school I had a drafting & printing job in the family (not our family) architecture firm
where 4 of us worked (60s-70s transition). I made $2.50 an hour after getting a raise for cutting service expenses.

ganjoa

a reply to: network dude

We don't need to do a study. Teaching to the test and standardized tests, in general, are the problem. Everyone knows it too. Most just don't know how to say it. It's no accident either. The curricula taught in most public schools is designed to produce robot consumers who can't learn without professional intervention. That's where the money is.

Some of the public schools in more affluent areas are better. A few are a lot better. Congresspeople and business pros send their kids to private schools and those kids learn how to learn and are given opportunities to test their growing knowledge and skills in practical ways. The only test prep they do is college entry prep.

Our country was sold down the river a long time ago and we accepted it for a housing market that doubles every 8-10 years and a raging stock market.

Too much actual education creates discontent in the pens and neutralizes the programmed obedience to trends, fashion, celebrity and tech marketing. That is bad for business.

In fact, in our managed markets, the dumber, sicker and more addicted consumer, the better.