About who we are
Many indicate that they appreciated, “You made us think, Mr. Thoms.” I believe I did not write critical thinking on my lessons, but that’s where we spent most of our time. I loved listening to their minds.
In his next sentence, David Brooks wrote, “There is the crisis of disconnection, the collapse of social trust, the loss of faith in institutions, the destruction of moral norms in the White House, the rise of amoral gangsterism around the world.”
His words reminded me that the opposite was true for my time in the classroom in the later half of the 20th century. I felt a close connection with my students and colleagues at school and with members of my community. I felt trusted and held trust for whomever I was with. My school was respected (but not without issues) as were other institutions in my community.
Though America’s government was not without issues, we respected our presidents and believed they respected us in an America we were all part of or becoming part of. As for the gangsterism, the creeping autocracies, we had Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, among others, but we were able to subdue them. Our way of life held.
The unraveling of America we are witnessing does not have an inevitable outcome. I believe, and always have, that humans have a natural resiliency to reach toward a world in which we are all one. And if and when we get there, I am not sure how long we will last. Species come and go. We are but one of them. AI is threatening our survival. And we know that in four to five billion years the sun will die and before that Andromeda and the Milky Way will merge.
Oh well.
