The polls are still open. November 4 is a day of choice for Americans. The verb "to choose" is a valued concept in our culture, and we exercise choice today in rare form. These students are debating constitutional principles.
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This class is debating issues that we appreciate today: the value of the federal system of shared powers. Sophie speaks for the rural Anti-federalists.
The Federalists consider their rebuttal....
Brooks huddles with the Anti-Federalists as they compose a decent rebuttal. We only wish that real political exchange was so civil!
The politics our students have to process is too often nasty and negative. Hope, honest policy and optimism don't seem to carry as they should. I have a mathematical/cosmological question: when our opinions differ about a candidate, is it the candidate that is the variable, or is it the voter the variable? More debate:
Let's say two very smart, intelligent and educated people consider a candidate we'll call "Candidate A". One thinks he's awful; the other thinks he's great. (Both voters love the country, and want the best.) Each debates her perspective eloquently, and with substance. But what--ultimately--are we learning; something about that candidate, or something about those voters?
As children, we grow in a world in which objective, external realities exist without question. This perspective--and I'm questioning this perspective--is doubted by some philosophers and even by quantum science (and cosmology,) which hint that each of us creates our own unique perspective, or reality, which empowers our own opinions. This perspective suggests that each of us creates the polarization we experience. Happily, at the local level, the political scene in Andover is delightful. Cody and Josh arrive at Andover's Elementary School to cast their votes.
At the voting place, Proctor's 18-year-olds meet, greet and support classmate
Danny Loehr who is a very strong candidate for state representative.
At Proctor, where leadership is open, not competitive, and certainly not negative, the contrast between Danny's candidacy and the national campaigns is sobering. Leadership can be a natural quality. Here we see Danny casting his ballot.
Quantum physics suggests that anything is possible, and social science is beginning to come in to agreement.
A few years ago, a young kid we know as C.J. Allen met a very young senator from Illinois. Perhaps--some day--one of these men might become President of the United States of America.
Why not both?
