http://writinginthewild.com "nothing natural about it!" Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:00:26 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://writinginthewild.com/2011/12/19/juxtaposition-and-critical-thinking/ http://writinginthewild.com/2011/12/19/juxtaposition-and-critical-thinking/#comments Mon, 19 Dec 2011 21:58:03 +0000 Ray Watkins http://writinginthewild.com/?p=5167 Continental European capitalism, which combines generous health and social benefits with reasonable working hours, long vacation periods, early retirement, and relatively equal income distributions, would seem to have everything to recommend it – except sustainability. "Is Modern Capitalism Sustainable"-- Kenneth Rogoff Mike Konczal assembles some striking quotes from Federal Reserve transcripts showing how obsessed the monetary overlords are with keeping wages down. I won’t recycle any of the quotes—check out his post for the full flavor. "The Fed and the Class Struggle" -- Doug Henwood Here's an juxtaposition that might be used to teach critical thinking. The contrast between these two ways of seeing the economy isn't simply a matter of right and wrong, yes and no, or even "subject positions," although that...]]> http://writinginthewild.com/2011/12/19/juxtaposition-and-critical-thinking/feed/ 0 http://writinginthewild.com/2011/12/07/how-corrupt-is-corrupt/ http://writinginthewild.com/2011/12/07/how-corrupt-is-corrupt/#comments Wed, 07 Dec 2011 14:58:31 +0000 Ray Watkins http://writinginthewild.com/?p=5118 There you have it. A concise summary of what’s wrong with present corporately driven education change: Decisions are being made by individuals who lack perspective and aren’t really accountable. Those decisions are shaped not by knowledge or understanding of educating, but by ideology, politics, hubris, greed, ignorance, the conventional wisdom, and various combinations thereof. And then they’re sold to the public by the rich and powerful ( Marion Brady, "When an adult took standardized tests forced on kids"). The economist Doug Henwood has long contended that the problem with the U.S. economy now isn't just the ordinary cyclical ills of capitalism but a deeper malaise rooted in a decadent ruling class. It's decadent...]]> http://writinginthewild.com/2011/12/07/how-corrupt-is-corrupt/feed/ 0