Butterflies in Wiarton, Ontario, Canada

Brian, thank you for sharing this. One of the most creative teachers I known, worked with was in Wiarton, Ontario, Canada, at the high school, where I taught with him for four years. He was the geography teacher. He had kids make maps of our area, at the base of the Bruce Peninsula, which separates Lake Huron from Geogrgian Bay. After they made the maps, he arranged for them to go to the local airport and go up in a small plan to see how their maps compared with what they saw! Of course, the principal of our school, D.H. Nickel, now deceased, RIP, saw the creativity in his geography teacher and gave him scope to exercise it! I can go on and on with more examples. The teacher ended up in Wiarton because when he taught in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, the nation's capital, he was a threat to the "cogs in the machine" in charge and peers. He came to Wiarton. It was the classic "Butterfly Effect," based on the theory of complex numbers, which states: change occurs on the edges, not at the center. Amen. This teacher is now retired; he even wrote his own course textbooks - or manuals - and supplemented them with photos that he took on his jaunts literally around the world every summer! He had no car so he could do this travling! On our last visit, he told how he had taken a group of students to the Arctic Circle, literally, to visit with and live in an Eskimo village! Learning geographic, physical and cultural, does not get better than this. I have met nobody his equal since.

Conservative Americans and Canada

Walter, I am blessed to live in the hometown of the geat Wiscosnin/American Progressive Robert M. La Follette. He was one of the great Progressives here, as you may know. He believe in, worked for "open government," which is sadly lacking here now. I grew up on the Progressive traidion, heritage of my home state, Wisconsin. America, and sadly Wisconsin, too, my home state, badly need to return to recovery of its Progressive tradition. Is it an "act of God" that I have returned to these roots? I remind my friends here that we are heirs to La Follette, and the Progressive tradition, heritage, values, We ought to have the courage to preserve, apply, and transmit our heritage forward, now, again, in a second Progressive movement, which this hurting Republic so badly needs now. When I lived in Wiarton, Ontario, Canada, I often reflected on La Follette, for he, rightly, opposed the entry of the USA into World War I. Opposition to unjust wars is part of my Wisconsin heritage; it is amazing that I am now living in the hometown of this great Wisconsinite. Yes, I am truly Conservative at heart, as defined by Edmund Burke. Value, affirms, and transmit the values of the past forward. I have acted in the tradition (Burke again) of La Follette, and it is really, really ironic that now I am living in his hometown, at "ground zero" of this great Wisconsin value, contribution to this Republic. Keeping Faith with the past is the definition, essence, heart of Convervatism as it is historically understood. Yes, your old friend here in his own way is keeping faith with his heritage; Canada, God bless it, also keeps faith with the same heritage too!


Paul Rux, Ph.D.
Imagineer
www.paulrux.net

Old Ontario Keeps Calling

Walter, in 2013 Jane and I need to get out butts over to Ontario so we can visit with you and D-K in person, live, face to face. It's been too long. Thank you for keeping in touch, sharing your wisdom, and your friendship. You are the best. Meanwhile, the Republic teeters along. Jane and I will vote for Obama and the rest of the Democrats. We believe in fairness; the Wall Street gangsters control even more of the Republicans than they do of the Democrats. Besides, we need our Social Security and Medicare now. People here are somber. You see few bumper stickers, yard signs, buttons, etc. They know the "wheels are coming off the wagon" and the gangsters on Wall Street and their stooges in Washington - despite the horrific economic damage here, which is still mounting. The American people overall are good people when they remain true to their historical values. I make no apology for the "old time religion," for it brought me to Canada. The Pilgrims, New Englanders believed in the sanctity of "Conscience" bit time; it became my heritage too. Canada today is where America was in the 1950's. It is a sane, balanced place yet; people there still have a sense of optimism that is sadly missing here. The best part is Canada remains a fabulous reminder of what once was here and could be here again! Thank you for the comparison. I sorely miss the Great Dominion to our North. It preserves American "know-how" without the violence. I guess at heart I remain an old Loyalist, "old school," Conservative, in the true sense of the word, concept, cf. Edmund Burke, one of my heroes. Anway, Elora, Ontario keeps calling me now. My old friends in Wiarton have been dying out; thankfully, Elora has emerged to start a new cycle for me. I love Old Ontario, its ways. God willing, I will establish ongoing connections with it; it is not far from Barrie!

God bless, Paul

Paul Rux, Ph.D.
Imagineer
www.paulrux.net

The Professional Road to the University of Toronto

Johnny, your humble servant here has earned two degrees in history, B.A. (British) and M.A. (Canadian). I had the good fortune to study with, under J.F.C. Harrison, from the UK, and one of the world experts on how working class education emerged in response to the Industrial Revolution! I am not kidding. Early in my career, it was my great, good fortune to receive a thorough grounding in the origins of adult education - its issues and dynamics. And, study of the educational response to the Industrial Revolution equipped this writer to better understand how we are now adjusting education - working class, adult learning - to meet the demands of the Information Age! In both cases, Industrial and Information, sociology adjusts to technology, applies it and creates new modes of learning. Harrison was from Leeds, UK, but found his way to my alma mater, the University of Wisconsin - Madison. He later became homesick and returned to the University of Sussex, UK. Before leaving, however, he made sure this reader here received a graduate fellowship to do his M.A. at Toronto!

My M.A. at the University of Toronto built on my B.A. studies, for its focus was the response of Canada to the challenges of the Industrial Revolution in the mid-nineteenth century. In this case, I focused on a Founding Father of Canada, T.D. McGee, who clearly articulated the need for Canada to develop a "Knowledge Strategy" if it wanted to move forward, compete, and prosper. The point is this. History tells us where we have been. If we know where we have been, we can have a better idea of where we want to go - and how to get there.

The Canadians when I got to Toronto said, "Why study British history. It is already written. Switch to Canadian history. It remains largely unwritten." I switched; I have lived happily ever after!

We totally agree on the importance of historical studies; in fact, I am in the process of turning my Toronto M.A. thesis into a book! The best part of history is it does not change! It is always "timely." Forgive the pun there. There, you "hit home" with your defense of the value of history.

Happy Canadians

Happy? You Must Be From Canada

The Guelph Mercury, September 26, 2012 If you're happy and you know it, a new report suggests you might be from Canada. The Centre for the Study of Living Standards says more than 90 per cent of Canadians surveyed report they are either satisfied or very satisfied with their lives. The centre tracked numbers collected by Statistics Canada in its community health survey between 2003 and 2011. Canadians have stayed happy through that entire period, with 91 per cent reporting life satisfaction in 2003 and 92 per cent saying so last year. The scores were enough to officially rank Canada as among the happiest countries in the world. The centre says a Gallup world poll taken in February 2012 rated Canada as the second most satisfied nation, ranked only behind Denmark. Centre executive director Andrew Sharpe said the numbers tell a compelling story about the standard of living most Canadians enjoy. "We do have high levels of income. We have weathered the financial crisis better than other countries of the world," Sharpe said in a telephone interview. "We do have a good health system. We complain about it, but at least there's full coverage of all Canadians . . . We do have a lot of advantages as a country." The StatsCan data - compiled in biennial surveys between 2003 and 2007 and in annual surveys from 2008 onward - asked Canadians to rate their own levels of personal satisfaction on a scale of 0 to 10. Those who assigned themselves a score of 6 or above were considered to be pleased with their lives as a whole. The numbers have remained relatively static in most cases, but Sharpe said some age-related trends have begun to emerge in the most recent figures. More of Canada's young people are reporting feeling contented, while the country's senior citizens are expressing more reservations about their lot in life, he said, adding the gap between the two age groups has widened considerably over the past several years. About 94 per cent of Canadians between 12 and 19 years of age reported feeling satisfied in 2003 compared to 92 per cent of those over 65. By 2001, the number of satisfied seniors had fallen to 89 per cent while youth happiness scores had shot up to 97 per cent. Sharpe attributed some of the change to the economic turmoil that has roiled the job market and depleted savings for those nearing retirement, leaving the country's youngest residents comparatively unscathed. The data, however, suggests there may be other factors at work causing seniors to feel less positive as they age. Sharpe said the stats show the need for policy-makers to analyze issues impacting seniors, since current approaches appear to be coming up short. The trend among Canada's aging demographic illustrate why it's important to track happiness alongside gross domestic product and other more traditional indicators of well-being, he said. "I think the goal should be to improve happiness. It sounds trite, but what's it all about? It's about the life satisfaction of Canadians," Sharpe said. Satisfaction levels also differed by region, according to the centre's analysis. Average scores taken over the eight-year period suggest residents of Nova Scotia, Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador were most likely to be happy with their lives. Satisfaction scores were lowest in British Columbia, Ontario and Nunavut. The StatsCan data that formed the basis of the centre's report was gathered from 65,000 people nationwide but excluded some of the populations most likely to report dissatisfaction with their lives. The Canadian Community Health Survey does not collect data from people living on aboriginal reserves, full-time members of the Canadian Forces or those currently in institutions. Sharpe acknowledged data from those excluded demographics could lower scores, adding even the current high numbers should sound a cautionary note. "I don't want to go to complacency. 'Oh, aren't we great,' therefore there are no problems in Canada. That's not where this is going," he said. "We can do better." LexisNexis, the Knowledge Burst logo, and lexis.com are registered trademarks, and LexisNexis SmartIndexing Technology is a trademark of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used under license. Other products and services may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Copyright© 2012 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Canadian Social Values Shape Perceptions of Reality

Johnny, yes, your humble servant here, also starts with axiology, not ontology or epistemology. We seek what we value. In other words, values make us deductive, selective in our pursuit of facts and our ways to know them. Strictly, in formal philosophy, we are supposed to start with reality, ontology, study it (epistemology), and then construct our values (axiology) from the science of it. In reality, most of the time it is axiology that leads the charge.

Can Canada escape Gresham's Law?

Albert Jay Nock observed  in his Memoirs of a Superfluous Man that he had nothing to say or offer to a society in which all values are squashed except “Economism,” the notion that you can reduce all values simply to money to the exclusion of all other values, standards.  We are heirs to Nock.  The good news from him is the first-rate people abandon the failing enterprises clogged with second-rate minds, talents, who have no idea what  the venture, enterprise required to launch and what is required to advance its health.  This is Gresham’s Law, “bad money drives out good money.”  The good news is the first-rate venture forward to create new, healthy, enterprises that provide value beyond simply making money any old way as long as you get more and more of it.  We are heirs to Nock.  What we have experienced is not new.  We ought not to worry if we are superfluous to dying, decaying systems under the control of second and third-rate talent.  We rather need to respect ourselves and invest our God-given talents in ventures that offer more than simply money grubbing, starting with self-respect.  I love Nock and his “little Nocks.”

Possible Spillover of Fervor for Religion from USA to Canada

Brian, historians Will and Ariel Durant observed in their classic The Lessons of History that when law and order break down we see people turn to religion and ethics as a way to "push back" against abuse. This describes exactly the situation in America. The governmental system, which orchestrates the legal system, works for the vampires on Wall Street. As a result, we expect ethics to push back against abuse. I am not optimistic about the power of ethics to "right" the ship alone. In the end, raw power, government, must come into play - or we live in a dream world.

News about the Future from Toronto

Jason, look for educational technology, e.g. simulations, which are cheap and self-paced to more and more displace teachers, professors. Digital technology has the capacity now to "automate" learning and relegate teachers to the role of facilitators more and more. Teaching is what somebody does to us. Learning is what we do for ourselves; what we do for ourselves in the final analysis has more lasting impact. Call it discovery learning if you need a theory, name for it. The teacher unions here in Wisconsin are already worrying about this looming trend; higher education will also embrace the trend. We are in short looking at "teacherless" education, one of the core workshops at the 2012 World Future Society in Toronto, which your humble servant here had the good fortune to attend. 2013 is in Chicago! Closer.

Sadly, when this writer taught high school in the Province of Ontario he witnessed the collapse of discipline in the high schools there.  It is one of the reasons why he left Canada.  Canada is lucky.  It can still import disciplined talent from countries like India to drive its economy.  America has a similar need.  Sadly, Canada borrowed American educational fads instead of devising its own.  The result is to "Americanize" Canadian education - to the harm of Canada overall and its future.

Your humble servant here agrees and disagrees with you. Yes, we ought not to expect the same outcomes for all students. If they cannot do math, they can take options like woodworking. However, once they are in woodworking or math this writer sees no reason to relax standards period. Above all, a teacher has the right to expect each and every student to treat him or her with respect - at all times - as they would their boss on the job. One of the reasons we are losing competitive advantage is simple lack of discipline. We do not need more money to fix education. We need discipline, which means this is what we do here and what we expect; if you do not like it, there is the door.