The most destructive habit: Worry The greatest joy: Giving The greatest loss: Loss of Self-Respect The most satisfying work: Helping Others The ugliest personality trait: Selfishness The most endangered species: Dedicated Leaders Our greatest natural resource: Our Youth The greatest "shot in the arm": Encouragement The greatest problem to overcome: Fear The most effective sleeping pill: Peace of Mind The most crippling failure disease: Excuses The most powerful force in life: Love The most dangerous pariah: A Gossiper The world's most incredible computer: The Brain The worst thing to be without: Hope The deadliest weapon: The Tongue The two most power-filled words: "I Can" The greatest asset: Faith The most worthless emotion: Self-Pity The most beautiful attire: SMILE! The most prized possession: Self-Esteem The most powerful channel of communication: Prayer The most contagious spirit: Enthusiasm |
Add Comment The one that no one really talks about: namely, that it's over. Democracy is over - has been for some time, in fact. The middle class is over, as is economic stability of any sort. Nature isn't over by a long shot, but it's changing a whole lot, very quickly, in ways that will disrupt everyone's life. People acknowledge that things are bad; but we keep behaving as though the future were going to be just a slightly worse version of the past. So people take on another job, looking forward to the day when things will start looking up; or they put money in their retirement accounts; they try to advance their careers; they try to raise their kids with essentially the same values and expectations they have. It's going to be more competitive to get a good job, but you will still be able to get a good job. A college degree will help you get there. If the Democrats can regain the House, then things will change in a big way! But what if all that is self-delusion. I recently read a couple of texts that take that premise seriously. The first, by Roy Scranton, "Learning How to Die in the Anthropocene," takes a rather philosophical approach - Stoic, even. He takes as a given that self-delusion is a bad thing; for him, there seems to be a certain nobility (or beauty?) in facing up to the facts. The other, After the Future, by Autonomist theorist and activist Franco Berardi, posits that the future, understood as the possibility of progress, is at an end. There has been a "mutation," produced by finance capital, neoliberal politics, necroculture, and permanent natural changes, that prevents people from forming links of solidarity ("subjectivation") with one another. This is particularly true, according to Berardi, of the "cognitariat," those knowledge-workers in Palo Alto or Bangalore, who are ostensibly instantly and integrally interconnected. Instead, digital connections reinforce the culture of the cubicle. Berardi does not end on a totally hopeless note. Rather, he believes that economic collapse will necessitate subjectivation, in the interests of survival. Moreover, the powerlessness of the individual may encourage the withdrawal of individuals from active participation in the economic and political systems that have led to this mess. The task now is to (a.) forget about the future as deferred gratification; pay attention to the present, and see what possibilities arise. Be willing to be surprised by new and unanticipated possibilities; and (b.) imagine what he (after Marx) calls the "general intellect" - that is, a self-consciousness of the collective intelligence of humanity. There used to be these bumper stickers that said "I feel much better ever since I gave up hope," or something to that effect. Maybe hope is the problem, in fact. College enrollments are declining, and those in the humanities, including English, are plummeting. This seems to me to be a result of the post-2008 economic collapse: fewer people can afford college, and those who can go into engineering and accounting, rather than literature. We have to do some serious sales to get people to be English majors. How to respond to this new reality? - Do I need to be more entertaining in the classroom? How? - Should I start using PowerPoint all the time, showing more films, etc.? - Switch to large lectures and play up the performance aspect? - Do more in class w/computers (and let them check What’s App, porn, etc.?) - How do I “sell” my subject more effectively? - How improve my effectiveness at teaching writing? What does the New Student positively respond to, in composition instruction? And does it really teach them to write? - How much can I realistically expect them to read (in a particular level)? - Teaching more lower-division courses means smaller assignments (?) - If I rely more on media produced by others, I can decrease the amount of reading: since we won’t spend as much time talking, we won’t need as much to talk about. - If we want to attract English majors, we can’t go too hard on them. We want them to have a pleasant, relaxing experience. - We’ve got to give the customer what they want. But we also have to sell it. (we’re beyond edutainment; this is edvertising) So: - Assign what I think that they should know about a given topic or what I think they will want to read/watch that’s related to that topic? - Any polling data of students on this issue? The real problem is time. For instance, we don’t have enough time between when our course assignments come out and when our book orders are due to really think about and research how we might overhaul a particular course. Moreover, we’re too busy teaching to radically alter our teaching. If we take time to learn new (or not-so-new) technologies, techniques, and pedagogical theories, it’s usually on break (or sabbatical, if we have them), which is also the only time to get any appreciable amount of research and writing done. So it’s back to research vs. teaching, esp. if teaching is not your area of research, or if your area of research is not one that students want to study (e.g., any type of poetry from any era). Starting off with a smile and ending the day with a tear. Unfortunately, ‘Humans’ are enigmatic creatures. Some individuals are so wholly self-absorbed in their routines that they often forget the meaning of ‘helplessness’. On the other hand, there are quite a few beings who work tirelessly to earn a living by performing on stage, and smile to please the selfish few. Such beings are ‘Clowns.’ In my words, the definition of this human is quite unusual; however, the meaning might not be socially acceptable to many. Clowns are often denigrated in today’s world as some consider them to be ‘ridiculous and insane.’ “With roaring lions and tapping feet, no one can feel his heartbeat, Maneuvering back and forth for the loved ones at home, in the end, a regretful shriek is born, A smile in front, and tears backstage, clapping noises tear his soul away.” A clown might be displayed fashionably, but at the end of the day, he has to give up his clothes and step into the world of realism. He alone has to bear the tantrums of thousands of children and insults of half of their parents. Once his name is called upon, the clown steps into a fabricated circus. While performing, the clown forgets his present for a second and concentrates on the movements he makes. The thought of feeding his family or wanting to give his children better education makes him feel disgruntled as he performs on stage. Will he ever be able to endure the deadly circumstances that may turn up in the future? Could he feed his family with insufficient funds? Such questions make his mind twirl and suck half of his energy, while he is performing. “Hey clown! You did a good job! Here is a money.” The man puts the money in his hand and the clown, motionlessly, stares at the dollars note and thinks inside, “I have a ‘real’ name, but sadly, it is only known to me.” -Haider Rifaat |