Recent comments
ADHD: Hunter in a Farmer's World
Thom Hartmann has written a dozen books covering ADD / ADHD - Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder.
Join Thom for his new twice-weekly email newsletters on ADHD, whether it affects you or a member of your family.
Thom's Blog Is On the Move
By webmaster
Hello All
Thom's blog in this space and moving to a new home.
Please follow us across to hartmannreport.com - this will be the only place going forward to read Thom's blog posts and articles.
I had a revelation earlier. After a little over a month on this blog, and three years of listening to Thom on the radio, I realized that his tone (to use my English teacher jargon) is mainly depression and nostalgia. Or, in other words, most of what he says is a variation of: "This part of society sucks, but it didn't used to suck before Reagan."
Conservative talkers all have the same tone too: Anger and nostalgia. "Things used to be better, and it's the government's or liberal's fault that your life sucks."
Very true. And now we're two or three generations into it. There are entire families who have no living members who remember how to raise children well. I know "traditional family values" connotes different things to righties and lefties, but there is some truth to the need for a return to the way things used to be in the family. As a parent myself, I know the best thing I can do is set a good example for my children, and correct the little problems, before they turn into big problems.
I think you're thinking of a stereotype - the spoiled white kid who can wreck his parent's Lexus and not get punished. There are those types in the world, but not where I teach at least. Every time they do a survey of why people choose Catholic schools, our stricter discipline is in the top 3 reasons. (Saftey is always the number one reason. The Religious part of the school is usually pretty low on the list, much to the chagrin of the priests.) Ha! Tact is very important in this job. And documentation to prove what you say about a student. I slipped once and called a student a "smartass". His mother emailed me and wanted an explanation. I told her what he did that got under my skin, and she agreed with me. He was being a smartass, and she thanked me for calling him out on it.Kend ~ Obama and the Democrats have repeatedly tried to raise the minimum wage. Where have you been? That alone would instantly raise demand. Perhaps you simply don't understand basic economics? Surely the Republicans don't because they were the ones who stopped raising the minimum wage at every turn.
How else would you have him raise demand? Maybe sneaking out of the White House at night and blowing up warehouses around the country? That would work too.
How many executions by law enforcement are there every year in our society? Try to google the info. It is not available. A young man was executed by taser in Santa Cruz not long ago while incarcerated in jail. Not much mention in the corporate media. One executed homeless man that the media did report, was because it was captured on video and the victim was a son of a police officer. He was calling out for his father while the police killed him. The new method of execution is to kneel on the chest of the victim till he suffocates. Easier to report then tasing to death or a shooting. We need a federal police force to police the police. Replace internal affairs.
28 homeless executed in New Mexico alone by one division of police. While in Nevada nothing is done to armed right wing miilitia threatening law enforcement over hamburger? This selective law enforcement is a dangerous reflection of bigotry and injustice by police in our society. There are those hidng behind the badge who are criminals under any standard. We must find a way to weed them out. Take back our justice system.
There is a new system developed that enables the police to block out any cell phone cam images during a police event. This is the death of free speech and freedom of the press. All power is in the hands of the military industrial complex now. It is the end of freedom and liberty as we once knew it to be. A new fleet of drones to spy on us is on the way.
Chi Matt -- No one was handing out checks to individuals with the Obama stimulus. Handing out checks was the dubya approach. Those ripples died out quickly.
Kend -- You also do not understand trade agreements. We still could be a closed economy. It was raygun that gave China most favored nation status. He also started to lower the tariffs.
Craig Bush -- We need "card check". Vote democratic.
What does Obama have to do with it? The repugs control the house with 1.5 million fewer votes. I assume you, like 83% of Americans, do not understand how our govt works.
No one has mentioned the approach that Thom described. Thom described what Bill Clinton did. He just put more cops walking the neighborhoods. If any cop knew the name of the baby and the family, I would bet the grenade would never have been thrown. Of course, dubya stopped the program so he could give more money to Ken Lay, the Kochs etc.
I have to wonder if my Grandparents, who imigrated to this country for a better life, think that this country is any better than what they left behind. If the right wing, repubs or teabaggers, ever grasp control of the the government ? As I see it, we are headed to an Oligarchy run by the Koch cabal that will take generations to wrest back.. Oh, by the way my Maternal Grandparents imigrated from Germany and Switzerland and Dad's Father came from Finland. How ironic ? ... Maybe It's time to move back to my roots ?
$10.10 an hour raise in minimum wage is an insult to American workers. It should be $15, the same as in Seattle, WA. 4 day work week same pay. Affordable home ownership for single income families. Federal labor unions exempt from state regulations. Join the national teacher 20-10 strike. 20 class size limit. $10,000 raise for every teacher. Join the national student- teacher strike to divest all institutions of higher learning from the fossil fuel economy.
Sorry Thom but in the 40's and 50's America had a closed economy. They didn't have to compete in a world economy. So of course Unions could hold a knife to the throats of companies but it is a new world today you have to compete for a job with a guy in China or India who is starving to death. Get use to the new world or get left behind.
Reagan??? still blaming him. You do know he has been dead for 10 years and been out of office for 25 years. The democrats have been in the Whitehouse for 14 years since he died. Blame Clinton and Obama for not changing it. Let poor Ron rest in peace.
If you want higher wages create demand. What has Obama done to help that besides nothing.
Frosty, I agree; we are in deep do-do. - AIW
If we really want to revitalize our worker union base we need to first bring back our manufacturing base. Unions, without jobs, are toothless.
We have to repeal Free Trade and pass Move to Amend before we can ever hope to restore our middle class.
Why does Kristal call it a zero sum game? Workers build the wealth of the nation. When they don't work the wealth suffers.
WHERE have all the good jobs gone?
long time passing
WHERE have all the good jobs gone?
long time ago
WHERE have all the good jobs gone?
jobs are export number one
WHEN will they ever learn?
WHEN will we ever learn?
WHERE have all the good jobs gone?
long time passing
WHERE have all the good jobs gone?
long time ago
WHERE have all the good jobs gone?
corporations ship them every one
WHEN will they ever learn?
WHEN will we ever learn?
I grew up during the forties and fifties in a union family. Was with my father walking picket lines. Picked scrap metal to eat while our family fought to gain better wages and conditions. To see the destruction of US Labor by the Rightwing traitors to America has been very hard. The Republican War on Workers has been very successful! I wish I knew the answer--think it lies in media ownership and the Rightwing's propaganda machine. A curse upon all card carrying Republicans--every damn one of them!
I feel the same as you. It is not safe to out in public anylonger is America. Guns and the Rightwing rule America--it will not end well.
The game is rigged in that the wealthy live under different laws and justice than the poor. We see examples everyday of wealthy getting away with crimes--it's become the American way. The stats tell the tale of justice in America. The poor have become a profit generator for the justice system in the US.
The Police State is a direct consequence of the Rightwing take over of America. It will not end well and there is not much that can be done. US elections are dirty and totally corrupt exercises in futility as the vote counters are Rightwing directed. Republicans and their minions are terrorists out to destroy our nation and there is not means of defeated them except revolt by the citizens. I know--What about the Democrats? I ask What Democrats? Show me some of these Democats--------we have jake the fake Dems but the Rightwing kills off any real Democrats when they get too uppity!
ChicagoMatt ~ Not necessarily. Ask any Cop where they would rather serve, the crime ridden inner city or the wealthier elite neighborhoods. Anyone that would says the crime ridden inner city is either already psychotic; or, will be soon after serving there for a while.
Personally, I believe the exact opposite is true, it is far easier--and cheaper--to police the wealthy then the poor. That is why poverty is the real problem behind crime in this country, and not the lack of good policing.
Aliceinwonderland ~ Thanks Alice! Coming from you that REALLY means a lot.
ChicagoMatt ~ Yes! I agree! I also agree that the same can be said of the police and President Obama. Of course, no one has said that sentiment better than my good friend Jenna Marbles:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkQxHlr2fXM
The truth of the matter is that our society is disfunctional from the top down. It needs to be completely renovated from within. Good teachers, good cops, even good politicians can only do so much. Sure you can make some difference. However, it is an uphill climb at best. Without the full cooperation of other members--all other members--of society, it is a losing battle.
A few blogs ago you insisted that some children have no innate sense of what is right and what is wrong. I still disagree; however, I see where you are coming from; but, don't be fooled. Children are helpless and clueless victims of their environment. They desperately need attention and love in their lives and simply don't get it--some more so than others. Many are starving for the attention of their parents and don't get it for one reason or another. Sometimes it's because the parents are to busy working. Other times because they just don't care. In your situation, many parents throw money at you to "fix" the problem. Of course, alone, that is impossible. So then they turn around and blame you. It's there right, after all, they already paid you well to take the blame. The problem goes on; but, at least they don't feel guilty anymore.
The poor children can't see what is wrong so they either blame themselves or you. When they "act out" it isn't because they don't know the difference between right and wrong. They know it well. They are consciously choosing to do wrong. Why? Well obviously they already tried doing right and simply didn't get the reaction that they need. Often, you've no doubt experienced some really "bad" kids who when asked why they did something bad will reply, "I don't know!" That reply alone should tell you that they knew very well when they did what they did that it was wrong and they knew it. Otherwise, they would have an explanation. If they could grasp their own situation they might say something like, "Because I wanted attention. This isn't the attention I wanted, but it is better than nothing!"
This is one of the major reasons I can't see spending a dime of public funds on private education. One of the greatest obstacles in the private ed sector is overcoming the tremendous lack of discipline that comes with privilege. This should always be and remain the sole responsibility of the privileged few that created the problem in the first place; and, can easily afford to deal with it.
Not to say that similar problems don't exist in the public ed sector as well. A good friend of mine was a substitute teacher in public schools for many years. She hated that job. It was also very challenging and thankless. Her greatest pet peeve was with students that--for lack of a better word--she described as stupid. Incapable of learning. Not everyone, of course, but many. These students represented her greatest challenge, discipline not really being a great issue in public schools. She often spoke about having confrontations with these students parents who were outraged with her test results. She had to remain calm during these encounters but always noticed that the parents were pretty much just as stupid as the kids. Not being able to simply tell them that to their face was the most frustrating part of her job. Can you as a teacher imagine what it would be like to look a parent in the eye and say, "Look, I've done everything possible? You just have a really stupid kid. He must take after you."
Of course the police have to sweep up the consequences of all this. I certainly do not envy their job at all. Whatever you do, my friend, I wouldn't blame myself. All you can do is your best; and, at the end of the day, go home with the satisfaction that some students in your class are better people for it. You can't help all the people all the time. You've made some difference; and, in this world, that is a lot more than most people do.
Marc, great answer! I could not have said it better.
What more evidence do we need to convince our fellow Americans that we are living under fascism? We're not even safe in our homes anymore! What a freak show... - AIW
I agree with what s dabney said previously. It's not a simple case. I would reword the poll question but not sure how. It looks like he was a deserter. Not sure who we gave up to get him back. Why are we in Afghanistan still anyway? I'm very disappointed in Obama for that. My son is there, with the Marines, for what reason? "So we look strong?" Who wants to be the last man to die in Afghanistan, Secretary Kerry! Didn't he say the very same thing about Vietnam?!
When it comes to bigger cities, I feel like there is an unwritten and unspoken understanding that the cops are there to "protect" the nicer areas of the city, and "placate" or "tolerate" the less-nice areas. Since cops are paid for with property taxes, the people who pay more in property taxes (businesses and the wealthier types) expect better city services. I can envision a partol officer driving through a bad neighborhood, where he or she isn't wanted in the first place, and wondering to themselves, "why am I even here?"