2008+Antebellum+Reformers+Seminar

What was your approach to the antebellum era? · What did it do for the environment, drug policy, etc. Thoreau
 * · What quotes did you use?
 * · How does his work explain the actions of reformers?
 * · Acc. to him, what’s the best way to reform society?
 * · The act of writing – that was his main contribution
 * · What can the individual do when faced with societal / institutional / popularly supported injustice? What lessons does he offer?
 * · How do his lessons apply to environment, drug policy…?
 * · What are the limitations of his ideas?

None of the antebellum reformers saw their causes fulfilled or solved. · does that mean their actions were without purpose / merit / meaningless?

=**REFLECTIONS ON THE SEMINARS IN BARR'S CLASSES:**=

 Loved my seminars today, particularly section C, where we really got the ball rolling (what can one REALLY expect in section A at 8:10 on a frigid Monday in December?). I completely abandoned last year’s tired and unproductive set of questions related to race/class/gender/identity, etc., and instead focused on the stories of the reformers. I prefaced it all by saying we had our history studies and Thoreau in common, but not everyone had read the same antebellum documents, so we should start by telling each other about the stories of the reformers from the past, and in so doing, try to make a connection to something we’ve experienced in CommCon this year. We heard about George March, Lucy Stone, Dorothea Dix, TS Arthur, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Orestes Brownson, with kids sharing how they see that work carrying on today. Then we turned to Thoreau, and it didn’t take much prompting to open up the floodgates on the role of the conscientious individual in confronting injustice, the disinclination of majorities to inconvenience themselves, how one person can start the domino effect, the breakdown between talk and action, suspicion over whether breaking the law is really a good idea in all cases, the need to take hold of a bad situation, and so on.

The upshot of all this was a really interesting group rumination on:   2. the extent to which we love our property and capitalist heritage in this country  3. how we could do more to plug the gaps for those who don’t/can’t achieve the American Dream  4. We heard about a movement in California to “call in to work gay” to illustrate the many vital roles that gay people fulfill in society  5. how difficult activism is in poor communities where so many basic survival problems overshadow a sustained focus on issues like environmental justice  6. the lingering expectation that “true women” stay home with their kids  7. how hard it is for politicians to risk appearing “soft on crime” even in the face of overwhelming evidence of failed criminal justice policies.  8. We heard about how important competition is to providing the necessary incentive to progress – Milton Friedman would love section C!  <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"> 9. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">We heard from a girl on financial aid at Parker (and proud of it!) who sees the desire to strive for improvement as an essential ingredient in social mobility – immediately countered by the richer-than-God boy who asked what happens to people in her same situation who aren’t lucky enough to get into a school like Parker and get on that upward track. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"> 10. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">We looked at why it is that people see injustice and do nothing – they’re scared, they don’t think it will work, they’re selfish, they don’t want to waste their time on an unknown outcome. But are they really selfish? <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"> 11. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">We probed the gap between being united as a people vs. the every-man-for-himself culture. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"> 12. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">We talked about HDT’s notion of the “majority of one” and the responsibility of each individual to push his/her own agenda against all odds. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"> 13. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">We heard about the dangers of reformers who push moralizing agendas regardless of the unintended negative consequences. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"> 14. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">We closed with a question from me about what it meant that few of the antebellum reformers lived to see their movements reach fruition – what lessons could we learn from that? I was drowned out in a chorus of “you need to pass on your commitment” and “it takes small steps” and “you have to be patient” – they nailed it. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"> 15. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Who teaches James McDonald? That boy really knows (and gets) his Thoreau – I loved listening to his take on HDT. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"> 16. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Throughout all of this, I heard **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">NOT ONE COMPLAINT ** about the writing of the paper – the mood was upbeat and cheerful, game for a good discussion throughout. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"> 17. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">I did not hear from <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">every  <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">kid in class, and need to work on getting everyone more open to participating.
 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">whether or not taking radical positions is effective