We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
Notre Dame political philosopher Patrick Deneen argues that a true education in the liberal arts is first and foremost not about pointing fingers but learning how to overcome one’s own weaknesses, malice, and addictions, which is hard work. The humanities provide countless models of thought, feeling, and behavior to compare and contrast and use as points of reference. Said Newman, “If then a practical end must be assigned to a university course, I say it is that of training good members of society.” If Newman was right, the humanities are less like parsley and more like the main course.
We do not know what "college" or "higher ed" mean anymore. I used to think of "college" as referring to Liberal Arts, but I am way out of date. Wasn't a liberal arts education always an elite thing except for the very curious and self-educated?
Lots of Higher Ed is work- or career-related these days.
I am fortunate to know many people with more life competencies that I have. I envy them. I am not talking about talent and talent stacks, but just competencies. Building a stone wall takes competency: Michelangelo had talent.
Here's a beginning ist of life competencies that I see in people, and admire.Trigger Warning: These might be white male competencies:
- Gracious and graceful social amiability - Ability to follow the math and statistics - Ability to handle one's finances reasonably - Ability to handle boats - Ability to handle firearms on the range and in the field - Knowing how to manage gardens of all sorts - How to cook decent meals - How to handle a cranky horse - How to camp in the wilderness - How to keep playing some sport into adulthood - How to handle a chain saw - How to do simple carpentry, and how to paint a house - How to start a fire with wet wood - How to write an essay - How to put out a kitchen fire - How to do CPR - How to use a GPS in the woods - and a compass to navigate - How to drive a stick shift vehicle - sports car or tractor - How to catch fish - How to ride a bike and motorbike - How to play some instrument, even if poorly
Add your own life competencies, or desired competencies, below.
My IT guy was here this morning. He helped me out with some nagging problems with my machines, but since he also does sound systems for houses I asked him for a solution to my music needs, mainly upstairs.
I have posted about this in the past. He told me that it's simple: A Sonos amp system can do it all. It can feed to my existing speakers (wires), can stream WQXR (Wifi), can handle my CDs (which are important to me), and has portable wifi speakers to move around if I want. He says the rich folk love the sound quality.
I think my ideal is unobtainable. No - my ideal is live music.
“I know of no one in 1776 that anticipated the kind of federal government that emerged 10 years later,” Wood adds. “Something awful had to happen in those 10 years to explain the Constitution. I find that it’s harder to explain the Constitution than it is to explain the Revolution itself.”
