I was listening to NPR on the way home. I love that I can turn on the radio and learn somethng totally new in just a few minutes -- something I otherwise wouldn't be interested in. Or that it can get me thinking about random events in the world. Or just thinking.
Anway, a professor has written a book (I believe) that they were profiling. His name is Friedman. His thesis is that America is so successful, so powerful because of the freedom it has provided to the entire world. Immigrants come here because they are free to do what they like. And they can endure the hard times because they know that they are free. His claim is that the free market is the key to this power. (There were counter arguments to this as well -- that he takes this idea too far -- that the free market CAN do wrong and isn't always a good thing.)
So, I have been thinking about this idea of freedom. America is the land of the free. Except, there isn't really any freedom to FAIL. You can't choose to suffer; you can't choose to have nothing or do nothing to support yourself in the future . If you make these choices, the federal government will swoop in and take care of you. They will make sure you don't fail, that you are taken care of, and that you live at a subsistance level forever (welfare and social security).
In school, students can fail classes. And they go to an alternative school where they get to try again for credits. If they don't make it there, they can go to adult education. If they don't pass a state test the first time, they have 8 more times to try to pass it. Think about your driving test. Really, can you ever "fail" it? Can't you always try again?
I realize this is a negative perspective. The flip side: We are a land of second chances. But where do we draw the line? I've learned from my failures, don't get me wrong. But how many times would it take me to learn my lesson? What if I DIDN'T learn my lesson? Here's my argument: Class lines will one day be drawn between impoverished and rich (eliminating the middle class) by a single factor -- those who chose to succeed and those who chose to let the rich be rich and take care of the poor. Rich because they chose to be and poor because they chose to be. Radical, I know, but I watch the dichotimy in my classes everyday. The poor (i.e., failing) kids watch the rich (i.e., succeeding) kids and don't care that they aren't like them. I don't have a "middle class". There are those who make it -- by chosing to -- and those who don't. By choice. And they are the future. It's not just my classes, it's the entire school. Yes, they are high schoolers, but they are also a reflection of the current state of their community.
It's a state of apathy. In the land of the free, it's allowed, but sad. It keeps us from finding anything we love. "Why should we? " "Don't you want to be successful?" "Why? I'm not now and I feel ok." It's better than __________. (fill in the blank, but they don't usually have much to compare it to.)"
Maybe I'll start seeing "second chances" instead of a lack of freedom to fail. But honestly, I'd like to see more "failures." One "sacrificed" life, one example, might convince those around me that succeeding the first time around is a better choice than waiting until the 6th try. There are places a few fail (Russia, Europe). And many succeed. Instead, in America, many are in the middle.
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