Posts by Marcus Turner
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Did anyone else catch the analysis/summary by Robert Fisk on Morning Report? I found it enlightening.
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I just thought we all needed this:
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Hard News: Holiday Open Thread 2:…, in reply to Jacqui Dunn,
Sometimes I think it would be easy to see this "Asian" way of pressuring kids as "wrong" and destroying more than it creates. But I haven't seen anything definitive about this.
And I guess that there are numerically more people practicing the Asian methods than ours, and have been for a long time.
I wonder if I'm just looking for ways to demonise something that threatens me? After all, our NZ system(s) of education and parenting don't suit everyone.
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Hard News: Holiday Open Thread 2:…, in reply to Steve Parks,
Thanks for taking a look at that article, Steve.
I've had discussions with Taiwanese people who disagree strongly with aspects of New Zealand education: particularly the notion of letting students discover their own answers. As far as I understood, I was being told that ensuring that the student gained knowledge was more important than allowing them to pursue individual interest. The notion of allowing students to think for themselves was being disparaged, because (I think this is how the argument went) teachers know what students need and students are inexperienced in life.
I thought of this discussion when I read the article (which I've seen described as a troll in order to generate publicity for a book). The writer's approach appears to be based on values that I don't share, but seem to be shared by the Taiwanese I was talking with.
The writer seems to be saying that Asians share this view and that Westerners don't. I wonder how true that is? I remember Raybon Kahn (spelling?) making jokes about how you'd know if an Asian person had burgled your house, because the TV would be gone and all the maths homework would be done. For some reason, I do have the impression that Asian people are good at maths and music, and seem to be prominent among the high achievers in many schools.
Are Asian people really better at these things, or is it a function of being an immigrant, who's working extra-hard not to fail?
(I was fascinated with the notion that a parent should tell their child that anything less than an A is not good enough. Is it possible for everyone in an Asian class to get an A? If not, I guess you see yourself as in a sort of constant fight or competition with those around you. It must be very stressful.)
I remember at high school there used to be this sort of competition to boast about who'd done the greatest number of hours' study the previous night. I was never in the running, really, but didn't seem to be particularly disadvantaged by it in terms of exam results.
Yet, I remember reading (in an article in the Listener, I think) that teachers prefer to teach hard workers rather than simply capable or talented people (unless they're also hard workers). It seems that hard work is what creates success (though I'm not sure what constitutes success: I guess it's whatever is the opposite of disenfranchisement through lack of education).
I know that as a parent I have sometimes forced my kids to act against their own will, because I perceived that what they wanted to do was dangerous. I'm not sure how I feel knowing that some parents are prepared to make their children really uncomfortable -disressed even - in order to learn a piano piece. I think of music as something you do for fun (from a personal point of view, I really can't see the point, otherwise).
I can't tell whether I'm being racist in feeling worried that we might - as relatively laissez faire pakeha - be marginalised by an influx of driven hard-workers. I know I'm partly being irrational, but can't tell whether those of us who've enjoyed life in a relatively rich, relatively underpopulated country are in the process of receiving a rude shock as that country disappears.
Are the values espoused in the article likely to become dominant in the west if those who espouse them are most successful? Does "success" in this context constitute power?
And is it, as the writer asserts, really a characteristic of race?
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I remember that some small person would occasionally experiment with the telephone on a party line. Wobbly, uncertain rings and a tentative little voice saying "hello?". Used to taste the milk in the billies, too...
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Sorry to derail the discussion. I came across this: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704111504576059713528698754.html
It's made me uneasy, and wonder how racist I am.
And regarding the ongoing discussion above: there seems to be a disagreement about whether or not the shooting relates to ongoing arguments about the position of groups allied to the right of US politics. I haven't seen anything yet that convinces me the shooting was related to the rhetoric of some members of the Tea Party or other groups. That evidence may yet emerge.
On the other hand, there seems to be an argument that - even if this shooting is not related to the extreme rhetoric coming from some places in the US - that rhetoric needs to be questioned. I've understood people to be arguing for months/years that this rhetoric will produce something awful (akin to the Oklahoma bombings). To me, that seems like a valid concern.
Whether or not this incident is a result of that rhetoric doesn't invalidate the argument that politicians and others in positions of influence can stir people up. Even in my lifetime, I've seen many examples of this causing horrible incidents in what's arguably the greatest country in the world (though I'm not sure that this ranking is significant: I've seen articulate Americans fearful that their country will become just like France or the United Kingdom - just as men fearful of feminism used to worry about becoming more like women.)
I get nervous about any extreme rhetoric - especially in a powerful country like the USA. One of the things it seems to produce - almost invariably and immediately - is equally extreme rhetoric from the opposite "tribe".
It seems to me that there are people on the right and the left of politics - not just in the US - who would like to have a discussion about extreme rhetoric, whether or not this shooting is relevant to that rhetoric. My hope is that they don't have that discussion in the form of more extreme rhetoric.
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Enjoying the return of familiar faces and posters.
Dunedin weather has been up and down today like an up and down thing, as it has for most of the break. We've had a tent drying in the garden since the Whare Flat Festival finished. It's actually been dry a few times today, but there's been too much wind to pack it up.
Lots of good music at the Whare Flat Festival this year. Mara! played great Balkan and Bulgarian; King Leo and various collaborators played fine blues; Baba Yaga played classy Klezmer. Have you ever heard Bohemian Rhapsody played on two banjos with hundreds of people singing along?
Great sadness at the news of the death of a friend who was a frequent attender: the pito of one of his daughters is buried at Whare Flat. The death occurred just before the festival. Bugger. Seriously. He wasn't even old enough to be a boomer. These things seem to be getting more and more common. And "we" are becoming less and less common....
My wife - just as I finished that last paragraph - brought me the death notice of another (elderly) friend. Jeez....
Actually, it's been a nice break. The sun is shining and things are actually going well.
Haven't been into town much, but there seem to be a lot of cruise-ship passengers wandering the streets.
Otepoti. Not everyone's cup of tea, but I love it.
Best wishes to all. And thanks for posts that challenge my thinking and encourage me to do more.
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Among my joys this year have been “Never Mind the Buzzcocks” and “Have I Got News For You”. I don’t know if these are available on any New Zealand TV channels, but they’re certainly available on YouTube.
Local musical acts that I’d recommend to anyone are Beyondsemble and Hot Club Sandwich. Delicous treats, both. Don McGlashan’s solo concert was splendid, too.
A friend told me that the Dave Dobbyn gig she saw in Antarctica was great.
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Hard News: Wikileaks: The Cable Guys, in reply to HORansome,
I suppose if this discussion became unwarrantedly prolonged, it would be a gateathon...
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Hard News: Healing the family feud, in reply to andin,
This is great!
I remember my Mum used to do the hand jive.
And suddenly, there's Lionel Hampton! I'd really like to see the next part.