[MD] Barfuesserkirche (ZMM & Dewey)

[ARLO J BENSINGER JR]

[Jim] 
I intended to lurk for a while but just couldn't resist when I saw Mr. Holden's
comments.  Too outrageous to be silent.

[Arlo]
You've seen nothing yet.

[Jim]
I've noticed an insurgence of Libertarian ideology being forced into mailing
lists everywhere I go. I think it has to do with the growing realization of the
death of Republican and Conservative ideology in the US.

[Arlo]
I wouldn't be so sure. That we will swing back centrist, and then to the left,
one day is a historical given. But xenophobic fears are not easily overcome,
and the dialogue is so twisted its hard to imagine we go anywhere but deeper
into lies, fear and demonizing (from both parties). Yet, I admire your
optimism.

[Jim]
I wish I could comment.  I'm fairly uneducated.  I did live in Denmark for a
year though and I know people who are going through their folk schools. I
remember reading some brochures about the schools. I discovered Pirsig in 1998
a year after I left Denmark and I'm still trying to integrate his ideas.

[Arlo]
That's an interesting choice of words, and quite appropriate in this dialogue.
What do you mean by "uneducated"? I'm guessing you mean either "unfamiliar"
(with Dewey and these schools) or "uncertified" (as in formal Academic
degrees). If you mean the former, I've not read Dewey, or have had any
familiarity with these schools before a a short while ago. That's why I started
this thread, so we could have a chance to think about these things anticipating
the new Granger book. For me, the dialogues center is the question "what is the
goal of education?". For Dewey it was (seems to be) empowering the individual
for involvement in "deep democracy". There are strands of cultural
preservation, a broad range of skills (a la "arete") and preparing the
individual for her/his part in tending to a social/community oriented life. (To
Dewey, I believe, a focus soley on economic life underscored an enslavement of
man to money). Others have proposed "education" should be about "job skills".
What do you think? If you mean the latter (uneducated as uncertified), I
wouldn't sweat it. Dan is one of the more educated voices in this forum, and he
lacks formal certification. Indeed, one of my initial comments about the
Academy sought to tease apart its role in the "production of intellectual
patterns" from its role as an "exchange institution, turning intellectual
patterns into social capital". That you lack the latter, does not mean you lack
the former.