By way of reviewing William
Schubert’s commonplaces of curriculum development, this blog to date, in
describing the commonplace, the student, has addressed students’ personal and
social interests. This posting looks at students’
economic interests. This is a moving
target since the economy regularly changes.
But if one picks a particular time – one that has come and gone –
readers can see what happened and gain a sense of how a particular approach or
view of curriculum affects this area of concern.
So, in this blog’s effort to describe and explain how
liberated federalism, an approach to civics education, affects students’
interests, this posting addresses the economic interests of students of another
time. In this posting, that time is (was)
the years leading up to the 2008 economic meltdown that the US and the world market
economies experienced. That resulted
from the highly irresponsible behavior in the housing market and almost
resulted in a world depression.
As it was, it did lead to a
recession that just fell short of being a depression. Of interest here are the years preceding that
downturn. And with that backdrop, this
posting utilizes some of the ideas this blog shared with its treatment of the
parochial/traditional federalist view. That
treatment outlined the reasons why a federalist approach would be useful for the
economic interests of students, and they are not diminished in the liberated
federalist approach, the approach currently being highlighted.
To summarize that
argument, it was pointed out that the general prosperity that the United States
economy had been enjoying was the product of the productivity gains made by the
nation’s producers. That productivity
advancement was basically the result of the downsizing among the nation’s
larger corporations, which had allowed prices to become more globally competitive.
But this has been
accomplished at a price, especially in the years leading up to the ’08
recession. Despite improvements, the
average standard of living had been declining in this nation since 1973.[1]
The same downsizing that caused
extensive layoffs, though, was opening opportunities for smaller, service-based
businesses to spring up. These
operations provided employment for many displaced workers, but at substantially
lower wages.
Michael Sandel pointed
out that an early, in part, politically motivated aim of Americans was to own
their own businesses.[2] Besides the financial motivations, Americans
saw owning one’s own business (the aim was mostly limited to white males) as
providing greater control in their lives.
At that time, from 1973-2008, that very spirit could, and to a great degree,
did become popular again.
The republican based
notions of being that sort of independent participant in the make-up of a
community was and is congruent with the notion that within the proposed model,
liberated federalism, an individual has or should have constitutional
integrity. Any quality that adds to individuals
being in control of their lives adds to the integrity of those participants. In addition, a heightened economic interest,
caused by ownership of a business, increases the concerns within individuals for
the welfare of the community where such businesses are situated.
Any businesses are
advanced by positive conditions in their immediate environments. In return, the polity which governs those communities
and businesses is also helped by the increased attention that business owners
express toward the welfare of the community as demonstrated by their own
actions. In addition, students who are exposed
to this federalist/republican way of thought might be encouraged to advance
their interests in a more entrepreneurial climate.
Short of such a direct
ambition, the liberated federalist model provides students with an ideal that
is a morally based tool by which to analyze the actions of businesses in their
political activities (politically being used in its most extensive
meaning). As businesses engage in
socially effective ways, students who are taught about government under the
construct proposed in this account will be encouraged and prepared to ask
penetrating questions of those political actions and actors. This is in their economic, as well as
political interests.
While the economy today has
veered away from the conditions of 2008 and the years following that meltdown,
one can appreciate the challenges average Americans faced at that time. Whether or not this move toward owning small
businesses was viable or prudent, one can still ascertain how federalist
thought can affect the way people see their options and opportunities. To generalize, one can easily appreciate how
strong ties to one’s local social/political realities can be of benefit to the
economic interests one might have.
A liberated federalist
model looks back and gives readers a responsible review of how that model’s approach
can potentially address the economic interests of students. Next, this blog will directly address the
political interests of students.
No comments:
Post a Comment