On the previous post I listed two essential elements of a remake of Reno (any town) that wishes to reinvent itself to become a place where the guiding principle for decision making is humanization, the primary concern of government in all matters being that all are served well by the decisions of government bodies. In the piece I focused on matters of a living wage and availability of truly affordable housing. There is a third component and it is critical to the implementation and maintenance of the truly humane city, an educational system that is focused squarely on, primarily on, first and foremost on helping students become effective and active participants in the democratic decision making process so that the decisions they make as citizens are sensible in the context of a humane society. A place with a citizenry adept at deciding what is right and what is fair, that cares that decisions affecting all are fair and good for all is the decent place to live.
As it stands, the primary goal of schools in the United States of America is to prepare students for the job market and not to participate in determining a proper and righteous economic system for a country founded on principles such as those described in the Declaration of Independence. What sensibly educated and humane person would ever support an economic system that, in order to help a few become wealthy, sets conditions that cause the lives of a good many to be well below the standard that those who have would find to be tolerable for themselves?
So, point three:
3. Create schools that are dedicated to helping students grow good sense and develop the skills and knowledge and dispositions that allow them to be effective and humane participants in the decision making process by which people in a democratic society determine what is in the bests interests of the people, all people and not just some.
