Further thoughts on venture philanthropy...

So first. I just want to thank all of you for completing the assignment. I tried to keep it as uncomplicated as I could.

We didn't have the time get to everyone's experience at their internships, and whether or not Pallotta' points held any truth at your organizations. Jessica talked about the compensation factor and how the employees at Job Path go above and beyond what is required of their pay grade. Christina spoke a little bit about the decision between making money or doing good. Her comments beg the question, is this a fair choice? Between doing good or making money? It is one that many of us are facing (VERA fellows and the undergraduate population in America). Consider the following:

1. Making money or doing good

2. Making money while doing good

3. Making money by doing good

The second (2) seems to imply a passive nature. That yes, you can make money and do good things. But that you can make money one way, and donate some of that money to do good things somewhere else (i.e.- any charitable donation by Wallmart).

The third (3), I would argue, implies the nature of a social entrepreneur. The idea that any profit seeking venture should also seek to serve the common good. I am, of course, aware that the third notion is idealist (almost absurdly so) but it is the goal of the social entrepreneur to somehow shift the way of the market economy from the a combination of (1) and (2), to a culmination of (3).

Viable? Ridiculous? Questions?

Also, I have forwarded two videos to be added to the 'check it out' section. One is the on the MEND program of Invisible Children inc., and the other is for an organization called Falling Whistles. Feel free to comment on both, I would love to hear your thoughts and relay them back to the founders of each organization (because they need to hear them too).

Finally, and I know some of you were disappointed that it didn't happen, in the event of radio silence I would have (seriously would have) recited Macbeth's opening lines in the following scene:

http://www.online-literature.com/shakespeare/macbeth/8/

How do we reform Higher Education?

Thank you to those who attended today's class, I really enjoyed the discussions shared and the various avenues explored in the realm of higher education.

First and foremost, I strongly feel it is important to bring the topic of Higher Education up since it has been a topic that has been swept under the rug for too long. While many believe speaking about this topic goes no where, I believe otherwise. Having a group of people understand the difficulties of getting a college education, or just an education period isn’t an easy thing to acquire. To become educated is to have the resources available to teach students how to write, read, speak, and just develop as a human being. It is stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) that one of the many rights man has, is to be educated, in order to develop and progress in the world around him. However, to provide individuals with an education one has to understand who is funding it. The answer to this is the government.

The government funds education programs and they decide how things should be, what will be taught, and the materials used. The issue with this is, when governments, specifically the US government, ignores education and sets it priorities to allocating resources, in order to be further their economic gain. This is an issue that needs to be recognized to prevent long term damages they are placing on education. In order to make the necessary changes needed to improve education reform, it is crucial that the people stand up and protest the irresponsibility that will negatively impact the future generation of this nation. As the saying goes, to make change is to work on it every day and sacrifice, in order to get results. Yet, the problem with protesting this issue is, who cares. Who are the people out there willing to take time to inform society about the importance of higher education and making sure that it is well funded? For those who are aware of the problem and stay silent to either preserve their elite status or for those that ignore the issue in entirety, how do we persuade them to become the opposite of by standards? The answer lies in morals, values, and the desire to create a society that isn’t gaped between those who are advantaged and those that are disadvantaged.

In class, Professor Waterston spoke about a community she went to where everyone was given equal pay no matter what their job was and were given different tasks to do every 6 weeks. Although, the community was very close and hardworking, parents found themselves able to spend more time with their kids and families were able to communicate and interact with families more. While some may say, “whoa this is too communist for my taste”, I believe that this type of community in a sense is a depiction of utopia that we hope to one day achieve. If you ask a college or high school student how many hours in a week do you see your mom or dad, I am sure many of them wouldn’t say a high number. The reason for this is that we live in a society where everyone works to make a living and works to get the nice life they dreamed of. However, think to yourself, would you rather work and work to live the “life” or would you rather live a life where everyone around you is equal and has the ability to spend more time with their families? This question ties into higher education because, if politically and culturally we have taught society that college is the entrance to having a better life with better pay, and don’t live up to these standards; then the government needs to come together and come up with ways to better the education system, so that student are truly paying for what they are getting.

Even more, if the US is taking in math and science students from other countries because of their ability to do more, compared to the average American, then this should be a massive wake up call for society. It is shocking enough that the Chancellor of CUNY wants to raise tuition to those in the math and science fields; but if we are taking in the “brains” of math and science from foreign countries to compensate for our lack of experts in these fields, it is time that we all stand up and remind the government where their priorities should be. If the government can not live up to its responsibility, (the people) then it is vital that we come together and bring recognition to this issue, before all is gone.

Let us Express Ourselves: The Arts.

I want to thank everyone today for engaging in the activities and the discussion in class.

I want to continue on the line of discussion raised by professor Reitz. How do we interpret concepts of divide and conquer. We discussed how art can allow for a connection of people who are different, but another important discussion is how art is meant to be interpreted within a particular group of people. What is the message being sent from one rapper to the other? What are the internal discussions going on among individuals within a particular group and why is that internal discussion important?

Professor Reitz expressed some disagreement and discontent with the Northland Poster Collective and it’s, as she phrases it, “white liberalism.” We did not have enough time to go into an in depth discussion about the Northland Poster Collective, but I would like to know what are the views everyone might have on that reading.

And last but not least I wanted to talk about decolonization. Why is decolonization important? Why is decolonization important to juvenile justice and justice in general? What role does artistic expression play in the processes of decolonization? What can we learn from the messages of the three songs and the two videos we watched for H.W. in relation to the process of decolonization?

Chad Out!