I teach them that according to Jefferson, a good government is there to protect people and their rights. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. - That to secure these rights,, Governments are instituted among Men..."
I generally start off the discussion with some kind of bellwork question. Sometimes it ends up dominating the lesson. "Should students and teacher have the same authority? Why or why not? What do you think would happen?..." or maybe "Explain the quote, 'Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.'"
Monday's was, "What is the purpose of government? What does it do? Do we (human beings/ Americans) need a government? Why or why not? What do you think would happen if we didn't have a government?"
We haven't really dug into governments yet, but we've touched upon the concept. We've been keeping a "Threat List" this year of all the threats facing America. So we talked about the purpose of government a bit there. And studying ancient civilizations we looked at government, and law, and why we punish. Government plays a key role in The Hunger Games - which we've been reading all year. So a lot of students were regurgitating what they'd learned in some form. This was nice, you know, because it showed me that they'd learned something. But here was my favorite response to the question, which was definitely not a regurgitation:
"The purpose of a government is to protect us. Our government argues more than it does anything. I think that we - the Americans - do not need a government because we are supposed to have freedom and all that stuff, but we don't get that. If you speed, you have to pay the government. And the government lies to us, and watches us, and spies on its own people. I do not think the government is necessary. I don't think it is necessary because they are a bunch of fools and phonies. I don't think too much would happen if we didn't have a government. For sure there would be less sexual allegations (against government officials). I say this because the government is like a reality show - they talk a lot around cameras, but don't do anything behind closed doors."*
There's quite a bit of truth there - even though I wholeheartedly disagree with his conclusion. There is a lot of posturing talk. Oftentimes things (sometimes obvious things) don't get done. Our government doesn't completely trust the people, and the people don't completely trust the government. And our system is weird, because the people are the government.
And today, when I asked people to compare the ways that The Capitol (from The Hunger Games) takes rights away from its citizens, and ways that The United States secures the rights of it's citizens a student said, "this sounds a lot like propaganda." And I was so glad to have that kid in class. And sometimes I wonder, is it? I spend a lot of time talking about the rights we have in our country - both guaranteed in the Bill of Rights, and others which we maybe take for granted:
Freedom of speech, press, religion, assembly, movement, the right to own weapons... The freedom to complain and ask for things to get better without fear of retribution from our government. Freedom from torture, or the threat of torture, or other cruel and unusual punishments. The right to privacy, and freedom of thought...
But we haven't really discussed current situations where other governments protect their citizens and extend rights where ours don't. Senator Sanders may bring up other countries offering Universal Health Care. Colin Kaepernick might say police brutality and racial injustice is still a major issue in The United States. Indiana Rep. Jim Lucas might be concerned that the right to own guns is being chipped away.
We often tiptoe around controversy until the controversy has passed. We can look back (as we did today) at Fannie Lou Hamer and see the rights that were granted after they had been denied and talk about how great America is. But Senator Sanders, Colin Kaepernick, and Rep. Lucas are all - from different sides of the aisle - telling us that there's always more work to be done.
My students are right to remind me about that as well.
*lightly and incompletely edited for spelling, grammar, and clarity.
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