That being said, my friend was troubled by this act and by the fact that a decent person was caught up in it because it payed better than the noble career of teaching our most primitive kinfolk the ways of the world. My response to him invoked something that I realized was good advice for anybody so I decided to post it here. I will close my introduction with this; the moral is: no matter how bad the world seems to you, you have incredible power in the freedom of choice but the decision is always yours:
"Calling someone an imbecile or an idiot, whether to their face or behind their back achieves the opposite result. I'm sure Sun Tzu wrote something about this in The Art of War but it's been years since I read it. An enemy on the defensive will do the opposite of what you want them to do because they are backed into a corner and feel as though they must fight their way out. However, in the case of this teacher, what if someone had gone to her with pictures from the children she teaches saying how much she missed them? What if they had personally confronted her and said, "You are the most talented writer and school teacher I have ever known, you should write a book about your struggle to make money as a K teacher." Seeing support would make it her decision and give her power which would make her desire more.
As far as changing the American direction: Big Brother/Big sister and the Boys and Girls club are great places to volunteer and get first hand contact with kids who are at the epicenter of people telling them they'll never amount to anything and that their best bet is a gang. I've personally met these kids and it really does make a difference to them that you're there. Mentoring is another similar option that I've seen people do and it does have a high success rate as well. As far as beyond that?
Miracles come when good men decide to do something about it. You can pray to god for the strength and he will give it but the power to do something is always yours. Write a book about what you feel is wrong with America such as Nickle and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich, Travel's with Charley by Jon Stienbeck, On The Road by Jack Kerouac and many more but change starts with you. I manage three blogs and have traveled and constantly ask people about their thoughts and feelings at work.
I also read a plethora of different articles from multiple sources here on fb; as well as on Gizmodo and google news. I don't stop there, I read the comments as well, It is incredibly time consuming but I've learned that there are a lot of stupid people who don't do their research and follow only one source for their entire world view. I have also learned that sometimes I'm wrong and admit it proudly when I am because none of us is perfect and that's just good etiquette.
Whatever you do, don't settle. Constantly learn, get away from the computer and interact. Ask those stupid people to tell you every stupid idea they have and research it with them; not to prove them wrong but to maybe learn something as well as share your information and sources and help them learn something too. Don't spend too much time on an idiot though because if they are truly set in their evil ways the decision is always theirs to change. All you can do is pray for them and offer them your ears and heart should they need or want it and then allow time to teach them the way they choose to learn. Focus on you though and always do your best and then the world will look like a beautiful place to you. I guarantee it."
To all of you who read this blog, I wish you the best and hope my words can lead you to good things.
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