Freedom and Mojo

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It seems to me that Americans have reason to show some optimism this morning. Yesterday we had federal mid-term elections, and we have ceased to be a one-party government.That’s not to say that the Democrats are the answer, but it is a good sign that we might like to be a country that is represented by our representatives, instead of ruled by them. One-party government is the kind of government that tells you what to do. Having more than one party enfranchised in your government gives some balance, so someone has to listen.

The term “leader” (in government, anyway) has always been a red flag for me. After all, the word “Fuehrer” is what “leader” means in German. Any people that feels it needs to be lead, instead of represented, is not a democracy, and doesn’t deserve to be called one. It’s nice to see that my country may be getting away from its need for a “big brother” or father figure to lead it. It’s also nice to see that we are not afraid to have a woman be Speaker of the House, or have more diverse representation in state governor’s positions and in Congress.

And, um, if you resent my giving my humble (and I hope it is humble) opinion, or if you resent women, blacks, Muslims or any other group winning popular elections in a free country, you’re visiting the wrong blog.

Yes, it’s Math Mojo. What’s freedom got to do with math or mojo? EVERYTHING! That’s the point! A lot of people who are mathematically challenged have be misguided into believing that in math there is only one way to do everything (or even one answer to every problem). There are lots of ways to do anything, and, believe it or not, there is not just one answer to every problem. There usually is in simple arithmetic, but once you get much further than has been shoveled into you in public schools, you can find a world of math that requires interpretation.

Real math requires freedom, and creativity. It was the creatively-challenged of antiquity who decided that you could not represent negative numbers because they are “not real.” Or couldn’t use zero, even though other cultures were successfully using it to accomplish things others couldn’t dream of. Or wouldn’t adopt Arabic numerals, until they lost valuable trade to Eastern countries who could run rings around them in commerce, because the Roman numerals of the West were much less effective in almost all calculations.

Math is only “too factual” (as one girl I knew in high-school called it) for people who have been falsely lead to believe that “you just have to shut up and memorize it.” Remember, SCHOOL math and real math are about as related as pornography is to love. One is just a way for someone to make money or get power over you, the other a beautiful way to learn about the world and express yourself about it.

By the way, as I often have to do, I’d like to state here that I don’t mean that each teacher is responsible for school math usually being so profligate. Most teachers are victims of administrations, or at least something like the “No Teacher Left Unstressed Act” which has been horrifyingly detrimental to education on almost all levels. Teachers are often strait-jacketed into teaching with inefficient, and sometimes downright cruel methods. Their freedom is often as restricted as the students’.

So when you are looking for someone to blame, try to give your teacher some slack. Look for the suit. Look for the best-dressed person in the chain of self-interest and arrogance, look for the Mercedes and the power-tie. Look for the person with the parking spot closest to his/her office. And DON’T give any slack in the beginning. Make them earn it. Make them earn that salary. Once you feel that they really are doing their jobs well, look for the next highest person in the chain.

One pretty good way to tell if they are really dedicated to the students’ real education is to see if they are in trouble with the people above them. If they aren’t rocking the boat, they aren’t doing their jobs.

Another way to tell who basically is a functionary of a lousy system is to see how many board-meetings that person goes to. If they are constantly at meetings, instead of visiting “the trenches” (classrooms, teacher’s get-togethers), that is a sure sign that their priorities are about advancing their career, instead of advocating for change.

That brings us back to the mid-term elections. When a system shows egregious signs of corruption (I mean how many mind-blowingly greedy, perverted, hypocritical scandals can one party come up with?), you need to advocate for change. It seems like America did that this time.

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