One year ago, I posted this:

Most trees have leafed out for two or three days.
Each leaf unfolding in place to fill its space, green;
But the trees that flowered are wilting now,
Bold blooms shrinking to leave more space between,
Dwindling to stipples along each bough.
Superimposed: a lacy screen, damascened,
Patches on a slate background--the dripping sky--
Grey except at some hidden place where a break
Must let the sun flood up to certain high
Shingles, a wire, a spire that's a streak
Of brilliant white. All silent, a still sheen,
Sheer, stretched thin to fade or end in a blaze.

It was a different time. Also a different place: I wrote it in our usual home in Cambridge, MA, but we have been sheltering for weeks in West Tisbury on Martha’s Vineyard.

I will say one thing for the poem: it is precisely described. “Wire” and “spire” are convenient rhymes, and they probably look forced, but I actually watched the slender white spire of Memorial Church and a telephone wire, both lit from below by a band of setting sun breaking through low clouds.

(Other poems on this site.)

The new Civics in Real Life is now available!  COVID-19 has been an international crisis, and in this crisis, non-governmental organizations have had to step up and support efforts across a variety of areas and nations. How do NGOs support the common good?

Check out the new series here. 

As a reminder, our topics so far have addressed

Propaganda and Symbolism

The National Guard

The CARES Act

Primary Sources

Federalism in Action

The Preamble in Action

Executive Orders

the Common Good,

and Public Health and the Social Contract.

Upcoming resources will include  Government Power, Non-Governmental Organizations, and Civil Disobedience, among others. We hope that you will find these useful. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact us at anytime! And don’t forget, you can find the ‘Civics in Real Life’ resource on the Florida Joint Center for Citizenship website here. Be sure also to check out Civics360 for videos and readings that explore additional civics concepts and ideas within a more traditional framework!

I am sharing this survey invitation by request and would encourage you to send it to middle-school or high-school students you know, including those in schools or programs where you work (if their own policies allow).

I would like to invite you to participate in a survey on how adolescents are understanding and processing what COVID-19 means to humanity and their societies, as well as thinking about themselves, their societies, and their future trajectories and opportunities during the COVID-19 global crisis. I want to know more about your perspective on what is going on, and your participation is valuable to helping better understand what impacts the changes related to COVID-19 have on young people.

The study is being conducted by myself, Gabriel Velez, with the approval of the Marquette University Institutional Review Board. You are eligible to participate in this study because you are a middle or high school student.

If you decide to participate in this study, you will be asked to complete an online survey of approximately 20 to 30 minutes. Your answers will be recorded, but they will only be connected to your name if you provide us with your name to be contacted for a follow up survey. Your responses will not be shared with your school. At the end of the survey, we will ask for your email address if you are willing to participate in a follow up interview with a researcher.

In order to participate in this survey, you will have to give your informed consent. If you are under 18 years old, you will also need your parents to indicate that they give you permission to participate. When you click the link to the survey, the first page will be for you to read and agree to. The second page will then be for your caregiver, and they should read it over and click that they give permission for you to participate.

To access the online survey and participate, please click this link:
https://marquette.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_e52JGB5TPllRpSB

Remember, this is completely voluntary. Your decision to participate or not will not be known by anyone at your school or affect your relationship with your school or with any school personnel.

You can choose to be in the study or not. If you’d like to participate or have any questions about the study, please email Gabriel Velez (Gabriel.velez@marquette.edu).

Thank you very much. Sincerely,
Gabriel Velez
Marquette University College of Education

The new Civics in Real Life is now available!  We have seen a great many ads and images advocating for certain actions (or, I suppose, non-actions) in relation to the COVID-19/Novel coronavirus pandemic. Today’s resource looks at symbolism and propaganda. How does propaganda use symbolism to persuade, motivate, or inspire? 

Check out the new series here. 

As a reminder, our topics so far have addressed

The National Guard

The CARES Act

Primary Sources

Federalism in Action

The Preamble in Action

Executive Orders

the Common Good,

and Public Health and the Social Contract.

Upcoming resources will include  Government Power, Non-Governmental Organizations, and Civil Disobedience, among others. We hope that you will find these useful. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact us at anytime! And don’t forget, you can find the ‘Civics in Real Life’ resource on the Florida Joint Center for Citizenship website here. Be sure also to check out Civics360 for videos and readings that explore additional civics concepts and ideas within a more traditional framework!

This is just a salvo in the current debate about whether the feds should send money to states:

“It’s not fair to the taxpayers of Florida. We sit here, we live within our means, and then New York, Illinois, California and other states don’t. And we’re supposed to go bail them out? That’s not right,” GOP Sen. Rick Scott tells poolers of sending more money to states— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) April 27, 2020

The Rockefeller Institute calculates the net flow of money from state to state on a per capita basis. Note that net money flows from New York and Illinois (although not actually from California) toward Sen. Scott’s Florida (h/t Jonathan Cohn).

But this is as it should be. The progressive position should be that people in the band of states from Pennsylvania to Arizona deserve support from states like New York, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. It is not a matter of noblesse oblige or the kindness of Yankees. Wealth is concentrated in places like Manhattan and Boston. These places are home to many rich individuals and concentrations of organized capital. Progressives believe that concentrated capital is problematic. At a minimum, it distorts power. At the worst, it is exploitative, expanding at the expense of people in Alabama or New Mexico. People in those states have a right to a larger share of the national wealth.

It’s OK to make fun of conservative politicians from recipient states who won’t acknowledge that they benefit from federal redistribution.

It’s important to think about why people in recipient states often vote against redistribution while people from supplier states may vote for it.

There is also a troubling paradox that the political party that is at least mildly more favorable to redistribution draws so much of its votes from states that lose out from redistribution. From William Jennings Bryan to Lyndon Baines Johnson, the states that wanted a strong federal role in the economy were net recipients of federal aid, and they viewed Wall Street as their enemy. Now the Senate Democratic Leader, the nation’s most prominent Democratic governor, and the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee all directly represent Wall Street.

These are paradoxes and conundrums, but the best response is not to object to the interstate flow of money, to mock Red State politicians for mischaracterizing it, or to ask people in poorer states to be more grateful for the help they get from the north. The right response is to reinforce public support for the social contract that rightly sends money from Massachusetts to Mississippi.

See also does the Left care about Alabama?; white working class alienation from government; an expert class and the grassroots; defining equity and equality.

Good morning, friends in civics! The wonderful Lori Dool of Palm Beach District Schools sends along the newest video lessons for the week. These cover influencing the government; bias, symbolism, and propaganda (which will have a Civics in Real Life resource this week as well!);  public policy problem solving; and multiple perspectives. As always, the links back to Civics360 are located below the video. We hope you find these useful, and thank you again to Lori Dool and Palm Beach District Schools!

Influencing the Government

Civics360

Bias, Symbolism, and Propaganda

Civics360

Public Policy Problem Solving

Civics360

Examining Multiple Perspectives

Civics360

Be sure to check out earlier videos in this resource collection! I’ve compiled them below.

Week 1 (Forms of Government, Systems of Government, International Organizations, International Conflicts)
Week 2 (Enlightenment Ideas, Impact of Historical Documents, Pursuit of Independence, Articles of Confederation)
Week 3 (The Preamble, Constitutional Limits, Federalists and Anti-Federalists, Rule of Law, Sources and Types of Law)
Week 4 (Citizenship, Citizen Responsibilities and Obligations, Bill of Rights and Other Amendments, Constitutional Safeguards and Limitations, Constitutional Rights)
Week 5 (impact of the 13th, 14th, 15th, 19th, 24th, and 26th Amendments, Significant Supreme Court Cases, Political Parties, and Evaluating Candidates)