Category: Letters

Attn Millenials

The website analytics suggest that the majority of my audience are young Americans, so I’d like to take a moment to address this group specifically. Everyone else can take the week off.

Alright, guys, gals, and non-binary pals, listen up: I think we may have made a mistake. I’m concerned that recent events indicate that the oldsters don’t actually know what they’re doing any more than we do, which is what we assumed when we, collectively as a demographic, decided we could get away with not voting. According to the census bureau, less than half of us who were eligible voted in the last election, compared to more than 70% of oldsters.

Now, I’m not going to try and pin the blame everything bad that’s happened in politics on the elderly, but I am starting to think that we might need to step in. The geezers have had their chance, now it’s our turn.

The bad news is that this is going to require a commitment, from all of us. How much of a commitment will depend largely on where you live. Voting is easier to do in some states and localities than others. Some towns you can waltz into a polling place without any wait, and even register day of if you’ve forgotten. Other places require you to have your papers in order months ahead of time, wait in lines that rival Disney world, and endure cross examination from misanthropic poll workers.

This discrepancy is not accidental. These are the jurisdictions that fear us and the power we hold as voters, as well they should. These measures are designed to frustrate you into apathy. Don’t let them.

The good news is, no matter where you live in the United States, your right to vote is sacrosanct. To this end, there are resources you can call upon to help ensure your voice is heard. There are multiple nonprofit organizations dedicated to ensuring you have all the information necessary to jump through whatever hoops exist for voting in your jurisdiction. Your state government will have sample ballots with voting instructions. Local organizations provide transportation to the polls on voting day, and if necessary you can enlist help to cast your ballot if you have a disability.

Ideally, you will want to be an informed voter. This is where having access to a sample ballot is especially helpful. You can research candidates and issues beforehand and take notes. Don’t worry about studying; you’re entitled to take notes with you into the voting booth. But above all, don’t lose the forest for the trees. Voting at all is far more important than researching until you find a perfect candidate.

Our time is nigh. We, the young voters of America must stand up and take charge. The old guard have demonstrated that they do not know any better, and are no more qualified to vote or make decisions about our the fate of our country and our world than any of us. It is in our best interests, as well as our obligation, to step up and take responsibility, before outside events thrust that responsibility upon us.

The Laptop Manifesto

The following is an open letter to my fellow students of our local public high school, which has just recently announced, without warning, that all students will henceforth be required to buy google chromebooks at their own expense.

I consider myself a good citizen. I obey the traffic laws when I walk into town. I vote on every issue. I turn in my assignments promptly. I raise my hand and wait to be called on. When my classmates come to me at the beginning of class with a sob story about how they lost their last pencil, and the teacher won’t loan them another for the big test, I am sympathetic to their plight. With education budgets as tight as they are, I am willing to share what I have.

Yet something about the rollout of our school’s new laptop policy does not sit well with me. That the school should announce mere weeks before school begins that henceforth all students shall be mandated to have a specific, high-end device strikes me as, at best, rude, and, at worst, an undue burden on students for a service that is legally supposed to be provided by the state at no cost.

Ours is, after all, a public school. Part of being a public school is being accessible to the public. That means all members of the public. Contrary to the apparent belief of the school board and high school administration, the entire student population does not consist solely of financially wealthy and economically stable families. Despite the fact that our government at both the local and state level is apparently content to routinely leave the burden of basic classroom necessities to students and individual teachers, it is still, legally, the responsibility of the school, not the student, to see that the student is equipped to learn.

Now, I am not opposed to technology. On the contrary, I think our school is long overdue for such a 1:1 program. Nor am I particularly opposed the ongoing effort to make more class materials digitally accessible. Nor even that the school should offer their own Chromebooks to students at the student’s expense. However, there is something profoundly wrong about the school making such costs mandatory.

Public school is supposed to be the default, free option for compulsory education. To enforce compulsory education as our state does, (to the point of calling child protective services on parents of students who miss what the administration considers to be too many days,) and then enforcing the cost of that education amounts to a kind of double taxation against families that attend public schools. Moreover, this double taxation has a disproportionate impact on those who need public schools the most.

This program as it stands is unfair, unjust, and as far as I can see, indefensible. I therefore call upon my fellow students to resist this unjust and arguably illegal decree, by refusing to comply. I call in particular upon those who are otherwise able to afford such luxuries as chromebooks to resist the pressure to bow to the system, and stand up for your fellow students.

Open Letter: Betsy DeVos

Today at school there was an informational session regarding the policies of the new department of education, and a letter-writing session to the new secretary of education. Unfortunately, in a bitter and illuminating irony, I was prevented from attending and participating owing to a flare-up of my disability. I have therefore resolved to make my point via online open letter.

Madam Secretary,

If I am completely honest, I hold reservations that you are qualified to hold your current post. Your lack of experience with public schools at all is disturbing; and your characterization of education as an industry rather than the duty of the government in protecting the inalienable right of the citizens in accordance with both international law and domestic precedent, is alarming.

With that said, I shall invite you to prove me wrong. I remain open to the possibility that I have underestimated your abilities and convictions, and those of your cabinet colleagues. In particular, your short-lived, halfhearted attempt to prevent the rollback of existing protections for transgender students is quite heartening, despite its failure. However, I should have to inform you that merely paying lip service to the idea of equal protection is not nearly enough, particularly for one who has sworn an oath to uphold it.

Because I do not expect much in the way of expanded services from your office, the main point of your tenure will be to ensure that existing protections for minorities and those such as myself with disabilities are enforced. Your job is to stand up for those who cannot stand for themselves. This is an enormous responsibility, and one that is arguably more critical to the continuing function of our democratic society than the jobs of your other colleagues.

I will hasten to point out, since the papers have brought it to my attention, that the primary motivation for your backing down during the standoff over transgender protections owed to your job security, that your position is most likely more secure than you may be led to believe. Yours is a senate-confirmed position. You, who were evidently the most qualified candidate the president could muster, only barely made it through senate approval. I do not expect the same senators would take kindly to you being asked to resign over adhering to your legally-mandated duty. I urge you to point out this matter to your colleagues the next time you feel pressured to compromise on principles.

In closing, I urge you, Madam Secretary, to prove me wrong; to demonstrate that you are qualified to uphold your constitutional and legal obligations. Prove that you are willing to put moral principles before money and politics. Give me reason to believe, as you put it during your confirmation hearings, that you “fully embrace equality [and] believe in the innate value of every single human being, and that all students, no matter their age, should be able to attend a school and feel safe and be free from discrimination.” Prove that you will stand by your words and enforce the civil rights legislation that ensures that our society can yet function.

Sincerely,
The Renaissance Guy
Registered independent voter, Blogger, and Student