Church or Government Shouldn't need to Take Care of the Poor

   I do not understand homelessness, nor extreme poverty, nor hunger in America.
   I don't understand it in Utah.
   There shouldn't be a need for church, or government or even charity. No, not to take care of the needy. It seems that every time a person was spotted homeless, someone would come along to invite them into their home. And, every time a person was spotted begging, someone would come along to feed them.
   Every time -- at least every time the needy person made himself visible. You can't help the poor, if you don't know who they are, but if you do, and if you have the resources, then you help them.
   Yes, I think we are that kind of people, both as Utahns and as Americans.
   I think of a church hymn. It will be sung tomorrow in meetinghouses across this state. "I cannot see another's lack and I not share -- my glowing fire, my loaf of bread, my safe shelter overhead." I don't believe those are words uttered without intent, without being meant. I believe those who sing them, mean them.

Critical Thinking is the Art of Taking Knowledge and Increasing It

  Tonight, I want to kick the same ball I kicked the other day: Critical thinking should be the heart of our education system.
   I never had such a class; There was no Critical Thinking 101. Now, to me, the shortage of such classes points out just how much room for improvement there is in our education system. If critical thinking is one of the most most important things we can teach, and we are seldom teaching it, we stand to make marked improvement.
   So, is critical thinking all that critical? Is it as important as I am claiming? If I am going to argue it is one of the biggest holes in our education system, it falls to me now to make that case.
   Memorization of algebra, science, and so forth is important; Don't get me wrong. The person who doesn't know how to add cannot make change, and thus cannot even fill a job as a store clerk. The person who cannot read likewise misses out on many jobs. I do not say these things are not important, but I do say critical thinking has an importance that goes beyond.
   Learning math, history, and geometry is the accumulation of past knowledge, while the act of thinking is the creation of future knowledge. Critical thinking is the art of taking knowledge and building on it.
    There is no scientist until he learns to think. There are no advancements in society, until someone thinks them up. There are bright ideas, until a little light goes on in someone's head.
   I am simply saying this: If there are ways to encourage the mind to think, we should pursue them. If there are classes and methods ad ways for encouraging thinking, and we are not offering them, are we not limiting what we can do to develop the student intellectually?
   Education reform? It does seem to me that instilling more critical thinking should be one of the most obvious ways of improving our education system.

If You Want Tolerance and Open-Mindedness, You Need to Teach Them

   What you teach is what you get, often. So, refashioning debate classes so the students argue not for one side of the issue, but for both makes sense, to me. We are a nation divided by politics. It would be good to plant seeds of tolerance for the views of others. If you train the student to consider both sides of the issue, you begin a healing process that brings more tolerance to the nation.
   So, if you are debating global warming, one person doesn't take the side saying there is global warming while the other person disputes it. No, instead they both are charged with bringing up arguments on both sides of the issue. The person who wins, is the person who makes the best points on both sides of the question.
   Thus, you teach the student to be open minded and tolerant, two things that make for a better citizenry. I will repeat, what you teach is what you get. If we do not have anything in our society that teaches these principles, then we should not expect to have them. If we do value them, then we should implement a mechanism for teaching them.
   

We could Look at the Homeless as an Opportunity, not a Crisis

   We could look at the homeless congregating downtown in an entirely different fashion, you know. We could see them as an opportunity, not a crisis. Instead of just being concerned with how they congregate to sell drugs, instead of being much concerned with how they blight our business district, we could say, "Hey, this is wonderful. I can go downtown at any moment  and find someone to help." We could say, "We don't have to round them up to help them, because they are rounding themselves up. We couldn't help them if we couldn't find them, but having them congregate here downtown makes it easy to find them, and help them,"

The Homeless Should not be an Industry, They Should be a Service

   Homelessness as an industry: Bring them to the clinics, where the clinicians can make a living off them. I thought on this as I considered someone's warning that in moving the homeless out of downtown the downtown area, we must not remove them too far from their services.
  Perhaps the services are helpful, all of them. But, we should give them pause. We should consider not only if they are necessary, but if they are being administered in the best of fashions, which, in part, means that someone's not making their buck off the homeless while the homeless really are not reaping much benefit.
   I say this, in part, because we cannot afford many bills. Often, the government pays the bill. We are maybe $18 trillion in debt. Some things -- even good things and things we want to do, are simply not affordable.
  But, even if it were not a matter of what we could afford, the homeless should not be an industry, they should be a service.

There is no Scientist unless He Learns to Think, so Teach Him to Think,

   Critical thinking, I'm thinking, is the essence of a good education. You might forget what you learn in biology. You might not use what you learn in algebra. But, you will use the skills you develop from critical thinking every day of your life.
    And, the person who masters the art of critical thinking becomes a better person. Look at the definition of the term. "The objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgment." If you learn to be objective, you learn to set aside biases.
   So, inject larger measures of critical thinking into our education. When we study history, and social science, and current affairs, encourage the students to analyze the issues and then to express their opinions.
   I would suggest debate has as much call to be a mandatory subject as any except that with it, the student is learning to be an nonobjective analyst. He is learning to think, but in an nonobjective way. There is some value to this, but it is better to teach the student to be objective.
   Maybe have a debate course where they are asked to present both sides of the issue. The person who wins the debate wins it not for being more persuasive on one side of the issue, but on making the best points on both sides of the argument.
   The thinking skills developed in school are the essence of a good education. There will be no inventions without thinking being involved. If our schools spend a good share of the day honing and encouraging thinking skills, of course we will have a more productive education system, one that resulted in better scientists, and wiser business people,.
   If the ability to think is what makes for a good scientist, then one of the most important things in a good education system is to teach the student to think. I suggest, then, that education reform should focus on providing much greater dosages of critical thinking in the class room.

We are the Fools, if We Dismiss Love as a Silly, Laughable Ingredient

   If I were to say, "Love is one of the greatest forces in the world," most people would not question it. Many would agree. Others would politely think it a nice platitude.
   But, if I were to suggest love is one of the most important things to revamping our education system, I might get laughed to scorn.
   Yes, what would you think if I were to suddenly jump up, start running in circles, waving my hands wildly, and say, "I've got it! I've got it! I've got it! I know what we should do to save our education system. Does anyone want to know?"
   "You better tell us," someone replies.
   I take three large steps toward them, and shout, "Love." I pause, break into a little laugh, and then start singing, "All you need is love, love, love. Love is all you need."
   Love is one of the most powerful of forces. In changing peoples lives, I wonder but what it isn't the single most powerful force of all. In inspiring someone to greatness, it can work wonders. I say, truly, it is important in an education system. So, if it is such a powerful force, if it does play a lead factor in whether a student learns well, why would we not want to reflect on how we can get more of it into our education system? If we are going to blueprint our system, why would we not include this? If we really want to have a successful education system, we had best not overlook the elements that truly do make a difference.
   We are the foolish ones, if we dismiss love as a silly, laughable ingredient.