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stephenandginny
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Name: Stephen and Ginny
Interests: Stephen: Collecting records; Ginny: Horses
Expertise: Stephen: Solving puzzles; Ginny: Being silly
Occupation: Grad student & science teacher
Message: message me
Website: visit my website
Member Since:
8/22/2006
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| After reading through the book of Amos today, I think I can finally put my finger on why I refuse to defend capitalism: in a capitalist economy, one can oppress others without breaking any rules. (I am not suggesting, however, that all oppression is legal. This is obviously not true.) This is not merely an unfortunate byproduct but a central aspect. To oppress to the greatest legal extent is to do well. To put the matter concisely, what's fair (in a free market) isn't necessarily just (at least according to Yahweh's standards).
While the majority of the practices that Amos cites are demonstrably illegal, some appear to be technically legal. For example, Amos states, "You trample on the poor / and force him to give you grain" (5:11a). Presumably this refers to the practice of landowners charging exorbitant rates to use farmland and then taking more than a fair share come harvest time. The farmers may have been free not to enter the contract, but it seems that they had no other options.
I hasten to add that (1) I suppose oppression is inevitable, regardless of the economic system, and (2) I don't advocate an official alternative (e.g., socialism). I do, however, advocate people being aware of and attempting to avoid complicity in oppressive practices. God may have higher standards than our economic and legal system, but I'll not rush to defend the cause of those who meet the standards of the latter while forsaking those of the former.
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| I found out Friday night that I'm going to teach a section of NT Survey in the spring. I had been told about a month ago that the Bible department was recommending that a section be added and that I teach it, but I had heard nothing more. As it turns out, that ninth section is on the schedule and my name beside it. I expect it to be similar to this semester, although hopefully not as overwhelming, for at least three reasons: (1) it won't be my first college class (but second), (2) the NT is roughly 1/3 the length of the OT, and (3) I have more than a few days' notice. | | |
| ...don't know who the Wu-Tang Clan is. (At least kids in one class at Madison High School, that is.) I subbed today. One of the students brought cupcakes. Some of the cupcakes had decorations--cheap plastic rings with "scary eyes" designs on them. As soon as I saw the yellow and black ones, I thought, "Wu-Tang!" Unfortunately no one knew what I was talking about. So I took the ring, and now I can share it with the world.
  If you look closely, you can tell a slight difference. | | |
| Ginny's brother, his wife, and their 8-month-old daughter visited us this past weekend. Callie is delightful and a source of great entertainment. She eats some kind of cereal but requires that another feed her. When she tries to feed herself, she grabs a piece, holds it to her mouth, but is unable to release it. We found it quite humorous.
On Sunday, our three visitors drove to the Blue Ridge Parkway. This trip included a visit to Mount Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi. While on their way to the peak, a bear came hurtling down the mountain and actually hit the back corner of their Jeep. Fortunately, the bear was able to amble away, and there was no damage to their vehicle.
That night we watched a documentary called The Last One, which is about the late Popcorn Sutton, a man famous for manufacturing moonshine. To my surprise, when I mentioned the title of the film and its topic, Ginny mentioned the name "Popcorn" (which I only later confirmed). She was unfamiliar with the film, but apparently Popcorn's reputation is well-known here in Madison County, which is geographically adjacent to Cocke County, Tennessee, where Popcorn lived. (Incidentally, a few weeks ago, I preached in Parrotsville, his final place of residence.) I should also add that, unless the title of the film refers to Popcorn's final creation of "mountain dew," it may not be accurate. That is, while Sutton was sentenced in January 2009, a raid in Madison County only a few months earlier resulted in the arrests of a couple of North Carolinians with their own still. I think it would be naive to suggest that there are no more moonshiners.
That evening we also noticed an unusually heavy amount of traffic on our way home. As we learned on Monday, Sunday morning around 2 a.m., a landslide covered a considerable swath of Interstate 40 near mile post 3 in Haywood County, NC. I've heard that the highway won't reopen until December, at the earliest (!). There is no easy way around the block. According to Google (which, at this point, shows no awareness of the detour), it takes 1 hr 51 min to travel from Asheville to Knoxville along I-40. If one takes the official detour (I-240 to I-26 to I-81 to I-40), the travel time is 2 hr 37 min (an extra 46 minutes--41% longer!). If one takes the shorter, unofficial detour (I-240 to I-26 to 25/70 to I-40), the travel time is only 2 hr 21 min (an extra 30 minutes--27% longer). Many drivers are aware of this shortcut, and therefore traffic has substantially increased along 25/70, the major highway in Madison County. Thus, while we never travel that stretch of I-40, it is going to have a noticeable impact on us. There is now a constant flow of traffic, including a dramatic increase in the number of dangerously fast and annoyingly slow drivers.
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| I called 611 to find out how many minutes we had remaining for the month. The first option the automated voice offers is in Spanish. If you want to hear the menu in Spanish, you're supposed to oprima dos. Without thinking--although I suppose some thinking was required--I pressed two.
Substitute teaching is depressing. It is remarkable how lazy some students are. I always find myself asking, "Why do we insist on educating children for thirteen years?" I'm not against public education, but I am for reducing its scope. I'm sure some would consider this a giant step backwards, but I think it would create a stronger education system. For those students who aren't "book smart" or aren't committed to doing well in traditional curriculum, we could offer vocational training. We wouldn't be the first developed nation to take this approach.
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