Higher Ed

Darwin writes here about how everyone’s getting a college degree these days, and the economic consequences.  I was going to leave a comment, but I finally just decided to hit the ‘like’ button and be done with it.

Mr. Magundi laments the consequences of collegization for communities, but offers a hopeful solution:

We have raised the price of higher education to the point where it may simply be ruinous even for comfortably well-off families. And so we may end up abandoning the university system as we’ve built it up, in favor of a system where we stay home for most of our higher education, perhaps in community colleges, or in some similar institution we haven’t thought of yet. Educated people might get in the habit of thinking of the place where they grew up as home. And in spite of the disadvantages to Harvard and Cornell, I think that might be a very good thing.”

Am I the only one horrified that you can’t get a decent catholic college education without taking out a mortgage on your life?  Though I think charities such as Mater Ecclesiae Fund have their hearts (and wallets) in the right place, I find it frankly predatory that catholic colleges will load students up with such levels of debt to begin with.

Yes, I meant that.

***

Meanwhile, Public Discourse is running this essay.  The gist: the political science education offered in the Ivy League in the 1990’s let ideology get in the way of reliable scholarship — to the detriment of the State Department today.  Well, funny about that.  Because those of us getting our int’l poly-sci degrees from Backwater State U, we were studying under some of these guys.  Taking courses like “Islam, Politics and Revolution”.

–> And happily for the State Department, some our grads found their way to Washington.  So not all is lost.  Most of us local-U grads grow up to be, well, locals.  But we let loose a tithe of our debt-free adventurers, to go assist our better-indoctrinated educated brethren up north.

So if our government should get something right, you know who to thank.

Just kidding.  Sort of.

Rant of the Day – Romance

Gwen rants so I don’t have to. Topic is romance novels, Christian and not.

***

But here’s my rant: Parenting, marriage, and yes, NFP literature that sets up ideal-husband jobs.  As if the measure of a man were whether he wrote down your temperature for you every morning. (No, really honey, just go yell at kindly remind the kids to make themselves breakfast, I’ll write down my own temp, thanks.  In this nice quiet room AWAY from the noisy people.)

A major moment for us in the first weeks of parenting, was the discovery that TWO sleep-deprived parents was a very, very bad idea.  Much better for ONE parent (the lactating one) to be up all night with young Mr. Screechy.  The other adult could thus be rational and productive during daylight hours, and provide actual useful help.  Do you really want pointers on how to change a diaper at 3 AM?  No.  Better not to have the spouse “helping out” at that time.

[In our marriage.  Maybe some couples prefer the share the duty.  For us, it was a recipe for colicky grow-ups.]

I don’t mind helpful ideas.  I am forever indebted to the Mother’s Rule of Life lady for teaching me to get the coffee-maker set up the night before.  Not that I am organized enough to do that, but at least now I know.  But all this “a good husband would . . .” or a “a good wife should . . .” just sets the stage for smoldering resentment.

***

Ahem.  And this has nothing to do with how I forgot my anniversary.  Again.  And the boy’s birthday as well.  It’s a busy month.  I made dinner for people, that’s pretty good, right?

Book Review: Why Enough is Never Enough

So I have told you to buy this book about three times now.  But perhaps you were waiting for your tax refund.  Or perhaps you holding out for my official Catholic Company review, because you, too, had noticed I’d utterly forgotten to post it.  Now you will have to think up a new excuse.

The book you want is:  Why Enough is Enough: Overcoming Worries about Money — A Catholic Perspective, by Gregory S. Jeffrey (OSV, 2010).

What you’ll be getting is:  A book about how to develop a healthy relationship with money.  This is not a book about how to write a budget.  It is not a book about whether to pay off your credit card or your student loan first, or which kind of retirement account to have.  There are other books about that, and they are worth your time. I like those books.  I am a firm believer in the message of [many of] those books.  But this book is more important.

–> If you don’t have a healthy relationship with money, you will never be able to manage it well.

You might be able to accumulate it.  You won’t be able to live well with it.

And conversely: No matter how diligent and prudent and immpeccably sensible you are, it is possible that you just won’t have much money.  Life can be hard.  There is something about your relationship with money that matters much more than your bank balance. And this is what the book is about.

Is this book too hard for me?  No.  Very readable.  Lots of funny stories.  Good candidate for a book club or a parish study group, because it is approachable, friendly, encouraging, and a quick read.

Is this book protestant-friendly?  I think so.  It’s a catholic book, for sure.  Talks about things like “The Church” and “The Catechism”.  But I can’t recall anything that a non-catholic would find objectionable.

But I’m money master, and I have the 401K to prove it.  Surely you don’t mean I, too, should read this book??  Actually, yeah. That ‘buy’ recommend is across the board.  Because though the topic is money, the topic is really your spiritual life and your relationship with God.  If you have a great handle on money, this book is exceedingly helpful in showing you how to take the principles you are using without knowing it when it comes to cash, and applying them to other areas that you do struggle with.

(In keeping with sound financial principles, make that a “borrow” or “beg” recommend, if you don’t have the cash on hand.)

Can I skip around and stuff?  I don’t recommend it.  And I don’t usually say that.  Read it from page 1 forward, you will get the most out of it that way.  BUT, it is so chock full of useful tidbits, that I, the reviewer, can just randomly open anywhere, and find nice review-quality quotes.  Like this:

The notion of trading pleasure for joy works particularly well for almsgiving.  Money can provide a certain amount of personal pleasure, and that can be a good thing.  But the pleasure that comes from spending money is different than the joy of giving it away . . .  to help another person — to provide food, clothing, shelter, education — is a joy that lingers. (p. 116)

Or this:

To believe that every success is motivated by a heart filled with greed is to expose the envy in your own (p. 40).

And this:

God intervenes in our lives constantly.  Not in the sense that he forces: love does not impose.  Rather, we are offered a never-ending series of invitations that await our cooperation.  Even though burdened with self-deception, we can hope to learn humility, because we are aided from on on high. (p.6o).

And one more I really like, and then I promise to quit:

Imagine if we replaced the language of “social justice” with that of “personal justice”.  What if, instead of speaking of “unjust social structures”, we examined “unjust personal behaviors’?  Again, that is the proper starting point.  Society is made up of individuals.  To have any hope of changing social structures, we need individuals willing to embrace their own call to holiness.

–> FYI on this last one: Jeffries is not arguing that we should ignore problems that are properly dealt with at the governmental level.  Read it and see — in fact there is a great story about how the homestead laws of the 19th century had a very powerful — negative — structural impact on North Dakota farm life.  But yes, if it is your opinion that other people’s money should be spent to relieve the poor, but your own wallet is clamped shut, then indeed he will take you to task in no uncertain terms.

***

So that’s the book.  Get one of your own.  Courtesy of our very patient sponsor The Catholic Company, who reminds me  to remind you that they are also a great source for a Catechism of the Catholic Church or a Catholic Bible.

I also see that The Catholic Company is . . .

STILL Accepting new applicants:

With the completion of our new review book ordering and reporting system, we are now capable of handling more reviewers.  You are welcome to invite other bloggers to join in the fun.  You can find info on joining at
http://www.catholiccompany.com/content/Catholic-Product-Reviewer-Program.cfm

So if your book appetite dwarfs your book budget, sign up.  Great program.  [And FYI, even though I keep ending up with books I really like, they want you to post honest reviews.  I just happen to honestly like this one.]

Ordinary life . . .

. . . is time consuming.  FYI no drama here, all just ordinary goodness.  I’ll re-emerge soon.  Meanwhile: Grammar.  And Math.  And, er, swimming.  Yep.  Swimming. So you see why I’m busy.

***

But you needed someone to pray for, right?  Please pray for a couple having marital difficulties, and their two teenagers.  A miracle would not go amiss.  God is fully informed of the details.  Thanks!

Actually, make that two couples.  Two miracles.

Or three.  I’m remembering another one.

And you probably know some others.  Difficult century for marriage, that’s for sure.

More reading – nice ranty sermon for you

Change “missionary” to “parent”, and this is the rant that has me writing the homeschooling book. 

To customize, insert “teacher”, “DRE” “Pastor” or “___your name here____”.

I would add, this is the kind of judging others we should be wary of.  It’s easy to know whether one ought to steal or murder (no).  Not so easy to know what I should do today, and what prayers to pray, and how to explain to the children they really must learn math. Really.  And handwriting.  And not punching people.  Except sometimes.

Oh wait.  Divine Mercy.  Scratch that punching thing.  Oops.

Or not.  Legitimate self-defense only, I promise.

Audio books; not-audio books.

Few quick links this morning before I attempt to resume school after the Spring Break That Would Not End.

My Audio School .com Recommended by a friend of mine, who uses it for her daughter who struggles with reading.   It’s a well-organized compilation of audio books of particular use to homeschoolers and other educators.  The free resources are useful, and my friend tells me that if you have a need for lots and lots of audio resources, it is worth paying for the subscription.

On the topic of audio books, Christian Audio’s free download this month looks sorta interesting.  It’s free, you know?  I downloaded The Hiding Place last month, and I guess I signed up for notifications?  Which is handy, because they reminded me today there was a new book up.  For free.  Otherwise have not been receiving much spam from them (none that I recall, but I have a fast-acting delete key, so I might have supressed the memory).  Reputable source, seems to me.

***

On the topic of non-audio books: The Catholic Writers’ Guild blog is pretty much put together now.   This morning Walt Staples is up for his monthly humor column, and the topic is writing and cats.  So you know where that’s going.  The blog address, by the way, is this:

http://blog.catholicwritersguild.com/

And you have to type that exactly, no “www”, or something weird happens.  Just so you know.

FYI my affiliation with the blog is that the important people at the guild saw me saying it would be nice to have a blog, and they pounced.  So my job is to line up writers.  If you are a (dues paid) member who has something 500 words or less and in some way related to catholic writing and publishing, you know where to find me.   Current schedule is:

• Sunday pm/Monday am: Prayer with Mike Hays – post your requests in the combox.
• Mondays: Monthly columns by guild members on the topics they love.  Current line-up is:  Humor; Gardening; Teens & the Faith; Self-publishing & e-books.  Need someone to fill that 5th Monday that pops up every quarter or so.
• Tuesdays: Beginning Writers.  Or Karina Fabian says something friendly and encouraging, Or I write about editing.  If you have seen the pen of death in action, you already know what I’m going to write.  [Hint: It’s not about grammar.  You knew that.]
• Wednesdays: Sarah Reinhard has been writing a column on blogging and related topics.  I’d like to find some other volunteers to join the Wednesday rotation, and I’d like the focus to be on everything related to writing and the internet.  In case that interests you.
• Thursdays & Fridays: CWG Officers write about officer-y things. –>  I’m looking for someone to do a regular member news column.  If you’ve always wanted to be a gossip columnist and you are a member of the guild (easy to do), there’s a gig waiting for you.  Your name in lights.  Meanwhile, members with news just have to e-mail me and then I post it.  So you see why we need someone better than that.
• Saturdays: John Desjarlais on writing catholic fiction.  So far I think this one is my favorite column.  Don’t let the other writers know. (Despite Blogger’s evil attempts to thwart him.  I don’t love blogger either.  But it’ll do.)

So that’s what there.  Because you needed more blogs to read, I’m sure.  Happy Monday.

BADD 2011 – The Vast Middle

I’m persuaded that the late 19th and early 20th century love affair with eugenics continues to inform our understanding of disability.  If the unfit are slated for elimination, it becomes very important to draw a clear line between them and us, and put “us” firmly on the proper side.  The recent return-to-fashion, via pre-natal screening and consequent abortion of undesirables, hasn’t helped.

What I see is a fictional polarization, in which the culture cuts a medical boundary between them and us.  On the one side, people who are Disabled, on the other, everyone else.  It is a fanciful line, that has little regard for actual abilities, or happiness, or life expectancy.  Oh sure, if you’re significantly paralyzed, that makes you Disabled.  But say you have a hand that doesn’t work quite right, or is missing parts? Does that make you Disabled?  Or just sorta decrepit?  Discrimination is in the eye of the beholder.

It would all be a silly parlor game if the stakes weren’t so high.

But they are high, because there’s an all-or-nothing mentality out there.  I stumbled the other day on an internet conversation about faking disability.  One accusation: If you see someone in the store using a wheelchair or scooter, and that person is actually able to stand and even walk, they must be faking.  (Because, you know, they’d totally want to show their hand right there in front of you. It was all a great game until the Cheetos were out of reach.)  No comprehension that  someone might be able to walk a little bit.  Inconceivable.

The US disability benefits system is a bit like those combox warriors, only clucking over who can work and who can’t.    There is cash at stake, and people do fake in order to grab at it.   But still, the can-she-or-can’t-she thinking permeates the system.  There is little recognition that many disabilities may limit, but not eliminate, the ability to work.  That one may need assistance only intermittently; or assistance to compensate for lower wages,  higher expenses, or the ability to only work part-time.

But to me the most painful aspect of the polarization is the social aspect.  The whispering and uncomfortable tones.  The notion that in order to write or care about disability issues, you must somehow Be One of Them.  There must be some Deep Reason you care about this arcane, specialized topic for weirdos; simple common sense is not enough.  And furthermore, if you complain that this or that facility needs better acomodations, you must be one of those nutty bleeding-heart types.

–> After all, those people don’t _________, and anyway if they wanted to do, than they could __[insert ridiculous cumbersome workaround guaranteed to keep Those People away]_.

It’s dumb.  It’s just dumb.  So don’t play.

Rant over.

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Thank you to Ruth for reminding me once again of the date and place for the annual BADD Blogfest.  It is not too late contribute yourself, so have at it.  Time-delay entries are accepted.

Happy Easter & an Exultet bleg

Pithless Thoughts wins the award for my favorite Easter blog post.

Happy Easter.

And how do you say that in Elvish?  I so want to know.

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Bleg:  I’m looking for just the right recording of the Exultet.  Have searched around a little bit on You Tube, but didn’t find what I wanted.  Here’s what we need:

• In English.  English and only English.
• Sung by a guy.
• Just the basic chant, optional simple accompaniment, no musical showing off.
• Nice clear recording.

Something a non-musical guy, but who can more or less sing your basic hymns thanks to years of repetition, could listen to over and over and over again, and eventually get the tune good and stuck in his head.

If you find it, please let me know!  Thank you.

nothing new under the sun

On the topic of catholic education, a friend points me to this encyclical (Dec/21/1929), which in turn quotes this one (Jan/10/1890).  Worthy reading, and not only for internet debate purposes.  ==> Though you will quickly learn not to quote to selectively, lest your opponent trounce you with a counter-quote from the same document.

So there’s something to do tonight, in order to not think about eating.  For example if your next door neighbors are grilling steaks.

The popes.  The internet.  Powerful combination.

Writing today — Good Friday — is nerve-wracking.  It cannot be done well.  It is the day we remember we are small and weak and mostly useless, and that if God Himself were to come and take us by the hand, we’d probably still screw it up.  (And, happily: God knows this, and will come do it anyway.  Lamb slain since the foundation of the world.  It is His nature, to pour himself out for us.)

But anyway I want to point today to the battle in front of us.  Darwin gave us a snippet yesterday, and if you read the combox at either of his blogs, you get the picture.  You already knew about it, of course.  If you are catholic and you can fog a mirror, you know that our church is a giant jumble of bickering and snippiness.

It is a battlefield.  Our Church.

When the Lord of the Rings movies came out, I found it curious to learn that Peter Jackson’s specialty was horror movies.  Then I thought: Yes, of course.  War is always horror.*  

And so, our church is festooned with all the horrors of battle — the injured, the angry, the bitter, the violent, the sadistic.  And all the wonders: self-sacrifice, obedience, heroism, love unto death.  Jesus has promised the gates of Hell shall not prevail against us.  The implication is that those gates shall certainly give it their best in trying.

It is thus not surprising, that having so thoroughly torn apart American families, having so successfully pitted parents against their children, even to the point of murder, having made every virtue the object of social scorn, and every sin the object the great praise, Satan should now set his sights on our Catholic schools.  It is not enough for him, to attack our parish schools where he will.  He must incite us to civil war, pitting catholic families against the schools and, where he is able, catholic schools against families.

This is nonsense.

Refuse.

Refuse.

Do not be the infantry and the cavalry taking shots at one another.  Fight the real enemy.

***

I wish you a very good Friday.

And if, like me, you are perhaps not so successful at being good, then may it at least be a very grateful Friday.

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*A similar case:  Mel Gibson and The Passion.  A most violent day.  Who else could render it so clearly, except someone who specialized in bringing violence to the theaters and living rooms of the world?  God can use anyone.  Anyone at all.