On demonizing our opponents
Posted on August 16, 2012 by debmeier
In the “final” showdown one must take sides–for or against– and anyone not on my side is my enemy. I suppose. But in the meantime, it can be fascinating to “see” the world through other perspectives. I had lunch yesterday with two good friends, Carol and Joe Reich. They started a public school in Brooklyn many year go–after being dicouraged with their work in I Had A Dream (mostly focused on after school enrichment and promised support for college). I visited the school–Beginning With Children–in the early years. And I loved it. They soon got so frustrated with dealing with NYC’s bureaucracy (despite close ties to Klein et al) that they became a charter–and have written a book about it, “Getting to Bartlett Street” (which will be officially out in a few weeks). I was delighted and infuriated with it. But it led to a wonderful – and at moments infuriating – lunchtime conversation. We left better friends than ever. I