Letters in response to common ground, Volume VII Issue 2 Fall 2006.
To the Editor:
The Fall 2006 issue of Common Ground highlights the creativity that already exists in many local efforts to find or keep a sense of dignity despite threats of prescribed versions of democracy.
Democracy does not have to indicate a “choice between Coke and Pepsi,” as Rubio says is often the case (p10); nor should it simply mean that the “benefits” go to the “majority,” as indicates Ratsuwan in support of the potential potash mining in Udon Thani (p14). Farmers did not have to stop at free trade, and I hope they will not stop at fair trade.
Humans, let us use our creative capacities and surpass monotonous, mainstream, imperfect concepts, so that globally we can experience a true, democratic development.
Vanessa Moll
Washington, D.C.
To the Editor:
Having finished the article “Learning to Think” by Arianne Peterson and Eric Jamieson, I am struck by the universal applicability of the lesson that learning is “a process synonymous with living,” not an exercise that stands apart from or serves some purpose other than to aid our existence as social beings. The most effective teachers understand that their students grasp more quickly and appreciate more deeply those principles that are demonstrated by what the students see in their own physical and social environments. Globalized lesson plans will almost certainly fall short on this score. They will seem something apart and be less likely to communicate to young people that their time and effort in exploring, learning, and growing can serve themselves, their community, and potentially the greater world.
Leonard Gerardi
St. Johnsbury, Vermont
To the Editor:
I was incredibly interested in Tabitha Sprigler’s article “Humanizing the Demonized: Sex Work and Legitimacy.” I think there is an important and fruitful discussion surrounding the nature of sex work and its place in society, and this discussion should go beyond simply addressing the stigma and the criminalization of sex work. There is for me an ongoing issue about sex work, and women’s sexuality more broadly, and that is the idea of consent versus coercion. I believe there is no clear distinction between what women consent to do sexually, and what they are coerced to do as a result of economic and social inequalities. We must look more carefully at the economic and social structures that are accountable for the sheer number of women relative to men going into sex work.
Expanding the economic and social options for women may have an effect on the number of women entering sex work. Sex work may always be a legitimate and desirable option for some women, but we must make sure it is not the only perceived option for women. In the meantime, it makes little sense to punish or villify a group of women who are merely participating with an already established economic system.
Katherine Rushfirth
New York, New York
To the Editor:
The Fall 2006 issue of Common Ground highlights the creativity that already exists in many local efforts to find or keep a sense of dignity despite threats of prescribed versions of democracy.
Democracy does not have to indicate a “choice between Coke and Pepsi,” as Rubio says is often the case (p10); nor should it simply mean that the “benefits” go to the “majority,” as indicates Ratsuwan in support of the potential potash mining in Udon Thani (p14). Farmers did not have to stop at free trade, and I hope they will not stop at fair trade.
Humans, let us use our creative capacities and surpass monotonous, mainstream, imperfect concepts, so that globally we can experience a true, democratic development.
Vanessa Moll
Washington, D.C.
To the Editor:
Having finished the article “Learning to Think” by Arianne Peterson and Eric Jamieson, I am struck by the universal applicability of the lesson that learning is “a process synonymous with living,” not an exercise that stands apart from or serves some purpose other than to aid our existence as social beings. The most effective teachers understand that their students grasp more quickly and appreciate more deeply those principles that are demonstrated by what the students see in their own physical and social environments. Globalized lesson plans will almost certainly fall short on this score. They will seem something apart and be less likely to communicate to young people that their time and effort in exploring, learning, and growing can serve themselves, their community, and potentially the greater world.
Leonard Gerardi
St. Johnsbury, Vermont
To the Editor:
I was incredibly interested in Tabitha Sprigler’s article “Humanizing the Demonized: Sex Work and Legitimacy.” I think there is an important and fruitful discussion surrounding the nature of sex work and its place in society, and this discussion should go beyond simply addressing the stigma and the criminalization of sex work. There is for me an ongoing issue about sex work, and women’s sexuality more broadly, and that is the idea of consent versus coercion. I believe there is no clear distinction between what women consent to do sexually, and what they are coerced to do as a result of economic and social inequalities. We must look more carefully at the economic and social structures that are accountable for the sheer number of women relative to men going into sex work.
Expanding the economic and social options for women may have an effect on the number of women entering sex work. Sex work may always be a legitimate and desirable option for some women, but we must make sure it is not the only perceived option for women. In the meantime, it makes little sense to punish or villify a group of women who are merely participating with an already established economic system.
Katherine Rushfirth
New York, New York
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