Saturday, November 2, 2024
I’ve been listening to Why Fish Don’t Exist by Lulu Miller. The subject of her book, David Star Jordan, was an advocate of eugenics, the policy of sterilizing ‘misfits’ to prevent them from passing on their genes. I was shocked to learn that the US Supreme Court made it legal to forcibly sterilize those deemed misfits. The US beat the Nazi government to the punch with this legislation. The Nazis copied us. The policy was in place and acted upon in the USA in the 1960s and 70s. I was in my twenties and thirties. People selected for this treatment were those who behaved in ‘socially inappropriate ways.” It hit women hard. If they cursed or were promiscuous. We are talking about the 70s. Promiscuity came into its own in those years. It was also generously applied to non-white races. The woman who was the test case for the Supreme Court who ‘proved’ mental incompetence was inheritable had a daughter, who was also sterilized, who made the honor roll in school. The law making forced sterilization legal is still on the federal books.
Man is the only animal that chooses to control ‘natural selection.’ Dean says that fragilities that lead to disease and death are eliminated in the rest of the animal kingdom. These animals don’t choose who lives or dies. Perhaps you can say God does. My opinion of my species is sinking daily.
Several people in my life have perfection issues: students, friends, and family. One young man used the word perfect six times in a single breath. I told him I would wash his mouth out with lye soap if he uttered it again. Students argue they haven’t improved because they feel they are not doing something perfectly. Students mentally collapse when they don’t understand what someone said ‘perfectly.’ I have friends and relatives who need to be seen as perfect, as in always right.
Perfect can never be used with the future tense, as in I will do it perfectly or even it will be perfect. Used in the future, it guarantees failure because perfection is impossible. Perfect can only be used in the present tense, as in this newborn baby is perfect, and in the past tense, our vacation was perfect. In that context, it always means it was good enough. That’s all available to us, good enough. Good enough can be delightful, a great joy, but it can never be perfect. That’s God’s domain. In God’s domain, everything is perfect by decree. If it is from God, it is perfect. Those who expect that order of respect or acceptance think they should be God. They live with a great deal of disappointment. They are hoisted on their petards. (I learned a petard is a bomb. I had thought it was a sword.)
I felt like I did nothing today but did some significant things. I gardened and wrote a lot. I reviewed my ad for Craig’s List and published it. Mama K posted her endorsement of me, singing my praises. She rewrote my blurb, deleting my comments on her twins, as was appropriate. I had included information that they were in fifth grade and still three years behind to be posted anonymously, and then I sent her that version. She didn’t want to broadcast their deficits.
Three people responded to K’s post, two for kids in high school having trouble in math. I told both that I didn’t feel qualified to tutor high school math. One parent responded her son’s problem was with reading. I assume he didn’t understand the directions. I felt confident I could help and told her so. I asked her to call me. We’ll see.
A third has a twelve-year-old with severe learning disabilities: dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia. Holy cow! I want to see his evaluation. He must have had one if she had all those terms at her fingertips. Is he cognitively impaired as well? I have difficulty believing he isn’t, but we’ll see. I asked her to call me. If nothing else, some of my approaches may be helpful. Since she is homeschooling him, she would be an ideal candidate for using my methods.
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