How’s everyone’s weekend going?
Thanks for spending a portion of Hibernation January with the Six.
Let’s get right to it.
A DIFFERENT KIND OF CANCEL CULTURE
Over the recent holiday season, ‘cancelling Christmas’ became a trending topic within news feeds.
There was the real: no Christmas in Bethlehem.
And the virtue signal kind: the state of California ban.
Well into 2024, the cancel spirit has not gone away. If anything, it’s gaining momentum.
The governor of the state of New York, a woman named Kathy Hochul, cited her emergency powers authority last weekend when deeming it too icky to play an NFL playoff game in Buffalo. Yes, Buffalo, where part of the appeal of living in upstate New York is to attend Bills playoff games in January when it’s below zero and your frozen snot sticks to the Fireball shot glass.
Politicians like Hocul will cite “heath and safety” propaganda as reasons for shutdowns (sound familiar?) but consenting adults should be allowed to make their own decisions about what they can or can’t do in their free time. What happened in Buffalo is part of a larger problem in American culture with our public institutions.
Cancel-based leadership.
We see it with the return––or non-return––of schools this month.
School districts all over Chicagoland called a snow day last Friday (Jan. 12). Then as temperatures plummeted––as they tend to do in mid-January––cancelled school days this past week due to “dangerously cold weather.”
Most troubling is how these decisions are made well before they have to be. Here’s what’s becoming clear: it appears to be less desirous for political and eduction leaders to work through challenges. Covid Hysteria popularized the term ‘abundance of caution’ and that’s now a default lever pull whenever there’s uncomfortable environmental conditions.
This type of inertia-driven, liability-led outcome calculus comes decades in the making. More data + bloated administration = paralysis by analysis. More recently, I think some of the dubious decisions are responses to the choice movement in this country. Education bureaucrats exert authority, parents push back. Those in charge don’t like the scrutiny but only have themselves to blame. They are the ones who have created a culture where in-person learning is considered fungible.
Those who argue ‘well it’s just a football game’ or ‘it’s only one day of school’ are missing the point.
No one wants a return to the old days when kids would show up to school with frost bite. Or freeze their tongue on a light pole.
What we do want are leaders who deploy trust and faith in the collective citizenry. We want the enforcement of rules, but more consistency with that enforcement. We don’t want ‘the worst case’ to always be the first case.
Mostly we just want schools to stay open, sporting events to be played when scheduled, live our lives and decide for ourselves what’s safe and what’s not.
And if that means a shot of Fireball in the middle of the day, so be it.
Let’s proceed with the Six.
1. Skipping School: America’s Hidden Education Crisis.
In keeping with the school-as-optional theme: there are plenty of debates happening right now over crises in our schools, but none might be more important than the troubling trend Pro Publica dug into, how kids are simply not showing up. The rate of chronic absenteeism nearly doubled between 2018-19 and 21-22. Now, private companies are being called in to help close the gap in certain areas. Of course, the absences turn out to be one symptom of larger failings as written about in today’s column.
2. Teen Raises Money To Help Save Catholic School.
I wrote a few times last year about another cancellation, that of the Invest in Kids Scholarship Program in Illinois. We are starting to see the consequences of that decision as Chicagoland Catholic schools are shutting down. From heartless to heartwarming: a 17-year-old high school senior at St. Bede’s in Ingleside raised over a quarter of a million dollars to help save her school from insolvency. The fundraising won’t guarantee St. Bede’s return next school year but as the Catholic News Agency writes, it’s an example of how an inspired mind can do wondrous things when there’s a worthy cause and action is taken.
3. New Hampshire Republican Primary Is A Bust.
In an election year, as we are in, there’s routine to the primary season. After Iowa, candidates head to New Hampshire where momentum can be gained or flushed, fortunes won or lost. This cycle, the “Granite State” GOP primary has turned into a big nothingburger. According to Politico, “The collapse of the GOP primary campaign in New Hampshire came on relatively suddenly this week, spurred by DeSantis’ decision to focus more on South Carolina — where the primary is a month away — and Haley’s refusal to debate unless Trump appeared alongside her. What remained was a string of nighttime rallies by the former president and a handful of retail events featuring Haley. No one is barnstorming.” A bummer.
4. The Wood-Chopping Mystery Man.
As most of America works through colder temperatures this month, here’s a “soul-warming” story about an Woodstock, N.Y. “woodsman”—an accomplished film director, writer and producer, by the way—who moved out of Hollywood and now spends most of his time delivering free firewood that keeps his neighbors warm. The wood-chopper prefers anonymity but The Guardian puts together a well-executed write up on a local hero.
5. An Iowa Paperboy Disappeared 41 Years Ago. His Mother Remains On The Case.
A riveting true crime piece from CNN’s website. A 13-year-old boy is snatched by kidnappers during a paper route in 1982. The kidnappers are never found. The boy’s mother never gives up trying to find her son––whom she says came to her house decades after his kidnapping––and now as an elderly lady, shares her story. A long article and a bit disjointed at times but worth the read. Compelling stuff.
6. A Weekend Dose of Richard Simmons.
Remember Richard Simmons? The reclusive pop culture icon is getting his own bio pic. This is the kind of in depth news update y’all rely on the Six to report! In honor of the believed-to-still-be-alive Simmons, who no one has seen in a decade, a proposal: let’s all put our coffee mugs down, stand up, and grind to the Motown beat. Don’t forget to swing your hips, now!
Thanks for reading everybody and have a great rest of your weekend.
Have a suggestion for The Sunday Six? Send email to jonjkerr@gmail.com.
Thanks for a great Sunday start! Agree wholeheartedly with your points on the pervasive and insidious nature of cancellations but could not have said it half as well- really good piece, including the link to Chicago Magazine article with history of CPS snow days.