Editor's letter
Dear CivicSources readers,
Welcome!
We are your gateway to discover and explore the world of civics, politics and your local and national communities. We are committed to pointing you toward vetted and reliable answers for all of your civic inquiries.
Whether you are curious as to who your representatives are, their views on specific political issues, voting rights or where to go for questions you might have on a local issue; we are here to be your point of entry for any civic related questions. In addition to pointing you toward reliable sources; we look for the most interesting links and commentary on your inquiries whenever possible.
As a result of the disruptive and extraordinarily difficult nature of this past year; we have learned just how dependent we are on each other and on accurate information. Local resources and understanding the workings of our political and social environment are more important than ever. The goal of CivicSources.com, is to create and engage us all in a conversation about civic life while helping each other find answers and solutions to our individual and community needs.
Finally, we will be relying on each other to create a common community. We look forward to your feedback and your questions in the coming months.
July 4, 2021
Suzanne Rosenberg, M.Phil.
Inside the pages of CivicSources.com, you will find "a little bit about a lot," or "a lot about a little," depending upon your point of view. There is history, references, sources, and an on going blog. There is also the opportunity for you to contribute to the conversation by commenting on postings, asking a question, correcting a question or adding a missing or overlooked source. Enjoy!
A conversation between Salman Khan and Steven Zucker about Jasper Johns, Flag, 1954-55 (dated on reverse 1954), encaustic, oil, and collage on fabric mounted on plywood, three panels, 42-1/4 x 60-5/8 inches /107.3 x 153.8 cm (The Museum of Modern Art). See learning resources here.
"One night I dreamed I painted a large American flag, and the next morning I got up and I went out and bought the materials to begin it. And I did. I worked on that painting a long time. It's a very rotten painting—physically rotten—because I began it in house enamel paint, which you paint furniture with, and it wouldn't dry quickly enough. Then I had in my head this idea of something I had read or heard about: wax encaustic. " --Jasper Johns
Created by Beth Harris and Steven Zucker.
There are so many reasons why I wanted to launch CivicSources.com
Here are just a few:
Civics and Government have all but disappeared from the middle and high school curricula, thereby making an already obscure process, that is how government works, even more difficult to understand and less accessible than it needs to be.
Most families have two working spouses and aren’t able to spend as much time participating in community events and organizations as they had in the past. Robert Putnam illustrates this phenomenon in his terrific book Bowling Alone, which illustrates how less time and more work have made for a decrease in community participation, especially volunteer participation in organizations such as the PTA and local city government. There is also a noticable lack of local newspapers available to all of us which has only been accelerated by the economic fallout from the coronovirus. The result has been even less community awareness, political participation creating even further distance from our governing institutions. For many, the ‘church’ or ones religious community is ones sole contact with social and political issues. This is even the case as involvement in religious institutions has steadily decreased in this country. Needless to say, all of these factors only reinforce the lack of effective community knowledge.
As internet and online activity increasingly becomes the norm; it is possible to access literally thousands of news sites, yet not know if they are reliable. Many social scientists are concerned about this due to the fact that whatever ones political or cultural point of view, there is a risk of “narrow casting,” or of only focusing only on ones own reality and particular political perspective. In an environment where there is already a high degree of divisiveness and polarization, it is likely that this only further hardens one’s particular point of view as opposed to encouraging ‘olerance,” “compromise” and “community.”
There has been an absence of science and critical thinking in policy making and instead, emotions, identity, and cultural politics have become dominant in political discussion. These have become triggers which harden ones political points of view as opposed to furthering “tolerance,” “compromise” and “consensus.”
Finally, there are ways in which our own discourse and immobility is mirroring what appears to be the paralysis of the Congress in Washington. Given what can only be said to be our own paralysis and fear of the unknown; we are looking for answers and reassurance wherever we can find them. This is precisely the moment when it is essential that we rely on “fact” and “science” and trust in our governing and political institutions in order to understand how to take care of our family and friends. The fact that even mask wearing has become a divisive political issue, as well as the clear hardening of party positions leading up to and after the 2020 November elections, illustrate just how tumultuous and confusing a time this is.
It is my sincerest wish that CivicSources can help help to bridge an enormous chasm in understanding and tolerancee which has become so enormous during the last decades. CivicSources hopes to bring some calm through clarity and understanding of the issues currently confronting all of us.
