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March 10, 2008 at 16:01:43

"The Seventeen Traditions" In My Life (Continued)

by Kevin Gosztola Page 2 of 4 page(s)

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High school had this program that I donated a large sum of money to my senior year out of the goodness of my heart.

Chicago introduced me to what poverty really was like. Running into homeless people who I empathized with quickly depleted the cash or change I would have on hand. I have been regulating what I give to people but whenever I can help a person out on the street, I do my best to do just that.

If I were in that situation, I would want help. Plus, most of these people are victims of a system that props up the rich and takes from the poor.

XIII. The Tradition of Work

I’m no stranger to work. This tradition was and should be in every child’s life. While no child will want to do work, it will give him or her the ability to take on arduous tasks that take time and consume energy later on in life.

I had a chore list to complete that my mother and father helped develop. It divided the tasks up between my brother and I. The chore list did not last long though.

As I grew older, I preferred to just be told what to do when it needed to be done because I would not remember to look at the chore list. I was a bit unreasonable in my teenage years when it came to being a helpful member of my family. But, slowly, that was what my mother did---leave lists of things to do when it was time to do it.

Outside, weed pulling, lawn mowing, weed whacking, lawn edging, and sweeping were all chores that I would be asked to do in the hot summer. Indiana weather isn’t particularly hot but for the past five years, it hasn’t been pleasant either.

Whether I did these tasks for an allowance or stipend was up to my parents as it should be. My mother liked to reward us for our work with cash so we could have money to spend or save. But, towards the end of high school, I preferred to have her just keep it and give it to me when I really needed it because I was working a job at a movie theatre.

Learning to be organized and contain my “pack rat” lifestyle was my mom’s goal for me when I was growing up. In the work I did, I was often asked to rearrange and organize my room so I could keep all the material objects and pamphlets/flyers I collected to keep as mementos.

I am a collector at heart, a person who likes to save things to be remembered later. It isn’t that I have a bad memory. I think it has to do more with worrying I will forget the true beauty of certain experiences that I have in life.

XIV. The Tradition of Business

This tradition did not exist in my life. Or if it did, I am struggling to figure out when I would have been called upon to value business.

My dad works a shop that creates electrical parts and circuit boards for equipment that other businesses use to incorporate in the products they manufacture. I often went there to clean up his shop and pull weeds in his parking lot. I was tasked with maintenance but I was not incorporated into the business as a person who would help run it in the future.

Ralph describes his father helping clean up after a flood. I have never been in that situation. I do not know what I would do in that situation. Weather has never created a situation where I had to come together with friends and family and pull through the mess.

Someday I will be tested and I suspect I will work with others to get things back to business as usual.

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Kevin Gosztola goes to Columbia College in Chicago where he is studying film. He hopes to become a documentary filmmaker. He is currently working as a production assistant on a documentary called "Seriously Green" which traces the development of the Green Party throughout the 2008 election. He has a passion for journalism and writes articles or press releases in his spare time. Kevin Gosztola is also a student activist who believes in questioning the way America's systems work(its electoral system, its military-industrial complex, its foreign policy of American exceptionalism, its media which has become the Fourth Branch of government,etc.)
His ambitions have him currently organizing and raising money for a Chicago Conference for Media Reform in April or May of 2009. It will be organized by college students to promote youth involvement in media reform and justice. Those interested in attending or helping with the organization of the program should contact him.

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2 comments

Sherwin Steffin is a retired educator, and research analyst. His working career ranged from classroom teacher, university administrator, founder and CEO of two software companies, independent consultant, ending as a research statistician for a large Internet Service Provider. Although he has some mobility problems, his life continues to be productive and enjoyable. He spends his time doing online tutoring, reading writing entries in his blog, operating an online store, and dabbling a bit in ...

to see more of bio, click on member name
Sherwin SteffinSherwin Steffin is a retired educator, and research analyst. His working career ranged from classroom teacher, university administrator, founder and CEO of two software companies, independent consultant, ending as a research statistician for a large Internet Service Provider. Although he has some mobility problems, his life continues to be productive and enjoyable. He spends his time doing online tutoring, reading writing entries in his blog, operating an online store, and dabbling a bit in ...

to see more of bio, click on member name

Who holds these traditions

In a response you made to a comment written about Part I, you asked readers to assess how much of the 17 Traditions was a part of the daily lives of real people in America.

“I also am wondering about these traditions. What do people think of them? Have these traditions manifested themselves in your life?”

While these are clearly traditions and values that guide and direct your personal attitudes and behavior, your implication that these represent the values held by the majority of Americans, suggests a view of American life much as presented by Norman Rockwell. His art captures an idealized view of America, that never was, and is unlikely to ever be.

You opened yourself sufficiently for your readers to understand that your family life was much like that of majority of American families, with a period of time when a single parent served as the primary care giver to the children. Compare this to the television portrayal of family life in the 1950s, when the families shown in Leave it to Beaver, and Father Knows Best, were prototypical representations of what we wished for, but was seldom present. (Then again, the comedy series, Married with Children, seems far closer to the families I have known.) You do not even speak of the millions of out-of-wedlock children, teen pregnancies, and the millions who are in foster or institutional care.

You talk about a “Tradition of History.” Yet, at another point in part I of this series, you describe your younger brother, who in your words:

“…he is not political. He is apolitical. He digs the filth of reality television and rap/hip-hop music and YouTube videos. He’s into the IPods, the designer cell phones …. and the Guitar Hero”

I would submit for your consideration, that your brother is far more the typical American Caucasian teen, than were you at the same age as he is. It seems safe to say that American or World History, are very low on his list of priorities. Without having met either of you, I feel comfortable in suggesting that Chomsky, Moore, or Franken are far from his list of favorite reading materials.

Then there is the Tradition of Thrift. How quickly you discard the sub-prime real estate crisis, or the billions that the credit card industry is taking in write-downs, as American consumers live their lives in debt, so impossibly deep that, for most, it will be inextricable, except through bankruptcy.

Little would be served in rebutting the prevalence of each of the 17 traditions you identify in this series. If these are the standards you have set for yourself, you will be among, what I believe the data will show, very much in the minority.

You have expressed your appreciation for the questions I ask, which you say motivate you to consider the issues raised. With tat in mind, I have three for you today:

In all of our dialog, there has been a fundamental theme of disagreement, which you have expressed in your biographic statement:

“…and while some will tell him what can be done, he is only concerned about what should be done.”

So the question is, what is your strategy for changing the position of those in power, who currently oppose that which you believe, “…should be done?”

As but one example, you desire the impeachment of Bush and Cheney, as do many Americans. It’s been talked about for years, yet not happening. What do you plan on doing that will bring it to reality?

Last, but far from least, is a question which you may well find to be too personal and private to address. It is safe to say that you are very much in the minority with respect to priority you give to political issues. (I can give you a number of reliable citations which will bear out this position.)

Thus, my question to you is one that I have wondered about since first reading your articles. What events, or experiences have motivated you to the activist position, so much a part of your life? (It clearly precedes your trip to Africa, which may well have reinforced your goals, but does not appear to be a primary trigger.)

by Sherwin Steffin (15 articles, 25 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 97 comments) on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 at 12:22:07 PM

Kevin Gosztola goes to Columbia College in Chicago where he is studying film. He hopes to become a documentary filmmaker. He is currently working as a production assistant on a documentary called "Seriously Green" which traces the development of the Green Party throughout the 2008 election. He has a passion for journalism and writes articles or press releases in his spare time. Kevin Gosztola is also a student activist who believes in questioning the way America's systems work(its electoral sys...

to see more of bio, click on member name
Kevin GosztolaKevin Gosztola goes to Columbia College in Chicago where he is studying film. He hopes to become a documentary filmmaker. He is currently working as a production assistant on a documentary called "Seriously Green" which traces the development of the Green Party throughout the 2008 election. He has a passion for journalism and writes articles or press releases in his spare time. Kevin Gosztola is also a student activist who believes in questioning the way America's systems work(its electoral sys...

to see more of bio, click on member name

Sherwin

Your questions warrant an op-ed article for each. So, in the next week, you will get your answers. Those questions are very good ones---ones I encounter often in my life.

by Kevin Gosztola (231 articles, 127 quicklinks, 72 diaries, 895 comments) on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 at 1:32:23 PM