The following is part three of a three part conversation we had regarding the American School System and Poverty and what correlations we saw between the two. Obviously this is a touchy subject, but we welcome your input.
Adam: Jeremy I applaud your optimism... but I really don't know if either of us is fit to speak to the perils of lower class communities seeing as we both have fit squarely in the middle class all of our lives.
Jeremy: Do you never imagine yourself being in terrible situations....like the ones that are too bad for people to talk about? Do you ever think about what you would do if you were in those situations and how you might get out? and then when you try to figure a way out of it come up with new obstacles that set you back even farther than when you started just to see how back it could possible get?
Adam: Yeah and I never imagine selling drugs as a solution, but that is just hypothetical... I can not base everything on “what ifs.”
Jeremy: I think you can if you really/truly try to sympathize with the situation....and sometimes you have to.
Adam: I see your point but I feel much better about things if there is statistical evidence to back it up.
Jeremy: I would too, but I don’t really trust statistical evidence unless I conduct the research myself. There seems to always be statistics that say one thing, but you look at this other study and it says the exact opposite. I do a lot of media research with my job and if no one in the world watched the hallmark channel, I could find a way to pull some research to make it seem like it is the best network and that everyone watches it.
Adam: Well then maybe statistics are just here to make people feel better about the opinions they hold.
Jeremy: sometimes. People could have opinions for anything and everything and for whatever reason. I find that people usually have opinions based on what their parents believe or from the most popular belief in their tiny sub-culture.....or the most popular, what they see on TV. In my opinion, I don’t really see any of those as great sources. Personal experience is the best resource to find any kind of truth I think.
Adam: Is your goal to experience more in light of this?
Jeremy: Definitely, but that’s not exactly easy. Man, when I was Cali’, I just soaked everything up. It was just sweet to actually see everything in person. Like the black mountain sides where the fires were a couple months ago, and the ocean really is colder out there.
Adam: That is crazy... I remember being in Arizona during wild fires... and driving down the high way and see the smoke billowing in the air...
When we originally began this conversation I think both Adam and Jeremy had some pre-conceived notions of what we thought about schools/poverty, and its obvious that this conversation did not change that, but what I think is most unsettling is how this conversation unintentionally became a commentary on the middle class mindset and the relative apathy that is show those who are disadvantaged. We hope that you come away from this with a desire to know more about the subject and not just a feeling that Adam or Jeremy was right or wrong. And ultimately we hope you come away with a desire to love and help people.
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