I didn’t really want to publish my previous, probably-overly-snarky article on the KASD Children First PAC. I have no personal qualms with any of these people, and I believe they’re doing what they believe is the right thing (as twisted as it may seem for the “right thing” to be divesting from teacher salaries).
However, I felt I had to. Not to disparage anyone, assign blame, or even just because I’m desperate for interesting content for this blog. But because Kutztown’s past, present, and future are so deeply ingrained in Kutztown Area School District.
I have no kids (are you kidding me? lol) and no “skin in the game,” if it were. But I attended KASD for my entire primary and secondary education, and I think the people there do amazing work. There’s any number of alumni who have gone on to do amazing things, live good lives, or even just simply be good friends.
As a born and bred PA Dutch Kutztonian, it only seems right to stand with the community I was raised in: the teachers, students, coaches, janitors, admin staff, and more. These are the people who actually make the community a community after all!
Community Love
When I say I still don’t consider Wäga vum Sehne a political blog, this is a representation of what I mean:
I recently saw one of the school board member’s kids had represented Kutztown in a major international athletic event, and I was genuinely happy for him. I had coached him in soccer in Middle School, and he was (and I’m sure still is) a super bright kid!
(I could write of a few good memories, but don’t want to invade anyone’s right to privacy!)
Although that school board member and I are on completely opposite sides of the political spectrum (traditionally speaking), I still want them and their loved ones to succeed, do cool things, and ultimately lead a happy life.
They were always nice to me, and more importantly, they’re part of the Kutztown community!
(Not to mention, anyone who was a part of the almost-undefeated–one loss, the rest wins–Kutztown Middle School Varsity Soccer team circa the late 2010’s can do no wrong in my eyes.)
In an attempt to reconcile this traditional and divisive politics of our day, I propose a “place-based-politics” as opposed to a “party-based politics.”
A Quick Story
When I was in Philadelphia, I made a snide comment to a pro-lifer handing out anti-abortion literature next to a Planned Parenthood. Usually quiet and reserved, I felt the adrenaline coursing through me. Fired up, I continued walking, even plotting how to get the pro-lifer to stop his spreading of ideology and fear.
When I finally cooled off, I reflected for a while as I smoked in Rittenhouse Park. I returned to Planned Parenthood, where I waited for the pro-lifer to finish a conversation with someone. I said,
“I just wanted to apologize for saying you looked crazy when I walked by earlier. That was wrong of me; I know you’re just trying to do the right thing.”
He shook my hand, asked my name, and thanked me for showing “a lot of character.” As I walked away, I said:
“That being said, every time I see you out here I’m gonna donate to Planned Parenthood.”
“There’s always a catch!”
We laughed; he yelled:
“God Bless!”
What Even Is (Are?) Politics?
In our view, politics is simply the outcome of real material conditions and relations. The fragmentation, specialization, amplification, and reproduction of mass media largely conceals our real histories.
For instance, the image of the PA Dutch is reduced to horse-and-buggies and anti-technology, as opposed to its real history of migration, sectarian and non-sectarian splits, etc.
And one needs look no further than Public Enemy’s “Don’t Believe the Hype” to start imagining the ways in which People of Color experience this “flattening of identity” in the mainstream media. Thinking back, I don’t recall ever having a non-White teacher in my thirteen years of attendance at KASD (except for maybe one of the Spanish teachers).
If one is always looking at the real material conditions and relations producing ideology, then one, sooner or later, runs into politics–but “Politics-as-Symptom” as opposed to “Poltics-as-Cause.”
When I first started writing Wäga vum Sehne, I had deliberately tried staying away from overtly political topics. Even phrases like “conservative spectacle” seemed too brashly divisive. “This is purely a cultural blog,” I thought.
But what is more important to the culture, history, and community of Kutztown than public schooling, barring perhaps Lutheranism and folklife?
Politics-as-Place
Politics-as-Place and Politics-as-Symptom are synonyms. They are rooted in local culture (an imaginary way of relating one’ real conditions of existence) produced by the town’s real historical relations of production.
It is not a deliberate political or ideological platform, unlike “Poltics-as-Morality” (synonym for Politics-as-Cause).
Instead, I propose an ethical approach. That is, we need a complete reconsideration of “what the right thing actually is.”
In other words, the first step of establishing a Politics-as-Place is redefining the way we relate to the cause of the existing politics. I believe a good starting point would be something like:
- How do we create a school environment in which everyone has the opportunity to feel united as a community?
- What is it like to be a student or teacher at KASD right now, and how can we make that experience better for everyone?
The exact questions we ask ourselves about “how to do the right thing” should be a matter of debate and the central political question for an Ethical Politics (Politics-as-Place, Politics-as-Symptom).
