i found your blog researching Childism. i’m so sorry for your loss. elisabeth young bruel was obviously an incredible person. i’ve only now heard of her as i’ve believe for quite some time that we do live in a Childist culture and was thrilled to find someone as sharp and thorough who had articulated and explained the concept. i ma saddened, of course, that she is not here (for her and her family, of course) but also to promote this well-researched, seminal work. who might be able to carry the torch. i’d hate for this title not to get the attention it NEEDS.

thank you for sharing your thoughts and feelings on elisabeth young breuhl. what an inspiration!

best,

jennifer lehr

I have been reading Childism and a few of these blogs.
I have not read the two that she is describing here but I must say, I seem to agree with Bakan; Elizabeth may see a fallacy in that he seems to say no one has a choice. This could be true but my experiences tell me he is on the right track. Irregardless if people ‘inside’ corporations have the power to act in a way to support children, by and large, it is not happening out here in reality.

So, what do I want to say here? I agree with Bakan, corporations are out of control; I think it is time we start discussing what can be done about it.

I want to offer two ideas and hope to see some discussion. The first is an idea by Jacque Fresco. I will not say much about it but offer a link to a video in which he describes his theories. My hope is that if you are an extremely critical person, you will at least see it’s potential. I think instead of completely dissing an idea, one should offer a worthy improvement. Please watch some of the other videos as well because he does not cover everything in this one video.
I will say one thing: I agree that the scientific method should rule the day; I agree that the majority of people do not have the slightest clue about what is best in any situation. If we keep the ‘majority rules’ (democracy) way of doing things, nothing will ever be agreed upon and ‘action’ will never take place. I know there are millions of people wanting something better for themselves and their children but have little or no power to make even a dent of a difference because they lack the appropriate type and kind of education to do so. I am a perfect example of this. In other words, the educational system is failing most of the people it is supposed to be helping. Here is the link:
http://www.thevenusproject.com/en/the-venus-project/resource-based-economy

The second: in Childism, she mentions education, I strongly endorse education, however, our system needs vast reform. Three main issues, in my opinion: a lack of life skills, critical thinking, and parenting/marital classes. These skills need to be introduced in elementary school and further expanded in high school. I’ve heard arguments that these types of things should be taught at home; however, one must first have knowledge in order to pass it on and second, have some idea about how to pass it on, effectively.

I have much more to say but I will leave here for now…

Dear Christine,

I first met Elisabeth in January 1971 as a high school junior who had stumbled into a course that she was teaching on Saturday mornings at the New School called “Philosophical Problems in Literature.” The syllabus included readings of Beckett, Camus, Kafka, Benjamin, Freud, Dostoyevsky and Weil, and if that was not sufficient to eliminate the dungeon walls of an adolescent’s mind, there was Elisabeth herself, appearing each Saturday morning as if she had not slept the night before, coffee cup in hand, setting herself down, fumbling in her bag for tobacco and rolling papers. She was young enough to be an older sibling, but already presented an authority of someone older, wiser. At once cool and impassioned, affectionate and brusque, decisive and sensitive, her assurance and her delight in us worked as an intoxicant that exhilarated all of us in the class. There were anecdotes of her most absently poet husband, of a student protest that they had recently had at the New School, of Arendt and her émigré circle. To put it as simply as I know: the experience of that class opened a door onto a path along which I still walk.
Over the next decade, Elisabeth became a guide, a mentor, a friend, encouraged me to explore what mattered most to me and how I might incorporate these passions into whatever life course I might choose. Our paths crossed again fifteen years ago over my interest in publishing some of Arendt’s work. The presence of Elisabeth in my life again over the last decade has been a tremendous joy. Her insistence on attending to what she cared about, her clarity, her passionate mindfulness became more admirable, more inspiring. She was irrepressible, possessed of a unique blend of idealism and practicality that refused to accept something was impossible. That she is no longer here simply defies everything she stood for.
I hope that the devastating loss is offset by the knowledge of how much you gave her, how much pleasure—that you, and only you, allowed her to be exactly the person she wanted to be.

Fondly,
Dan