VOL 21 NO 5

Topic of the Week

by Jeanne Curran

Consider Taxi1010, bello, and many other essays into the dominant world of culture. All too often we dismiss such enterprises, for they don't have the certification stamp of the dominant cultural authority. They're not published by the "right" publisher, they're not teachers in the "right" academy, they're not artists shown in the museums of our dominant culture. This week I'd like you to think about the extent to which the dominant culture operates in the pattern of hierarchy I have just described.

And I'd like you to think of whether there are other ways to organize our lives. Could we protect and guide our children, and still respect their answerability? Could we shutter in fear at Bush's economic, social, political, and maybe even religious policies, and still have a good time with him on his mountain bike or at a fraternity party? Could we get it through our heads that the world isn't black and white, only our perceptions are? Could we reread Richard Hart's statements on Taxi1010 when he reminds us that we're really no better than the ones we're planning verbal comebacks for?

Could we try living without killing each other?

Could we try respecting everyone without that damned hierarchical concern?

[Jeanne Curran, Ph.D., Esq., Department of Sociology, California State University, Dominguez Hills, CA, USA.]