Learning…It’s a Good Thing

#138, March 17, 2004

 
There’s no DMZ in the Martha Stewart war. The “Martha Stewart Loathing” website describes Ms. S as “this golden-girl of the capitalist-inspired fantasy,” and generally decries her influence on women with decoration-obsessive tendencies. Paula Span of the Washington Post says following the Way of Martha can “make your life way more complicated than it needs to be.” 
 
Others see Martha as a source of inspiration, both for the finer aspects of home and garden craft, and for a woman’s ability to succeed in a business world dominated by men. They scoff at critics’ assertions that Martha is creating a standard for household perfection which fuels the neuroses of her fans. She offers a rich source of ideas and techniques from which you pick and choose, they say.
 
And now the battle has intensified, with Ms. Stewart’s conviction in the securities fraud case. A new website, Savemartha.com, attempts to rally the faithful, while others take delight in seeing her pulled down from an ornately carved high horse.
 
What do I think? This is a great opportunity for revolutionary education! Martha’s facing prison time, but I think she could convince the judge that community service would be more appropriate. Martha has a knack for engaging her audience and showing them how they can create things of beauty. I propose that she steer that talent, and the power of her organization and wealth, toward fostering a way of living that creates beauty within and beyond the garden walls, out into the community and around the planet.
 
Martha Stewart should immediately hire Anna Edey and Barbara Kingsolver as consultants. Anna Edey is the founder of Solviva (solviva.com), an organization whose mission is “to Learn the Art of Living in Harmony with Life on Earth.” Anna, a hands-on inventor, designed and built her pioneering Solviva Solargreen home in (of all places) Martha’s Vineyard off the frosty Massachusetts coast. It runs on solar energy, produces its own food, and recycles its waste. Barbara Kingsolver is an award-winning writer who recently authored the inspirational post-9/11 collection of essays, “Small Wonder.” She is a most eloquent spokesperson for the beauty of an ecologically wise way of life. 
 
These three women together, with their unique and complementary talents, could rapidly accelerate the pace of green householding. That’s worth letting Martha skip the jail time. And if Martha Stewart’s name is removed from her magazine, as many analysts say is necessary, I suggest a new title: Sustainable Living. 
 
Speaking of education…Thanks to the bare 2/3 majority of voters, and the dedicated citizens who worked the campaign right to the final hours, the Petaluma Elementary School District will leave no child behind – stuck behind the growing wall that puts regurgitation (i.e. success with mandatory standardized testing) above true education. Reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic may be the protein and calories of education, but science, social studies, PE, and the arts are not the frosting. They are vitamins and minerals. Without them, our children’s growth would be stunted.
 
So it was wonderful for me to see all the elective choices facing my freshman son at Petaluma High next year. Principal Mike Simpson and his staff have every reason to be proud. There’s auto shop, full of tools for this most practical of professions. In the metal shop, students will be building several dozen iron benches soon to grace Petaluma’s downtown. The wood shop instructor was similarly interested in building map kiosks for the City’s growing network of walking and bicycling trails. 
 
There is music, visual and dramatic art, and photography, all for many levels of skill and experience. There is the richly interesting Petaluma Wildlife Museum. There are computer skills, including a range of office applications, graphic design, animation, and a yearbook produced almost entirely by students. And there is computer design drafting, with state of the art workstations, and a senior program that gives students the entire year to design major projects (like Petaluma versions of the Solargreen home?) from scratch. Last but not least are ag classes, which include a mix of practical skills for the future farmers and suburban homesteaders. Wow! Where do I sign up?