tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8788575.post7649288577430230645..comments2024-01-11T22:45:53.276-08:00Comments on Tom King's CRM Plus: Entitlement, Service, and DreamsThomas F Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00037819472341496713noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8788575.post-78133556670587219902015-09-04T20:18:46.601-07:002015-09-04T20:18:46.601-07:00Hi Tom. I'm a newer member of the cohort of wh...Hi Tom. I'm a newer member of the cohort of which I think you speak, and although I am perhaps a bit older than some of my peers and certainly less mainstream than most, I wanted to let you know that I signed up for the CRM program specifically because I wanted my voice to mean more. I want to be heard when I say that cultural resources matter, especially those that might be considered less important than historical buildings or archaeological artifacts. I am interested in those ideas and beliefs, those ways of life, regardless of the culture from which they came, those things that might help our current culture get out of the fine mess it has gotten itself into with degradation of the environment and disrespect for life in general. I want to be able to make some kind of active change in how capitalistic minded humans interact with the world. I may not make it through this program, and I find I want to quit nearly every day, but this degree is merely a stepping stone for me to become less ignored in my activist anthropology. I find your writings invigorating!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8788575.post-6723165714956779322015-05-08T14:23:43.452-07:002015-05-08T14:23:43.452-07:00Thanks, Rob. Good points, and I'm glad to be d...Thanks, Rob. Good points, and I'm glad to be dragged back to this post, which I'd more or less forgotten. I'm glad and relieved to learn that you're driven by a sense of responsibility; I wish I didn't think you were in such a minority. I hope your year of service works well for you, and for society. Good on you!Thomas F Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00037819472341496713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8788575.post-57390690972598724962015-05-08T13:38:19.004-07:002015-05-08T13:38:19.004-07:00Hi Tom,
I hope I am not bothering you by posting ...Hi Tom,<br /><br />I hope I am not bothering you by posting on this older post, but it rather resonated with me.<br /><br />I pose the question, do you think it possible to enter the field of CRM and doing it social benefit?<br /><br />I often remark that I entered the field of Historic Preservation because I believe in helping communities preserve their heritage, and while I would like to be able to live on that work, I don't think society owes it to me. I owe it to society to prove that the kind of work I do is worthwhile.<br /><br />To that end I am actually doing a year of National Service through AmeriCorps, and I am doing on economic development with a historic preservation bent. <br /><br />Maybe I am misguided, but I do feel a social responsibility to serve the country. Mainly I am inspired by Jay Rockefeller, the retired WV US Senator who started his public service career as a VISTA in the WV Coal Fields.<br /><br />Thanks again for the blog. Great to read.Rob Wolfenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8788575.post-67655033336931337022014-12-03T11:08:12.065-08:002014-12-03T11:08:12.065-08:00Also, in response to the first Anonymous, keep in ...Also, in response to the first Anonymous, keep in mind that many anti-war folks, myself included, think that having the draft would at least make politicians think twice since their kids and relations are as likely to be cannon fodder as anyone else. When everyone is at risk and the risk can be personal, I think that better decisions can be made. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8788575.post-25691439187212456132014-12-02T13:58:16.402-08:002014-12-02T13:58:16.402-08:00"Pleasant little blog?" Now, THAT, Anno..."Pleasant little blog?" Now, THAT, Annon, I find truly insulting. But as to the draft....<br /><br />Thanks to my late father, a WWII vet who talked me into joining the Naval Reserve while in high school, I "served under arms" on a warship in the western Pacific instead of getting drafted and offed in 'Nam like a lot of my age-mates. I came home to serve honorably in the anti-war movement, so I haven't "forgotten that military service was not always so popular." Popularity, and for that matter, military service, is not the point. The point is that in the days of the draft we had the perception that service was something expected of us; that we weren't entitled to a free ride. That's what I think we might be well advised to try to recapture, and it absolutely should involve a wide range of kinds of service. To judge from the last line in your post you agree. Or maybe I'm missing your point.Thomas F Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00037819472341496713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8788575.post-50697626928807178022014-12-02T08:38:26.153-08:002014-12-02T08:38:26.153-08:00I realize that Americans everywhere are once again...I realize that Americans everywhere are once again in the mood for going on the march. We are all being bombarded with that stuff these days. But a call for "service under arms" seems so out of character coming from the progenitor of "traditional cultural properties" and the staunch defender of cultural relativism. Such hawkishness is pervasive everywhere lately, but it seems strangely out of place on this pleasant little blog site. Why not leave the saluting and the flag waving for the Super Bowl ? There should be some places left where war weary folks can get in out of the rain for a quiet few minutes.<br /><br />Don't forget that military service was not always so popular as it has become lately. It wasn't that long ago that compulsory induction led to Kent State, and many incidents like it. Were those kids at Kent State wrong ? Were they demonstrating out of a sense of personal entitlement?<br /><br />Actually, bringing back the draft is not such a bad idea. Take the "spectator" out of the "spectator sport" of war, and maybe Americans won't be so quick to get involved in them. But if we do ever restore the draft, this time, give inductees the option of an alternate form of service - a more appropriate way for them to fulfill their "responsibility to humanity" if they so choose. And include women too, in whatever capacity they elect.<br /><br />Personally, I have a would have a whole lot more admiration for someone who served as a civilian in a squalid village in the Phillipines or Haiti, than I would some guy or gal who chose to service Humvees in Germany or Japan. But, either form of service is valid.<br /><br />This blog is not the place for postings like mine, no doubt. But, you brought it up. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com