I think in some senses Mr. Hinograd is an optimist. He has great hopes, backed by some historical patterns, that the upcoming generation of voters will take on political problems with a new perspective. According to him, they favor environmental causes, strengthening the middle class, and introducing changes into the healthcare system. He bases these conclusions on the tendency toward groups the Millennials have shown already. They have a clear sense of fairness and playing nice. They are the most colorblind generation of Americans ever and they want things to be equitable for people economically, socially, etc. Millenials also prefer an individualized approach: they are used to being able to change their MySpace pages to fit their personalities. This could change the way we administer public schools.
If you have enjoyed my sporadic reviews of this book, it is now available to check out here in the library. If you found a book you want to tell the CR community about, let me know. I am not opposed to guest reviews on this blog.
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"In some senses?" He's being really optimistic. I wonder: Is the author judging these kids by what they say, or what they do? And is he going to do a follow-up 10 years down the road, once these kids are entering the workforce and voting and such? Kids in school have a lot of free time, and as such, they do things differently from folks who have jobs and families.
I don't think the way public schools are adminned is going to change without riding all the brain-dead school board members out of town on a rail. Then doing the same with all the incompetent administrators, then (most difficult) getting all parents to care about and be involved in their kids' educations. Actually, if you accomplished the last, the first 2 would happen on their own.
I didn't write a formal review for The Impossible Bird, but it was both enjoyable and thought-provoking. Seriously, the only thing I've read in the last 6 months that raised half that many interesting questions was Frederik Pohl's Heechee series.
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