Serving the communities of Wears Valley, Waldens Creek, And Townsend Tennessee

1. WearWood Celebrates community With “Wears Valley Day”

                                   Writing Contest winners recognized

    

   The ominous rain clouds last week didn’t put a damper on Wearwood Elementary’s annual “Wears Valley Day”. Last Friday, September 26 the parking lot behind WearWood Elementary School served as a temporary venue for the games, Contests, and concessions put on by the school as a fundraiser. It’s a half-day of school for the kids, who get to enjoy the activities from 12:45 till the end of the school day. “Every one is pretty worn out” laughs Principal Bruce Wilson.

   Some of the Afternoons activities included a bake sale by the 3^rd and 4^th grades, Mrs. Ogles Kindergarten class sold snow-cones, while the 6th grade class under Mrs. Edge provided the essential classic, bobbing for apples. Probably the days biggest hits were the Water Balloon toss-at beloved teachers etc, and the “jail”, run by the 8th grade class. “Jail”, as in real life, is an ingenious way to raise money. Anyone can pay .50, and have anyone else “locked up”. Bail is set at another .50. Don’t have it? Well then you’re looking at 5-10. Minutes, that is.

    The afternoon was highlighted by the Recognition of four students who had taken part in a writing contest themed “Why do we need a playground at Wearwood elementary? [At present there is a severely limited amount of playground equipment at WearWood School. An outside, Non-Profit group of concerned parents and neighbors is seeking to raise $60,000 in order to build a modern, large safe, play space for the children, as well as adding on to and modernizing the schools ball field.]  There were different age categories for the contest and the winners included 5^th Grader Caleb Wilkinson, 4^th grader riley Scott, 2^nd Grader Trista Ogle, and 1^st grade student Gage Bull. Cash prizes were also awarded.

   Several people expressed that while the turnout is great every year, previous years events had a much larger community presence. “When the sign was next to the road” says School resource Officer Kevin Daniels “ that helped get the word out a lot”. Grey skies overhead, bright smiles in the school yard. For those that missed this years event, mark your calendars for next year. Those wishing to make a donation to the playground effort may do so by visiting any branch of Tennessee State Bank, and making a deposit into the WearWood Elementary Playground fund, an account specially set up for this purpose.

2. The Big Question: Who Gets What?

   Frank Weir

   Academic people are sometimes at their best when not in front of a class, but just talking, with colleagues or friends. A while back, I had the pleasure of such a conversation with a distinguished professor of sociology, much admired by his colleagues. At one point I was surprised to hear him say, In a democracy, theres only one big question:  Who gets what?

         He must  have noticed the surprise on my face.  I would have thought there are several big questions: peace and war, crime and punishment, health and welfare. So he continued: All the other questions, we can pretty much agree on. Its like a family that gets an inheritance. Theyre lucky if they dont break into warring camps. In a democracy, it pretty much breaks down into equality vs. inequality of wealth and income.

         It doesnt help much to bring in the idea of distributive justice. That tries to answer Who should get what? Theres no doubt that Bill Gates has made a bigger contribution to more people than the average professor, or even the average football coach. But when you try to measure the differences in peoples worth, all you do is organize their envy. You already have the well-off accusing the poor of class warfare, and the poor responding with equal reason that the rich invented class warfare and are a lot better at at. Meanwhile everybody can compare himself with someone else he thinks is overpaid.

         A better approach is to figure out, What degree of inequality works? At one extreme, you can have a system  where a few very rich people own most of the wealth and receive most of the income. They can then lend money very broadly to buy houses and cars and diapers and anything a credit card can be used for -- that is. anything -- and then everybody is working for them, to pay them back.  On the other hand, you can have a system where people are paid enough to buy what they need without borrowing. But it is argued they wont stop there, and and that wage-earners also wont accumulate capital so business can expand to meet their needs.