Richard Dreyfuss's New 'Opus' : Civics

[ChamberedRound]

I have no idea what Richard Dreyfuss's political beliefs are or where he sits on the political scale. But I found this video from Real Time with Bill Mahr to be extremely compelling, and something that I agree with completely:

"An Uneducated Electorate Promotes Democracy Lost"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd7p1SGMuqU



At one time, civics was taught in every school in America. But over time, as budget cuts and other topics took priority, this very important and unique topic in it's own right has either been eliminated from school cirriculums or been relegated to a chapter or two in a social studies book. We have to find ways to once again teach our children what it is like to be American, lest we risk losing the whole thing, and it seems that is what Mr. Dreyfuss is planning.

In addition, I also found the following article regarding this new civics education initiative he's starting up.

http://www.aarp.org/about_aarp/nrta/..._dreyfuss.html

Richard Dreyfuss's New 'Opus'

by Michele Morris

Nowadays when Richard Dreyfuss takes the stage, wearing his trademark khaki pants and corduroy jacket with his reading glasses on a string draped around his neck, he is playing a role quite different from the dozens of characters he has taken on during his long acting career. This time he is a citizen exhorting us to help him breathe life into a moribund subject: civics. "Democracy has no value unless you accept it as a process rather than an event," says Dreyfuss. "The Framers felt that the people could be relied on to maintain our democratic system — they could be sovereign. But being sovereign requires a thoughtful, intelligent, active citizenry. Today we know so little about our system. Civics is teaching people how to maintain the system while sharing political power."

For actor Richard Dreyfuss, civics has always been an activity, not a museum piece. He grew up knowing that different points of view can coexist in a democracy without people resorting to shouting matches. He still remembers two FBI agents coming to his home to do a security clearance when he was 14. His father owned a company that made gun shields for the Navy, and his mother was involved in political groups such as Mothers for Peace. "Does this breed discontent in the home?" one of the agents asked the boy. Dreyfuss responded that his father was helping the antiwar effort by making gun shields badly. In a heartbeat, his mother's fingernails were digging into his arm. "The boy is just kidding," the younger agent said.

His Four Ambitions

Humor and storytelling have always been Dreyfuss's forte. Since he was 12, he has had four ambitions — to be an actor, to become a movie star, to go into politics, and to become a history teacher. By the time he was 30, he had won an Oscar for his performance in The Goodbye Girl, making him the youngest actor to win the award at that time. Years later he starred in Mr. Holland's Opus, playing a music teacher. His passionate performance garnered another Academy Award nomination. At 59, Dreyfuss is closing in on the latter two goals, but in unexpected ways.

For the last 4 years Dreyfuss has been on a mission to save democracy from what he calls the forces of evil — apathy, ignorance, and the lack of civility. He went back to school to learn how to teach, spending 2 years as a resident fellow at Oxford, before taking on his new project. "Dreyfuss thinks the public does not know how to think critically or reason or argue," says Jim Loewen, author of Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong. "He's trying to do something about it."

Ready for Change

It all started in Martha's Vineyard. In 1975 the actor's career took off when he starred as an arrogant shark expert in Steven Spielberg's Jaws. Over the years, he vacationed on the island and maintained close ties with friends there. In May 2006, Dreyfuss had lunch with an old friend, Bob Tankard, an all-island school committee member and former school principal. "We've known each other for more than 20 years," says Tankard. "We always talked about changing the world. Years ago I told Richard that he should give up acting and go into education or politics, but he said he needed to pay the bills." Over lunch the two men caught up on each other's lives and discussed modern democracy. They agreed that the role of civics had been forgotten and that schools needed to reinstate a civics curriculum from kindergarten through high school. "That's when Richard reminded me that I had urged him to change professions," Tankard says. "He told me he was ready to make the leap."

Later that summer Tankard introduced Dreyfuss to James Weiss, the island's superintendent of schools. It was a meeting of the minds. "The superintendent told me that if I could ignite the enthusiasm of parents, they would institute a curriculum of civics," Dreyfuss recalls. "Within 20 minutes we decided to hold public forums," adds Tankard. The first was scheduled for December at the Katharine Cornell Theater, one of the oldest public venues on the island, a typical town meeting site. Dreyfuss took up the challenge and recruited well-known educators to meet with local teachers, parents, and students.

A Sense of Urgency

Dreyfuss spent the fall of 2006 honing his ideas, drumming up enthusiasm for his project, and on November 16 he appeared on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher to promote his civics initiative. "I don't want civics to simply be an issue," he says. "I want it to be an urgent issue." Maher was atypically silent as the star, looking and sounding decidedly professorial, eloquently laid out his ideas. "Civics to me is the teaching of reason and logic," Dreyfuss told NRTA Live & Learn in a recent phone interview. "And upholding the values of dissent, debate, and civility."

On December 6 Dreyfuss hosted the first public forum in Martha's Vineyard designed to promote civics education. "Where do we offer young people the chance to fall in love with America?" he asked the packed house. "I speak to you as an American who wants to hand to his kids the country he learned about. If we don't teach it, we lose this system." Dreyfuss then led a lively discussion on the importance of reviving civics education in our public schools. "I view public schools as a key vehicle for helping people become citizens," Weiss, a former history teacher, told the audience.

For Dreyfuss, active citizenship isn't something that takes place on a faraway stage; it's close to home. Ten years ago when I first interviewed him about his community service, he told me that he grew up in a family where politics and civics were like bread and water. Sunday evenings found the family around the dinner table discussing and debating the issues of the day. His mother taught by example. "For more than 30 years she was a citizen activist," Dreyfuss said. "She was involved in four or five organizations — Another Mother for Peace, the League of Women Voters — and worked at them constantly. She never lectured or gave me a Sunday sermon about politics or morality but included me. I remember paper drives and rubber drives. It was all part of the afternoon."

The World We Leave Our Kids

Dreyfuss has taken the family lessons to heart, especially as he grew into the role of parent himself. "It's a short walk from being part of a community to being a citizen in a democracy," he says. "What world your kids grow up in becomes important to you or you're an idiot." When his own three children, now in their teens and 20s, were small, he put his celebrity and energy into building a strong community. He co-founded L.A. Works, a public-action center that organized community service projects. "L.A. Works was a vehicle for an impulse that already existed," he told me. "Some people have always been dissatisfied with simply writing a check." The organization gave Dreyfuss "a tremendous sense of accomplishment," he said. "I don't believe there is any such thing as an altruistic gesture. I believe you get something back, which is that sense of satisfaction, one of the great highs of all time."

Already then, during the Clinton administration, Dreyfuss was concerned about our political institutions: "We are losing the idea that representative democracy is to be valued," he told me. The solution? "Political activism can make a difference," he said. "But its success is incremental. That's the most difficult part of sustaining a democracy."

Dreyfuss's mother nurtured his sense of activism at home, and he studied civics in school. The same boy who witnessed FBI agents knocking on his door, worries today about American civil liberties. He participated in marches against the Vietnam War and became a conscientious objector, spending 2 years as a clerk at an L.A. County hospital. "I loved my country and wanted to be of service," he says. He's tried to imbue his own children with a love for their country and a reverence for democracy.

Oxford Calls

Ironically, his current civics project was born out of the ashes of an aborted theatrical role. In 2004 Dreyfuss was tapped to play Max Bialystock in the London production of The Producers, but he withdrew before the play opened. As he prepared to move back to the States, he took stock of his life and his career and thought about his goal of going into education or politics. That's when he received an invitation to join St. Antony's College at Oxford as a senior associate member and study democracy.

He jumped at the opportunity. As he clarified his ideas and gave a formal lecture on American democracy and the 2004 election, he realized that the tools of citizenship were not being taught in American schools. "We need to give kids the tools necessary to run our government," he says. "They grow up thinking that partisan yelling and rudeness is the appropriate manner to discuss the issues of the day."

Dreyfuss has reached the stage of life that George Vaillant, director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, refers to as "empathic leadership." Like most baby boomers, he spent the first part of his life focusing on his career. His need for achievement, mapped out when he was 12, has been replaced by an urge to build community and take care of the next generation. "I am interested in America in 2040, not just what's happening today," Dreyfuss says. "What kind of democracy are we going to pass on to our children?"

It's Pre-Partisan

Dreyfuss doesn't just talk the talk, he walks the walk. Political and social activism are a normal part of his life, whether he's campaigning for candidates or protesting the war. In recent years he's worked to promote solutions to the Arab-Israeli conflict, lambasted television for what he calls "shaped news," and called for the impeachment of President Bush. Recently there has been a shift in his thinking. "I no longer want to be involved in partisan politics," he says. "I want to be pre-partisan. The guys who wrote the constitution were all partisan crazy maniacs, but they did not let their partisanship interfere with the structure of the systems they were creating."

For now Dreyfuss is hard at work on his civics project, crisscrossing the nation giving lectures on the importance of civics. "I don't like preaching to the converted," he says. "I want to talk to people who might think of me as their enemy." Dreyfuss imagines making a tour of the so-called red states. "I love it when people come up after a lecture and tell me they were prepared to walk out on me," he admits.

He toys with the idea of creating films that tell the story of the evolution of American democracy with all the twists and turns of a Dickensian novel. He has other ideas up his sleeve, such as creating an experiential train journey that would connect Philadelphia, Gettysburg, and Washington, DC, and establishing an institute for the protection of enlightenment and western political values. He's creating a 501(c)(3), a nonprofit that would allow him to raise funds for his ventures. "I am no longer an interview," asserts Dreyfuss. "I am a book. If I were more disciplined, I would write one: Civics, by Richard Dreyfuss." If all goes according to plan, the rebirth of civics will be his legacy.

About the Author
Michele Morris writes for national magazines from Park City, Utah.

[PisnNapalm]

+1 Great post.

[headcase]

Outstanding. I don't care what his political views are, this message needs to get out, and he is doing it politics free. Way to go RD and way to go Chambered for posting this.

[billamj]

There is a first time for everything. Dreyfus is just a little to the left of Lenin. I am utterly astounded that he could make these types of statements and be taken seriously. Let me assure each and everyone of you, this will turn VERY political and we will not like the direction it takes. He is very much the anti, do not let this fool you. OTOH he's a pretty decent actor.

[ChamberedRound]

Originally Posted by billamj

There is a first time for everything. Dreyfus is just a little to the left of Lenin. I am utterly astounded that he could make these types of statements and be taken seriously. Let me assure each and everyone of you, this will turn VERY political and we will not like the direction it takes. He is very much the anti, do not let this fool you. OTOH he's a pretty decent actor.

If that happens, I'll be the first to criticize. But if he can maintain his objectivity on the issue, then I think he's doing a great service. While I agree that he is very similar to most other Hollywood types (left, socialist, and able to afford it), he goes out of his way to say that this issue is "pre-partisan". It comes before American political beliefs or parties, because it's a subject which there would be no American political beliefs or parties without.

See the following excerpt from the article (emphasis added by me):

Recently there has been a shift in his thinking. "I no longer want to be involved in partisan politics," he says. "I want to be pre-partisan. The guys who wrote the constitution were all partisan crazy maniacs, but they did not let their partisanship interfere with the structure of the systems they were creating."

Again, I harbor the same concerns billamj mentioned, but a statement like this makes me think that maybe he really does believe this issue is more important than partisanship. Call me naive, call me a hopeless idealist, but I really want to believe him. I'll be eagerly watching to see how he pursues this cause.

[Shawn.L]

That was AWESOME.

I know, for my part, my child gets lessons in civics here at home. He has gone to political rallys with us. He prob learned more about his country and its founding and structure from the Ron Paul rally in cranberry and the ensuing Q&A and discussion on the way home then he will ever learn in school. He will be joining us on April 7 for the 2A rally in Harrisburgh.

But what he says is right, my child benifits from active parenting, from parents that see raising a child a sacred and honored duty. Most will not. And it is those, the uneductaed masses, who will decide our future if we let them.

[ReefBlue]

My favorite line from his speech is--

"We teach our kids what we want them to know and don't teach them what we don't want them to know."

So if you want to get your own kids involved, do what my mom did--waited to see what I was interested in, and then went with me instead of taking me to things she thinks I should be interested in.

Obviously there was guidance involved, but what if your kids are only going to something because you make them go? They'll hate it more than you love it and that is a guarantee.

Everyone on this board has a common interest--guns. What if your kid doesn't care about them or doesn't like them? Do you think they're going to stand up and say it? No--they're going to go along with it because they're being told to. That flys in the face of what Richard said about teaching kids what you want them to know.

Growing up in Greenwich Village, NYC, I've probably seen things most on this board can't even begin to imagine, and when I see them, I don't even bother to give them a second look. Why? Because of exposure to things that are different--race, politics, individuality, etc.. If you're going to make your kids involved in things, let them pick how they want to be involved, they're probably not going to mirror your opinions.

[billamj]

Originally Posted by ChamberedRound

If that happens, I'll be the first to criticize. But if he can maintain his objectivity on the issue, then I think he's doing a great service. While I agree that he is very similar to most other Hollywood types (left, socialist, and able to afford it), he goes out of his way to say that this issue is "pre-partisan". It comes before American political beliefs or parties, because it's a subject which there would be no American political beliefs or parties without.
.

As someone who is a student of history, there is no era after the Revolutionary war that is truly "pre-partisan." After Washington was elected there was a group that supported him and another group that did not, thus started the partisan movement in American political thought. For all of Jefferson's anti-partisan political statements he still went out of his way to kill any and all bills that were supported by John Adams when he was Adams' VP. To this day he and Madison are considered the fathers of the two party system in this country. For Dreyfuss to say that he wants to go "pre-partisan" is at best a non-sequitor in the realm of American politics.

[ChamberedRound]

Originally Posted by billamj

As someone who is a student of history, there is no era after the Revolutionary war that is truly "pre-partisan."

Agreed, and no one's disputing that, not even Dreyfuss. Rather, he's stating that the foundation of being American, most notably our tradition of being mindful and questionable of the government (and teaching it to subsequent generations), comes before party politics and is a civic responsibility of all Americans regardless of party.

Originally Posted by billamj

For Dreyfuss to say that he wants to go "pre-partisan" is at best a non-sequitor in the realm of American politics.

Again, he's not saying he wants to go pre-partisan, but that the issue of civics itself is pre-partisan. In both the video and the article he says nothing about his own personal views on politics; he is stating that this is an issue more important then parties, and I agree with him. If he can't keep a political agenda out of his efforts, then I agree he's just a hypocritical shill, but I'd like to see more of what he's planning before I make that determination.

[ChamberedRound]

As an update to this thread for those interested, I found a 2-part podcast from a seminar he spoke at where he discusses the topic of civics in more detail. It starts out slow, but again is extremely compelling:

http://podcast.geekcruises.com/index.php?post_id=292025
http://podcast.geekcruises.com/index.php?post_id=292038

Enjoy!