8/25/2025
My Dear Friend & POTUS, DJT,
We have both been blessed with energy to spare, being what my esteemed colleague, Jo Boaler, would call, “agentive.” We prefer to be the authors of our own destinies rather than following the crowd. We like to do our own thing. Where we differ is whether we expect others to follow us.
In my field, which you will remember is about nurturing math learning, evidence has shown that when folks think for themselves & figure things out in their own ways, they tend to do better on all kinds of measures of math learning. This requires a classroom where kids have freedom to solve problems however they want & the encouragement to be creative & seek their own paths. Most teachers don’t trust their students enough to make this happen, but those who take the leap see magic happen. Learners become autonomous & don’t need their teacher to show them what to do. They have confidence. They share their ideas with the peers. They come to see themselves as math people.
Certainly, you concur that the world needs more free thinkers. We need new ideas to solve our most pressing problems, especially war, disease & climate change. We especially need folks who can grasp the interconnections between those phenomena & the systems that contribute to them.
So, when you speak with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung (LJM) today, please do some philosophizing about how we can promote free thinking among our youth. Many talented Korean young adults are “resting” by not working or trying to find a job. We’ve got our fair share of kids like that, too. Thier talents & energy are being wasted. Korea & the US have aging populations, so we need those folks to get excited about something.
In your bilateral meeting with LJM, please also discuss Burma. Things continue to deteriorate there with the latest bad news from the G that, “The renowned Gokteik bridge was bombed on Sunday, with the ruling military junta & rebel forces blaming each other for its destruction.” Back in the day it “was the tallest railway trestle in the world when it opened in 1901 during the British colonial era.” Another reminder that WINTA!
BYBS,
