But in terms of education policy, I think that far too much emphasis has been put on these tests. It just basically means you have the right to be represented, and have your side of something heard if someone was trying to get rid of you. Diane Ravitch was there, she’s a huge figure in education and she jumped in and just set them straight about what having tenure meant. We would never let business men design warheads, why would you cut out educators when you’re designing education policy? So, one of those libertarian websites was there and they had a plan to attack a question about tenure. I’ve always believed that they have to invite teachers into the discussion to help design policy. They talk about accountability, but they’re measuring with these standardized tests, which I believe in my heart they will start fading out. It’s being designed by a bunch of people who aren’t teachers. My mom’s a professor and she’s become increasingly concerned, as a have a lot of teachers, about the way policy is being designed in this country. The story behind this exchange between Damon and Reason TV, in which Damon defended teachers after his mother has been a life-long educator: "I spoke to them at a rally for public school teachers a few years ago. I’m hoping to be on tonight, I’m told I’m going to get on tonight for the first time in 10 years." "I’m actually Backstage at the Kimmel show. If he's worried that Jimmy Kimmel (who's had a fun rivalry with Damon for years) will show up and ruin his AMA: I’m just thinking of that because it’s kind of a s- week because of Phil. Anytime you deal with death, anytime in my life on a personal level that I’ve lost someone, that’s always a moment to grieve and feel incredibly thankful that I’m still here and I’m still able to have my family around me. I can’t make it too easy for my kids because that doesn’t really equip them to handle the world when I’m not around. I’ve seen parents try to remove those struggles from their kids’ lives, to the detriment of the kid, and it’s something I think about a lot. Nothing gets given to you, and you have to struggle for everything, and I think those struggles really do define who you are, and it’s really important.
"Yeah, there are a number of kind of rugged times, particularly in a career like this. When a fan asked Damon to recall the most challenging time in his life, he gave a very poignant response in which he references Philip Seymour Hoffman who passed away last week. All the comedy they’re doing is really next-level stuff." What he thought of his portrayal in "South Park" creator's "Team America: World Police": "I thought it was brilliant! I mean, I never understood it, and then I heard an interview with them and they said the puppet came in looking kind of mentally deficient and they didn’t have time to change it, so they just made me someone who could really only say his own name.