"It is an object of vast magnitude that systems of education should be adopted and pursued which may not only diffuse a knowledge of the sciences but may implant in the minds of the American youth the principles of virtue and of liberty and inspire them with just and liberal ideas of government and with an inviolable attachment to their own country"--Noah Webster. On Education of Youth in America, 1790.
The goal of Noah Webster and the rest of the Founding Fathers was to provide schools and a system that would educate the children of our nation. The purpose of the schools was to educate children not only in the sciences but to teach them how important liberty and virtue were in their development and in the connection they have to their nation. The Founding Fathers, religious men, knew that virtue played an important role in one's education and that virtue was maintained only in a nation that understood the importance of freedom and liberty.
This has changed in modern America. One needs to simply walk the streets to see that virtue has become a thing of the past. As for liberty, it appears that more and more Americans are willing to fore go that little necessity for what they believe will be safety and security.
Since the beginning of the 20th century our education system has been deteriorating. We moved away from such things as the McGuffey reader and phonics. More importantly we have taken Civics and American history out of our schools. This has given us a population unfamiliar with the way our government is supposed run and is therefore detached from our older generations who constantly ask: What are they teaching in our schools? The answer to that question is--not a lot.
Over the decades we eliminated things like the McGuffey Readers and did away with diagramming a sentence and subjects like history and civics. History is now a hodgepodge known as social studies. It is a composite of history, geography, and cultures. Civics has simply been tossed out the window. In the process we have added programs in drug education and sex education. We have put the emphasis on math and science while history has been all but forgotten. Indeed, in time, history of any type will be eliminated.
It would be nice to be able to tell you that the dumbing down of the children of the nation is about to come to a halt under this new administration but that is not the case. While Mr. Obama made many hopeful statements pertaining to education during this campaign you must keep in mind that Saul Alinsky and Bill Ayers were influential on this issue. Indeed it was while Obama was serving as the first chairman of the Annenberg Challenge Education Initiative that he and Ayers became close associates. Both men believed that increased spending was the way to solve educaional issues
It was Ayers who would run the Annenberg Challenge Education Initiative, a program designed to improve inner city schools in Chicago. Obama, as chairman of the Board, funneled $150 million to Ayers who used it as he saw fit. Ayers spent the money on all the recent fads that came down the education pike. For five years he spent like a drunken sailor had no results showing improvement in the education of Chicago students.
Now we have Obama sitting in the most important seat in the land, the president of the country. What is he going to do about education? He is going to continue the destruction of our educational system. He started out by announcing that the scholarships or vouchers for inner DC black students were going to come to a halt. He stated that he was going to give the program a chance but cut it almost immediately. This program, that has black children standing in line for the scholarships because to get one meant a better education, will be eliminated once the current students graduate. Obama agreed to this solution after parents pressured him and this was the answer he gave them. Now keep in mind that Mr. Obama attended a private Catholic school and a state Islamic school before he went home to Hawaii. In Hawaii he also attended a private school. His daughters went to the costly University of Chicago Laboratory School--tuition ran as high as $20K a year. Now they are in the Sidwell Friends School--tuition starts at $28K--and it is one of the top elite schools in DC. Why wouldn't you want that for all of the kids in the USA?
Another way that we can improve education is offering merit pay for the best teachers. Teachers have been fighting for this for many years. However, the National Education Association will not allow merit pay unless they are the ones who determine who gets it. Obama told us that merit pay proposals would be "developed with teachers, not imposed on teachers." The NEA loves that because they will be doing the proposing. Keep in mind that this is actually a state not a federal issue yet it is going to be handled by the federal government and that will mean higher costs for everything dealing with merit pay and things like charter school.
Of all the matters associated with education it is the curriculum that must be restored. Reading, not all day kindergarten, must be a priority. In fact, those who teach K-3 should hold a BA in reading with at least 36 hours in their subject matter not a BA in education or in special education. The same holds true for those in secondary subjects in grades 6-12, the teachers should have their degree in their major and preferably an MA in the subject they teach. All the extra curricula needs to be eliminated. Standards should be high and the so called little things like spelling and penmanship should not be ignored. Civics and American history must be returned to the classrooms across this nation. It is our history that unites us. It is our story. It is what binds us together as a nation. This we must know, this we must understand.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Parties, Factions, and Identity Politica
A number of years ago William F. Buckley wrote an editorial on the accumulation and ascendancy of minority groups within our society. The point of this essay was to illustrate that the Democrats/Progressives were creating groups within this nation that would become the very core of their power base for elections. Buckley pronounced that the only problem with this political strategy is that even if you put all the various groups together, feminist, abortionists, blacks, gays and Hispanics, you still did not come up to much more the 49%. Thus the Democrat/Progressive party had not put together a majority of voters needed to win an elections.
What they did put together was Identity Politics. With this policy, the Progressives divided us along racial, sexual, and religious lines. They talked about the need for "diversity" and how it was good for our country. Assimilation of new citizens disappeared from the policies of our nation while the new program of Identity Politics goes on and on becoming more successful everyday
Identity politics has allowed the Progressives to create victims. Blacks, gays, women, are all victims and legislation needs to be passed both to protect them and to give them an advantage over those of us who are not victims or should I say not yet victims. In creating these protected groups, the Progressives expand their voter base because in helping these poor folks they make them loyal to the Progressive agenda and they make the Progressives the Caring Party.
It is easy to be a member of the caring partybecause that is all you do, you care and legislate e use of other peoples' money to finance your charity.You believe in giving people a fish not in doing the necessary work to teach them how to fish. Putting it another way it is known as the re-distribution of wealth, the goal of the Progressives and the Obama administration
Taking their cue from Woodrow Wilson, the Progressives believe that people and therefore government evolve. There is, for example, no such thing as fixed law or rights as outlined in documents like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Thus citizens no longer have their unalienable rights such as "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness". You no longer have the right to own the property where you live or anywhere else. It is easy to see how those involved in Obama's health care program can take you off life support when you have no unalienable right to life despite the fact that you have a right to health care in this brave, new world. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are simply moldy old documents that no longer matter since man has now evolved to the point where these documents are "living documents" and must be brought up to date where the modern man believes that the best thing to happen is to put the government and its bureaucracy in charge of all decisions.
There is only one problem with this theory, it is not true. First and foremost in order to swallow this you must believe, among other things, that the human nature changes. It doesn't do that. One of the concerns of our Framers was that human nature does not change. Because human nature does not change, ergo improve with the evolving of time, government must be structured to take that into account. In "Federalist 6. Publius criticizes those who fail to see the permanent dangers of human nature by saying that they are "far gone in Utopian speculations." Publius continues explaining that human nature does not change and this can be seen throughout the course of human history. Hamilton in Federalist 34 writes; "To judge from the history of mankind, we shall be compelled to conclude that the fiery and destructive passions of war reign in the human breast with much more powerful sway than the mild and beneficent sentiments of peace; and to model our political systems upon the speculations of lasting tranquillity would be to calculate on the weaker springs of human character".
Our Founders and Framers were concerned with factionalism and with political parties that they believed would cause factionalism. They were correct and party differences existed from day one because governments are made by men who do not always share the same ideas. Disagreement and less then civil discourse has been around since men came together to debate and come to decisions. The question we must ask ourselves today is why are the Progressives so strident when it comes to the exchange of ideas. More importantly why are they insistent on their way and only their way? There is but one answer, caught up in their own narcissism, they believe they and their ideas are superior to all others. The Progressives live in but two time periods, that of Franklin Roosevelt and Woodstock. It was FDR who brought forth a Second Bill of Rights that could be instituted by government and taken away by government. Woodstock and the Sixties saw and idolization of teenagers by guilty adults who lost the courage to stand up to children. This in turn gave us the likes of Bill Clinton who honestly believed that his ideas were so great for the nation that he could do anything, including engaging in illegal actions, and could not be punished for it. This mindset is now the viewpoint of younger generations as witnessed by Obama and his cronies who believe that it is time for us to move forward with the redistribution of wealth, mandatory community service and a civil army directed by the White House to kick us off our property, take our guns, and kill us when we are to old to be of any use to the nation.
What they did put together was Identity Politics. With this policy, the Progressives divided us along racial, sexual, and religious lines. They talked about the need for "diversity" and how it was good for our country. Assimilation of new citizens disappeared from the policies of our nation while the new program of Identity Politics goes on and on becoming more successful everyday
Identity politics has allowed the Progressives to create victims. Blacks, gays, women, are all victims and legislation needs to be passed both to protect them and to give them an advantage over those of us who are not victims or should I say not yet victims. In creating these protected groups, the Progressives expand their voter base because in helping these poor folks they make them loyal to the Progressive agenda and they make the Progressives the Caring Party.
It is easy to be a member of the caring partybecause that is all you do, you care and legislate e use of other peoples' money to finance your charity.You believe in giving people a fish not in doing the necessary work to teach them how to fish. Putting it another way it is known as the re-distribution of wealth, the goal of the Progressives and the Obama administration
Taking their cue from Woodrow Wilson, the Progressives believe that people and therefore government evolve. There is, for example, no such thing as fixed law or rights as outlined in documents like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Thus citizens no longer have their unalienable rights such as "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness". You no longer have the right to own the property where you live or anywhere else. It is easy to see how those involved in Obama's health care program can take you off life support when you have no unalienable right to life despite the fact that you have a right to health care in this brave, new world. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are simply moldy old documents that no longer matter since man has now evolved to the point where these documents are "living documents" and must be brought up to date where the modern man believes that the best thing to happen is to put the government and its bureaucracy in charge of all decisions.
There is only one problem with this theory, it is not true. First and foremost in order to swallow this you must believe, among other things, that the human nature changes. It doesn't do that. One of the concerns of our Framers was that human nature does not change. Because human nature does not change, ergo improve with the evolving of time, government must be structured to take that into account. In "Federalist 6. Publius criticizes those who fail to see the permanent dangers of human nature by saying that they are "far gone in Utopian speculations." Publius continues explaining that human nature does not change and this can be seen throughout the course of human history. Hamilton in Federalist 34 writes; "To judge from the history of mankind, we shall be compelled to conclude that the fiery and destructive passions of war reign in the human breast with much more powerful sway than the mild and beneficent sentiments of peace; and to model our political systems upon the speculations of lasting tranquillity would be to calculate on the weaker springs of human character".
Our Founders and Framers were concerned with factionalism and with political parties that they believed would cause factionalism. They were correct and party differences existed from day one because governments are made by men who do not always share the same ideas. Disagreement and less then civil discourse has been around since men came together to debate and come to decisions. The question we must ask ourselves today is why are the Progressives so strident when it comes to the exchange of ideas. More importantly why are they insistent on their way and only their way? There is but one answer, caught up in their own narcissism, they believe they and their ideas are superior to all others. The Progressives live in but two time periods, that of Franklin Roosevelt and Woodstock. It was FDR who brought forth a Second Bill of Rights that could be instituted by government and taken away by government. Woodstock and the Sixties saw and idolization of teenagers by guilty adults who lost the courage to stand up to children. This in turn gave us the likes of Bill Clinton who honestly believed that his ideas were so great for the nation that he could do anything, including engaging in illegal actions, and could not be punished for it. This mindset is now the viewpoint of younger generations as witnessed by Obama and his cronies who believe that it is time for us to move forward with the redistribution of wealth, mandatory community service and a civil army directed by the White House to kick us off our property, take our guns, and kill us when we are to old to be of any use to the nation.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
A Need For Repealers and Restorers
In the election of 1912 the Democrats/Progressives put foreword a bespectacled governor from New Jersey, Woodrow Wilson. Wilson was the son of a Presbyterian minister and a southerner who was not all that opposed to slavery. He spent most of his early years in academia. He attended Princeton and became its president.
Were you to look at a picture of President Wilson you would not imagine him as a man intent on radical changes in the American system and yet that is what he wanted to do. He thought that a parliamentary system was best for us and be damned those old moldy documents that we refer to as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Wilson was full of himself with an ego larger then all outdoors. It was that ego that played a large part in his down fall.
Wilson is best remember for attempting to keep us out of war specifically World War I. That, of course did not happen and one has to wonder if that was his goal. Like Rahm Emanuel, Wilson realized that a lot could be gained from a crisis, particularly since it caused the nation to rally round the government.
While Wilson was able to point to the winning of the war, he failed when it came to the peace. Showing up at Versailles with all the cards in his hands, Wilson allowed Clemenceau and Lloyd George to run rough shod over him thus Wilson and America lost the peace. Back home the victorious Republicans under the leadership of Senator Henry Cabot Lodge defeated Wilson's primary goal to enter the League of Nations, Wilson's baby so to speak.
That is pretty much the history lesson taught to young Americans and while it is true and accurate one must look at additional dangerous accomplishments by this early Progressive. It was under Wilson's reign that this nation adopted the 16th Amendment to the Constitution that put into place the infamous income tax. This Amendment opened the door to an expansive and extensive government. No other item is so patently used to whip the populace into line then the United States Tax code. It is a monstrous and growing item that is used by Congress to curry favors with their financial contributors and the wealthy back home.
In addition to Amendment 16 is Amendment 17 that allowed for the election of Senators to the United States Congress. Up until the 17th's passage it was the state legislatures that selected the federal senators. While this allowed for some cases of corruption, Senator Timber, Senator Steel, it kept those men loyal to their state. Today our US Senators have no loyalty to their states because they need to travel across the nation to fund raising parties.
Wilson was a tremendous supporter of the 17th Amendment because his nemesis in the Congress was none other then Henry Cabot Lodge. Despite Wilson's working against Lodge, Lodge came out the winner when the good citizens of Massachusetts elected him to the Senate. Indeed it was Lodge who brought the letter to Wilson telling him that the Senate was in opposition to the League of Nations and it would not past that body.
In addition to repealing the 16th and 17t Amendment we need to review and tighten the reach of the Commerce Clause. Congress is permitted to regulate commerce with "foreign nations, the several states, and the Indian tribes." Of all the clauses within the Constitution none has been more abused then this one. Sneeze in one state while crossing into another and you will find yourself embroiled in a Supreme Court case to regulate nasal hair and all items associated with same.
Year after election year we are told by office seekers that they want to become our representative in order to reform the system. Now we have a president and czars who admittedly want to not just reform the system they want to replace it with fascism. What we truly need at all levels of government are REPEALERS.
G. K. Chesterton in his work entitled "Eugenics and Other Evil Things" points out that at one point REPEALERS in government were quite popular. Somewhere along the way the politicos agreed to not wipe out the other guy's policies thus the REPEALERS disappeared. The result; burgeoning budgets, massive government programs, laws upon existing laws, and a bureaucracy that is not only huge in its expansiveness, it runs our government at all levels. This bureaucracy is in place due to what was initially a good idea, Civil Service Testing. What is not good is that it is all but impossible to fire these employees and jobs have become generational. Next election question with boldness if your office seeker is willing to be a REPEALER willing to RESTORE those principles found in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
Were you to look at a picture of President Wilson you would not imagine him as a man intent on radical changes in the American system and yet that is what he wanted to do. He thought that a parliamentary system was best for us and be damned those old moldy documents that we refer to as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Wilson was full of himself with an ego larger then all outdoors. It was that ego that played a large part in his down fall.
Wilson is best remember for attempting to keep us out of war specifically World War I. That, of course did not happen and one has to wonder if that was his goal. Like Rahm Emanuel, Wilson realized that a lot could be gained from a crisis, particularly since it caused the nation to rally round the government.
While Wilson was able to point to the winning of the war, he failed when it came to the peace. Showing up at Versailles with all the cards in his hands, Wilson allowed Clemenceau and Lloyd George to run rough shod over him thus Wilson and America lost the peace. Back home the victorious Republicans under the leadership of Senator Henry Cabot Lodge defeated Wilson's primary goal to enter the League of Nations, Wilson's baby so to speak.
That is pretty much the history lesson taught to young Americans and while it is true and accurate one must look at additional dangerous accomplishments by this early Progressive. It was under Wilson's reign that this nation adopted the 16th Amendment to the Constitution that put into place the infamous income tax. This Amendment opened the door to an expansive and extensive government. No other item is so patently used to whip the populace into line then the United States Tax code. It is a monstrous and growing item that is used by Congress to curry favors with their financial contributors and the wealthy back home.
In addition to Amendment 16 is Amendment 17 that allowed for the election of Senators to the United States Congress. Up until the 17th's passage it was the state legislatures that selected the federal senators. While this allowed for some cases of corruption, Senator Timber, Senator Steel, it kept those men loyal to their state. Today our US Senators have no loyalty to their states because they need to travel across the nation to fund raising parties.
Wilson was a tremendous supporter of the 17th Amendment because his nemesis in the Congress was none other then Henry Cabot Lodge. Despite Wilson's working against Lodge, Lodge came out the winner when the good citizens of Massachusetts elected him to the Senate. Indeed it was Lodge who brought the letter to Wilson telling him that the Senate was in opposition to the League of Nations and it would not past that body.
In addition to repealing the 16th and 17t Amendment we need to review and tighten the reach of the Commerce Clause. Congress is permitted to regulate commerce with "foreign nations, the several states, and the Indian tribes." Of all the clauses within the Constitution none has been more abused then this one. Sneeze in one state while crossing into another and you will find yourself embroiled in a Supreme Court case to regulate nasal hair and all items associated with same.
Year after election year we are told by office seekers that they want to become our representative in order to reform the system. Now we have a president and czars who admittedly want to not just reform the system they want to replace it with fascism. What we truly need at all levels of government are REPEALERS.
G. K. Chesterton in his work entitled "Eugenics and Other Evil Things" points out that at one point REPEALERS in government were quite popular. Somewhere along the way the politicos agreed to not wipe out the other guy's policies thus the REPEALERS disappeared. The result; burgeoning budgets, massive government programs, laws upon existing laws, and a bureaucracy that is not only huge in its expansiveness, it runs our government at all levels. This bureaucracy is in place due to what was initially a good idea, Civil Service Testing. What is not good is that it is all but impossible to fire these employees and jobs have become generational. Next election question with boldness if your office seeker is willing to be a REPEALER willing to RESTORE those principles found in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)