The problem in a nutshell is that our “leaders” in higher education as well as our cultural icons from the sports and entertainment worlds have been riding the wave of America-bashing because it plays well among the pseudo-intellectual liberal class. Think of Obama’s erstwhile spiritual mentor, a minister, who announced …
The problem in a nutshell is that our “leaders” in higher education as well as our cultural icons from the sports and entertainment worlds have been riding the wave of America-bashing because it plays well among the pseudo-intellectual liberal class. Think of Obama’s erstwhile spiritual mentor, a minister, who announced loudly, “Not God bless America, God damn America!”
The mind set from grade school to university and in most print and electronic media outlets is that America is passé, it’s racist, misogynist and worse.
They have un-learned history. They have been taught a revisionist, Marxist view of society. They will continue to destroy, for this is all they know how to do. There is a baby & bath water analogy here.
The only remedy is to focus on genuine learning, tossing the touchy-feely efforts to create “safe spaces” and tolerance for everyone and everything, which leads to chaos.
Rational thought must trump “diversity”, particularly when diversity has taken on an Orwellian tone, where all animals are diverse, but some are more diverse than others. There are in fact “good ideas” and “bad ideas”. Praising diversity in ethnicity, provenance, skin color, sexual-orientation, gender-identity, religious affiliation, etc., while squelching debate on certain topics or viewpoints [as these are considered “triggers”) is one such example of a very bad idea.
Democracy and the marketplace (including free speech!) help us filter the good from the bad. Most ideas are mediocre, some are really good. And some are really bad. And if we can’t (or are afraid to) debate some “hot-iron” subjects, we will all be worse off for it. Shame on the cowards who know better, but don’t want to stand out in the crowd as “non-compliant”. Instead, they’ve become complicit.
Until the US Citizenry re-discovers what made America unique (de-Tocqueville’s 19th C observations) and returns to its roots regarding freedom of speech, accountability of public leaders and critical thought, the downward spiral will continue. This is an existential crisis.
The natural law philosophy that forms the basis of Enlightenment liberalism relies on a Judeo-Christian philosophy: "Man created by god with rights" = natural law liberalism; "Smart ape" = law of the jungle. If this rubs someone the wrong way, you're in good company. I teach HS civics and it rubs my students the wrong way too. In fact, they hate it and argue against it relentlessly. But it's 100% true. You can't get to "all men are created equal" if man is defined as "just a smart ape".
So how are Americans supposed to rediscover "what made America unique" when 70% of our citizens reject the religious underpinnings of that uniqueness?
It's very hard to argue with people that think that Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States" is an unbiased telling of the "real" history of the US.
Zinn's most noted work is presented often amongst educated liberal circles as an eminent work on the failure of the American experiment and in his writing of it Zinn has stated he desired to "start a quiet revolution."
So, concisely, I was agreeing with you and pointing out that it is difficult, and nearly impossible, to "debate some “hot-iron” subjects" because there exists in our Nation a group of highly educated, highly devout, and uproariously hostile adults who cling to comforting but egregiously biased information as sacred fact.
Well put. 👏🏻👏🏻 Yes, history has a revisionist Marxist view. It has a Zinnified view. Howard Zinn created a lot of the false narrative that has been used to indoctrinate people into hating their own country. For decades, his books have polluted our schools and minds. Read Debunking Zinn by Mary Grabar.
One more thought:
The problem in a nutshell is that our “leaders” in higher education as well as our cultural icons from the sports and entertainment worlds have been riding the wave of America-bashing because it plays well among the pseudo-intellectual liberal class. Think of Obama’s erstwhile spiritual mentor, a minister, who announced loudly, “Not God bless America, God damn America!”
The mind set from grade school to university and in most print and electronic media outlets is that America is passé, it’s racist, misogynist and worse.
They have un-learned history. They have been taught a revisionist, Marxist view of society. They will continue to destroy, for this is all they know how to do. There is a baby & bath water analogy here.
The only remedy is to focus on genuine learning, tossing the touchy-feely efforts to create “safe spaces” and tolerance for everyone and everything, which leads to chaos.
Rational thought must trump “diversity”, particularly when diversity has taken on an Orwellian tone, where all animals are diverse, but some are more diverse than others. There are in fact “good ideas” and “bad ideas”. Praising diversity in ethnicity, provenance, skin color, sexual-orientation, gender-identity, religious affiliation, etc., while squelching debate on certain topics or viewpoints [as these are considered “triggers”) is one such example of a very bad idea.
Democracy and the marketplace (including free speech!) help us filter the good from the bad. Most ideas are mediocre, some are really good. And some are really bad. And if we can’t (or are afraid to) debate some “hot-iron” subjects, we will all be worse off for it. Shame on the cowards who know better, but don’t want to stand out in the crowd as “non-compliant”. Instead, they’ve become complicit.
Until the US Citizenry re-discovers what made America unique (de-Tocqueville’s 19th C observations) and returns to its roots regarding freedom of speech, accountability of public leaders and critical thought, the downward spiral will continue. This is an existential crisis.
The natural law philosophy that forms the basis of Enlightenment liberalism relies on a Judeo-Christian philosophy: "Man created by god with rights" = natural law liberalism; "Smart ape" = law of the jungle. If this rubs someone the wrong way, you're in good company. I teach HS civics and it rubs my students the wrong way too. In fact, they hate it and argue against it relentlessly. But it's 100% true. You can't get to "all men are created equal" if man is defined as "just a smart ape".
So how are Americans supposed to rediscover "what made America unique" when 70% of our citizens reject the religious underpinnings of that uniqueness?
It's very hard to argue with people that think that Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States" is an unbiased telling of the "real" history of the US.
😂 I just mentioned him too. Glad to see others who know. Lol
@ Dan,
Not being aware of, nor having read Howard Zinn, it’s difficult for me to make sense of your comment.
Are you suggesting that describes me or my thinking? Isn’t that a bit of a stretch?
Are you Marek’s alter ego, or are you just trolling for fun?
Zinn's most noted work is presented often amongst educated liberal circles as an eminent work on the failure of the American experiment and in his writing of it Zinn has stated he desired to "start a quiet revolution."
So, concisely, I was agreeing with you and pointing out that it is difficult, and nearly impossible, to "debate some “hot-iron” subjects" because there exists in our Nation a group of highly educated, highly devout, and uproariously hostile adults who cling to comforting but egregiously biased information as sacred fact.
OK, thank you. I misinterpreted your comment. Apologies. 😎
Well put. 👏🏻👏🏻 Yes, history has a revisionist Marxist view. It has a Zinnified view. Howard Zinn created a lot of the false narrative that has been used to indoctrinate people into hating their own country. For decades, his books have polluted our schools and minds. Read Debunking Zinn by Mary Grabar.
Or just read "A Patriot's History of the United States" by Schweikart and Allen.
@ Marek:
Please expound.
Sorry, I don’t follow you.