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To: Alter Kaker
From a foundation in Classical music, it's also much easier to 'sell' kids (and adults) on Conservative politics and principles, because they share logical, coherent foundations.

I'm a huge classical music fan, but if you think the classical music world is any less lefty than the rest of the music world, you're deluding yourself and should probably reread Tom Wolfe's classic book, Radical

My only apparent "delusion" was my hope that my words would not be twisted into more than what I said.

OF COURSE there are Leftists who enjoy classical music, I never suggested that there weren't.  What I was referring to was people who didn't already have a strong political or ideological streak.  There are lots of people who are apolitical, yet if they have a foundation in Classical music first, they might more readily appreciate the logic and timeless truths of Conservatism.

10 posted on 05/12/2007 4:11:26 PM PDT by Stoat (Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
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To: Stoat
There are lots of people who are apolitical, yet if they have a foundation in Classical music first, they might more readily appreciate the logic and timeless truths of Conservatism.

I hate to twist your tail, Stoat -- pun intended -- but that doesn't necessarily wash.

Music is mathematics in sound. Some perceive that more readily than the Pythagorean Theorem, but a grounding in mathematics, particularly Euclidean Geometry, might have the same effect you desire.

But classical music more properly belongs to the Dead White Male side of things, better known as Western Culture. There are universities that still teach the Great Books, but even they turn out their share of socialist intellectuals.

Teaching math, music, Western Culture or the Great Books won't necessarily produce conservatives because of a logical and coherent foundation. When I say Marx and Keynes have a logical and coherent foundation to their philosophies, I'm not being facetious. Marxism is a religion with all the same facets as a religion, such as a logical end to history and a paradise to be worked for.

So perhaps teaching religion would help produce conservatives, but there we run into a different issue -- whose religion? And which facets of it? A course in Aquinan logic might well produce what you are looking for, but it would also miss the essence of what a religion shuuld be.

I'm flailing around here too, but I don't think classical music is a magic bullet. I'm not sure there are magic bullets any more. Perhaps a classical education based on all of the above might produce more conservaives, but I'm sure that St. John's on Long Island turns out its share of liberals anyway.

12 posted on 05/12/2007 4:44:16 PM PDT by Publius (A = A)
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