Posted on 05/03/2007 2:41:18 PM PDT by neverdem
If the top Democratic hopefuls are under the impression that the way to stop Third Worlders from hating America is to build schools in their countries, they need to think again.
On Tuesday, Senator Clinton floated the idea that we should spend 10 billion dollars over a five year period on schools and teachers in poor nations. The justification for this being that such schools could give children an alternative to the anti-Americanism they are so often steeped in these days. Senators Obama and Edwards are of similar mind as well.
--snip--
It would seem that more promising strategies would be ones in which America helps...
How about take a deep breath eliminating the subsidies to American farmers that keep Third World farmers from being able to make a living selling their products? Or, how about admitting that Rachel Carson was wrong about DDT and restoring its use in African countries to help beat back the malaria epidemic? Then, a targeted effort to resolve the Darfur conflict would be crucial, especially given that, of late, there are small signs of hope there.
Anti-Americanism is not a product of ignorance. Convictions are not always based on the rational: Recently, I met two PhD candidates in linguistics who are avowed creationists. Anti-Americanism is parasitic on obsolete mental hardwiring, and only transformations in the whole of daily experience can reach it.
Gut-level, placard-waving contempt for America in poor countries will ebb only when a generation of people are raised who see America leading fundamental reforms concrete and relevant to the quality of life that human cognition will be unable to iron out the dissonance between the tribalist rhetoric and real life. Mere schoolroom teaching, on the other hand, will make not a dent in the Third World brand of Hating Whitey.
(Excerpt) Read more at nysun.com ...
Yes, if we could just get the policies right, then Mr. McWhorter could go back to being popular at drinks when he is in Europe.
(You realize, of course, that it is not too far between this thinking and Professor Ward Churchill’s sentiment that the WTC was full of “little Eichmanns” that deserved to die.)
LOL!
Does any self respecting country want an education system that the liberal democrats created for this country? Lets dump more money into schooling of foreign countries so they will like us again, BRILLIANT! We have dumped huge amounts of money into an education system that is on its way down the toilet. Fix the problem you created first before you poison others! Dummie crats!
I ain’t mad at you,Clemenza.
I’ve followed your posts for a long time.I know you are a truth teller and that offends some people-even ME once in a while!
I know what you meant by your comment.It was NOT a slap at uneducated black people.
Hey,I knew some blacks with a fifth grade education who knew more about the ways of the world and human nature than a thousand Harvard PHD’s.
My grandfather never made it past the tenth grade (the last straw was beating up his shop teacher), but was, in many ways, smarter than I am. Guy was a voracious reader, a decorated WWII vet, and, above all, a wonderful father and grandfather.
And character and integrity to me are much more accurate measures of a man than degrees and prestigious titles.
Your gramps sounded like he lived the life of an unsung hero.
Whitey sukz n hiz evil logic make socialist look stupid.
Exactly. The price you pay for being number one.
Right. Those who believe the truth must be less educated. Everybody knows that.
Here's a creationist who graduated first in his college class with a perfect 4.0 GPA.
I can count, on one hand, the people I’ve actually hated in my adult life. She and her husband are 2/3’s of them.
Investing money in an individual in a country with a questionable government is not a wise idea.
It would truly be a micro-loan, say $200-2000 per family or individual. Enough for someone to open a shop, buy a pedicab, purchase a sewing machine, etc.. It would be wasted in some cases, but would still accomplish its goal if 50% started a business. $100 million could do the job. We waste more than that every day....
The Ivory Coast is in dire need, overrun by rebels, along with other areas in the region. It seems they’re heading the way of the Sudan, etc. Not much of a shocker that Chirac would be sympathetic to the rebels.
So very true! A friend of mine recently returned from over a year in the Afghan and Iraq 'theatres'. He spoke to a few different groups of his experiences and the successes. And the need for school supplies, and how the supplies do so much more than merely provide paper, pencil, etc. His photos told the story, such joy in the boys, and girls, eyes at receiving a notebook, a pencil.
I saw a show about the french in Africa. In the ivory coast I got the impression that the french were simply standing aside and letting things happen so neither side would turn on them. It’s a typically french position. They let whatever happens happen but are right there to deal with the winner whoever that may be.
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