Posted on 04/29/2008 10:31:09 PM PDT by Loud Mime
Preface: As I am rereading Plato's "Republic" I marvel at how the knowledge we need is sitting on our bookshelves. I've provided this segment for your reading, so you may read what our Founding Fathers read. And above all, I said, and as the result of all, see how sensitive the citizens become; they chafe impatiently at the least touch of authority and at length, as you know, they cease to care even for the laws, written or unwritten; they will have no one over them. Yes, he said, I know it too well.
Such, my friend, I said, is the fair and glorious beginning out of which springs tyranny. Glorious indeed, he said. But what is the next step? The ruin of oligarchy is the ruin of democracy; the same disease magnified and intensified by liberty overmasters democracy --the truth being that the excessive increase of anything often causes a reaction in the opposite direction; and this is the case not only in the seasons and in vegetable and animal life, but above all in forms of government. True. The excess of liberty, whether in States or individuals, seems only to pass into excess of slavery. Yes, the natural order. And so tyranny naturally arises out of democracy, and the most aggravated form of tyranny and slavery out of the most extreme form of liberty? As we might expect. That, however, was not, as I believe, your question-you rather desired to know what is that disorder which is generated alike in oligarchy and democracy, and is the ruin of both? Just so, he replied. Well, I said, I meant to refer to the class of idle spendthrifts, of whom the more courageous are the-leaders and the more timid the followers, the same whom we were comparing to drones, some stingless, and others having stings. A very just comparison. These two classes are the plagues of every city in which they are generated, being what phlegm and bile are to the body. And the good physician and lawgiver of the State ought, like the wise bee-master, to keep them at a distance and prevent, if possible, their ever coming in; and if they have anyhow found a way in, then he should have them and their cells cut out as speedily as possible.
Yeah but when I get shocked, I don't keep doing it. They do. But you are right, we don't differ much.
When we get Obama for prez, if a nuke takes out NYC and the economy crashes, and the military is wiped out, at least we finally voted in a black president. What's more important? I just dread learning Farsi.
Do you have a proposal? Or a thought?
a. Get the feds out of education. The local districts take over the schools.
b. The purpose of schools is to educate, not baby sit. Students not meeting the grade requirements will repeat the class.
c. High School courses stay HS courses. Algebra 1 is a HS course. If you miss it in HS, take a night HS course. No College credits for HS courses. (HS must mean something!)
d. Stop grading schools. Start grading the students.
e. The teacher has the power to run their class the way they want...within law.
f. Civics are taught in every year of HS, including government classes.
g. Foreign Language requirement for college degree.
h. Troublemakers have no class (in two respects)
I believe you get the drift...
BTTT
I could not agree more! If anything has to change in this country, it is the ‘education system’. That lousy 9% the Feds spend on ‘local education’ has caused more damage that anything imaginable. Just look at all the requirements and mandatory rules they have set up. I would like one state to start the ball rolling and tell the Feds to stick their money up where the sun don’t shine. I am sure some of the states could do it with no great loss in what they already provide for their own education system. Sure,it will take some adjusting, and I don’t mean in free breakfasts and lunches. We need to test teachers for competency. If we can pre-test students to see if they can do college work, then we sure as Hell can put together a general education test, and a test for the specialty the teacher claims. If they don’t have a grasp of the material they are supposed to pass on to students, what the heck are they doing there? Our colleges have let the graduates down, and the teachers let the kids down daily. If a child cannot learn to read and comprehend, learn basic math, and for God’s sake, know the King’s English to a reasonable degree, how can they progress, let alone be prepared for a job in the real world? Science and technology are still specializations, and those so inclined can pursue these paths, once they learn the basics. If we don’t spend the time to educate our children about this young country they will be lost and will never comprehend how we fit in this world. We have so much going for us and it is not to be taken for granted. This gravitation toward the government doing everything for everyone is pulling us down faster than we can resist it, and without individuals that can think for themselves, what are our prospects?
The feds are enforcing a system, not the education of the students.
Meanwhile, a high school diploma means little. I wish for a HS diploma to mean that the person worked for their education and had to study and learn....not that they put up with low-level classes for four years.
Maybe we should have two types of HS diplomas:
a. scholar
b. laborer - non heuristic
LOL!! Imagine what that would do!
===This gravitation toward the government doing everything for everyone is pulling us down faster than we can resist it, and without individuals that can think for themselves, what are our prospects?===
Good point! The only advantage it gives is to those who understand why underachieving puts you in a life of serfdom.
I believe I do.
I note with interest that you favor getting the Feds out of education. I trust you mean completely out of education, including research grants not related to specific legitimate government business such as the military. If we must have government control of education, then I suppose it is best to have it be local government so that the errors and the damage are locally confined. And, where runaway school boards are determined to go against the wishes of the school’s patrons, their misbehavior is more easily reigned in.
But, I must wonder at the idea that it is acceptable to put in the hands of government the control of institutions responsible for the dissemination of knowledge and the imparting of ideas (particularly the most important ideas forming the bulwark of Western Civilization). Personally, I don’t trust government to be able to discover the truth beyond the very narrow scope of its legitimate functions (and then only if its officials and legislators are changed frequently), and, in the unlikely event should government somehow discover the truth, that it would truthfully inform us.
Not yet. It’s on my list though, as it does look interesting.
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