[conservatism_IS_compassion]

It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance. Back in 1982, when I began an international study of peoples and cultures, I planned to write a chapter on India. It was only after reading books about India, visiting India twice and talking with Indian scholars, officials, businessmen and journalists that I realized what a monumental job it would be to write about this vast and complex society. Although my study took 15 years and resulted in 3 books, there was no chapter on India. I realized that I didn't know enough to write one . . .

There will never be a shortage of ignorant audacity. What is always scarce is thorough knowledge and carefully reasoned analysis, systematically checked against factual evidence . . . Assigning students to write letters and papers on vast topics is putting the cart before the horse . . . It is training them in irresponsibility [and, I would add, modeling irresponsibility as well].

Having read Professor Sowell's excellent piece, I was inspired to try to cut and paste part of it in a different order to try to make it a form letter Professor Sowell could photocopy and use as a reply to the presumptuous letters of which he rightly complains.

Of course that is presumptuous on my part, too . . . in fact, given that the good professor does not suffer editors gladly, maybe I should fondly hope that he does not read this. In my defense, I'm not putting words in his mouth by publishing my "contribution" as his own, and I'm not standing between him and the public and, I trust, not changing the meaning of anything.

I think the point of the form letter I envision would be to chastise the teacher, not the student - for the very reason that the student does not know that he is being presumptuous (or, if he does know, is not writing of his own free will). And the teacher should know it, and be ashamed (of course the kind of leftist blowhard who would teach as fact that US military planners were overestimating the casualties an invasion of Japan would incur thinks that shame is for Republicans).

Perhaps a form letter rocket coming back at the teacher, through the student and therefore maximally embarrassing to the teacher, would shut off the flow of these letters at the source.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Regarding my #8:

On reflection it seems that my idea of a form letter was right on target. If a teacher assigns students the task of writing to Professor Sowell, that is but trivially different from the teacher handing out a form letter for all the students to send to him.

Therefore it is just to send a form letter back - and since the teacher sent her form letter via the students, it is only appropriate to send the form letter back to the teacher in precisely the same way.