Long ago, a lady moved into our area; she had a Ph.D. from Columbia U., in education. She used that, to batter her way into disturbing what rural life was.
She effectively destroyed all the Angus cattle farming, by convincing the local government to increase taxes, in order to build the “middle school” of her dreams.
Bye to the farmers. But what is this? We wondered: Her new middle school that had no windows except for the admin office.
“Children are distracted by windows.”
Another invention of hers: The middle school had no solid interior walls between classrooms. A leftist commune thing.
This was the last location where my mother volunteered as a poll worker. (rlmorel - what you wrote)
Dear mother, brave mother, except for the leftward tilt of her friends and acquaintances who echo’d the lady with the Ph.D. from Columbia U., as they turned toward strident socialism - not the direction for mother.
She had enough of that socialist establishment that is full of “enlightenment” pretense and pride.
The son of the lady with the Ph.D. evolved into being the first drug pusher in the area. Fashionable. Also some time in the state pen.
The home of the lady with the Ph.D., she altered: So every window through which the world outside the house could be seen, was covered by a large piece of plywood (this is the ol’ pre-fiber-board days) - blocking the view.
There was no view of the outside world, from within the house, other than a three inch gap between the exterior wall and window frame . . . and the plywood sheets.
“So the light could be let in.”
Very, very “enlightened.” Lots of “equity” -ness in that, plus other Columbia U. communist additions.
Left-wing-bat-s’t-crazy: “The madness of those for innovations.” - around 70 A.D., by Flavius Josephus, a Hebrew fellow.
The one thing that has happened since the early 1960’s is that the credibility of elites, and elite institutions has plummeted.
Up to the early 1960’s people had trust in every institution : business, government, politicians, unions, churches, schools, universities, military, police, journalists, lawyers, courts.
Now, it’s over.
No-one trusts any of these. Not even the military, anymore.
The Left has captured every institution. But Left stupidity have destroyed the credibility and competence of these institutions.
And no-one credits Ivy League credentials anymore, either. Ordinary people scoff at nonsense from Ivy League elites.
That was an utterly depressing read. (not the way you retold it, but in the underlying reality of those who desire, obtain, and exercise control over the rest of us.
We just want to live our lives. They want to control our lives.
It makes me want to spit, reading that, because we have plenty of those people where I live.
Damn it.