And while there is an extreme fringe to leftist politics...Leftist politics is by its very nature extreme.
Posted on 09/26/2003 11:33:46 PM PDT by wallcrawlr
Here’s a pop-quiz for anyone whose tax dollars pay for the education of our future generations:
What do you want students to know about America?
-- A. The United States “is a unique country that stands for something special in the world.”
-- B. American capitalism causes problems in the world.
-- C. We have a terrible future, and NOT talking about the dark side does more harm than good.
-- D. There is no reference to God in the Constitution.
-- E. Don’t care.
OK. Pencils down. What? You didn’t know there would be a test today? Well, you have until Oct. 22 to give your answers. The Minnesota Department of Education wants you to look over its proposed new standards for science and social studies, written this summer by volunteer parents and educators. (In case you missed it, new math and language arts standards were written last spring.)
The proposed standards are published at http://education.state.mn.us/, along with a place to e-mail your comments. Better yet, travel to speak at one of the hearings. Not only will you be heard, but you’ll hear what everyone else is saying at these hearings, as I did a few days ago.
Now then, let’s look at your answer. If you checked “A,” you agree with 84 percent of American parents who described what they want the schools to teach about our country. In the survey, sponsored by the Fordham Foundation, the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association, 85 percent of parents said that “to graduate from high school, students should be required to show they understand the common history and ideas that tie all Americans together.”
Citing this study, Minnesota’s Commissioner of Education, Dr. Cheri Pierson Yecke, asked the history and social studies committee members to “look to the greatness of America as you write new standards for the children of Minnesota.”
If your answer is “B,” you agree with Christine Thompson, a board member for the Moorhead Public Schools. She testified that the proposed new standards contain “not enough teaching on the problems capitalism has caused in the world.” While many educators testified that the new standards contain too “broad and expansive” a list of subjects that must be covered, other teachers bemoaned a long list of topics which are not required, each of them focusing on shortcomings and dark moments in American history.
Answer “C” is a direct quote from testimony given by Dr. Phillip Griffin, a retired philosophy professor from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. He was resoundingly applauded by Thompson and other local educators who apparently believe that focusing on America’s negatives will give students a positive education.
“There is a lack of … criticism of prevailing world views,” he said of the proposed standards. “The anti-war, anti-wealth, pro-outsiders people are not represented.”
Answer “D” is what Wesley Twombley, a North Dakota State University employee, says should be added to the standards if students are required to acknowledge that there are four references to God in the Declaration of Independence. “Social Studies is no place for religion,” he said.
I believe it is decidedly impossible to accurately tell the story of our nation’s birth without referencing the religious motivations of the country’s founders. To try to do so is completely dishonest.
If your answer is “E,” heaven help us. Should the majority of Americans join you in your apathy, we won’t long have a United States to study.
Thank you for completing this test. The results will be posted well into the future.
Sorenson is secretary of Valley Edwatch, Moorhead, a group that promotes information on education. E-mail valley@ideaone.net
Answer “C” is a direct quote from testimony given by Dr. Phillip Griffin, a retired philosophy professor from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
Answer “D” is what Wesley Twombley, a North Dakota State University employee...
I find no coincidence in the fact that all the anti-americans are on the public dole.
Yes I see, my son came home with the same cr*p in his social studies course. "Communism does not work, capitalism does not work, what works is the Third way--tax the capitalists to pay for the programs that the communists want". I was floored but I quickly reminded my son that if he liked that, he should remember that he will be one of those who are taxed to pay for other's wellfare.
You realize that monopoly's have been beaten about the head with the Sherman Anti Trust Act, an act that Ayn Rand (Never mentioned in High School) says is the worst act ever passed in America. We got to see it being used by Microsoft's competitors to get them more market share, but do we need government to split up a company that has led the world in new technology?
What the kids should have, is a fair and balanced presentation of these issues, and if that happens, they will learn that whatever its shortcomings, America is the place where everyone else wishes they were born. (OK not everyone, but you get the point.)
LoL's, My thoughts exactally! ; )
An apt reply to most of the leftist, bottomfeeding elitists.
Kudos.
MYASS!
You didn't search very hard did you? : )
Yeah.
And if yer not part of the solution, yer part of the problem.
Get your little girl out of the cesspool now - before it's too late.
The Viking Kittens are hungry today!
MYASS!
Actually that's exactly what we have now. Tax the capitalists to pay for social spending (wellfare, social security, medicare, medicaid, unemployment insurance, etc). It's not as extensive and insidious as it is in canada and europe but that's basically the system. It's also excrutiatingly unpleasant to be on any of the above.
As for the welfare, it is nearly impossible for a person who is capable of working to get on the system. It's primary use is to support women with children. And yes this includes all those ditzy teen age mothers everyone frets about, but we've actually made great strides in reducing teen pregnancies over the years. So when you're talking to your son, in the interest of this balance you speak of you might mention that without that safety net those mothers and children would be out on the streets homeless and starving.
You realize that monopoly's have been beaten about the head with the Sherman Anti Trust Act, an act that Ayn Rand (Never mentioned in High School) says is the worst act ever passed in America. We got to see it being used by Microsoft's competitors to get them more market share, but do we need government to split up a company that has led the world in new technology?
Actually microsoft is a prime example of why there need to be monopoly protections. Rememebr a little company called netscape? It was started by a few guys, made into a successful business, then microsoft gave away their product for free until netscape basically vanished from the scene. Now free of competition MS is removing their product from apple and you'll only be able to get new versions of the browser by buying a new copy of the operating system.
Monopoly regulation exists to make sure you don't pay $20.00 for a 5 minute phone call to the next county because there's only one phone company, and to make sure your electric rates are as reasonable as they can possibly be (see california deregulation debacle).
Remember that all of these rules and regulations came about because of past abuses where people were hurt, the economy was hurt, and the country was hurt. We don't have snakeoil salesmen today because the feds will bust anyone who tries to sell a cure for cancer without a lot of studies that show that it actually cures cancer. When a mining company blasts away the countryside to mine the metals underneath it has to put the countryside back when it's done, we are still paying BILLIONS of dollars to repair and properly close old mines left by defunct mining companies before the new regulation, mines which leach hazerdous materials into our watershed every time it rains.
What the kids should have, is a fair and balanced presentation of these issues, and if that happens, they will learn that whatever its shortcomings, America is the place where everyone else wishes they were born. (OK not everyone, but you get the point.)
And on this I think we all agree. Fair and balanced is exactly what we need. The problem is all the people (on this thread included) who believe that only upbeat patriotic propaganda needs to be dispensed. To me, the best way to educate our children is not to hide all the bad stuff but say, "hey, we made a success of it anyway.". Capitalism has problems yet, but in the larger scheme of things no other system generates as much wealth for EVERYONE and uplifts the human condition and if capitalism causes problems then it also generates the resources necessary to solve those problems as well.
A fair and balanced approach, as fox would say, is by far the best service we can provide for our kids. I still believe that extreemely biased and anti-american instruction is very rare in the US, we're big enough of course so that there are all kinds, but on the whole I believe you'll find as many teachers had flags flying the day after 9/11 as anybody else.
And while there is an extreme fringe to leftist politics that well and truly hates America it's also true that there is a same extreme fringe to the right that feels the exact same. Timothy McVeigh was not a liberal, and neither was Eric Rudoph. The overwhelming vast majority of people both left and right have no desire at all to denegrate this country.
And while there is an extreme fringe to leftist politics...Leftist politics is by its very nature extreme.
Your taxes go to fund a bewildering array of social services like WIC (Women with infant children) that ensures no infant will ever go hungy. Food stamps so that no one who's unfortuante enough to be without a job will go to bed hungry. Your parents or grandparents are, to some extent, being supported by my tax dollars.
The net isn't perfect. The elderly are all too often asked to choose between paying their food bill and paying their prescription drug bill and my grandmother was quartering her prescription doses before my uncle found out and the familly stepped in to intervene.
But the point is America is not just capitalism and democracy, it's a society and to some extent we look after the most vulnerable because through chance or circumstance or twist of fate everyone in a free-for-all market economy can find themselves on the edge of the abyss.
Of course that's not to say we need a canadian style welfare healthcare system, or the cradle to grave social services you find in europe. That's simply not America. But it's also not America to leave women and children out on the streets, or our parents and grandparents and so there will always be a ball and you will always be carrying it.
Leftist politics is by its very nature extreme.
Tony Blair is leader of Britain's Leftist (labour) party. There are plenty of leftists who are moderate enough to hold a civil conversation with :) Not everyone is a Streisand of Franken or Kennedy. A lot of great men and women have been liberals (the late Barbara Jordan of Texas springs to mind) although a lot more great men and women have been republican (Ronald Regan springs to mind).
But no. Just because a liberal has an idea doesn't mean with a lot of pruning and trimming, it can't be a great idea ;)
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