This piece is appropriate today, as it was when you wrote it. AND nice that folks like you are around to show a brighter side. AND, (I am going to vent now) in my opinion, there is no decent choice at all this go round. My eyes and ears are judging what I see and hear first hand. I mostly stop listening and watching to the news except when these guys make public fools of themselves and us.
How sad we Americans have not demanded a change in the electoral voting system, and allow congressmen to stay forever in office. We, as a people, and I myself, must take accountability for following following following because it’s easier and keeps some kind of peace. (The Jews did that and it resonates deeply within me as a deep sadness) And it seems like more people than not want to vote for that kind of leader who will tell us what we must and must not do, not realizing that freedom is slipping away.
I hope my respons is not abusing this platform, Krysta.
I have wondered why the Electoral College still exists - it has hurt us more than once. Way don't we just vote by "one person, one vote." And, yes, there are people who want a "strong man" in office because they fear making their own decisions. Sigh. You did not abuse this space. I want to hear from readers and I know other readers do as well.
Scary idea about being put into camps! You probably didn't mean it like a prophesy but it sure fits now. Speaking about getting back to basics, here's a link to Waylon Jennings singing about "Luckenbach Texas" and the basics of love... and this was in 1977.
Good shot! – Not being Texan, and having been a fuddy-duddy back in the '70s, I have never heard "Luchenbach, Texas"..................... It's a masterpiece!
Thanks. I have passed it on to my "peeps" (for the philosophy, as much as for the tune).
Good shot! – Not being Texan, and having been a fuddy-duddy back in the '70s, I have never heard "Luchenbach, Texas"..................... It's a masterpiece!
Thanks. I have passed it on to my "peeps" (for the philosophy, as much as for the tune).
you are quite correct and you are not alone: “A Midwestern Doctor’s” post, of a couple of days ago, entitled “The importance of Balanced Intelligence”, carries much the same message.
Essentially, his assessment of our society’s attitude to general intelligence and education strikes a chord with me: I arrived in Canada in December of 1968 and within the first few years of my “Canadian experience”, while I was contemplating the forthcoming education of my then young family, it struck me that the educational system here was geared to the “Chevrolet principle” – meaning that as with American-made motor cars, the accent was on developing a handsome product, with a functional lifetime of perhaps 3 years and early obsolescence.
As I saw the educational system, it seemed that Canadian children were being indoctrinated in a certain peculiar direction: they would grow up to be bright personalities, attractive in their extroversion and able to interact smoothly with their peers, but as a group, would be sufficiently undereducated that their apparent IQ level would approximate 100 and their ability to understand the nuances of political and ambassadorial function would be marginal.
I was dismayed: I stretched my insufficient income as a Canadian MD, to send my two boys to a private school, but that effort was cut short after a couple of years, by my separation from their mother and her claim for “child support”. They, and their younger sister, were condemned to public school.
I spent 7 years solo until, in 1981, the lady who bore my third and fourth sons appeared. These boys, in common with their elder brothers, did extremely well in school: they were both assigned to the “gifted” program. At age 14, the elder was accepted (following an entrance exam) to Toronto’s premier in-city private school. However concomitantly, a medical colleague asked me to advise his son, who had been elected valedictorian for the graduating class of that school. The boy had prepared one of those “why I want to study medicine” essays, which I was asked to review. His paper was disorganized and garbled, his lack of grammar and punctuation were gross: I concluded that if the school regarded him as valedictorian material, I would not permit my highly intelligent son to walk through the gates.
As the Midwestern doctor says in his article, the “systematic dismantling of the educational system, designed to create subservient citizens” is real. Consider this example: the “DragonDictate” program (then, iteration #6) which I used while I was writing my science fiction novel, “XCRATH!” in 1999, was phenomenally good: it accepted my dictation of an invented name, “Daqtaafungg”, following a single instruction. DragonDictate has become progressively less accurate with each iteration: #15, issued in 2020, has an unacceptably high error rate.
Indeed, the current political debacle in the USA can be laid at the feet of an educational system which has decimated the verbal competence and intellectual prowess of the country as a whole, due to non-investment in education since the 1950s.
The Midwestern doctor is also correct in saying (paraphrased) that the educational system has been “transformed from something designed to foster critical thinking and a highly functional electorate, to one designed to create subservient citizens; docile subjects who can easily be molded into compliant members of the workforce.”
The Midwestern doctor’s point, regarding “blind spots” of the academic elite and the pitfalls thus engendered, is likewise cogent.
Now, the first question is, “where do we go, from here?” – Hopefully, the true intelligentsia will eventually recognize this problem for what it is and upgrade the educational system in time to save the country; but just as the process of mis-education has taken 3 generations to reach the current impasse, it will take a minimum of 2 generations to improve the average educational standard to the point where true democracy is possible.
The second question is “what can I, personally, do?” – All I can do is to laud opinions such as yours and the Midwestern doctor’s, hoping for an opinion-swell among the intelligentsia (?the White House?), sufficient to nudge the education system toward the right direction – this is where Biden's attitude to education is prime.
I agree with you (and many others) that education is the key. Right now many of our young people aren't educated in such a way that they can be effective members of our society. And if you're read the document Project 2025 that is being embraced by Republicans, they plan to eliminate the Department of Education. If that happens, we get to see just how horrible things can get. Thanks for reading, Krysta
Thanks for writing! the USA is not alone in this problem: believe it or not, some folks say that the UK is worse and Canada's sinking "education ship" is not far behind.
thanks for this article you retrieved from the past that is still meaningful today! I think some folks like the feeling of a social identity when they follow conspiracy theories. It's similar to having a sports team to identify with and feeling like you are part of a special group.
This piece is appropriate today, as it was when you wrote it. AND nice that folks like you are around to show a brighter side. AND, (I am going to vent now) in my opinion, there is no decent choice at all this go round. My eyes and ears are judging what I see and hear first hand. I mostly stop listening and watching to the news except when these guys make public fools of themselves and us.
How sad we Americans have not demanded a change in the electoral voting system, and allow congressmen to stay forever in office. We, as a people, and I myself, must take accountability for following following following because it’s easier and keeps some kind of peace. (The Jews did that and it resonates deeply within me as a deep sadness) And it seems like more people than not want to vote for that kind of leader who will tell us what we must and must not do, not realizing that freedom is slipping away.
I hope my respons is not abusing this platform, Krysta.
I have wondered why the Electoral College still exists - it has hurt us more than once. Way don't we just vote by "one person, one vote." And, yes, there are people who want a "strong man" in office because they fear making their own decisions. Sigh. You did not abuse this space. I want to hear from readers and I know other readers do as well.
Scary idea about being put into camps! You probably didn't mean it like a prophesy but it sure fits now. Speaking about getting back to basics, here's a link to Waylon Jennings singing about "Luckenbach Texas" and the basics of love... and this was in 1977.
https://youtu.be/fJIFt9AsjqE?si=Kx2LE0rEXcCkaqOL
Oh, and no, I didn't mean those kinds of camps. Those are indeed, scary!
I am from Texas and know this song and town well.......thanks for the link!
Hey, Rhio!
Good shot! – Not being Texan, and having been a fuddy-duddy back in the '70s, I have never heard "Luchenbach, Texas"..................... It's a masterpiece!
Thanks. I have passed it on to my "peeps" (for the philosophy, as much as for the tune).
Hey, Rhio!
Good shot! – Not being Texan, and having been a fuddy-duddy back in the '70s, I have never heard "Luchenbach, Texas"..................... It's a masterpiece!
Thanks. I have passed it on to my "peeps" (for the philosophy, as much as for the tune).
you are quite correct and you are not alone: “A Midwestern Doctor’s” post, of a couple of days ago, entitled “The importance of Balanced Intelligence”, carries much the same message.
Essentially, his assessment of our society’s attitude to general intelligence and education strikes a chord with me: I arrived in Canada in December of 1968 and within the first few years of my “Canadian experience”, while I was contemplating the forthcoming education of my then young family, it struck me that the educational system here was geared to the “Chevrolet principle” – meaning that as with American-made motor cars, the accent was on developing a handsome product, with a functional lifetime of perhaps 3 years and early obsolescence.
As I saw the educational system, it seemed that Canadian children were being indoctrinated in a certain peculiar direction: they would grow up to be bright personalities, attractive in their extroversion and able to interact smoothly with their peers, but as a group, would be sufficiently undereducated that their apparent IQ level would approximate 100 and their ability to understand the nuances of political and ambassadorial function would be marginal.
I was dismayed: I stretched my insufficient income as a Canadian MD, to send my two boys to a private school, but that effort was cut short after a couple of years, by my separation from their mother and her claim for “child support”. They, and their younger sister, were condemned to public school.
I spent 7 years solo until, in 1981, the lady who bore my third and fourth sons appeared. These boys, in common with their elder brothers, did extremely well in school: they were both assigned to the “gifted” program. At age 14, the elder was accepted (following an entrance exam) to Toronto’s premier in-city private school. However concomitantly, a medical colleague asked me to advise his son, who had been elected valedictorian for the graduating class of that school. The boy had prepared one of those “why I want to study medicine” essays, which I was asked to review. His paper was disorganized and garbled, his lack of grammar and punctuation were gross: I concluded that if the school regarded him as valedictorian material, I would not permit my highly intelligent son to walk through the gates.
As the Midwestern doctor says in his article, the “systematic dismantling of the educational system, designed to create subservient citizens” is real. Consider this example: the “DragonDictate” program (then, iteration #6) which I used while I was writing my science fiction novel, “XCRATH!” in 1999, was phenomenally good: it accepted my dictation of an invented name, “Daqtaafungg”, following a single instruction. DragonDictate has become progressively less accurate with each iteration: #15, issued in 2020, has an unacceptably high error rate.
Indeed, the current political debacle in the USA can be laid at the feet of an educational system which has decimated the verbal competence and intellectual prowess of the country as a whole, due to non-investment in education since the 1950s.
The Midwestern doctor is also correct in saying (paraphrased) that the educational system has been “transformed from something designed to foster critical thinking and a highly functional electorate, to one designed to create subservient citizens; docile subjects who can easily be molded into compliant members of the workforce.”
The Midwestern doctor’s point, regarding “blind spots” of the academic elite and the pitfalls thus engendered, is likewise cogent.
Now, the first question is, “where do we go, from here?” – Hopefully, the true intelligentsia will eventually recognize this problem for what it is and upgrade the educational system in time to save the country; but just as the process of mis-education has taken 3 generations to reach the current impasse, it will take a minimum of 2 generations to improve the average educational standard to the point where true democracy is possible.
The second question is “what can I, personally, do?” – All I can do is to laud opinions such as yours and the Midwestern doctor’s, hoping for an opinion-swell among the intelligentsia (?the White House?), sufficient to nudge the education system toward the right direction – this is where Biden's attitude to education is prime.
I agree with you (and many others) that education is the key. Right now many of our young people aren't educated in such a way that they can be effective members of our society. And if you're read the document Project 2025 that is being embraced by Republicans, they plan to eliminate the Department of Education. If that happens, we get to see just how horrible things can get. Thanks for reading, Krysta
Thanks for writing! the USA is not alone in this problem: believe it or not, some folks say that the UK is worse and Canada's sinking "education ship" is not far behind.
thanks for this article you retrieved from the past that is still meaningful today! I think some folks like the feeling of a social identity when they follow conspiracy theories. It's similar to having a sports team to identify with and feeling like you are part of a special group.
I think you are right!