Books. Bikes. Boomsticks.
“I only regret that I have but one face to palm for my country.”
Friday, May 07, 2010
Explains rather a lot, really...
In light of our fabulous education system, run by the same people who can't get a letter across town in a timely fashion and who have turned the local DMV into a Museum of Soviet Nostalgia, the following tidbit is curiously unsurprising:
So Young BO's sloggin' it in the pits of the Chitown Community Organization when he sees this little tidbit, and ala Wily C. envisioning a sumptuous dinner with roast Road Runners in his eyes, says to hisself, "Self, that right there is opportunity knockin'! I'm gonna write me up a knockout BS speech for this Convention thing we got coming up, and get myself all lined up to be elected prez of this crazy commie monkey house come '08! Whaddaya think, Mr. D?"
Crap like this is a "feature" of replacing civics with political correct mush.
This is also why math and science and history has fallen too.
It's a lot harder to get people to swallow the PC-unicorns-for-all line if they know it hasn't worked in the past or they can do some simple math to prove it can't work now.
As for science... well anyone that knows the scientific method would be very suspicious of the latest quackery.
Sure, we can run an entire power grid off of wind!
The Jack is right, we ARE boned. So many kids getting their education from the State these days are being fed this kind of crap on a daily basis that you can ask any number of them the same question and get the same answer.
I had an assignment in US history when I was in the seventh grade to survey people with the following phrase: "That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government..." I asked over a hundred people where they thought it came from. Not one person got it right. Some people thought it was from some revolutionary pamphlet or even "The Communist Manifesto". Not one person guessed correctly. Several didn't believe me when I told them the source. This was in SoCal 1969
who have turned the local DMV into a Museum of Soviet Nostalgia
Well, the Indiana BMV used to be that way, until it underwent a total overhaul a few years ago. Having dealt with it for about a decade and a half in its old incarnation, the new one is incredible. Even on a general customer service evaluation, not just comparing to something that sucked rocks so hard that diamonds flew out its ass, the current IN BMV is...pretty darn good.
And if that's not depressing enough, Tam, think about this one: most of the people surveyed COULD tell you, in sequential order, exactly which contestants won "American Idol" every year.
They did a study that showed that students came out of college (especially the Ivy league institutions) knowing LESS about civics and history than they did going in. And their scores weren't fabulous going in either.
Ironic, isn't it, that the top politicians are all Ivy League??
I often hear people complain about the Department of Motor Vehicles as an example of government ineptitude, yet I have not expereinced that in Oklahoma. Wanna know why? It's because our "Tag Agencies" are individually owned businesses that are licensed by the state to do the DMV thing.
They are private businesses and COMPETE for you to do your DMV business with them. I have even heard some locations ADVERTISE on the radio touting their expediency over other locations. Things just work so much better when the government is minimally involved.
Hat Trick, son number two is a Columbia grad, and told me about the pep talk they all get at the end of the first week (after the alums have spent five days getting everyone shitfaced in monster house parties and shown them every watering hole in the city that doesn't card people from the right schools).
There are leaders, and there are the Lumpen Proletariat the leaders must lead. Winners must be discreet and play the game, but winners must control the show. That's how society functions.
Fortunately, the kids, all certified geniuses with stunning track records in tough schools (barring PC tokens, Columbia students are all in the top half of a percent and savagely competitive) realize B.S. when they see it, and use it to their advantage. Very cynical, which in itself is sad.
There are probably more libertarians like son #2 graduated than ruthless manipulative cynics, but the system is self perpetuating because the easy-going types drift away, and the elitist types clump.
I know I seem redundant here, and for the most part I'm preaching to the choir, but the big coastal urban areas aren't America, they're Europe, and the faster we dump them the greater the chance we have to survive as something resembling what America has represented throughout most of it's existence.
Conservative: A person who feels a sense of community and tradition,a bonding with history and his neighbors.
Liberal: A selfish child, demanding that everyone be like him, and that some hypothetical construct called "Government" maintain his dreamworld at little or no expense to him.
I'm still trying to figure out how anarchos (lit. "without rulers") translates to "demanding ... that some hypothetical construct called "Government"..." do anything.
It's a stretch, but Ed's a smart guy, and to be fair he spoke of anarchists as opposed to the state of anarchy...and I guess real-world interpretations of observers and adherents alike is less innocuous than that literal definition would indicate.
If the secondary defs of disorder and confusion along with an absence of principle accurately describe some of the features of liberalism, then I suppose an armed and forced attainment of that state could be Ed's point.
Regardless, no structure or system at all sounds pretty good 'til somebody uses *his* gun to impose one. Just like share-and-share-alike seems like a perfect system to slugs who like to reap what they didn't sow...but ain't suffered gladly for long by the sowers themselves.
California Anarchists riot in order that Teh State provide them with more free-stuff and edumicatuion and all that. The Mob as it were in ancient Rome was more of the same. Ochlocracy - thanks, I learned a new word.
be very afraid
ReplyDeleteYes that does explain a lot!
ReplyDeleteI have a headache.
ReplyDeleteSo Young BO's sloggin' it in the pits of the Chitown Community Organization when he sees this little tidbit, and ala Wily C. envisioning a sumptuous dinner with roast Road Runners in his eyes, says to hisself, "Self, that right there is opportunity knockin'! I'm gonna write me up a knockout BS speech for this Convention thing we got coming up, and get myself all lined up to be elected prez of this crazy commie monkey house come '08! Whaddaya think, Mr. D?"
ReplyDeleteAT
Well... we're boned.
ReplyDeleteCrap like this is a "feature" of replacing civics with political correct mush.
This is also why math and science and history has fallen too.
It's a lot harder to get people to swallow the PC-unicorns-for-all line if they know it hasn't worked in the past or they can do some simple math to prove it can't work now.
As for science... well anyone that knows the scientific method would be very suspicious of the latest quackery.
Sure, we can run an entire power grid off of wind!
The Jack is right, we ARE boned. So many kids getting their education from the State these days are being fed this kind of crap on a daily basis that you can ask any number of them the same question and get the same answer.
ReplyDeleteI guess my blood has never boiled before because I felt a uniquely new sensation when I read that.
ReplyDeleteThe Columbia Law School has probably done nothing to correct the misconception among those surveyed.
I had an assignment in US history when I was in the seventh grade to survey people with the following phrase:
ReplyDelete"That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government..."
I asked over a hundred people where they thought it came from. Not one person got it right. Some people thought it was from some revolutionary pamphlet or even "The Communist Manifesto". Not one person guessed correctly. Several didn't believe me when I told them the source. This was in SoCal 1969
who have turned the local DMV into a Museum of Soviet Nostalgia
ReplyDeleteWell, the Indiana BMV used to be that way, until it underwent a total overhaul a few years ago. Having dealt with it for about a decade and a half in its old incarnation, the new one is incredible. Even on a general customer service evaluation, not just comparing to something that sucked rocks so hard that diamonds flew out its ass, the current IN BMV is...pretty darn good.
WV: 'alimpetr'. Yeah, not touching that.
(That's what she said! *rimshot*)
And if that's not depressing enough, Tam, think about this one: most of the people surveyed COULD tell you, in sequential order, exactly which contestants won "American Idol" every year.
ReplyDeleteSigh...
ReplyDeleteA third of the people didn't think it was from the founders?
ReplyDeleteI'm shocked it was so many.
But hold hard, how many of the answerers didn't recognise the terms "Framers" or "Constitution"?
They did a study that showed that students came out of college (especially the Ivy league institutions) knowing LESS about civics and history than they did going in. And their scores weren't fabulous going in either.
ReplyDeleteIronic, isn't it, that the top politicians are all Ivy League??
The link to the article:
http://www.aolnews.com/opinion/article/opinion-colleges-get-failing-grades-on-civics/19430737?icid=main|aim|dl1|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aolnews.com%2Fopinion%2Farticle%2Fopinion-colleges-get-failing-grades-on-civics%2F19430737
I wish I could say I was.surprised.
ReplyDeleteShane- Actually the Declaration of Independence is as revolutionary a document as you are likely to find.
ReplyDeleteI often hear people complain about the Department of Motor Vehicles as an example of government ineptitude, yet I have not expereinced that in Oklahoma. Wanna know why? It's because our "Tag Agencies" are individually owned businesses that are licensed by the state to do the DMV thing.
ReplyDeleteThey are private businesses and COMPETE for you to do your DMV business with them. I have even heard some locations ADVERTISE on the radio touting their expediency over other locations. Things just work so much better when the government is minimally involved.
I used this stat in a report for a class last semester. My professor was *literally* speechless. The rest of the stats didn't help either.
ReplyDeleteHat Trick, son number two is a Columbia grad, and told me about the pep talk they all get at the end of the first week (after the alums have spent five days getting everyone shitfaced in monster house parties and shown them every watering hole in the city that doesn't card people from the right schools).
ReplyDeleteThere are leaders, and there are the Lumpen Proletariat the leaders must lead. Winners must be discreet and play the game, but winners must control the show. That's how society functions.
Fortunately, the kids, all certified geniuses with stunning track records in tough schools (barring PC tokens, Columbia students are all in the top half of a percent and savagely competitive) realize B.S. when they see it, and use it to their advantage. Very cynical, which in itself is sad.
There are probably more libertarians like son #2 graduated than ruthless manipulative cynics, but the system is self perpetuating because the easy-going types drift away, and the elitist types clump.
I know I seem redundant here, and for the most part I'm preaching to the choir, but the big coastal urban areas aren't America, they're Europe, and the faster we dump them the greater the chance we have to survive as something resembling what America has represented throughout most of it's existence.
Conservative: A person who feels a sense of community and tradition,a bonding with history and his neighbors.
Liberal: A selfish child, demanding that everyone be like him, and that some hypothetical construct called "Government" maintain his dreamworld at little or no expense to him.
Anarchist: A liberal with a gun.
Guess that makes me a liberal with a gun, then.
ReplyDeleteEd:
ReplyDeleteAnarchy is to gov as communism is to utopia; nice thought, but it ain't gonna fly. But you missed one...
libertarian:...???
AT
I'm still trying to figure out how anarchos (lit. "without rulers") translates to "demanding ... that some hypothetical construct called "Government"..." do anything.
ReplyDeleteIt's a stretch, but Ed's a smart guy, and to be fair he spoke of anarchists as opposed to the state of anarchy...and I guess real-world interpretations of observers and adherents alike is less innocuous than that literal definition would indicate.
ReplyDeleteIf the secondary defs of disorder and confusion along with an absence of principle accurately describe some of the features of liberalism, then I suppose an armed and forced attainment of that state could be Ed's point.
Regardless, no structure or system at all sounds pretty good 'til somebody uses *his* gun to impose one. Just like share-and-share-alike seems like a perfect system to slugs who like to reap what they didn't sow...but ain't suffered gladly for long by the sowers themselves.
Which brings us back to libertarian?
AT
California Anarchists riot in order that Teh State provide them with more free-stuff and edumicatuion and all that. The Mob as it were in ancient Rome was more of the same. Ochlocracy - thanks, I learned a new word.
ReplyDeleteA wave of nausea came over me when I read that. Hopefully it will pass before I barf up breakfast all over my key
ReplyDelete