Well said (firstcomment to the first link). Rather than "protected hothouses of tenure" I'd suggest gilded hothouses of tenure, (certainly not "cage" as they protect the professor but not society).
You have hit upon an area of our public life ripe for reform. As you pointed out, at the turn of the twentieth century, people in our grammar schools were studying greek. Now our universities are having to teach remedial math and English. (My own pet peeve is the lost art of penmanship, but that's another story and I don't want to sound like a total nut:-)
The Second Amendment serves as a "canary in the coal mine." When it is under attack, you can bet everything else is too. With education as perverted as it is now, the "elites" finally have an infantilized society where they think we NEED them to run things for us. This is what they have been working for since Marx and Engel published the Communist Manifesto. Unfortunately (for them) there are still a few of us old farts who remember that the US does not need to be run. Rather, it needs a government that recognizes, and protects every individual's natural rights. We, as individuals, will do the rest, thankyou very much.
So, it's good to see sites like yours and Clayton Cramer's taking on a wider scope of topics.
I really loved Orly's comment, "It is a quintessentially leftist liberal viewpoint to repeatedly and incorrectly claim that this country needs running by someone, or that most people in this country believe the same. This country is a self-organized group of private individuals acting in their own self interest. People who want to "run" that are interfering with the basic premise of our nation. If you disagree, you’re part of the problem."
Taking another whack at this, the whole notion that this country, this NATION should be run by academic elites, could even be better run by them, or that it is at all within their scope or skill-set - is hugely laughable.
You need only look at how they govern themselves and run their institutions of Higher Learning to see what a disaster the results would bring. Universities like the one where I formerly worked are rife with nepotism and cronyism, an incredible amount of backstabbing, and choked in a thick gas-cloud of professional jealousy. Those academics who tend towards aggressive self-elevation and administrative authority rise to become totalitarian Presidents ruling over a student body that is subdued by speech-codes and behavior codes and various constrictions that are convenient for the powers that be.
On the whole it's a patently ridiculous suggestion, and one that could only be put forward by a sufficiently ignorant and blind academic.
Replied. Basically, I said that we don't so much wish not to be led by intelligent people, as much as we wish not to be led by assholes.
Which is mostly what y'all said, but you took a lot longer to do it. ;)
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JS-Kit/Echo comments for article at http://smallestminority.blogspot.com/2008/09/thems-fightin-words.html (7 comments)
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It's almost like you've got an opinion or something. :)
Nice comment.
Well said (firstcomment to the first link). Rather than "protected hothouses of tenure" I'd suggest gilded hothouses of tenure, (certainly not "cage" as they protect the professor but not society).
Is it bad when you see "elites" and the first think that crosses your mind is handguns?
Kevin,
You have hit upon an area of our public life ripe for reform. As you pointed out, at the turn of the twentieth century, people in our grammar schools were studying greek. Now our universities are having to teach remedial math and English. (My own pet peeve is the lost art of penmanship, but that's another story and I don't want to sound like a total nut:-)
The Second Amendment serves as a "canary in the coal mine." When it is under attack, you can bet everything else is too. With education as perverted as it is now, the "elites" finally have an infantilized society where they think we NEED them to run things for us. This is what they have been working for since Marx and Engel published the Communist Manifesto. Unfortunately (for them) there are still a few of us old farts who remember that the US does not need to be run. Rather, it needs a government that recognizes, and protects every individual's natural rights. We, as individuals, will do the rest, thankyou very much.
So, it's good to see sites like yours and Clayton Cramer's taking on a wider scope of topics.
Regards,
PolyKahr
I really loved Orly's comment, "It is a quintessentially leftist liberal viewpoint to repeatedly and incorrectly claim that this country needs running by someone, or that most people in this country believe the same. This country is a self-organized group of private individuals acting in their own self interest. People who want to "run" that are interfering with the basic premise of our nation. If you disagree, you’re part of the problem."
Taking another whack at this, the whole notion that this country, this NATION should be run by academic elites, could even be better run by them, or that it is at all within their scope or skill-set - is hugely laughable.
You need only look at how they govern themselves and run their institutions of Higher Learning to see what a disaster the results would bring. Universities like the one where I formerly worked are rife with nepotism and cronyism, an incredible amount of backstabbing, and choked in a thick gas-cloud of professional jealousy. Those academics who tend towards aggressive self-elevation and administrative authority rise to become totalitarian Presidents ruling over a student body that is subdued by speech-codes and behavior codes and various constrictions that are convenient for the powers that be.
On the whole it's a patently ridiculous suggestion, and one that could only be put forward by a sufficiently ignorant and blind academic.
Replied. Basically, I said that we don't so much wish not to be led by intelligent people, as much as we wish not to be led by assholes.
Which is mostly what y'all said, but you took a lot longer to do it. ;)
Note: All avatars and any images or other media embedded in comments were hosted on the JS-Kit website and have been lost; references to haloscan comments have been partially automatically remapped, but accuracy is not guaranteed and corrections are solicited.
If you notice any problems with this page or wish to have your home page link updated, please contact John Hardin <jhardin@impsec.org>