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Noted while passing in the breakdown lane

The capture of essentially all major cultural institutions by unhinged political fanatics with daddy issues is among the signs of our times. Those who resist are driven out of employment; those who accede have a lock on the splendidly-paid positions, for which beleaguered taxpayers are billed. The consequences to Western Civ are not trifling. —Otiosus rants: Essays in Idleness

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  • Teri Pittman October 22, 2020, 4:56 PM

    I do think we need to stash physical books away. But that will limit access. I think we should fill the internet with older books, available online, for as long as we can get away with it. It’s so revolutionary, making the old ideas new again.

  • Phil in Englewood October 23, 2020, 3:48 AM

    Teri, Ray Bradbury wrote a little story related to this. In the book, individuals memorized entire books to preserve them.

  • James ONeil October 23, 2020, 10:35 AM

    Heck, most today can’t/couldn’t/didn’t even memorize the times tables.
    Memorize? What’s eight time eight? Yep a few almost as old as me can shout back the answer but ….

  • EX-Californian Pete October 23, 2020, 10:47 AM

    Ever since the corrupt, Communist Obama regime, I have often wondered what current and future history books in our schools say (or will say) about Obama and President Trump. Considering that the vast majority (over 89% from what I’ve read) of teachers in the USA are admitted hard-core Leftists and belong to hard-left unions and organizations.
    I hope I’m wrong, but I can’t help think that Obama would erroneously be portrayed as some kind of “savior,” while President Trump will be condemned for being Conservative and Caucasian.

    NOTE- I have met quite a few school teachers over the last decade or two, and every single one of them displayed two prominent characteristics-
    1) A desperate need to be popular and/or recognized as some type of “morally and intellectually superior” individual. (However, NOT ONE of them ever discussed any mention of their I.Q. range when asked, and none were MENSA.)
    2) A closed-minded arrogance that prohibited them from having any type of open discussion with anyone who did not share their exact views and personal beliefs.
    That reminds me of an old saying- ” If you correct a wise man, he will thank you. If you correct a fool, they will hate you.”

  • ghostsniper October 23, 2020, 12:29 PM

    As side work my wife used to edit new textbooks, from about 1984 to 1994. She used to ask me about certain things that were in the books and increasingly the lines were being erased, obscure wording was used, and outright falsehoods were being published. It got to the point that she didn’t want to do it anymore.

    In the early ’90s our son, who had always done well, was having problems keeping up. So I scheduled an appointment with all of his teachers to see what the problem was and find solutions. Keep in mind that by 1994 I had met with hundreds of people on very important projects in my work and was comfortable discussing complex issues with multiple people at one time.

    The teachers that I had met with at Trafalgar Middle School were not like any other human being I had ever encountered. These people, individually, “performed” for me in such a way that was mesmerizing. None of them addressed my concerns and all of them presented what seemed like a rehearsed show. I never have seen anything like this and was at a loss as to how to respond. After pondering this for a few days with my wife we were leaning toward putting our son in a private school. Unfortunately, before we came to a decision, we were forced to pull our son completely out of the system immediately. From then on we educated him ourselves. Soon after, we were wishing we had done that from the beginning.

    In 1996 a friend that was a drafting teacher at a high school asked me if I would be interested in creating a new course for the school based on the idea of computer-aided design and the building construction process. I said I would and came up with a format titled “Elements of Design” which I presented to the school board. After the meeting, the president of the school board told me it was the most powerful presentation any of the members ever seen and unanimously approved my course and the following fall I started teaching it. Keep in mind I was running a full-time architectural design business at the same time.

    Right away I encountered issues. Then the issues became more, and worse. I started wondering what my purpose was because nobody seemed to care. Not the principal, not the deans, not the other teachers. And certainly not the students. Of the 30+ students in the class, only about 2 of them cared about the subject. The rest treated the class like a study hall, or worse. I’ll meet anyone halfway and I’ll bend over backward to where I’m doing somersaults, to see a thing through. As the months flew by I came to the conclusion my role in the public school was to shut my yap and go with the flow, whatever that flow was. I won’t go into further detail. I am a successful business person that is accustomed to doing just that in unlimited ways. I have dealt extensively over a long period of time (many decades) with building and zoning departments, fire marshals, FEMA personnel, and members of the public school system and there is a common thread among all of it.

    Nobody cares.

    Nobody cares about the purpose of the function.

    All of the people in gov’t employ that have been on the job for a year or more are the same way.

    They don’t care.

    They only care about getting paid, and getting paid more, and getting as much benefit as possible.

    Any business that tries to run like a gov’t will fail in short order.

    The gov’t, all facets of it, continues for one reason.

    Stolen money.

    Eliminate the stolen money and the gov’t will fail the same day.

  • Brian_E October 24, 2020, 9:16 AM

    “ Eliminate the stolen money and the gov’t will fail the same day.”
    ^^^THIS^^^

    Ultimately, the only way to kill the beast is to starve it.