cultivating ignorance

Erasing History: No Slavery Photos Allowed

leeduigonJune 24, 2022

What Are Censorship's Historical Consequences? | IFK

If a historical image is “distressing” to someone living today, 170 years later–well, then, let’s opt for self-imposed amnesia and not let anybody see the picture anymore!

That seems to be what the Massachusetts Supreme Court is saying.

So now a woman can sue Harvard for displaying some ancient photos taken in 1850–“widely-published, historical photos” (https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2022/06/23/court-harvard-can-be-sued-for-distress-over-slave-photos/). Photos of slaves, to be exact. Harvard allowed the photos to be seen (as opposed to forbidden photos that may never be seen–except I guess these are now forbidden), constituting a “reckless infliction of emotional distress.”

What is this? We can only have nice history from now on? We are not allowed to know what happened in 1850, not allowed to study it, because someone might be distressed? We can’t just say, “Well, then, if the pictures distress you, don’t look at them”? There are pictures that distress me. I don’t look at them. But I don’t insist, “No one in the world should be allowed to see those pictures!”

Okay, for sure, we don’t want to go around distressing people. But here a court seeks to impose by force what ought to be an act of courtesy and kindness. It’s one way to wipe out courtesy and kindness. The woman says these are pictures of members of her family. So show some other pictures. Or meet with her to discuss the matter like grown-up human beings.

But how are we to study history if historical images are withheld from us?

So who says anyone is still studying history? At Harvard, no less.

Colossal, Towering, Gigantic Ignorance

leeduigonJune 7, 2022

True, “man on the street” interviews always make the man on the street look like a bozo. So this video is a collection of sheer stupidities voiced by young people–virtually all of whom are high school grads, and most have probably been to (LOL) “college.”

I mean, these young people don’t know anything! God knows how much public money has been spent on “educating” them.

The point is, should the costliest and most intrusive education system in world history turn out total ignoramuses? And the danger is, because they know nothing, these poor swabs will believe anything they’re told and be ripe for any wicked foolish enterprise a tyrant might devise.

Public education–it’s gotta go.

If They’re So Smart…

leeduigonJune 15, 2021

October 2010 - Schoolcraft College Pageturners Book Club

I’m still plodding through The Dumbest Generation by Mark Bauerlein, and my question is… If they’re so smart, why are they so dumb?

The mass of proof rounded up by the author is little short of overwhelming; but even so, some whopping errors shine through.

“Experts” hail the “digital generation” as the smartest ever, tech-savvy, they’ve got a whole new way of thinking, blah-blah-blah. But has anyone noticed that a lot of these experts make their living by manufacturing and selling “educational electronics”? The more they sell, the better for them. So it’s great for them, whenever a school district decides the only way to go–even if they have to cut out some academic courses to raise the money for it–is… of course!… digital.

Duh…

Another source of confusion is studies that focus on the few really bright students out there and ignore the rest. “The best of the best are really smart!” Again, duh…

It’s a rather distressing read. Our intellectually hollowed-out educators are diving headfirst into the digital age and seem to be completely unaware of the intellectual poverty they create among their students. Some “authorities” (LOL) actually claim that kids don’t need historical facts to acquire a deep understanding of history!

Nor does it seem to bother any of the experts that most of the students wind up using their electronic doo-dads for frivolous activities–messaging each other ’round the clock, playing hours and hours’ worth of computer games, trying to think up weird ways to become YouTube celebrities, etc. They’re not using these resources as a way to acquire knowledge.

This is why it’s so easy for Far Left teachers’ unions and college professors to turn their students into useful idiots.

Get your kids out of public education before it’s too late.

They Just Won’t Read

leeduigonJune 7, 2021

I can’t imagine a life that doesn’t include reading. I grew up in a house full of books. When I was old enough, I had my own books–hundreds of them. All kinds of books.

Books are the storehouse of history, which is the collected experience of the entire human race. It’s all been written down. And not only history, but of thought as well–pure thought. Ideas! But of course if you refuse to read it, you can’t learn from that experience or examine those ideas. You’ll only be able to learn from your own–which in all probability will have nothing to do with resolving great issues that are vital to your country and the world.

Why won’t they read? The attitude is so alien to my own way of life, I can’t even imagine an answer. Who would choose to be ignorant? Lots and lots of people, it seems.

Yeahbut, yeahbut! We’ve got social media! Like, who wants to read about the boring Middle Ages when you can go to Facebook and find out what your BFF Farfel saw on YouTube ten minutes ago?

Where do those mobs of ignorant, overfed, whitebread college students come from, who “protest” for BLM and can’t name a single item on the Bill of Rights?

They come from Never-Read-istan. And from the costliest and most intrusive, most wasteful, and least effective education system ever devised by fallen man.

And they will destroy us if we don’t change course.

This Book Has Got Me Cranking!

leeduigonJune 3, 2021

I spend hours every week studying the follies and deficiencies of our public education system, the costliest ever created in recorded history. I know it’s awful.

But just one chapter into this book–The Dumbest Generation, by Mark Bauerlein–had me shaking my head and muttering to myself.

It’s far worse than I thought.

Bauerlein, a college English professor, realizes something I realized years ago. The single worst thing about public school is, it makes your age-group peers the most important people in your life. That in itself was one of the worst ideas ever. But now, says Bauerlein, social media and a plethora of electronic gizmos have made an atrocious situation horrifyingly worse.

Kids and teens now live in the moment, cut off from the past, never pondering the future, unable to look any farther than their own little social media bubbles–obsessed with what other kids are doing, saying, playing… And they know… nothing.

All those boxcar-loads of money spent on “education,” and they come out of college knowing bloody nothing. They’re fixated on their peers in the social media. They never look beyond it. No history, no civics, no literature, no nothing. Maybe they’ll read a comic book now and then. And watch TV.

The author bases these claims on the results of many authoritative studies involving hundreds of thousands of school and college students.

What’s to worry?

Well, they can all vote, can’t they? And they’re always ready to Protest For Social Justice. Because it’s expected of them. Because their peers do it.

It is literally the march of ignorance.

I’m going to review this book for Chalcedon, so I have to read the rest of it. And I think I’d better pray harder! We are talking about creating a country full of conformist know-nothings who will not be able to sustain a constitutional republic. I’m a political scientist, I know these things, trust me: you can’t have a republic of idiots.

‘Can You Name a Book? Any Book?’ (2018)

leeduigonMay 22, 2021

See the source image

Naturally, as a writer, I find this to be very bad news. Never read? There are millions and millions of people out there who never read? Who haven’t read a single book since high school?

‘Can You Name a Book? Any Book?’

I admit, there were times in high school when I thought they were purposely trying to get you to hate reading so that you’d never do any more of it. The stuff on our required reading list was dull enough to know birds out of the sky.

But to cut ourselves off from the entire wisdom and experience of the past, to strand ourselves in a kind of perpetual toddlerhood because we don’t freakin’ know anything–!

No wonder our civilization is dying.

Stoopid Is Smart!!!!!

leeduigonMay 14, 2021

Do Memes Make College Students Stupid or Vice Versa? | ScholarshipOwl

Oh themb Biggits “and” Haters!!! Thay alyaws saying Collidge it “is” stoopid and aslo “it” maiks Us Stoodints evin stoopider “then” we all-reddy Are!!!!!

Yeahwell like one “of” my Nothing Studdies prefessers he sayed,, “Stoopid is the Dore Way to Smart”!” Ha ha!!!!!!!!

He eggsplaned “it”,, “Yiu got “to Be” Stoopid befoar yiu “canbe” Smart”” and aslo he Sayed yiu Has got tobe A Ninkumpoop befoar “yiu” canbe a Interllectural!!!! Becose awl “the” Reely Stoopid ones thay are Out Thair whorking and hasing famblies and That “is” wye thair isnt no Socile Jutstus!!!! Like watt cood “be” moar Stoopid than That???

Ordrinary dum peeple thay Think yiu has got “to” knowe Inglish % Histry $ Syints & Masthmaticks @ Littertchure and boy “are” thay Stoopid for “thinkin” That!!!! No Boddy kneeds “to” knoew enny “Of” that stuph BECOSE IT IS ALLL RACIST!!!”! But us Interllecturals heer “At” Collidge we are Pro-tecktid fromb knowing dum and stoopid stuph lyke That!!!! We Know Crickital Race Theery!!!!!! and Fifftie Genders!!!! and that is awl we kneed to knoew!!!!