(Commenting
on articles by mentors is good experience – just stay away from trolls and
peeing contests. - CL)
That view came into national
office with President Wilson, didn't it?
I think it predates him. Teddy Roosevelt was as "progressive" as they come. But, since he was a Republican, the Democrats disowned him. I was thinking about public education yesterday for some reason. Public education, when under local control, in the US used to be rigorous. The parents who paid for it insisted on it. So you see letters written by low ranking soldiers just off the farm during the Civil War (or, as it is known around here, The War of Northern Aggression) that are eloquent and profound. Then the experts took over education. And things started to go down hill, fast. Why? Its no secret. To the "experts" public "education" wasn't about helping each individual reach their potential and familiarize them with the works that had created the common culture to which they were heirs. it certainly wasn't about educating people so that they could participate in their own governance responsibly and wisely. Proponents of public education were quite open about what they wanted to do, which was to produce people suited for the industrial age and the expert driven state. Obedient and with just enough knowledge to be useful to society. When Ray Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 451 he wasn't describing a possible future society, he was describing a process that had already been going on for decades and seems to be reaching its culmination today. Books make people dissatisfied. Dissatisfied people are hard to manage and disagreeable. Best to get rid of the books. So now you have "English Teachers" who majored in English who have never had to read a word of Shakespeare and are quite open about their disdain for him and his works. Ignorant people are easy to control. In another forum someone commented that kids today only know "racist or not racist," that they have no knowledge to work with. They can't think because they haven't been educated enough to have anything to think about.
I think it predates him. Teddy Roosevelt was as "progressive" as they come. But, since he was a Republican, the Democrats disowned him. I was thinking about public education yesterday for some reason. Public education, when under local control, in the US used to be rigorous. The parents who paid for it insisted on it. So you see letters written by low ranking soldiers just off the farm during the Civil War (or, as it is known around here, The War of Northern Aggression) that are eloquent and profound. Then the experts took over education. And things started to go down hill, fast. Why? Its no secret. To the "experts" public "education" wasn't about helping each individual reach their potential and familiarize them with the works that had created the common culture to which they were heirs. it certainly wasn't about educating people so that they could participate in their own governance responsibly and wisely. Proponents of public education were quite open about what they wanted to do, which was to produce people suited for the industrial age and the expert driven state. Obedient and with just enough knowledge to be useful to society. When Ray Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 451 he wasn't describing a possible future society, he was describing a process that had already been going on for decades and seems to be reaching its culmination today. Books make people dissatisfied. Dissatisfied people are hard to manage and disagreeable. Best to get rid of the books. So now you have "English Teachers" who majored in English who have never had to read a word of Shakespeare and are quite open about their disdain for him and his works. Ignorant people are easy to control. In another forum someone commented that kids today only know "racist or not racist," that they have no knowledge to work with. They can't think because they haven't been educated enough to have anything to think about.
