Exclusive Interview
Brett Veinotte on Horrors of State-Run Schools and Schooling
The Daily Bell is pleased to present this exclusive interview with Brett Veinotte.
Introduction: Brett Veinotte has worked in private education for the last 10 years, in a variety of activities. As host of the School Sucks Podcast, every week Brett shares his discoveries about American schooling with thousands of listeners. He is also now the vice president of a tutoring and educational consulting company in New Hampshire. Brett worked as an Outdoor Education Leader at a boarding school lin Vermont in 2000, then taught at the Great Expectations school in Manchester, Vermont from 2004 to 2006, where he designed new curricula for all classes he taught, including American History, World History, Media Ethics, Film History and a variety of mathematics courses. While teaching at Great Expectations, he completed masters level coursework in educational leadership, and the secondary education certification program at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. After leaving Great Expectations in 2006, Brett began to work exclusively as a private tutor in the greater Boston area. Much of this work was related to standardized test prep but also included providing essay writing support to college applicants, leading training sessions for prospective teachers planning to take state certification exams and serving as a liaison between parents and public schools to address student needs and parent concerns. He also worked as writing consultant to a London School of Economics graduate student, advising on foreign policy issues and Austrian School Economics.
Daily Bell: Give us some background on School Sucks Podcast. How did it start? What does it do now?
Brett Veinotte: School Sucks Podcast began in 2009, and it was intended to be a sharp, comical and pop-culture-friendly exploration into something that most people couldn't care less about. Unfortunately, it's something that significantly affects us, in ways that most folks never even realize.
Our aim is to take the word "education" back from the state. Today that word is a euphemism for compulsory indoctrination funded by threats of force against property owners, designed to serve the needs of the power elite. What education really is: a lifelong pursuit of self-directed, intrinsically motivated and purposeful knowledge acquisition. Public school and education are more antonymous than synonymous.
Daily Bell: Give us some background on yourself and where you were born and grew up.
Brett Veinotte: I was born in Pennsylvania, in a town I later discovered was run by the mafia. I used to really like sharing what I thought was an exciting fact. So imagine my disappointment when I eventually realized that all towns, cities, counties, states and countries are controlled by some form of organized crime.
I grew up near the New Hampshire seacoast. After some moving around for college and career, I came back to NH. I highly recommend it as a place to settle down.
Daily Bell: You had ten years in education. Tell us about that.
Brett Veinotte: I was once on track to be a certified public school teacher in the state of Massachusetts. Despite my original career goals, I managed to avoid teaching in public school. However, I was trained to teach with public school teachers. My student teaching experience was in a public high school, and in even private school I was introduced to the burden of "state standards." When I left private school, I found that the system had followed me into private tutoring (grades, college pressures, student apathy, etc.)
At some point, around 2005, I began exploring the so-called "failure" of the public education system, how and why it "failed" and the subsequent widespread implications. Once I came to understand the history and intentions of government schooling, I realized that it is only a failure for those who believe its purpose was enlightenment. When we come to understand that the intentions were conditioning, handicapping indoctrination and control we have to acknowledge its success.
That being said, not only did I want to stop participating in the problem, I also wanted to find some means of evaluation and action that would be a dramatic departure from any previous educational reform debate. Those desires, after a few failures, eventually manifested in my tutoring company and School Sucks Podcast.
Daily Bell: When did you decide that education wasn't doing what it was supposed to do?
Brett Veinotte: It's an interesting question because what I eventually realized is that government school is doing exactly what is was supposed to do. I think many libertarians reach a point, probably early in their development, where they ask some variation of this question: "Is our society managed by the dumbest and most myopic people on the planet? Or is there just some other agenda we're not being told about?"
Up to this point, human history is basically playing in a loop. It's a continuous story of how a small group of people controls a large group of people, by fear or by force. And this is achieved by keeping most of the large group relatively ignorant and hopelessly dependent on the supposed leadership of the smaller group. It's predators and prey, and government school is just one of the predators' newer tools. And in 21st century America, if people don't believe this applies to them, they are simply the latest dupes in this cycle.
Daily Bell: When did public schools get their start − in Germany?
Brett Veinotte: While there are sparse examples of compulsory schooling going all the way back to ancient Greece, the pre-German-Unification Kingdom of Prussia is probably the most significant step. However, the system in Prussia was simply a new method of perpetuating a practice that was already thousands of years old, and that was the science of turning human beings into controllable and predictable resources. In Prussia, the goals were militaristic; the rulers and elites wanted a reliable fighting force, with soldiers who wouldn't be made less efficient by annoying habits like the exercises of volition and self-preservation.
Daily Bell: Tell us more about the Iron Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck.
Brett Veinotte: Bismarck was a Prussian aristocrat, credited with masterminding the German Unification under Prussian rule in the latter half of the 1800s. He was like a brilliant chess player; he thought way ahead. However, like Hitler many generations later, he was able utilize an already existing momentum of German thought to ultimately achieve his goals.
Key to Bismarck's plan was a popular embrace of nationalism and a strong ethnic identity. At the time Bismarck began to implement his plans, the schools had been building that momentum for at least two generations. The success of his "Blood and Iron" speech speaks to the impact the schools were already having. In this speech, he criticized the ideas of diplomacy and multilateral decision-making, and argued instead for concentrated power and military aggression. And the people, who were ultimately the victims of this agenda, happily embraced it.
Daily Bell: Didn't he plan for Gymnasiums to educate children by grade to bond them for eventual warfare?
Brett Veinotte: Yes. And this is the genesis of the age-based sorting system we still see in schools today. Like I said, he thought way ahead.
Daily Bell: How did Bismarck's horrid system expand around the world?
Brett Veinotte: The Prussian system was imported to the United States in the mid-19th century by a Massachusetts politician named Horace Mann. He praised the system for its efficiency and regimentation but he was also forced to acknowledge the abusive nature of the Prussian model. Amazingly, he simply dismissed this concern by claiming that such a control structure could be used for good ("the perpetuation of republican institutions") in the United States.
Daily Bell: Didn't it get a foothold in America because of Irish prejudice?
Brett Veinotte: As early as the 1860s it was a factor. It was no coincidence that a system formed in Prussia to instill a sense of ethnic superiority and the mystical idea of nationalism would have the same effect in the United States.
Catholics and immigrants were big targets. There was a strong xenophobic desire to stamp out diversity in general, and the school system was even embraced by the KKK for that potential molding function.
From Massachusetts, it expanded quickly around the country. As a simple and general rule, when one government observes another devising a clever and subtle new way to control its subjects, the observer will imitate the doer.
Daily Bell: Give us some insight into John Dewey. What was his impact on modern education?
Brett Veinotte: Dewey was a so-called educational reformer who came along roughly two generations after the system's implementation. In retrospect, we could say that Dewey's reform was actually an acceleration of the existing system's worst features. In a nutshell, Dewey asserted that an individual's mind was essentially property of the larger society.
I believe that he believed he had the best of intentions but the actual results of his ideas were monstrous. Dewey believed in the eventual emergence of what he might have called a 'humanistic society based on the principle of interdependence.' Or state socialism, if you strip out all the euphemisms.
While Dewey helped introduce the look-say method of teaching literacy, or teaching illiteracy if again we strip out the euphemisms, that was not his most significant contribution. Dewey seemed to understand that the schools were a profound power for indoctrination in nationalism and ethnic superiority, and he wanted to use this power for an even 'greater good': the inculcation of collectivism. And to achieve this, individualism had to be significantly downgraded.
John Dewey was all about the greater good. That sounds nice. But what is it, who decides it and how many smaller goods should be sacrificed to achieve or maintain it? He once wrote: "Every teacher should realize he is a social servant set apart for the maintenance of the proper social order and the securing of the right social growth." Okay, so who defines "proper" social "order" and "right" social "growth" for all? Moral, mentally healthy people don't seek that kind of power.
Daily Bell: What is your mission going forward at the podcast?
Brett Veinotte: Simply put...expansion, empowerment and exposure. For the last few months I've been working very hard to tap into YouTube, where I believe there is a huge group of young people ready to embrace our message. In every podcast and video, I try to include a strong message about how demented and philosophically corrupt government schooling actually is. So no matter where a person starts, they get some introduction to this message. I hope that this realization helps rebellious or labeled (ODD, ADHD) students realize that it's the system that is defective. Not them.
Daily Bell: What are some of the big issues you will continue to cover?
Brett Veinotte: That's where the exposure comes in. One of the aims from the beginning of the show was to encourage critical thought. I want young people to have the tools to detect and deflect government and corporate propaganda. And they won't get these tools in school.
We recently began a series on logical fallacies, where we take a critical look at intellectually insulting ruses like Mitt Romney and the viral video, KONY 2012. I want to help young people build their intellectual self-defense, so they can identify and expose dangerous frauds. Between the schools, the mainstream media and politics there is no shortage of new dangerous frauds in need of exposing.
Daily Bell: How should people feel who work in the current system?
Brett Veinotte: That depends on how much they've discovered about it. I remember how I felt at different stages in my career, even in private school. From my own experience, it's a gradual process that begins with denial and rationalization. My only advice for these people is to be honest with themselves. However, they should also be realistic about what they can do.
Daily Bell: What should they do?
Brett Veinotte: People used to tell me: "if you want to change the system, you have to work within the system." And that is the world's worst advice. People who believe in that idea should try the following: Pick a place you really want to visit. Take a picture of that place and put it up on the wall. Set up a treadmill in front of the picture and then get on and start walking towards your destination. Call me when you arrive there and then I'll consider your advice.
First, a government, or government program, really can't change for the better. It simply grows and rots until it collapses on top of its dependents. It is designed to stay the same for the people who are benefiting from its current state – unions, service contractors and politicians in the case of the schools.
Second, considering the powers that such individuals would be up against, they should ask themselves: "How small and non-efficacious do I want to feel?" The whole work-within-the-system suggestion came right out of the system and is designed to make people feel worn down and powerless, so they will eventually give up and begrudgingly accept the status quo.
I can't tell others exactly what they should do but I can say that what I've done has been very rewarding and empowering for me personally. I got out.
Daily Bell: What kind of advice do you give to parents and children?
Brett Veinotte: To young people: Please don't take what I say as the final word on any of these topics. Please do you own research and carefully consider any course of action before you take it. Act in accordance with reason and individual purpose.
However, there is not a one-size-fits-all solution. My advice would vary greatly on an individual-to-individual basis. One of the most frustrating encounters is with the people who want to me to talk to them like I'm a politician. They'll ask, "So what's the solution?" as if such a person exists who knows what is right for millions of strangers. People who ask questions like that seem to have absorbed all of school's most destructive messages: obedience to authority, trust for those in power and conformity to a single way of doing or thinking about something.
Here's something that I have in common with Barack Obama, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum: I don't know how to solve complex social problems and I don't know exactly what is best for millions of unique individuals with a wide variety of needs, concerns and desires.
And here's the difference: I won't pretend that I do. I won't lie to you, promise you things, insult your intelligence and delude myself into believing I could have such wisdom or power. I'm not a politician.
Daily Bell: What kind of advisory services are you involved in?
Brett Veinotte: That's the perfect follow-up question. I am the vice president of a company that provides tutoring and college consulting services. In my work, I meet with people one-on-one, analyze needs and then make suggestions or take action based on those unique needs and goals. I try to present a wide spectrum of choices, to show young people that they have a myriad of options.
I have been shying away from college consulting in the last few years, because I was realizing it was more of a service for parents. I feel like a more accurate name would be "Let me present you to my son or daughter as an expert and then I'll pay you to tell them why they have to go to college..." consulting.
Daily Bell: Do you think this growing anti-public school movement you participate in is turning into a full-fledged power?
Brett Veinotte: First, I don't wish to present myself as anti-public school. I try to express my philosophy in the affirmative. I favor and value individualism, curiosity, critical thought and voluntary interactions. And school is a widely accepted institution that honors none of these things, and yes, that needs to be pointed out.
I'm also unsure about the word movement. I have identified many other individuals and projects working with a similar philosophy and towards similar ends. We are allies but we certainly do not speak with one voice.
Daily Bell: Who do you consider your colleagues?
Brett Veinotte: Accessibility is one of my favorite features of the new media; people you once admired from afar can quickly become your friends and collaborators. I have made some really meaningful connections with people like Richard Grove, Wes Bertrand, Gardner Goldsmith, Jason Osborne, Stefan Molyneux and Laurette Lynn. If I needed a cohost for a show, those names would be at the top of my list.
Daily Bell: Are there plans for a larger coalition?
Brett Veinotte: Not specifically. The only purpose of any cohesion would be to spread the message faster, further and more efficiently. However, I accept that any meaningful philosophic and social evolution is a very gradual process.
Whenever I hear the word coalition I picture political action. So I shy away from that because I do not believe the government is in any way legitimate. And according to government school textbooks it would appear that any complex social, economic or cultural problem can be solved quickly and efficiently by simply involving the state. That is fiction. There are zero major problems in this country today that were caused by not-enough-government-involvement.
Daily Bell: How are you making a difference?
Brett Veinotte: Most importantly, what I do makes a major positive difference in my life. That's the number one reason why I do it. Beyond that, I recognize that my impact has been modest as far as its reach. The show has millions of downloads but I know very little about what the results of those downloads are for the individuals on the other end. I have received roughly 1000 emails and comments from people who claim the show had a profound impact on their lives. It might not seem like too many but it's more than I ever could have reached if I had confined myself to a classroom.
Daily Bell: How can parents and children make a difference?
Brett Veinotte: I would suggest focusing on actions that can make a direct difference in their personal lives. For parents, offer your children alternatives to these government indoctrination centers. For students who are stuck there, ask questions. Questions are what can stop ridiculous and corrupt ideas from becoming world religions and political ideologies. Curiosity is very powerful if it's being practiced by enough people simultaneously.
Daily Bell: What kind of education SHOULD children have?
Brett Veinotte: The kind they would have without government school: a natural, intrinsically motivated, personalized and rewarding one. And that would mean a thousand different things for a thousand different learners.
Daily Bell: Where do you stand on home schooling?
Brett Veinotte: It depends. If it is used for the purposes I just described, it's great. That's unschooling. That's natural and respectful to the child. However, if it's used for Rick Santorum purposes – to shield children from reason and reality – I strongly oppose that.
Daily Bell: What do you think of higher education?
Brett Veinotte: I have mixed feelings. It depends on a person's goals. College is not the 13th grade, and it a very expensive place to figure out what you want to do.
In the last two generations, there have also been some hints of a scam. In school and society, we see all of this pressure for students to attend college, regardless of their long-term goals, or lack thereof. In government, we see heavy subsidies being shoveled into higher education – easy money that students who learned nothing about debt can get their hands on. These subsidies send a signal to the colleges that they can raise tuition. So now we have a situation where more graduates are finding themselves $150,000 in debt in an economy with no jobs.
Daily Bell: What is the real function of education? Isn't it to make somebody an autodidact?
Brett Veinotte: Education is a natural process, not a synthetic one; curiosity is the real teacher. We are all autodidacts until institutionalized schooling interferes.
Daily Bell: How does the US as an empire fit into public education?
Brett Veinotte: Everywhere. The schools produce obedient conformists who rarely question authority – the perfect fighting force. The curriculum is stocked with subtle but consistent messages of nationalism (we call it patriotism), just war (making the world safe for democracy) and geopolitical superiority (America is the best) – three rationalizations for military aggression.
Daily Bell: Do you have any thoughts on why education ended up like this?
Brett Veinotte: Because it's run by government. Because it is based on the threat of force. There was no other way for it to end up, and I believe it is exactly what it was intended to be. Education has too much potential a control tool to be left to individuals, families and markets.
Open oppression usually has a very finite life. When prisons are built everywhere and filled with people, revolution becomes inevitable. However, oppression can continue indefinitely when the prisons are built somewhere they can't be seen, like in the minds of people. And that's government school.
Everybody understands that there are aggressive and predatory criminals in this world. Some use myopic brut force to carry out their crimes – guns, knives or fists. But the smartest and most resourceful have always used government. It's the best place to hide criminality in plain sight.
Daily Bell: Is there a power elite pushing the world toward global governance?
Brett Veinotte: I'm not sure if it's one group or several but as a student of history I know what people in power want: more power. And we can certainly see evidence of that push in institutions like The UN, The Council On Foreign Relations, Bilderberg, The EU, IMF and the World Bank.
Daily Bell: Where does public schooling fit into this larger globalist focus? Aren't children being brainwashed into globalism?
Brett Veinotte: Even though there might be some messages that lead to an embrace of globalism, this indoctrination wouldn't have to be so direct. Because public schooling inculcates obedience, intellectual apathy and conformity, most people can be tricked into accepting or even embracing any agenda that powerful elites wish to pursue – welfare, warfare, corporate bailouts, fiat currency, progressive taxation, property seizure, the drug war, Homeland Security, etc. Globalism would just be one example of many.
Daily Bell: Websites and resources you recommend?
Brett Veinotte:
Daily Bell: Thanks for your time and keep up the good work.
This is a really interesting interview for those who want to confront the horror of public schools squarely. There is probably not a person alive in the Western hemisphere who has not been damaged in some way by state-run education or its ramifications. The segregation of children by grade over a long period of time guarantees certain pathologies.
Increasingly via standard tests and other measurements, the powers-that-be apparently want to cull the "top performers" as soon as possible and send them on alternative tracks, through Harvard, Yale and Oxford, from where they are thence seeded in various globalist institutions around the world.
Those who participate in this program may not actually know they are culled. In fact, that is the beauty of the current system. Those who are participative may rise as high as they want to and come, eventually, to realize the full parameters of what they are involved in ... or they may distance themselves or remove themselves entirely. In this way the current sociopolitical and economic system is self-selecting, with sociopaths who are the most willing to participate rising the fastest and going the farthest.
This gets into the larger issue that we have often discussed regarding the lack of authenticity that modern society inflicts on even its most successful individuals. If one accepts the reality of, say, a dynastic power elite with arms in London's City, Washington DC, the Vatican, Tel Aviv, etc., then one likely also accepts that elite's world-spanning agenda.
The ambition to create a so-called New World Order involves an entire program of destabilization and propaganda. In order to move the mass of people, especially in the West, toward this goal, constant manipulation is required. Almost everybody involved in "mainstream" professions is somehow entangled in this web. Doctors end up dispensing deadly pharmaceutical concoctions; lawyers end up ensnared in the judicial-penitentiary complex; teachers labor in school systems that poison the minds of children and cripple their spirits.
Gradually, we'd like to think, the Internet Reformation is changing all that. Increasingly, as people discover their own manipulation, they seek a way to overcome it. That's just what we think Brett Veinotte is doing. Here's a fellow who has traveled through the indoctrination of the current pedagogy and figured out a way to make a living that doesn't stifle his voice or sense of fair play. That's an accomplishment of itself.
Thus, even though parts of this interview may seem gloomy or unpromising, we'd like to think the overall message is uplifting. Like so many other elite promotions, state-run education is under attack and people like Veinotte are courageously leading the way to a less compulsory future without so much formalized mind control.
This is a big problem for the elites. As people discover they CAN lead authentic lives within the larger matrix of elite domination, they begin to try to do so, and it is highly improbable that they will voluntarily return to their old lives and lies. Again, this is a process, not an episode, and it is one that here at the Daily Bell we spend a good deal of time analyzing.
Veinotte is someone, in our view, who epitomizes this trend and we thank him for the good work he is doing. Every child salvaged from the viciousness of state-run schooling is a victory for decency and the potential of the human spirit.
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Posted by c.martel on 04/09/12 08:00 PM
Daily Bell afterthoughts are brilliant ... that is with one exception ... the idea of Tel Aviv being part and parcel of the dynastic power elite!
In my humble opinion you err only in this one point and that one point has the effect of nullifying your entire argument.
I believe there certainly are individual Jews who are elites and who are active participants in a new world order, but certainly not the Jewish state nor the Jewish people.
Throughout history the tendency has always been there to scapegoat the Jewish people and it has always had the effect of throwing people off the scent and off the trail of discovery of the truth.
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Posted by memehunter on 04/03/12 03:15 PM
DB: I had a comment on this thread which was actually somewhat in support of your position, and not particularly confrontational - not sure why it doesn't appear. Should I resend?
Reply from The Daily Bell
It's up.
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Posted by memehunter on 04/03/12 02:37 PM
DB: We rarely agree with our barnacle-like commentator Memehunter on anything, but even a broken clock is correct twice every 24 hours. He may have had a point in writing that Bismarck was an agent of the elites and gathered Germany together preparatory to a larger war.
M: Actually, we agree on many things, and I enjoyed a cordial relationship with the DB until the last five or six months. I even recall praising an article from the DB in January.
However, it is true that we disagree on a few important topics: monetary matters and the elites' connections with Austrian economics and Zionism (although it seems that the DB's positions have slightly changed in the case of Zionism). We also seem to disagree somewhat on historical issues surrounding the Renaissance and on the material/spiritual nature of the conspiracy, but so far these issues have not given rise to heated debates.
I have become somewhat skeptical of the DB's agenda due to these disagreements (and vice-versa, I presume), but it would be an exaggeration to say that we disagree on everything. I appreciate that the DB saw some value in my observations about Bismarck and I do not think that the DB is anti-German (though it is true that Veinotte does not seem to particularly appreciate the Prussian culture).
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Posted by Clearance on 04/03/12 01:38 PM
@TDB
]"yet another person appearing seemingly from nowhere"
Surely I am popping up from "nowhere", from where else?
In fact, I have been a long time (]2 years) avid reader of TDB, and I do think that we are not that wide apart.
Before I progress let me give a reason why I am somewhat agitated. The reason is sloppiness on your side. You try to explain away your (obviously unconscious) germanophobia by assuring me "we like German/s/y, BUT…".
That reminds me a little bit on those "criticising" not Jews ("I am no anti-Semite"), but the state of Israel ("I am anti-Zionist"); being, of course, just a thin veil for hating anything Jewish. (1)
]"nonsensical arguments"
Thank you, same to you.
]"No doubt you believe the state should issue scads of debt free paper money as well."
ARE YOU INSANE?
The sentence before you are referring to "nonsensical arguments" and now you insinuate something that I never said, advocated or even gave a hint to?
As I said before, I have no problem with ARGUMENTS being exchanged. But what shall I do with insinuations??
] "The 'state' run by the 'people' is an unmitigated good."
I think I made clear that I am neither in favour of democracy, nor of big government.
] "No doubt you believe Bismarck embodied the 'will' of his 'people' and was a 'patriot.'"
Not sure what you are talking about. Bismarck was a politician, as such he is negatively tainted from the start, of course.
However, I once again want to remind you that we are talking about the 19th century. That means
- small government (5% share of GDP)
- free trade
- stable currencies (gold / silver standard)
- rule of law(2), intact property rights
- parliaments and constitutions (yes!), but with a three-class franchise as in
Prussia (weighted votes roughly according to the tax burden) and somewhat lesser restrictions in other elections, albeit never for women.(3)
That makes Bismarck NOT an advocate of big government, but an agent to accomplish unification, and it renders your "Bismarck was an authoritarian" rant pointless, as there is simply no basis for that.
Is "national greatness" problematic in itself?
Yes it is, and I dealt with it. Why do you not bother to notice?!?
So I do not object to your "small is beautiful" paradigm.
However, even in its unified form the German Empire was NOT aggressive. It was feared because of its economic success and it was simply HATED.
Now, that puts German politicians and the common German of that time in an awkward position: should Germany back down, ie make itself smaller, just to pose no threat and thereby placate the French (Napoleon III) or the British Empire?
Interesting stuff when you think about it and yes, it is like squaring the circle. Bismarck was able to juggle all this, his successors were not.
And YET, the Germans were not aggressive even afterwards; they were less aggressive than the imperialistic Brits, the land-grabbing Yanks (Texas etc, Cuba, the Philippines, you name it) or the supremacist French. What those nations did, though, beginning in the late 19th century, was heating up the propaganda and fabricating LIES. And as history is written by the victors, these lies are continued to this day.
] "Yes he made Germany a great world power by integrating various principalities. But for what end? Societies, as we have long argued, are better for their citizens when they are decentralized. Empire is last gasp of freedom."
But that does not exonerate France etc. from seeking the destruction of Germany (and Habsburg, by the way).
Moreover, there IS such a thing as national traits, contrary to the current propaganda. And certain quarters of the global Elites are still fanning German hatred.
And I do think that this guy (Veinotte) has fallen prey to this anti-German sentiment. That the Prussian Gymnasiums (which were visited by only small percentage of boys anyway) were 'pillars of the Prussian war machine' is outright nonsense. Which means that he (Veinotte) is badly informed and he is wrong. Pure and simple.
] "Societies that are culturally homogenous to the degree that their participants wish it"
Interesting how you put it. So do you really think there are society WISHING to be more 'diverse' as they feel "too homogenous"? Frankly, I see multiculturalism past and present only as being imposed from above; currently by the neo-Marxist hegemon.
] "Bismarck's giganticism."
It is now the last time I try to explain it. Maybe Bismarck was PORTRAYED by his enemies as a megalomaniac. He was, in fact, not. How do you refute an accusation that is pure invention? Certainly he was ambitious, and he was an intellectual. At the same time he was a happy conservative and a devout protestant… I had a reason advising you to read a proper biography before making assertions!
] "your arguments are also of the sort that are used within the 'Hitler is a great man meme.'"
Yeah. Always good to muffle the opponent, right? Godwin's law holds!
I did not compare Bismarck with Hitler. Moreover, I said YOU engage in some kind of retrograde (beginning with the end) historiography which I personally abhor.
I see your point, however. It proved to be tragic for the Germans to be put on the Map of Empires, so to speak.(5) However, to blame Bismarck for that is -and I am repeating myself- anti-Germanism in disguise: though it is technically correct that a fragmented Germany did not pose a threat to anyone(6), it was the deliberate act of Germany's enemies to destroy Germany, facilitated by the ineptitude of Bismarck's successors and the political class associated with them.
The reason why I am so agitated is that the pattern shows up again right NOW: the dear "friends" of Germany are busily trying to manoeuvre the Germans in the corner so as to lay the blame for the failure of the Euro etc. on them. Don't you see that?(7)
Now, what is your advice? To pay up -time and again- just to placate their "friends"? Go bankrupt so as to prove that even Germany can't rescue a rotten currency like the Euro? (8)
When you look at the propaganda being disseminated today there is EVERY reason to be suspicious of the official allegations of what Germany has done wrong in the past; or as you would say: beware of directed history! And that is the reason I am using simple and plain words to describe what happened: propaganda, lies, hatred. And once again, as it is part and parcel of everything we read, see and hear, we oftentimes fall prey to this propaganda unconsciously. As does Mr Veinnotte.
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(1) Like German hatred, masked as critique of Prussia. Whether such a thing like "anti-Semitism" exists etc. I do not want to explore here. It is just an analogon I want to draw, referring to a popular and bogus differentiation
(2) Yes, I know TBDs stance on state-imposed laws. However, in those days laws and their enforcement were not perverted (by processes which is here not the place to explain) as they are today
(3) Sorry my female elves, that's a good thing. The rise of socialism and women's voting power is no coincidence.
(4) For reasons that are worthwhile to discuss, but may not be within the scope of TDB.
(5) I might add that Empires facility collectivism. It is strange but true that the empire under Wilhelm II was a hotbed of marxist thinking; as "Kathedersozialismus" it got recognition from the political establishment and the Kaiser himself.
(6) But would it have survived? We do not know.
(7) Who is to blame for Greece's woes? - Germany! Who does not enough to "defend" the Euro? - Germany! Who profits from the "Euro crisis"? - Germany! And so on and so forth.
(8) Not to be mistaken, Germany will go bankrupt (formally, they HAVE BEEN actually already for a long time) along with the rest of the paper currency world anyway.
Reply from The Daily Bell
You make plenty of insinuations in your response about DB and we reject them.
We hold the Germanic culture to be a courageous and even uncannily brilliant one. The German tribes helped defeat Rome and these 80 million people (now) continue to have extraordinary impacts on the world today. The City of London - where the problems originate in our view - hates and fears them.
As far as Hitler goes, we got tired of reading what a great man he was about 15 years ago when we cancelled our Barnes subscription.
Like Bismarck, he was a politician who believed in the Iron and Blood of state power. We don't admire this approach to polity no matter where it is practiced, especially in the US which is essentially doomed in our humble opinion from some of the same sorts of policies as those that Bismarck was advocating (and later Hitler).
We rarely agree with our barnacle-like commentator Memehunter on anything, but even a broken clock is correct twice every 24 hours. He may have had a point in writing that Bismarck was an agent of the elites and gathered Germany together preparatory to a larger war.
We've hypothesized that the entire colonial period was a similar endeavor. First tribes, then nations, then world government.
We cannot speak for Veinotte, but we think Bismarck's authoritarianism did considerable damage to the fabric of German culture and helped set the stage for two world wars.
As far anti-German sentiment, please go elsewhere to find it. We are ardent fans of German civil society. It's the creeping authoritarianism we despise.
It's getting worse in Germany. But here's a cheerful thought: As bad as it is there, the Germans have a far ways to travel to catch up to Britain and the US ...
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Posted by Clearance on 04/03/12 08:57 AM
@memehunter
True, the Kulturkampf meant inner turmoil and, ultimately, defeat to Bismarck (likewise, he could not keep the socialists at bay).
But what does it say about the Germans?
Yes, that they were a very diverse people, with different beliefs and a huge range of backgrounds, customs, dialects and the like. (I agree, by the way, that 2 years compulsory army duty [=draft] is much too long.*)
As to 1888 ('Dreikaiserjahr') and Frederick III I am not sure what you want to say to me. The German Reichstag, after its constitution 1871, had budget authority from the start.
The power of the Kaiser stemmed from his right to appoint the Reichskanzler (chief of government). After the Daily Telegraph Affair 1908 he (the Kaiser) was relegated to a more or less purely ceremonial figure.
This 'uh-oh, Wilhelm II is such a nasty, stupid nationalist' is just another meme perpetrated by German's enemies and willingly swallowed by non-thinkers around the world.
HINT: I am not going to do your homework; therefore, let me recommend 'Rites of Spring: The Great War and the Birth of the Modern Age' by Modris Eksteins, a Canadian historian about the 'dark age of Wilhelminism'.
* and yet, they served THEIR country. Do you know what I mean? Not some foreign controlled Elite or NWO entity in charge of destroying(!) its own people, as is currently the case (PLEASE, contradict me! I -I!- am open for arguments!).
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Posted by Clearance on 04/03/12 08:55 AM
@TDB
It is telling that not a single one of my arguments is being dealt with.
From your quotations I can only (indirectly) infer that you do not agree with my assertion that Bismarck stands NOT in line with Wilhelm II or Hitler.
Now, please state to me in no uncertain terms: do you think Bismarck was a fascist, a brute totalitarian or not? Don't skirt the issue!
Question: have you ever read a biography of Bismarck?
No?
Yes?
If you did, you never, NEVER would bring these tidbits out of context as 'proof' that Bismarck was a ghastly animal. You lazy German-hater!
See, as I am a polite person I will make up for your laziness and show you what I find 'admirable' about Bismarck-
- in 1862 the Prussian Landtag refused to approve a higher budget for military expenses. The then King, Wilhelm I, saw this as an insult and wanted to resign.
Yes, Wilhelm I was a law-abiding ruler who respected the constitution.
Bismarck thought otherwise and simply ruled without the 'talking shop' a.k.a Parliamant for the time being. However, he DID have deep loyalties - not for the newly established parliaments (he vividly experienced the 1848 revolution) but for his King and the monarchy.
To me, this seems to be no bad choice (see H.-H. Hoppe, 'Democracy: the God who failed').
- yes, he later forbid the Marxists ("Sozialdemokraten"). Question to you, my dear TDB: what is wrong in forbidding nihilistic ie Marxist parties? To be sure, this move was even at that time highly controversial and deemed ineffective.
Now, dear DB elves, how many 'Social Democrats' (public enemies) were incarcerated? How many sent to prison camps? To labour camps? Shot?
'justified' the annihilation of Habsburg, for example) -never honoured-, the foundations of the Leage of Nations or the United Nations. Yes indeed, the breakup of the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Sudan etc. happened in the same vein.
WHY DO YOU DENY THAT FOR THE GERMANS?
Tell me! Come forward! Don't be shy!
And then tell me about all the 'ugly' things happening back then. E.g.,
- public spending / taxation level (HINT: [ 10%)
- literacy rate
- trade barriers
- inflation
- etc.
Would you be so kind to 'lecture' me on that?
One of Veinotte's friends, Stephan Molyneux, has seen through the propaganda: Germans are a scapegoat, the victim of a cabal, perpetrated by the very same powers TDB writes so relentlessly about (see one of his Freedomain Radio issues).
In a strange twist of the 'law of unintended consequences', one could label the Germans as the new Jews…
==============================
Which leads me to the most important question four you, TDB: what do you think of ethnic homogeneity within a nation state? Is it desirable? Or should it be destroyed?
In the 1960s, the portion of ethnic non-Germans born in Germany was…
…0 (zero) percen
In 2010, it was 30%, thanks to state-sponsored immigration.
What do you think of that? Is genocide OK (as long as it concerns Germans)?
==============================
Finally, let me once again wonder about your deeply ingrained anti-German bias.
Do not many Americans have German roots? What about them? Why are they so spineless? Did they surrender to the ubiquitous anti-German brainwashing?
Could you ever, EVER imagine Jews spitting on their heritage, for example... ?
Reply from The Daily Bell
You are yet another person appearing seemingly from nowhere to attack DB with nonsensical arguments. "Interesting" perspective you have. No doubt you believe the state should issue scads of debt free paper money as well. And that the "state" run by the "people" is an unmitigated good. No doubt you believe Bismarck embodied the "will" of his "people" and was a "patriot."
In fact, generally, we are generally fans of German culture and society. Just recently we mentioned that one of the reason for British attempts to subdue the Germans twice in one century might have to do with the superiority of German science, mathematics, arts, etc. This was the result pehaps of the Germans not adopting stifling copyright the way the British did.
We have nothing against Germans. You'd know that if you had actually ever read DB instead of just dropping in to conveniently attack. The City of London is responsible for a good many of the problems of the world.
But ... there are significant problems with Bismarck and your arguments are also of the sort that are used within the "Hitler is a great man meme."
Neither of these two are admirable in our view, anymore than Churchill, British royalty, etc. They are all centralizers and believers in state power. Bismarck too.
Yes he made Germany a great world power by integrating various principalities. But for what end? Societies, as we have long argued, are better for their citizens when they are decentralized. Empire is last gasp of freedom.
Societies that are culturally homogenous to the degree that their participants wish it and are modest of size and without much exposure to the state are a good deal more preferable in our humble view to Bismarck's giganticism.
Now if you can prove to us that Bismarck was a closet libertarian and believed in freedom, the rights of people to be left alone, uninvolved in state mandated brutality, education etc. we might change our minds.
Can you?
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Posted by Jeanna on 04/02/12 02:55 PM
After witnessing the ignorance of my children's teachers, I decided to school them at my office while running the family business. I was able to set aside one office as a class room, establish the daily lessons, and while they did the daily work I was back in my office attending my daily tasks.
Not many parents are able to blend their work days with teaching their children as I was. Other parents make a huge sacrifice to live on one salary while one parent stays home to teach the children. Or, they decide to let the gov't schools babysit the children while the parents work during the day, and then re-teach the kids at night.
The gov't has made it very difficult for parents to choose to educate outside the gov't system. But, I see a new future for education that will bring on a natural collapse of the state schooling system. The Khan Academy is an example of a free, on-line, lesson-based program that is expanding daily. Lessons are offered in basic and advanced subject matters that are currently being used as tutorials.
The natural progression will be to utilize these lessons to gain an accreditation level for testing at third-party accredited organizations. You've mastered algebra, trig, geometry, pre-calc... . take the basic math test, and receive the credit. Add the credits for Literature, Writing, Sciences, etc. and you have a recognized and official education profile. Much like accountants do now who have earned their CPA through accredited testing.
I think there is much hope for the future.
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Posted by memehunter on 04/02/12 02:13 PM
I don't necessarily want to defend Veinotte's views on the Prussian educational system, but I do think that Bismarck is a very controversial figure (and if anything I would consider myself a Germanophile).
I wrote the following on the Sheldon Richman interview (Oct 16, 2011):
Click to view link
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Posted by memehunter on 10/16/11 02:45 AM
I believe that one of the reasons why Bismarck sought state control of the educational system (perhaps in addition to what DB mentions among forming soldiers, which is an interesting idea that I've not seen mentioned outside DB - I would be curious to see any references) was to reduce the role of the Catholic Church in particular. This was part of the famous "Kulturkampf" of the 1860-70s in Germany.
From Wikipedia:
Click to view link
The Kulturkampf launched by Bismarck in 1872 affected Prussia; although there were similar movements in Baden and Hesse the rest of Germany was not affected. According to the new imperial constitution, the states were in charge of religious and educational affairs; they funded the Protestant and Catholic schools. In July 1871 Bismarck abolished the Catholic section of the Prussian Ministry of ecclesiastical and educational affairs, depriving Catholics of their voice at the highest level. The system of strict government supervision of schools was applied only in Catholic areas; the Protestant schools were left alone.
[end of quote]
The Jesuits and other Catholic orders were also expelled from Germany in 1872 under Bismarck's administration.
Given that Bismarck was himself a high-level Freemason (apparently involved with Pike and Mazzini), a hyper-conspiratorial view of history might see Bismarck's role as that of purposefully unifying Germany and preparing it for World War I as part of the elites' long-term plans for the 20th century (increasing the role of the State,as Bismarck did, would certainly fit in with that view).
More "directed history" which fits in with this hyper-conspiratorial view:
After the death of Kaiser William I, Frederick III inherited the throne in 1888. He was a strong opponent of Bismarck and was married to a British princess with similar views - in short, not the right recipe for an upcoming World War. He reigned for only 99 days, after dying (apparently) of a throat cancer.
From Wikipedia:
Click to view link
Frederick married Princess Victoria, eldest daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. The couple were well matched; their shared liberal ideology led them to seek greater representation for commoners in the government. Frederick, in spite of his conservative militaristic family background, had developed liberal tendencies as a result of his ties with Britain and his studies at the University of Bonn. As the Crown Prince, he often opposed the conservative Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, particularly in speaking out against Bismarck's policy to unite Germany through force and in urging for the power of the position of Chancellor to be curbed. Liberals in both Germany and Britain hoped that as emperor, Frederick III would move to liberalize the German Empire.
[... ]
The timing of Frederick's death and the length of his reign are important topics among historians. The premature demise of Frederick III is considered a potential turning point in German history; and whether or not he would have made the Empire more liberal if he had lived longer is still discussed.
[end of quotes]
"The premature demise of Frederick III is considered a potential turning point in German history". Indeed. Was this a natural death? I have my doubts...
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Posted by dandepriest on 04/02/12 11:54 AM
Mr. Veinotte had me on almost everything. But when he said this:
". . . if it's used for Rick Santorum purposes - to shield children from reason and reality - I strongly oppose that."
it struck me that he is doing the very thing for which he rightfully criticizes government school. He appears to be perpetuating the popular meme that Christian home-schoolers like Santorum, fear the world and especially science for their children's sake and intend to guard them from influence by them. I'm not a Santorum supporter but Veinotte has no idea what Santorum's full motives are for his children. I think Santorum is another statist republican when it comes to governing the rest of us. But I would imagine he wants his own children to be powerful thinkers and hopes they will share his convictions as adults. The meme that to be an Evangelical Christian you must have a leashed mind is totally unfair and inaccurate. Some of the greatest advances in science and literature have historically come from educated Christian minds that saw the cosmos as rationally designed by a rational God and thus to them it was comprehensible and discoverable. Why must we now assume the worst about a Christian worldview?
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Posted by AnarchoLibertine on 04/02/12 10:17 AM
B.V. is awesome... I've thoroughly enjoyed listening to his podcast series.
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Posted by Joe on 04/02/12 10:10 AM
"In this way the current sociopolitical and economic system is self-selecting, with sociopaths who are the most willing to participate rising the fastest and going the farthest."
If this is true, then the system is doomed to collapse, all the people in high positions are 'the same' type... and they are unable to function in new and changing situations... they need to keep their system static (or statist) to continue... yet history has not ended and human sponteneous action which brings the unknown into play is always a possibility.
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Posted by Clearance on 04/02/12 03:39 AM
There are several _memes_, as DB would call it, disseminated here.
I read about the "Horace Mann adopted the Prussian fascist schooling system" meme in the 'net before and I am disgusted to read about this here on the Daily Bell, too.
You German-hating American Yankee bigots!
First and foremost advice: learn history properly. TheDaily Bell, although -if I am correct- (at least technically) based in Switzerland, gives a damn about Europe - or European history, for that matter. Reminds me of Max Keiser, who claims to offer an 'alternative view' out of Paris / France for the (mainly) American Viewer; however, all he is doing in things Europe is rehashing the superficial American (Jewish?) "understanding" of history.
Which goes by this, roughly: Germans are fascist and evil and have ever been, which can be seen by the fact that, er, they are Germans. Hitler was fascist. Wilhelm II. Bismarck.
Doesn't such a people deserve to be hated? To be thrown into war(s)?
You ignorant, racist idiots out there. This whole paragraph is repulsive and disgusting:
"Bismarck was a Prussian aristocrat, credited with masterminding the German Unification under Prussian rule in the latter half of the 1800s. He was like a brilliant chess player; he thought way ahead. However, like Hitler many generations later, he was able utilize an already existing momentum of German thought to ultimately achieve his goals.
Key to Bismarck's plan was a popular embrace of nationalism and a strong ethnic identity. At the time Bismarck began to implement his plans, the schools had been building that momentum for at least two generations. The success of his 'Blood and Iron' speech speaks to the impact the schools were already having. In this speech, he criticized the ideas of diplomacy and multilateral decision-making, and argued instead for concentrated power and military aggression. And the people, who were ultimately the victims of this agenda, happily embraced it.'
SHAME ON YOU!
This is vulgar backward historiography commonly found by the mainstream "anti-fascist" publishing establishment.
How evil and bad this Prussian educational system was! Right?
Produced most of the Nobel laureates at the time. Propelled German industry and engineering to No. 1 in the world (90% of the chemical industry was German). Lead to inventions and patents coming mostly out of Germany (which were happily stolen by the allies after WW I).
This with just 50.000 students enrolled IN TOTAL all over the German empire in 1910.
With a multitude of schools and, yes, experiments (Waldorf, Montessori, etc... you name it; Germans seem to have penchant for pedagogics).
An yet, the educational level of a _Volksschüler_ at his time was almost certainly higher than that of an (American) high schooler of today!
Reply from The Daily Bell
From the Age of the Sage ....
"In September 1862 there was a crisis in Prussia where the Prussian Landtag, or lower parliamentary house, was refusing to approve increased military spending in defiance of the King's wishes. King Wilhelm I was advised by his Minister of War, Roon, to send for Bismarck as a formidable personality who might secure the passing of the military budget in the Landtag."
From Wikipedia ...
"The position of Prussia in Germany will not be determined by its liberalism but by its power ... Prussia must concentrate its strength and hold it for the favorable moment, which has already come and gone several times. Since the treaties of Vienna, our frontiers have been ill-designed for a healthy body politic. Not through speeches and majority decisions will the great questions of the day be decided - that was the great mistake of 1848 and 1849 - but by iron and blood (Eisen und Blut)."
"Although Bismarck was an outstanding diplomat, the phrase "blood and iron" has become a popular description of his foreign policy partly because he did on occasion resort to war in a highly effective manner to aid in the unification of Germany and the expansion of its continental power."
You find this admirable?
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Posted by the_IRF on 04/02/12 02:07 AM
Sorry, everyone. The educational philosophy of New Hampshire was, in 1956, supposed to be Rogerian, not Youngian. Brain freeze ... so don't yell at me too much. Still, no beer for this puppy tonight, right?
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Posted by the_IRF on 04/02/12 02:00 AM
"Here's a fellow who has traveled through the indoctrination of the current pedagogy and figured out a way to make a living that doesn't stifle his voice or sense of fair play. That's an accomplishment of itself." Yup.
"Veinotte is someone, in our view, who epitomizes this trend and we thank him for the good work he is doing. Every child salvaged from the viciousness of state-run schooling is a victory for decency and the potential of the human spirit." Yup.
Get that man a beer ! ! !
It may not be remembered now, but under the Eisenhower Administration, the Youngian philosophy brought forth the idea that there was just too much information to absorb (rote memory learning, etc.) and that schooling ought to teach youth how to think, if there were to be an enduring support for the Country's future. ONLY New Hampshire adopted this educational approach in 1956. To what degree this is happening as truth on the ground, i don't know, but i believe it is still, formally, the State's educational philosophy.
As an attempt at forwarding this principal of learning how to think, NH was chosen as the test site for the "New Math" project out of Harvard back in 1956. My Northern New Hampshire elementary school was one of the target sites and we had unbound, printed work-books to learn from ... and in which we as first through third graders came to discover it was our job to find and correct all the mistakes that the professors and PhD and Master students of Harvard were trying to ram down our throats. This carried on through to Chemistry and Biology, and Physics in High School, as well as in English class and to some degree Social Studies, though its principal anchor was always in the math class.
When i went to a Canadian University, i discovered i was, easily, two years behind in my skill-set capabilities ... but by the time i was a Junior my Cambridge University graduated professors were asking how it was that i had gotten so smart that i was teaching the Master Degree candidates how to understand quantum mechanics and thermodynamics, etc.
My point is Live Free Or Die, means something. I am not surprised that Mr. Brett Veinotte has found good soil to grow in there.
As an aside, the change over to the NEW STORY was initiated by a new 'pressure' that has arrived, quite contrary to the New Age agenda and completely antipodal to the NWO direction. That 'pressure' of which i speak is driving EVERYTHING toward a its own, personal, mono-vibration. That is the opposite direction of any level of mutual cooperation. As density continues to be shed by the Planet, so too will individuals who are of the appropriate design begin to hear their own personal guidance of inner-Knowing. As the density of this dimension proceeds toward zero and time speeds up to the point that it doesn't exist and the space part of the time\space slowed down expression disappears, then all that will be left are designs that are completely autonomous to self and self alone (self teaching and self expressing and self Experiencing).
Yes, i know this all must sound like the same New Age spiritual hooy stuff, but i just wanted Mr. Veinotte to know what is driving forward his skiff in this ocean of Experience and why that wind is there. "Sally Forth good Pirate, sally forth."
And with that, may i once again raise a toast to Mirthful Irreverence Everywhere.
For an example about density being released from this dimension and the unwinding of the NWO horse-pucky, see:
"ATTENTION : BILDERBERGERS"
{ http://bit.ly/Attention_BILDERBERGERS }
{{ http://bit.ly/ATTENTION-Bildebergers }}
and:
"Iraq War Will Untie Israel's Hold On The World"
Click to view link
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Posted by rossbcan on 04/01/12 07:43 PM
If you mean "consequences to calling THEIR bluffs", No, only one: cowardly silence.
... but, like you, I see the reality of freedom, on all fronts, steamrollering ove slaver "neccessity" (for them)
"Interesting times" is not neccessarily a curse.
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Posted by nithsdale on 04/01/12 07:11 PM
Excellent precis and the author correctly "indicts" the Iron Chancellor Bismarck.
Interestingly, Veinotte left the public system for the private one, then became a one man instructor in circumnavigation of both systems. This is the main problem in dealing with schools. The moment students are consolidated in one place, one room, the system takes over, no matter the sponsor.
Most schools begin as simple propositions... to impart literacy to the young, teach them to read and write and some arithmetic so as to give them the tools to find their own path through life as they encounter ideas others have published. That is where the influence comes in, almost as an after thought. Whoever and whatever suggests a particular tome is going to recommend what he or she or it thinks is good. There is no reform on earth that can change that fact. It does not mean collusion or conspiracy is at work in that action. Even those who claim coherent action cannot find a remedy for this.
Mr. Veinotte is an idealist and joins a host of others through the ages who have tried to reform these basic facts. Every school, public or private, began as an experiment in trying to get students to think for themselves but ran into the real problems when the students ask "what should I read now and where should I go". As school populations increase, the question becomes more direct... "I don't want to read anymore and I just want to get out of here!"
I feel for every reformer!
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Posted by Hoss on 04/01/12 06:29 PM
"... the brightest are tracked into specialized professions, having been trained that only experts in their fields can understand those fields they defer to others who are identified as experts. This leads to a fragmentation of knowledge and the failure of the brightest people to understand the whole picture. The less bright people are trained to be managers and the very bright end up managed by the not as bright. The system is quite ingenious in that people chain themselves with their own minds. That is how many are ruled by few."
Nice.
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Posted by budwood on 04/01/12 06:27 PM
Laura:
You are certainly correct. It is damaging to most young children to be sentenced to 12 years of being used to justify benefits for those who run government schools. But, as you have experienced, it is what is expected because "that's the way we've always done things".
I was somewhat fortunate but have wasted a lot of time being relegated to the slow learning which public schools need to maintain. This idea of "no child left behind" essentially says "no child can get any education beyond the lowest common denominator". It's rather arrogant to display that phrase, "If you can read this, thank a teacher". I could read that when I started in the first grade because my home was a learning place. But public schools taught me that one could goof-off and still get by. Obviously such lowers expectations for all public school attendees (probably including members of teachers' unions).
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Posted by NAPpy on 04/01/12 06:26 PM
Great interview, DB.
It's nice to see acknowledgment of just how bad public schools are, and acknowledgement that choice is the solution--whether that be home schooling, unschooling, private schools, etc.
I'd recommend interviews with Wes Bertrand and Stefan Molyneux, and the topic of the psychology of liberty.
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Posted by EdwardUlyssesCate on 04/01/12 05:54 PM
What a timely subject. In 3/31/2012 Wall Street Journal editorial, page A13, there was a commentary [How California's Colleges Indoctrinate Students] "A new report on the UC system documents the plague of politicized classrooms. The problem is national in scope."
This opinion-page commentary highlights a document published by the National Association of Scholars: [A Crisis in Competence] found here:
Click to view link
"One study after another has found that they write badly, can't reason, can't read any reasonably complex material, have alarming gaps in their knowledge of the history and institutions of the society in which they live, and are in general poorly prepared for the post-college workplace." (Page 60)
This report confirms that Aldous Huxley told the truth back in 1962
in his "Ultimate Revolution" speech at Berkeley, which was one of the universities this report concerns.
"That we are in process of developing a whole series of techniques which will enable the controlling oligarchy who have always existed and presumably will always exist to get people to love their servitude."
Sadly enough, it looks like Mission Accomplished.
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