Horseshoes Anyone? It Depends.

 I find that in political discussions my positions are often opposed by both Right and Left.  A current example:  I adamantly support Israel, its position on the war, on Gaza, and on its right to exist.  I also adamantly support the right to protest in favor of Palestine, Gaza, and against Jews, even though I find such views abhorrent.  I supported the Harvard president in her testimony about the Harvard student protests and oppose Rep. Stefanic and others who are keen on silencing her and other university presidents who testified.  I find Stefanic to be doing exactly what she condemns the Left for doing – trying to silence those views with which she disagrees.

This sort of hypocrisy from both Right and Left which is more and more the norm these days along with the denial from both sides that they do what they condemn the other side for doing, is more than annoying, but even worse is the fact that so few are willing to see or acknowledge it.  The extremes of both sides are dug in against one another and yet cannot see that they and their enemy are more alike than they are different.

Trying to explain this in the context of political discussions with individuals who clearly identify with Right or Left is difficult.  But recently I was reminded of the horseshoe theory of politics, and that indeed is a perfect explanation.  Moreover, it leads me to realize that if this dynamic of our politics continues we absolutely must see the development of a strong third party (perhaps as the two extremes merge into one?) if our country as we know it is to survive.

The Horseshoe Theory

The horseshoe theory holds that the political spectrum, rather than being shaped as a straight line, is in the shape of a horseshoe.  The center of the horseshoe represents the political center and as you move upward toward the end of either side you will move more and more to the Right or the Left until you reach the end of each side where reside the Far Right and Far Left. 

You will note that these ends of the horseshoe bend toward one another indicating, according to this theory, that the Far Right and Far Left, rather than being at opposite ends of a linear continuum, approach and are really quite similar to one another.

While this theory is often criticized for being too simplistic, I think that it is worth thinking about, if for no other reason than to try to objectively view one’s own viewpoint in contrast and comparison with that of one’s own political foes.

What makes the extremes similar while still appearing different?

The commonly used example of sameness is Communism (Left, strong central state, work for common good) and Fascism (Right, strong central state, work for the common good).  There are of course differences: Communist ideals include a classless society with economic equality while Fascism includes a top-down class system and rule by dictator. 

But we can certainly come up with more topical concrete examples. Consider identity politics.  The Left likes to identify people based on certain characteristics and then label these groups as victim or victimizer (e.g. white vs. black, male vs. female, rich vs. poor, etc.).  The Right complains about such identity politics and yet it also uses this approach as it condemns members of groups that advocate (usually progressive) ideas that the Right opposes (thus, enemy groups include LGBTQ, anti-traditional religion, abortion advocates, etc.). 

Again, there are differences, not only with the specifics, but Left identity groups tend to be based upon external and often immutable characteristics  while the Right’s placement of someone in an identity group more often begins with a belief that they hold that is contrary to that held by the Right.  But regardless, the end result is that both Left and Right create identity groups and then either embrace or condemn all those whom they have placed into that group.

For both Far Right and Far Left, a person’s color affects the group’s perception of them.  The Left sees white people as oppressors and racists while people of color are seen as victims of that oppression.  The Right condemns people of color for what they see as taking advantages including jobs, education, etc. from white people due to affirmative action type programs.  Both Far Right and Far Left reduce individuals to a perceived group identity.

Cancel culture and free speech are other areas in which the Far Right and Far Left are more similar than different.  The Left will gladly justify the silencing of those holding views contrary to their progressive values; for example, they will gladly shout down a pro-life or anti-transgender speaker but will assert the rights of protesters to call for the annihilation of Jews.   Meanwhile, the Right will attempt to silence those who protest or support the right to protest for Palestine and Hamas but will demand the freedom of speech for advocates against progressive ideals.  The Right condemns the Left for censorship and silencing in various areas such as vaccine debates.  Yet the Right would silence progressive views by condemning and banning books relating to gender identity.

Both sides will assert the Constitution and the First Amendment free speech right as their support for their approved speech, but they seem to forget those things when they wish to silence speech with which they don’t agree.

In deciding whether Trump should be allowed to appear on primary ballots, the Far Right suddenly ignores their previous demands that the courts and especially SCOTUS be literalists in their reading of the Constitution and not cave to or interpret the Constitution’s plain and clear language to satisfy popular demand.  Meanwhile, the Left is now looking for a simple reading of the 14^th Amendment within the 4 corners of its language.

Both sides also regularly use ad hominem attacks (directing their opposition and anger against the person rather than the position maintained by that person).  Again, while the precise form or will differ language (e.g. racist, communist, fascist, deplorable, plain stupid etc., all of which and more I have personally been called by both the Left and the Right), the bottom line is that both sides find it easier to engage in name-calling rather than to engage in a rational discussion about their differing views, a discussion in which they begin by acknowledging the other’s right to hold a view different from their own.

A horseshoe?  It depends.

Whether this horseshoe theory works depends on what you are comparing.  If you look at the specifics you can conclude that the theory fails – the sides are nothing alike.  Certainly shouting down a pro-life speaker is nothing like trying to silence someone who yells “from the River to the Sea.”  The words are different, the issue being addressed is different, the people involved are different.  And you may agree with one speech but disagree with the other.

And yet, if we go beyond the surface, they are far more alike than different.  In both cases there is an attempt to deny someone their First Amendment right to speak their opinion.  It denies others of hearing that opinion which in itself goes against one of the cornerstones of our democracy: our form of government demands a free marketplace of ideas where all will be heard and individuals will be left to make up their own minds rather than be told by government or some other majority what they can, cannot, and must believe and what they can and cannot say.

Beyond ignoring this core principle, it also violates the tolerance that is a necessary characteristic if our free society is to succeed.

Claudine Gay was attacked for saying “it depends on context” in regard to whether the pro-Palestinian protests violated her school’s code of conduct.  But that is exactly what a good American should say.  As a mentor of mine recently stated:

[S]everal decades of "critical thinking" being taught in junior and senior high schools didn't seem to deal appropriately with the meaning of "critical" in the context.   The guy who taught my [children] in the so-called "gifted" program would just review whatever he had heard on NPR on the drive to school.  

Remember my admonition to [pre-law] students - every question you are going to face should be answered, in the first instance with two words - "It Depends".   Instead each side gets its thinking orders from Fox or MSNBC and then proceeds to see everything through that lens.  All surface.

In the case of the protests and conduct codes, one would have to look at the actual activity and the language of the codes to understand whether this was within the context of speech which, though abhorrent, was within the First Amendment rights of the students to utter, or was this more, perhaps combined with actual violence or immediate threats thereof?  If we allow the silencing of speech alone, no matter how abhorrent, in essence we are advocating the end to the protections of the First Amendment for all Americans. 

It all depends. Not just determining free speech rights, but in determining most of the underlying issues of our day and of our country.   It does often depend on context.   But core rights such as free speech should not depend upon one’s view or on the speech being uttered.  Yet for too many on both the Far Right and Far Left, freedom of speech depends upon what is being spoken. 

That hypocritical ability to view the same core concepts differently depending upon what one is seeking to accomplish is the similarity that drives the two political extremes to become almost as one.  While their stated goals may be different, their means are the same and both conflict with our core democratic principles.

Think

Good Americans think.  They ask why.  The extremes of both the right and the left are too wrapped up in themselves and their mandatory causes to understand the phrase “it depends.”  They don’t think, or if they do, they don’t understand that issues can be more complex than a simple yes or no, black or white, up or down, day or night. Yet if they apply this thought process to their own views as well as those of others, they may realize that they are often doing exactly that for which they condemn their opponents.

So, if we go beyond the surface, if we look beyond the overt details to the deeper concepts directing various actions, we will likely see far more similarity than difference between the two extremes of the political spectrum.

I think it is that deeper conversation that desperately needs to be had in America today.  People need to think and ask why rather than simply accept what they are told and the soundbites they repeat from their chosen news source.  That conversation can only be had if the conversants understand the why underlying the positions they assert.  Otherwise, when their position is countered they likely feel threatened because they don’t really understand the position that they are parroting and so a simple contradiction of their position and memorized phrases becomes almost a contradiction of themselves.  It is impossible to reason and explain a position that is merely memorized but not understood. 

When the focus becomes upon only the surface dissimilarities rather than the suggestion of complexity, any hope of real understanding is likely to dissolve and become something akin to a playground dispute.   If forced to look at the deeper concepts the response is likely either to attack not the ideas of the counterargument, but rather to attack the bearer of the unmemorized, considered idea, or to simply run away.

The Parties – not for most Americans

The horseshoe theory is a somewhat simplistic way of viewing politics and political parties, but it is a good place to begin to review one’s own views as well as those of one’s opponents.

Both the Republican and the Democrat parties currently seem in large part controlled by their extremes. It would be more likely that they merge into one than that they actually distinguish themselves on underlying principles.  In the end, both sides seek power to control the rest of society – individual thoughts, beliefs, and actions would all fall under their control.   While what might be allowed or condemned would differ, both would take away individual right and responsibility to choose.  That is not American, not traditional and not progressive.

Indeed, both extremes are more than willing to dismiss the Constitution, the rule of law, and any number of core American principles to ensure that all individuals conform to what they think is proper and good.   That is not America, traditional or progressive.

I think that, divorced from their chosen Right or Left newsfeeds, most Americans would fall somewhere near the middle of the horseshoe, rising a bit to the Right on some things, to the Left on others.  But we have given those Americans (including myself) nowhere to go.  If both the current major parties are but two sides of the same extreme then Americans are almost forced to take sides against one another rather than work together for solutions to serious problems. 

We need a middle party.  A strong middle party, not just a third party stealer but a real party that represents the vast number of Americans who find themselves standing on one or the other end of the horseshoe – a place where they really don’t want to be.

2024

It is almost, but not yet, too late for the appearance of a candidate who fits more to the middle of the horseshoe.  It could come from a third party or it could come from one or both of the major parties.  Donald Trump or Joe Biden (or hopefully both) could be replaced by candidates more representative of the middle, candidates who have slid down from those horseshoe extremes to a point of moderation that allows them to represent the policy positions of their party in reasonable ways, avoiding the extremism and lack of cooperation and compromise that are the destructive stance of both parties today.

We can only hope.

Israel

Saturday morning when the terrorist attacks on Israel by Hamas began, the world changed.  There is the world before Simchat Torah 5784 and the world after.  And there is the transition zone which, sadly, is where we are now.

We are not only on the brink of World War 3, but we have people cheering for annihilation of not only Israel but of all the Jews.  Pro-Palestinian protestors around the globe, including right here in the USA, shout “Kill the Jews”, “Gas the Jews”, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” (meaning that the entire State of Israel, between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea will be destroyed). 

The history and facts of Israel from times before Christ to the present, do not support or justify the claims by Palestine against Israel.  An objective recitation of this history is hard, but not impossible, to find these days and I wish that more people would study it.  But, even assuming that the claims against Israel were true, even if one chooses to see Palestinians as some sort of victims of Israel, and even if they choose to mount pro-Palestinian protests, it does not justify supporting the heinous, violent, and inhuman acts committed by the Hamas terrorists.

We have totally lost our moral compass.   The bleeding hearts, who want to excuse every offense and create offenses where none exist, still cannot bring themselves to distinguish a terrorist from someone with an alleged grievance.  To do so would disrupt their utopian false truth; they cannot see that their utopic vision is not and never will be a reality.  And yet their hearts are cold as stone towards the atrocities committed against Jews.  That, in my book, is clear antisemitism.

The Current Dysfunction

How did we come to this point?  The answer to that has many layers.  We can start with the present which includes the current administration’s completely dysfunctional international policies and actions. America has gone from a strong international voice for, and beacon of, democracy to a weak and dysfunctional shadow of its former self.

The dysfunction of this administration includes:

• The Afghanistan withdrawal fiasco that allowed terrorists to supply themselves with American weapons.
• A failure to even attempt to understand the Russian view on Ukraine, while pushing Putin into a position where he was left with little choice but to attack Ukraine.
• Supporting not only the military actions in Ukraine but also the corrupt use of American funds to sustain the entire Ukraine economy.
• Failing to support the Abraham Accords and not only allowing but tacitly encouraging the rise in anti-Semitic behavior here and around the world.  
• Providing $6 billion to Iran, knowing that Iran is a supporter of the terrorist acts against Israel.

The press has not been silent, but it carefully edits its words to downplay the fact that Hamas and Hezbollah (also attacking Israel from Lebanon) are terrorist organizations:

• Rather than use the word terrorist they call them simply militant groups.
• The defensive acts of Israel are equated with the unprovoked terrorism of Hamas.
• Israel is blamed for collateral damage of their defensive strikes, but there is little notice that the terrorists intentionally targeted innocents, children, and babies and further that the death they imposed upon those innocents was prolonged with pain and horrendous suffering.
• The media mostly fails to report that while Israel attempts to avoid civilian and other collateral damage, Hamas actually uses civilians and especially children as shields as they place their military sites directly under or above places such as hospitals and schools.

You cannot equate the aggressive and horrendous actions of Hamas with the self-defensive acts of Israel!  Yet too many, whether with or without knowledge of the actual facts, do.

Beyond the Surface – Humanity, Purpose, and Amalek

The misguided and dysfunctional political and media actions only touch the surface.  We live in a country where the people have a voice.  Yet, that voice remains either silent or simply a thoughtless mouthpiece for the buzz words, phrases, and memes of the Left.  How did the American people lose not only their voices but their minds?

An Israeli soldier currently fighting in Gaza referred to his enemy as Amalek.   In the Hebrew Bible, Amalek is both a nation and a nomadic tribe seen to be the arch-rival of ancient Israel.   While the Amalekite nation no longer exists, Jewish wisdom holds that the memory of the devious enemy Amalek lives on in in all forms of antisemitism carried out against Jewish people.

According to Midrash (Hebrew Biblical interpretation) Amalek represents the belief in chance, of the haphazard dictates of “fate” and “destiny,” which oppose the Jewish belief in Divine providence. Amalek’s philosophy negates the concept that there is a purpose to humanity or to creation itself, again the antithesis of Jewish philosophy.   Amalek’s chief weapon is to foment doubt among the faithful.

Regardless of whether one believes in or has even read Judeo-Christian scripture and teachings, I think this description of Amalek provides a wonderful way to characterize and personify much of what we see around us and the causes of this void and valueless place in which the world finds itself today.  

Let’s just take the phrase, “Amalek’s philosophy negates the concept that there is a purpose to humanity.”  All around us we see that human life has become or is becoming meaningless, with no value.  It has become disposable.  Why is it so easy to kill another human being over such simple things as who gets a parking spot?  It is easy if one believes that humanity is meaningless.  And if one’s life is meaningless, why would several lives suddenly have meaning?  Mass shootings, if life is meaningless, then are themselves meaningless; they are easy to carry out if one need feel no guilt about killing what one sees as a purposeless nothing nor compassion for meaningless corpses.  It becomes easy to be only concerned with satisfying one’s own urges at any one moment if anyone who might be hurt by that satisfaction is nothing but meaningless and valueless.

That sentence continues “or [no purpose] to creation itself.”  If there is no purpose to creation, no need to find meaning in something greater than oneself, then, again, there is no need to even have a moral compass let alone consider whether performance of some heinous act might violate it.  Indeed, “Amalek’s chief weapon is to foment doubt among the faithful.” 

The influence of Amalek is seen well beyond Israel and the Jewish faith.  All around us we see people leaving their faith, people who have a huge void within themselves because they have nothing greater than themselves to believe in.  This loss in faith, this loss in human purpose is killing us all.

Will the world awake; will we save ourselves?

What has happened to us as a nation and a world?  We have listened to the voice of Amalek who has led us to doubt who and what we are.  But it is not just our belief in something greater than ourselves that is doubted and lost.  With a loss in faith we have lost all the values that come with that faith.  Our whole culture now leads us to doubt and deny everything that has made us the great nation that we are.   We are led to believe that we can and do take the place of God; that we need nothing but ourselves.  And with that seems to come the belief that we are entitled to whatever we desire regardless of whom that may hurt.

Those who see this as the Utopia they dream of do not want it questioned. They take command over what we learn.  Schools no longer teach children to use their minds to think and critically assess an issue.  We erase history, ignoring not only the sage wisdom that “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” but also the fact that “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” 

We evolve as a society and civilization in part because we learn and grow from the past and in part because we value our purpose as one individual within humanity at large.  And when one has a purpose, one generally sees that purpose as a part of a greater good.  As such, one values human life beyond one’s own selfish being. 

Today’s leaders leave much to be desired.  But we the people also leave much to be desired.  We have stopped thinking.  We have stopped caring.  We have stopped believing.  We are being led by false but devious dreams created by Amalek and many leaders along with their followers whom he represents.  We have lost our purpose and our soul. 

There is time.  The terrorist attacks on Israel have shaken the world as have the reactions to those attacks.  The question is:  Are they enough to shake us all awake from the nihilistic nightmare future that the devious tactics of Amalek have put before us?

Joshua fighting Amalek, A print from the Phillip Medhurst Collection of Bible illustrations in the possession of Revd. Philip De Vere at St. George’s Court, Kidderminster, England.  CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

 

Education requires a questioning interaction – with oneself and with others

 It is easy to give up on America these days.  In considering what we need to move forward I always seem to return to education and the fact that our current education systems do not teach the basic thinking skills that allow individuals to make informed decisions about the direction they would like their country to take.  Indeed, today our education system seems to be more aligned with the narrowness of propaganda than with the open-mindedness that true education requires.

Recently I heard someone on the radio arguing that college is a waste of money because you can learn as much by simply looking up the subjects you would study on Google and reading the information there.

Certainly, one can read up on a subject and in so doing gain information about that subject – that is, learn something about the subject.  But that is not all that education entails and it is not all that occurs in a healthy college environment.  Learning in the sense of acquiring information is but one part of education.  Education also includes reflection both on oneself and on the information being learned, it requires an open mind in coming to information and in listening to views of others about that information.   Most importantly, it requires constant questioning – of the information being presented, of the presenter, and of oneself

Simply acquiring knowledge is not true learning.  Learning and true education have at their core the question “why?”  The student must be taught to ask that question repeatedly, to move step by step into a deeper understanding of the subject being studied and of the understanding of others about that subject. 

In a true educational setting students will be pushed to use “why?” to push themselves to levels of understanding and achievement of which they did not even know they were capable.  They will be asked to address topics with open and curious minds, not minds that are preset or predisposed to merely accept views of others as their own without question. 

Reading or otherwise acquiring information in and of itself does not require thinking and is more likely to simply result in acceptance of the ideas of others.  In contrast, a true teacher will ask a student to question what is read, perhaps to hear other views of the readings presented during a class discussion with other students.  Reading alone does not require the students to articulate their own views about what was read or push the students to stretch their mind to the deeper thinking that discussion with others often does.  Rather, it allows the students to remain in their own world without examining and questioning the values and assumptions of that world.

Those who try to avoid questioning or who try to block the questioning and its resulting mental growth in others are actually quite insecure.  They need a certain and unchanging world in which everyone agrees with their assumptions and beliefs.  (I suspect such is the case of the radio voice I heard – afraid that college might force questioning of his own firmly established views.)

Such people exist on both sides of the political aisle and are always dangerous.  They are the false prophets, the purveyors of propaganda.  They are in many ways the evil opposite of true educators. 

These false prophets tell people what they want to hear; they feed existing fears and provide false solutions.  They demand their students accept what they are told without question, presenting their own view on topics as the one and only acceptable viewpoint.  Their “teaching” provides comfort; it is easy to accept in its certainty. 

True education is anything but comfortable.  It demands that students embrace the discovery and investigation of new ideas, even when that information is painful.  Its lessons can be disturbing as the students explore the depths and uncertainties of their own minds and their world.  It demands that students read beyond superficialities and plunge to depths of understanding that in the end allow a deeper sense of a common humanity that joins us all.

Reading, acquiring information, is only a beginning.  Questioning that reading and being questioned about one’s own ideas about the reading force one to learn and understand rather than simply acquire information.  And interaction with others and their thoughts and understandings about the same information pushes one even further to understand and articulate their own understanding and knowledge about the topic.  Ultimately, this interaction of ideas and ultimately of humanity itself is what a true education will entail.

With that education comes a confidence in who one truly is and about the world in which we all live.  That confidence overcomes the fear of real learning that the propogandists purvey and the cowards accept.

Today in America we have a lot of cowards.  On both sides.  They have dug into their positions and both sides can make arguments supportive of their views.  But what they cannot do is listen to, let alone understand the views of others.  (I note here that understanding does not necessarily require acceptance or a change in one’s own position, but it does result in tolerance.) Too many are afraid to question their own beliefs and who they are and where they are really going – they are imprisoned by their own fears and insecurity, afraid to evolve, denying the humanity that is common to us all. 

True education requires that one not fear human interaction, even with uncomfortable ideas of others.  True education is far more than merely acquiring information.  In true education the student takes the acquired information and is both externally pushed and internally motivated to transform that information into a deeper knowledge of the world, humanity, and one’s place in it; the true student, like all of humanity, is ever evolving and that evolution is reflected in the student’s interactions in the world and with others.

Yet, today, we have teachers who do not educate.  They do not teach their students to think critically – to ask “why?”.  Teachers should delight when a student questions, even and especially when a student questions their own teacher.  But too many of today’s “educators” simply provide information that reflects their own world view and expect students to accept and adopt what they are told without question.  Students are too often punished rather than praised for questioning what they are told.  Too many “educators” are teaching students to become receivers of propaganda, primed to accept the words of false prophets.

The discord and dystopia that we see around us is not going to go away unless and until we once again become real students of our world and our humanity, until we encourage, indeed demand, that education be led by questioning, not simply acquiring.  We must think, ask “why?”, interact with open minds until once again we are able to know ourselves and see our true and common humanity.  This we must teach our children, and this we must model for them as adults.

 

Dumbing Down in the Name of Equity

Education.  It used to be a place where students would not only gain instruction in both general and specific topics.  It was also most importantly where students learned to question and to reason – to do the critical thinking that is necessary not only to expand one’s own mind and reach one’s own potential but is also necessary to understand others in society and to work together with those others to move society and mankind forward.

That is not education today.  Today we only allow students to learn that which meets the approval of a woke culture under its false promise of “equity”.  Questioning what is taught is frowned upon if not overtly disallowed.  No room for new or independent thoughts.  No tolerance for diverse views.

Consider the following examples (just a few of many available): 

·        A Virginia school district has cancelled Dr. Seuss for “racial undertones.”

·        Boston Public Schools are suspending Advanced classes because too many students in them are White or Asian (no evidence that the student makeup is based on any sort of discrimination).

·        English teachers across the country have cancelled Shakespeare as well as Greek classics because of “racism, homophobia, classism.”

·        Tom Sawyer has been cancelled due to racism.

·        Schools regularly condemn, punish, expel students for expressing un-approved views such as anti-abortion beliefs, Christian beliefs, conservative beliefs.  Students are sent home for wearing patriotic clothing displaying such things as the American flag.  A student who called conservative Black spokesperson Candace Owens a “Black trailblazer” was subjected to a schoolwide email condemning the student as racist.

·        The names “Abraham Lincoln” and “George Washington” have been removed from schools in California.

·        Schools are replacing traditional American history with the 1619 Project curriculum.  Written not by history scholars but by biased journalists, the 1619 curriculum “aims to reframe the country's history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans at the very center of the United States' national narrative.”  It teaches that our entire country is based on a hatred of Whites toward Blacks.  It denounces the actual proven and factual history of our country as false and racist.  The premises of the 1619 Project have been shown to be erroneous.

·        More generally history instruction has taken a turn whereby America is seen to be an evil creation of White supremacists.  Students learn they should have no pride in their country.  White students are told they should be ashamed of their whiteness and feel guilt simply because they are White.

·        Critical Race Theory training, something that is notably both racist and inaccurate, is also a central part of public-school curriculums.  It focuses on instilling the belief that Whites are racist and that White supremacy is a continuing and systemic problem that cause a power imbalance and a subjugation of Blacks.  Basically, it teaches people of color to hate whites and teaches Whites to feel guilty and ashamed of who they are.

·        Teachers and professors who speak about differing perspectives or encourage students to discuss varying views on a topic are often censured or fired.

·        The hard sciences are not excused from the wokeness of the cancel culture.  Math has recently been accused of promoting White supremacy; demanding showing of work (thinking) or demanding correct answers is by some educators considered to be racist. 

·        Similarly, there are proper viewpoints that students are instructed to take about a variety of scientific theories.  Consider global warming:  while there are many theories about causes, effects, solutions, etc., many students are taught only the perspective of the Left-Green New Deal advocates while being told that questioning it or considering other perspectives is just plain wrong.  Science does not progress when it cannot be questioned just as the human mind does not grow when it cannot question.

·        Beyond the academics, the cancel culture reaches into extracurricular and other activities associated with education.  Students are taught that biological sex is subservient to gender identity.  Students are taught sexual concepts that are not scientifically accurate as young as kindergarten and are encouraged to choose and change their gender at will and without parental consent or even parental knowledge.

·        Women’s and girls sports currently are being eviscerated by the mandate that biological males are allowed to compete as women.  This essentially destroys the fair playing field and places women in a very real no-win situation – a situation that is both demeaning and destructive to their motivation.

These are just a few of the things that are going on in our educational institutions today.  This is happening at the behest of the Left and the woke and with the full blessing and assistance of the Biden Administration. 

This is a travesty, a tragedy, and simply unfair to the minds and souls of our young.  By not teaching students to think and reason, and by denying to those who can the opportunity to excel, we are dumbing down our educational system, our students, and in the end our entire country.

Education is supposed to be “the act or process of imparting or acquiring general or particular knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life.”  This definition includes what I believe is the most important thing that any educational system or process can teach: the powers of reasoning and judgment, better known as critical thinking.  It is in that area that I believe the majority of educational systems in this country are utter failures. 

Today’s educational model does not teach critical thinking; moreover, it does not allow it.   Too often students are discouraged from questioning.  They are fed subject matter material, told to accept it, learn it, prove they heard what they were told by regurgitating in on tests.  Any aspect of critical thinking has been replaced by instilling a specific Leftist agenda and value system into the minds of our young. 

Students need to be exposed to more than one viewpoint, to alternate ideas, diverse authors, differing theories.  They need to be taught to solve problems, not just accept answers lectured to them.  They need to be taught how to analyze and assimilate facts and theories and viewpoints in order to discover and support their own conclusions. 

By not teaching or allowing students to question the information they are given, schools today deny the students the raw materials from which they could discover the joy of critical thinking and use it to realize their own full potential.  Not only does this not raise their thinking beyond a very basic level, it also creates the perfect environment for instilling minds with propaganda rather than knowledge.

The ability to question is necessary to preserve the freedoms of democracy.  Without questioning, when questions and diverse ideas are denied, democracy itself is being denied.

Freedom Requires Questioning

While I do think there was fraud in the 2020 Presidential election, I also believe it cannot or will not be proven.  Rand Paul amongst others has pointed out that statistical fraud was found in four states where President Donald Trump lost in the presidential election during supposed “data dumps” in the middle of the night and early morning.  But this, amongst other anomalies and miscounts, and counts of illegal votes, is something that most people, and especially Big Tech, the Mainstream Media, and the Washington Deep State prefer to ignore.  So, that being the will of the people and this being America, that is what I and the rest of the country will do.

This is not the first time my candidate will not be the one inaugurated in January.  But this time it troubles me far more than others.  This election was not just about my candidate winning or losing; it was not really about the candidates at all; rather, it was about the future of America.  I think that too many voters did not understand that.

So, as I move forward, my concern is how do we educate the electorate so that they understand better what was at stake in this election as well as what might be at stake in the future.

I, like many others, have tried and tried to educate people about our system of government, about the truths of socialism or even a significant move toward socialism and its “trickle up poverty” ^* and hopelessness.  I and many others have tried to explain that a narrative, an opinion, an interpretation, that none of those are facts and that to make good decisions about our future we must arm ourselves with facts, not feelings or opinions.  Yet, for the most part that has been to no avail.

I have a friend to tells me that people are not interested in thinking about these things, but that they will sit up and take notice only when they are personally and fiscally affected.  Well, I suspect that those who pay taxes will not have long to wait:  Biden announced that he will nominate Janet Yellen, a former chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank, to be his Secretary of the Treasury.  Analysts tell us that will mean personal income taxes will increase, 401ks will drop in value as the new administration and Yellen increase the corporate tax on the corporate stocks in those 401ks, and the cost of gasoline and energy will increase.  That will hit taxpayers and other Americans where it hurts, in the pocketbook.

But is that really enough?  I don’t think so.  In my state we are willing to accept food lines and arbitrary closures of food sources as well as other unsupported mandates issued under the cover of COVID-19.  When people are not willing to question or to think for themselves, then they are likely to accept most anything they are told to do.  So, if they are told that the financial hits they are about to take are for some noble cause, they are likely to accept it without question.

What we need is EDUCATION.  But not just education for our children (which there is no question needs to be improved), but also for the adult population who take their information from media or tech sources that are no longer interested in providing factual and objective information but rather in creating a story or furthering the propaganda of one or another political cause.

For example, over the last 4 years, given the many accomplishments of President Trump, the media could have used their biased rhetoric to laud him and paint him as one of the greatest presidents ever.  Instead, they chose to paint him as the most despicable.  This was done by the ever more biased word and fact choices in the stories they presented as well as in the complete failure to report many of his accomplishments.  For example, how many people know about his criminal justice reform, his raising the economic status of minorities to the all time best, his help for Black colleges, or even his work to negotiate not one, not two, but three peace accords in the Middle East?  And those are just a few of many of which a vast number of Americans are completely unaware.

So, when a particular and totally negative picture of President Trump was created, the people simply accepted it.  And now, the reverse painting occurs as the portrait of Biden is nothing but positive.  And the people simply accept.

It is amazing how many news stories start with an unproven assumption upon which the rest of the story is based.  For example, “Trump’s unfounded statements that  . . . .”  Too many accept stories which begin this way as if the statements were in fact not founded whereas at the time of the statement is made it is nothing more than an opinion/a wish/a narrative.  It is not a fact, and everyone should be asking “On what are you basing the conclusion that the statements to which you refer are unfounded?”

When one bases an argument upon a false or arguable assumption, the whole argument is in danger of falling apart. We used to learn the classic deductive syllogism in our schools, and it became an essential part of our thought structure:

All men are mortal

Socrates is a man

Therefore, Socrates is mortal.

We also learned that if the first and second statements were true, the conclusion must be true; therefore, the way to attack a deductive conclusion was to question the two premises:

All swans are white

Jack is a swan

Therefore, Jack is white

Because all swans are not white, Jack is not necessarily white. But coming to this understanding requires questioning the first premise that all swans are white.

All Brand X car batteries die at 20,000 miles

My car battery is Brand X

Therefore, my battery will die at 20,000 miles.

But, perhaps we might want to check to make sure my battery is indeed brand X because if we question and check and find it to be brand Y, then given the information we have we don’t know when it will die.

QUESTIONING.  It is the beginning of being truly informed.  Some of us have forgotten to do that.  Others were never taught.  But unless we start doing it again, start asking questions, we will never be truly informed.  And once we become uninformed and willing to simply accept what we are told, then we lose control over our lives and our very selves.

And to be clear, numerous repetitions of the same assumption or opinion do not make that assumption or opinion a fact or even true.  If you tell me a million times that my black swan Jack is white, that does not make it so.  If you tell me over and over I have a car battery Z so I don’t have to worry that it will die at 20,000 miles, that does not make it so.  I need to question – is it really a Z or is it an X?  And if it is a Z, what facts do we have about when it might die?  Just because I’d like my swan to be white or my battery to last forever, does not mean it can or will be so.  I need to look at facts, not assumptions or desires.

When we let our emotions and feelings rule us, when we become lazy enough to simply accept what we are told because we like what is said, then that is how we lose our country.

Many did not question the negative facts about Trump because they chose to hate him from the moment he was elected.  Others were simply lulled into accepting the total negative picture because it was all they saw and heard on their social media and MSM.  Trump was not perfect, nor was he pure evil.  Like any human and any president, he is complex.  Facts give us a much clearer picture than any narrative.  We need to remember that.

When we get the rosy pictures of Biden and his administration, we need to remember again that no one is all good or all bad.  We need to question what we see and hear.  Just because the preferred media narrative is that everything Biden is good does not mean that we should not question the assumptions we are given.  We always need to demand facts, even when those facts are inconvenient and do not fit our preferred narrative.

We tend to question less when we are in fear and uncertainty.  We look to someone else to provide the certainty and answers to our pain in the same way that children look to parents.  But certainty and safety can become a prison.  Questioning is the only true way to alleviate uncertainty and fear.  It is the only way to retain the true ability to control one’s own destiny.   

If we stop questioning it means that we are leaving the course of our future to those who control the narrative.  We are not children and I, for one, do not want to become like children to an all-powerful government/Big Tech/Media that makes my decisions and creates my narrative for me.  Therefore, I will continue to question. 

Question narrative.  Question facts.  Question support.  Question interpretations of facts.  Question opinions.  Simply Question.

*******************************************************************

*I don’t know if the term “trickle-up poverty” has been previously used to characterize socialism, but it is definitely appropriate.  I discovered it in this well thought out and well explained piece by the CEO of Whole Foods. LINK 

 

Of Dogs and Cats and Politics

 

The following is from Parade Magazine today, 9/13/2020:

 

 

As I read this, I couldn’t help but think of the Left.  As they tell us what to say, what to think, what to eat, what to wear, etc. aren’t they doing to us what has been done to dogs?  Aren’t they in essence trying to domesticate us to be obedient to their commands?

And, as people become more and more “domesticated,” just like domesticated pets they lose their innate ability to think, to question what is happening to them.

The Left and the socialists and their colleague the media would have us obey their commands:  speak only approved thoughts, perform only approved activities.  

Like dog owners who “discipline” their animals, the Left “disciplines” those who do not speak or behave “correctly.”  They call them names and scream at them, and just as a dog owner sometimes resorts to physical punishment, the Left can be seen doing the same as they beat those proclaiming or wearing a political position of which they do not approve.   

Abusive dog owners will try to beat their dogs into submission; some of the Left takes the same approach toward those who will not submit to their dogma.

Just as dogs are trainable, the Left would make people trainable to their views.  And the more those people become “domesticated” the less innate sense they have to question what is happening to them – like domesticated dogs, they lose brain power “in favor of obedient behavior.”

Dogs are wonderful creatures, but regardless of how much they may become a part of our families, there is no question about who is in control and who is subservient to and dependent on that control.

There is no question that the Left, in their ideal world, would hold the same sort of power and control over the rest of us whom the Left would make dependent on and hence subservient to their power.

I often wonder why people are not asking questions, especially “why?”, when the Left makes its many assertions and demands, when it tries to conform us all to their thinking and ways of acting.  In many ways the above article answers my question:  the domestication by the Left is already well in progress and numbing individuals' innate powers of thought.

The Left's handmaiden the media tells us what to think, whom to like, how to vote.  The loud voices (and sometimes violence) of the Left enforces those commands.  We are being domesticated.  We are being trained.  Trained to allow another to think for us, to make our decisions for us, to tell us what to do and in the end to tell us who we are.

And once that domestication process is complete, once we have been well trained and have given up our innate brainpower to our trainers, we will be completely dependent upon them and their power.  This is the socialist dream.  This is the Left’s ideal.  They believe that, being somehow superior to the rest of us, that they can and should be the masters of our lives.  History shows us that never ends well.

Perhaps the Left is the thunder and we should be afraid, for once we have lost our innate ability to ignore their attempts to control us we are indeed in grave danger.  Only when we refuse to be domesticated to their will can we survive as the independent and thinking individuals that we are capable of being.

Next time the media asserts its opinion, next time the Left tells you what to think or why your opinions are wrong or don’t count, ask “WHY?”  Be the independent cat in this story who will notice but ignore the thunder of the Left.

 

 

 

 

The Names We Call Things - Some Thoughts on Critical Thinking

Often the Left asserts that the Right, and especially White Conservatives, has been “indoctrinated” with such things as White Supremacy, racial bias and hatred, etc.

In similar fashion the Right often asserts that the Left has been "brainwashed" – to hate Trump and his supporters, to hate America, to embrace Socialism, etc.

In most cases such name calling is the result of someone being faced with a viewpoint that is contrary to their own.  Why does a simple difference of view, stark as it might be, almost immediately devolve into name calling and the hatred that follows?

I submit that this almost knee-jerk reaction is a defensive one resulting from lack of critical thought.  Let me explain.

When one has thought through and chosen to accept a position, rather than simply adopting without thought that of another, the thinker will be certain in their position.  The thinker will know it can be defended.  The thinker will likely also be curious to hear the views of others about the viewpoint that he has formulated. He will always be ready to further assess both his view as well as that of others.

Those who are secure in their positions are not defensive about them.  But, if one, without thought, has merely put on the cloak of another and called it his own, then if attacked he is unable to defend that position and so becomes both fearful and defensive.  He cannot rationally discuss the underlying aspects of the position, so instead of engaging in such a discussion he simply throws negative names and labels at the one holding a differing view in an attempt to drive them away.  

Taken advantage of by those who sincerely promote their viewpoint (whether for the general good or for their own), many simply adopt a view that superficially sounds good to them.  But when challenged, they are left without ability to reasonably respond, discuss, and understand something different or challenging to their adopted view.  They can only react to what they see as and attack and, without understanding of their position they resort to name-calling as their only defense.  And, it is they, the name-callers, who are the ones who in some way have indeed been indoctrinated or brainwashed.

Now, the interesting question is which came first, the indoctrination/brainwashing, or the inability to think critically? 

From the moment anyone is born they face some sort of indoctrination.  Indoctrination is defined as “the process of teaching a person or group to accept a set of beliefs uncritically.”  Of course, there are some things that children must be taught as a basic means of survival – don’t touch a hot stove, don’t eat household cleaners, etc.  Others as a basic matter of civilization.  Relieve yourself in the bathroom, not the living room.  Parents will also teach their children the value system that they believe is good and best for their children.  Some of this early teaching will likely fall into what might be termed a mild form of brainwashing – “the process of pressuring someone into adopting radically different beliefs by using systematic and often forcible means.”

But, good parenting, and good schooling will teach the growing child the additional and crucial piece of humanity called critical thinking – “the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgment.”  It is this piece that allows the individual to assess the information provided to him and to reach his own judgments - judgments that will determine whom he will be as an individual. 

Note, I do not suggest that children should be left to their own devices without any rules.  Of course some "indoctrination" into the family culture and requirements is necessary just as larger groups and the greater society must be taught certain rules and cultural norms that maintain the civility and civilization of that society.  But indoctrination must be balanced with critical thinking.

Sadly, too many parents and too many educators do not want those they are raising to question; rather they look for blind acceptance of what they offer.  They want the individuals in their care to be and become the individuals whom they would have them be rather than the individuals whom they are or are capable of becoming.  This is not only unfair to each individual; it is also unfair and harmful to humanity as a whole.

Too many individuals hold beliefs and values that are not truly their own; they do not have the strength of a person that has been taught to critically evaluate information and has indeed done so in regard to their own beliefs.  It is only then that they have both the strength and courage to fully engage peacefully and productively with others, some with the same and some with differing or even opposing beliefs and values.

And, without the strength of their own convictions, the uncritical thinkers become open fodder for those who would make one or another particular viewpoint the dominant if not only viewpoint in society.  Such a goal is not for the benefit of the un-thinkers; they are simply used by those who promote a goal for their own end – usually their own power to demand that all think as they do.

It is difficult to raise or teach critical thinkers.  It means teaching them to question everything and that includes the one raising or teaching them.  Most people don’t like being challenged and yet that is an essential part of teaching another to be a critical thinker.  Not easy, but essential.  If someone is not taught the importance of asking “why?” then one is being left to the control of others, a control that usually does not end well for the controlled. 

When critical thinking is not a working skill, others will easily take advantage of that fact.  It is only then that indoctrination and brainwashing on a grander scale becomes possible.  And, when that brainwashing or indoctrination is political, we no longer are able to have reasonable policy discussions, we are no longer able to reach across the aisle and compromise for a greater good.  And we devolve to name-calling and hatred.

Critical thinking – both teaching it and doing it – takes courage.  But it also imbues each and everyone of us the strength to be the individual that we are meant to be, not the useful tool of someone else who would think for us.  And if we would use our critical thinking, rather than simply calling names at those with different views we could perhaps have discussions instead.    With a sharing and a critical, curious, and open-minded examination of both our views, perhaps we can understand both.  We can understand if, where, how we may have similar goals as well as accepting where we cannot.

We are all capable of thinking critically, we are just not often encouraged to do so.  Hence, I challenge everyone rather than accepting political policies, to ask “why?” And again, and again, keep asking why to every answer you get until you just can go not further.  Ask what supports a point, who conducted a study, are there different studies, are there additional facts, etc.  Assess the answers.  How well do they support the policy asserted?  What questions do you still have about that policy?  Is it truly a policy that you wish to adopt and defend?

I realize that most people will not do this.  They will simply accept what sounds good and move on.  But we really must address many of the currently proposed policies more critically, assessing not only the policy itself but its ramifications and consequences, for if we do not question now, we may be giving up our opportunity to ever do so.   With critical thinking perhaps we could replace the names “indoctrinated” and “brainwashed” with “open-minded,” “tolerant,” and “understanding.”  It is those words that are necessary for a truly strong and free society.

Critical Thinking - A Lost Art

There are plenty of topics for a blog in today’s news:  the bias of the top people in Mueller’s investigation; their special treatment of Hillary and their being instrumental in the initial allegations of Trump’s collusion with Russia; the use of the FBI by a sitting administration to conduct opposition research against political opponents;  whether the Mueller investigation has overreached; whether it has any legitimacy at all given the revelations of the past few days; Time’s choice of the hysteria-driven and victim-creating #MeToo as its person of the year;  recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel; the hypocrisy of the Democrats outcry against Trump moving the embassy to Jerusalem when they supported it in the past; Conyer’s retirement and who will take his place; what SCOTUS will decide about whether a cake artist can be compelled to create a cake that violates his religious beliefs and whether his refusal to do so is unlawful discrimination against members of the LGBT community; the Tax bill; immigration; the actions of the deep state; and on and on and on.

But, today, this being my 100^th blog posting, I will talk about something else.  Something more important than even the most hysterical hysteria of the day.  Something the lack of which underlies much of the hysteria and news-as-entertainment we see today.   Today I will talk about thinking:   deep thinking, CRITICAL THINKING.  This is something that seems to have been lost in our country, and without it I don’t see how we can ever stop the daily hysteria and the havoc it causes to our country and our lives.

Critical thinking is simply the ability to objectively analyze facts or evidence in order to reach a conclusion or form a judgment.  The key here is the word “objective” meaning unbiased, unprejudiced, impartial, detached, dispassionate, and fair.  Critical thinking is performed by the one reaching the judgment or conclusion.  It requires clear and rational thinking.  And, it is sadly lacking today.

Critical thinking means that one questions everything, even their own beliefs.  One does not accept something just because someone else said it was true, even if that is a someone whom one respects or with whom one always agrees.   And, it means that one is able to distinguish between people themselves and the positions that they hold.   (That is, one may find an individual repulsive, but that does not mean that the individual’s agenda is also repulsive). 

In the last few days I have heard from individuals who support Democrat policies that anyone who does not support those polices is not only wrong, but an idiot as well.  I have heard parents ask how to tell their children that their teacher is “wrong” when the teacher has expressed or explained a viewpoint that runs counter to the viewpoint of the parents.  I have heard people say they will not even consider reading new or opinion pieces from sources labeled as holding political views to the right or left of their own.  I have heard people explain that it is too time consuming to read even a full synopsis of an issue or controversy, so they simply read the highlights as selected by their favorite news source, even if things such as quotes are distorted or otherwise misleading and taken out of context.  And, I regularly hear people adopt the conclusions and judgments presented to them by their favored source without any further inquiry or research.

These are all examples of the pervasive lack of critical thinking in our society.  Let’s look at these in more detail, beginning with the parent who thinks that he must tell his child that he is right and the teacher is wrong.  Not only is the parent not exercising critical thinking (not asking for details and context of what the teacher said), but the parent is not teaching or allowing his child to become a critical thinker.  Placing a child in an environment where one authority figure is always right does not teach a child to exercise her own mind and reach her own judgments.  A parent who expects a child to adopt all the parent’s beliefs unquestioned does not teach the child how to make her own judgments and decisions once the parent is no longer there.  In the instance where a parent finds a teacher or other pushing a viewpoint contrary to that of the parent, the better approach is to discuss, at an appropriate level for the child, the different ways of looking at the question. explain why the parents hold the belief they do, while accepting that others may hold other beliefs.  That allows the child to understand that there is more than one way of looking at something, that there may be a need to understand context or find further facts or evidence.  Even if the child is expected to accept and follow the parent’s view at that point in her life, it teaches the child about thinking, about the possibility of other views, and about tolerance of other views. 

Those are some notes for the parent, but I also have notes about the teachers and our education system.  From what I see, very little time is spent on teaching critical thinking skills.  Teachers seem to have no problem presenting their views and judgments as fact that the student either must accept, or will accept in order to please the teacher.   Emotional arguments and conclusions are accepted by teachers with no demand for logic or rational support.  Students are encouraged to express their feelings with little demand that their articulation be clear, organized, or well thought out.  Of course, logic, developing support, indeed, learning and thinking itself, are hard work.  There seems to be an aversion to the idea of work in school these days.  Rather, teachers want kids to have fun; they seem to seek friendship rather than respect from their students. And, we have placed upon teachers the burdens of parenting, social work, and other requirements that are not part of a teacher’s traditional duties or trained skills.

If we do not teach our children how to be critical thinkers, then we cannot expect to see critical thinking in our adult population.  If we train our children to simply accept the judgment of one or another authority figure then we cannot expect them to do otherwise as adults.  Thus, we have people who simply accept whatever superficial judgment sounds good to them without even seeing a need to do their own inquiry into the rationality and legitimacy of that position.   Looking more specifically at politics, we have people who support each and every position of their preferred party, without any thought or investigation.  We have people who support or oppose views simply because they like or do not like the individual who professes those views.  This is especially senseless in that it confuses an individual with an institution of which that individual is a part.   Every leader as an individual will have a variety of qualities that will generally be liked or disliked, but that individual’s administration and its policies should and will eventually be judged by different standards in the context of history (this assumes of course that those whose goal it is to erase history will not in the end succeed). 

Of course, the problem with all this is that we end up with two warring camps:  those who blindly accept the view of one side on an issue and those who blindly accept the opposing view.  Arguments about the issue devolve into calling the other side stupid, idiotic, or similar names because without critical thinking and its use to arrive at and thus understand the views one has adopted, one cannot really debate the issues themselves.  So, it becomes simply cults of personality and ad hominem attacks on those holding opposing views.

Sure, it would be easier to have clear cut right and wrong answers to every one of life’s issues.  But, life is far more complex.  And, in order to make sound judgments about the issues that face us as individuals and as society as a whole, we must be able to critically think about them.  We must take the time to fully learn the relevant facts and to fully educate ourselves about various and competing viewpoints.  We must each of us examine this body of evidence that relates to each issue upon with we have or would like to take a stand.  We must each arrive at our own understanding and our own conclusions, based on our own examination; we must not be content to simply accept that which we are told. 

When it comes to politics, our education must begin with a clear and objective understanding of the history and core principles of this country.  We must read and understand our Constitution as well as how it has been interpreted and applied throughout our history.  Before taking a position on a law or regulation we must fully understand if not entirely read the operative provisions of the rule and must understand the basis of differing views about the rule.  We must consider not simply the immediate effect or gratification but also the long-term consequences of what is done or not done.  And we must listen to full words and context when a politician speaks, not be content to have only the particular sound bite chosen by the nightly news or our preferred Twitter feed. 

Yes, this all asks a lot.  Making informed decisions takes time and effort.  But no one said that being a responsible citizen and a responsible adult is an easy task.  It is, however, a serious and a critical task.  Without critical thinking we are governed by emotion alone and our world becomes less rational and more angry.  Teachers and parents together must insure that children learn the skill and the joy of deep and critical thinking, and then as adults we must demand of ourselves and of others that we use those skills in making the important decisions and judgments that affect all of our lives.