While I agree with some points, one-sided teaching does little but simply add soldiers to the other side. If you want enlightened students, capable of critical thinking, then rather than fear-based teachings like you've stated, I suspect they would be better served understanding the ideals of the various models, first. Then the challenges in bringing those to reality and how things have gone through history and why. How are they constructed, who controls them, what happens if certain groups within them become corrupt?
There are democracies with socialist leanings that are successful. An educated citizenry is critical to a successful democracy. If your measure of success is purely wealth then capitalism should win. However if happiness/contentment are the measure, raw capitalism falls short. There is a balance between wealth and security. Many feel that a society's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members.
Discussing all of these aspects gives a student a much stronger ability to spot ideological thinking and the partisan, tribalism that comes with it.
As a grandparent I've heard from my children and grandchildren about the current curriculum at all grade levels. My son wanted to change careers to be a teacher, but part way through his courses he realized that he was completely at odds with some of the required curriculum. Two of our other children are teachers, one elementary, one high school. One is liberal. One is conservative.
I clicked on your link to explore the high school program from the Reagan Foundation. Is it possible to make the curriculum available for anyone to enroll? I would love to go through the coursework, both for my own knowledge and to review before sharing with our children and grandchildren. Even though it's difficult to crack what is currently being taught in schools, there is an opportunity to provide teachings such as this program through grass roots.
Thank you for your commentary on such an important topic.
This should be front page news,,it all begin in you guessed it the 1960's, watch the woodstock documentary and if you look closely you will see the tables and signs openly pushing Marxism. Has anyone ever commented that the expression flower power doesn't make sense, unless its being used to get something..
Capitalism is a "perfect" system assuming you price everything appropriately (e.g., negative externalities like pollution, or the impact of positive externalities like teaching) yet in the real world everyone has different values, order of priorities, and greed so you get fossil fuels which are insanely subsidized, GMO crops which are incentivized, teachers who are paid like crap, and pharma in the US advertising pills as the solution to everything.
Socialism / communism is a "perfect" system assuming everyone outputs a reasonably similar amount of "value" and no one wants more than anyone else yet in the real world, it's the same problems - everyone has different values, order of priorities, greed so you get corrupt despots, supply shortages, and violence.
They're both perfect in their ideals, but imperfect in their realities. It's great to understand *why* the younger generation is fed up with capitalism. Sure, some of it is a lack of historical understanding, but understanding why tells you what's imperfect about the current system and how we can improve. I think these labels should be treated like guide posts. They just describe ends of a spectrum and the reality is that we ought to, yes, consider history but also recognize the ever changing present and future to come up with the best system that works for us now regardless of the label.
I also recommend making your course open and accessible if you're trying to share your message wildly and publicly.
We need more commentary like this. Just provide the example of Venezuela and show what has happened to a once healthy country that is now near destruction with a Socialist leader. This is in our hemisphere!
I am missing in this article the data driven analysis that usually supports Joe’s views. Aside from
a statistic on the perceived issue / outcome, and an anecdotal comment on school curriculum, there is no evidence of causality. The article may as well have been a write up on the issues with communism and socialism - which indeed are many and enough to cause their self destruction in general as a political regime. Ironically, there seems to be a suggestion that the new education initiative will focus on advancing another ideology? Shouldn’t education be a place to teach individuals how to think for themselves? Finally, Joe may be missing the point of a great saying; if you’re not liberal when you’re young, you have no heart; if you’re not conservative when you’re old, you’ve got no brain…
In order for this to work the country as a whole needs to admit and talk about the fact that we let this creep in and we need to talk out loud,,,the first person I heard on TV actually use the term Marxist and Communist was Rudolph Giuliani, who was respected before..Look what they did to him,,,Can't we see now that in the near future,, talkers will suffer a more insidious fate.
Thank God that Giiuliani is still free and becoming whole again, but how scary he was a national Hero and maybe NYC greatest Mayor,,city was so safe and people were alive,,some of whom maybe murdered in a dangerous city,,can never gage it or predict but we know in dangerous parts of town more murders happen then in the more patrolled areas like upper West and upper east of Manhattan proper..So much to discuss..
I healthy amount of History is needed also,,,people don't know the basic definitions of words.
Words have historical weight,,,free enterprise, for example even AI on google has the free enterprise system as the definition of Capitalism,,,this is untrue,,Capitalism is the business of banking,,,raising or borrwing money to fuel an investment or venture...End quote...yet AI is blending,,,very detrimental to the national conversation..No wonder all the kids are so easily pushed into hating the US and now even the idea of private property..SCARY.
AWESOME Joe --- 'My View' being published in this weekend's Albuquerque Journal. NM --- sandwiched between free bastions of AZ & TX --- has seen NO GROWTH, incredibly, over last decade (except huge state revenues from our 'Permian Basin' output)...PJS
###############################
Can we grow more Capitalists in our garden of Enchantment??? A proposal.
Our Governor has been an uproarious success. Nobody has been able to spend sooo much --- since DOD in 1941...some thirty Billions MORE injected into New Mexico's economy in Governor Grisham's seven years. From budgets of $6 Billions, to now $11 Billions.
Where however does New Mexico stand today --- how effective have these 7-year investments been??? Are NM's roads, rails, airports much improved??? Is New Mexico's economy much strengthened & more diversified? And, of course, most significantly, her people...are New Mexicans safer, stronger, smarter, healthier today than seven years ago. Unfortunately: no, No & NO!!!
In our state of unparalleled (& sensational) natural beauty & unrivaled historic culture...School Outcomes are a mess; Youth Protection & Well-Being disastrous & deplorable; Cartel Crime almost synonymous with Sinaloa; Cannabis ubiquitous (yeah!!!); Trade among states & nations somnolent; and, like the drug addict...our State Economy is dependent --- disastrously & dangerously!!! --- on fossil fuels and DC's largesse.
Marxists redistribute --- Capitalists invest: Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has been a fine Marxist, and to boot, with zealously guarded emergency powers (defined BTW as Temporary). Think more investing, my fellow New Mexican travelers (and less insane, feckless, bittersweet, result-less redistributions). For instance, for every beautiful baby born to New Mexican parents let's create a $5,000 Baby Bond. This citizen bond, so to speak, would be redeemable to that NM citizen at her/his age of maturity, or maybe, voting age eligibility.
Significantly & Importantly, no Santa Fe Legislator; no County, no State Gov't functionary; no brilliant Lobbyist could attach their clammy hands to this 'Bond'...this beneficial annuity, so to speak, would remit directly to New Mexico's courageous, hard-workin', freedom-lovin' own.
May the forces of compound investing and brighter futures be with us...PJS
So Sorry my neighbor,,the northeast is similar and locals just keep voting the same,,,which is suspicious,,one note,,,this time around Trump actually closed the gap to under ten points in a few of the northeatern states,,but didn't win,,still scary up here...Where is Ronald Reagan when you need him?
A friend shared comments that he has heard regarding China, importantly that it takes a long view of things. Your theme seems to take this view that the indoctrination began very subtly and has now morphed into mainstream. It is catastrophic if not stopped. Thank you for taking the initiative with the new law. A couple of experiences that speak to your points. I just finished "The Dark Valley" which describes in thick detail the world from the late 20's through the 30's. The oppression in Russia and Germany reflects the horrible realities of these two countries at the time. My first hand experience was a text exchange with a professor at a prominent university. He had several thoughts that he shared. Every time that I challenged those thoughts, he changed the subject and was never able to defend his positions, and he is teaching 18, 19, 20, and 21 year olds. He ended our text exchange when he could not defend that capitalism was imperialism. Oppressor and oppressed. From everything that I could see from The Dark Valley. Stalin and Hitler were very oppressive. Thanks again!
As usual, you have a keen and, what seems today to be a lost perspective, which makes your writings refreshing, whether they are short X-posts or your lengthier Substack writings. Reading your thoughts reminds me of the era in which I was told my future was my responsibility, and I could make it whatever I wanted. We all have our impairments, which are part of life. To live a good life, we must overcome those imperfections; they are gifts that teach us that just about anything can be overcome. Everyone's path is unique, but we can apply some standard techniques, and with an open mind, we can learn from others or reinvent the wheel; the latter is less optimal. Hard work will always overcome sloth. Being a victim of circumstances is one way to approach life, and overcoming impairments, not ruminating on them, is essential for growth. The unknown and unforeseen impairments, and how we address them, differentiate us.
On the topic of Education, at least in Texas, and seemingly not that long ago, we were taught:
The purpose of education was to shape citizens who could sustain a free republic by embracing natural rights, and these rights, as they are today, are enshrined in historical analogs.
Today, we see education captured by ideologues who attempt to program our youth against our country's history and principles.
This has created a class of youth who despise a merit-based system based on history and principles.
Capitalism is now a dirty word, as in Jimmy’s era, it is the collective that matters, and socialism is the only way forward.
The education system is failing children, providing participation trophies, without academic rigor. Children are leaving high school with nominal skills. Some are leaving without being able to do simple math or 8th-grade reading abilities.
The rebranding of Marxist principles into Identity Politics has proven to be successful and created massive chasms in society.
“Equity” and “Social Justice” have become paramount, leaving out the atrocities that are directly linked to Communism. Ironically, the historical record of Communism’s path is skipped over, including Stalin’s killing of between 6 and 20 million people. The Russians were not as fastidious in their record keeping as the Germans.
Education ignores the Chinese threat, an outgrowth of their Cultural Revolution, and their long-term plans for dominance.
Education is now, more than ever, an indoctrination of two classes, the ‘oppressors’ and the ‘oppressed.’ Done so by rewriting history to conform to that narrative. At the same time, they are attempting to silence those who dissent.
That said, we are seeing hope, be it the creation of the University of Austin or the longstanding Hillsdale College and its four pillars: Learning, Character, Faith, and Freedom.
As a transplant from Texas, I find it wonderful that Texas Senate Bill 24 aims to require Texas schools to teach students about the dangers of communism and its modern manifestations.
Also, instead of ‘critical race theory,’ critical thought and analysis, especially as applied to historical facts rather than historical fiction, are being recognized as essential.
As you correctly pointed out, it will be through education, based on unsanitized and co-opted history, vs. indoctrination, that we will have a citizenry that will preserve the republic that we must choose to keep, with its freedoms and truly unique American values.
Your work does not go unnoticed or unappreciated. Through your criticisms, people are learning that citizens have a duty to fight back against the corruption of the educational system and teach the next generation about communism and the value of freedom.
Participation trophies,,,sick, sick, sick,,,,,my niece had to suffer through "no scoring softball" for several years during her elementary school days,,,the kids were so bored and we sat there in the bleachers just lost!!!! ..I guess we have been trained to be afraid of the school employees,,,,,so we sat in silence,,,,,Hmmm,,,that we pay for with our after tax surrendering of more money in the form of property taxes,,boy they love our property and preach how private property is evil, dontcha know!!!!!
While I agree with some points, one-sided teaching does little but simply add soldiers to the other side. If you want enlightened students, capable of critical thinking, then rather than fear-based teachings like you've stated, I suspect they would be better served understanding the ideals of the various models, first. Then the challenges in bringing those to reality and how things have gone through history and why. How are they constructed, who controls them, what happens if certain groups within them become corrupt?
There are democracies with socialist leanings that are successful. An educated citizenry is critical to a successful democracy. If your measure of success is purely wealth then capitalism should win. However if happiness/contentment are the measure, raw capitalism falls short. There is a balance between wealth and security. Many feel that a society's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members.
Discussing all of these aspects gives a student a much stronger ability to spot ideological thinking and the partisan, tribalism that comes with it.
As a grandparent I've heard from my children and grandchildren about the current curriculum at all grade levels. My son wanted to change careers to be a teacher, but part way through his courses he realized that he was completely at odds with some of the required curriculum. Two of our other children are teachers, one elementary, one high school. One is liberal. One is conservative.
I clicked on your link to explore the high school program from the Reagan Foundation. Is it possible to make the curriculum available for anyone to enroll? I would love to go through the coursework, both for my own knowledge and to review before sharing with our children and grandchildren. Even though it's difficult to crack what is currently being taught in schools, there is an opportunity to provide teachings such as this program through grass roots.
Thank you for your commentary on such an important topic.
This should be front page news,,it all begin in you guessed it the 1960's, watch the woodstock documentary and if you look closely you will see the tables and signs openly pushing Marxism. Has anyone ever commented that the expression flower power doesn't make sense, unless its being used to get something..
Capitalism is a "perfect" system assuming you price everything appropriately (e.g., negative externalities like pollution, or the impact of positive externalities like teaching) yet in the real world everyone has different values, order of priorities, and greed so you get fossil fuels which are insanely subsidized, GMO crops which are incentivized, teachers who are paid like crap, and pharma in the US advertising pills as the solution to everything.
Socialism / communism is a "perfect" system assuming everyone outputs a reasonably similar amount of "value" and no one wants more than anyone else yet in the real world, it's the same problems - everyone has different values, order of priorities, greed so you get corrupt despots, supply shortages, and violence.
They're both perfect in their ideals, but imperfect in their realities. It's great to understand *why* the younger generation is fed up with capitalism. Sure, some of it is a lack of historical understanding, but understanding why tells you what's imperfect about the current system and how we can improve. I think these labels should be treated like guide posts. They just describe ends of a spectrum and the reality is that we ought to, yes, consider history but also recognize the ever changing present and future to come up with the best system that works for us now regardless of the label.
I also recommend making your course open and accessible if you're trying to share your message wildly and publicly.
We need more commentary like this. Just provide the example of Venezuela and show what has happened to a once healthy country that is now near destruction with a Socialist leader. This is in our hemisphere!
Inspiring. A noble effort.
I am missing in this article the data driven analysis that usually supports Joe’s views. Aside from
a statistic on the perceived issue / outcome, and an anecdotal comment on school curriculum, there is no evidence of causality. The article may as well have been a write up on the issues with communism and socialism - which indeed are many and enough to cause their self destruction in general as a political regime. Ironically, there seems to be a suggestion that the new education initiative will focus on advancing another ideology? Shouldn’t education be a place to teach individuals how to think for themselves? Finally, Joe may be missing the point of a great saying; if you’re not liberal when you’re young, you have no heart; if you’re not conservative when you’re old, you’ve got no brain…
In order for this to work the country as a whole needs to admit and talk about the fact that we let this creep in and we need to talk out loud,,,the first person I heard on TV actually use the term Marxist and Communist was Rudolph Giuliani, who was respected before..Look what they did to him,,,Can't we see now that in the near future,, talkers will suffer a more insidious fate.
Thank God that Giiuliani is still free and becoming whole again, but how scary he was a national Hero and maybe NYC greatest Mayor,,city was so safe and people were alive,,some of whom maybe murdered in a dangerous city,,can never gage it or predict but we know in dangerous parts of town more murders happen then in the more patrolled areas like upper West and upper east of Manhattan proper..So much to discuss..
I healthy amount of History is needed also,,,people don't know the basic definitions of words.
Words have historical weight,,,free enterprise, for example even AI on google has the free enterprise system as the definition of Capitalism,,,this is untrue,,Capitalism is the business of banking,,,raising or borrwing money to fuel an investment or venture...End quote...yet AI is blending,,,very detrimental to the national conversation..No wonder all the kids are so easily pushed into hating the US and now even the idea of private property..SCARY.
Joe are you going to teach about Fascism also?
its the same thing...study,,,National socialist german workers party...total control, just different name,,,Hitler and Mussolini knew this..
AWESOME Joe --- 'My View' being published in this weekend's Albuquerque Journal. NM --- sandwiched between free bastions of AZ & TX --- has seen NO GROWTH, incredibly, over last decade (except huge state revenues from our 'Permian Basin' output)...PJS
###############################
Can we grow more Capitalists in our garden of Enchantment??? A proposal.
Our Governor has been an uproarious success. Nobody has been able to spend sooo much --- since DOD in 1941...some thirty Billions MORE injected into New Mexico's economy in Governor Grisham's seven years. From budgets of $6 Billions, to now $11 Billions.
Where however does New Mexico stand today --- how effective have these 7-year investments been??? Are NM's roads, rails, airports much improved??? Is New Mexico's economy much strengthened & more diversified? And, of course, most significantly, her people...are New Mexicans safer, stronger, smarter, healthier today than seven years ago. Unfortunately: no, No & NO!!!
In our state of unparalleled (& sensational) natural beauty & unrivaled historic culture...School Outcomes are a mess; Youth Protection & Well-Being disastrous & deplorable; Cartel Crime almost synonymous with Sinaloa; Cannabis ubiquitous (yeah!!!); Trade among states & nations somnolent; and, like the drug addict...our State Economy is dependent --- disastrously & dangerously!!! --- on fossil fuels and DC's largesse.
Marxists redistribute --- Capitalists invest: Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has been a fine Marxist, and to boot, with zealously guarded emergency powers (defined BTW as Temporary). Think more investing, my fellow New Mexican travelers (and less insane, feckless, bittersweet, result-less redistributions). For instance, for every beautiful baby born to New Mexican parents let's create a $5,000 Baby Bond. This citizen bond, so to speak, would be redeemable to that NM citizen at her/his age of maturity, or maybe, voting age eligibility.
Significantly & Importantly, no Santa Fe Legislator; no County, no State Gov't functionary; no brilliant Lobbyist could attach their clammy hands to this 'Bond'...this beneficial annuity, so to speak, would remit directly to New Mexico's courageous, hard-workin', freedom-lovin' own.
May the forces of compound investing and brighter futures be with us...PJS
So Sorry my neighbor,,the northeast is similar and locals just keep voting the same,,,which is suspicious,,one note,,,this time around Trump actually closed the gap to under ten points in a few of the northeatern states,,but didn't win,,still scary up here...Where is Ronald Reagan when you need him?
A friend shared comments that he has heard regarding China, importantly that it takes a long view of things. Your theme seems to take this view that the indoctrination began very subtly and has now morphed into mainstream. It is catastrophic if not stopped. Thank you for taking the initiative with the new law. A couple of experiences that speak to your points. I just finished "The Dark Valley" which describes in thick detail the world from the late 20's through the 30's. The oppression in Russia and Germany reflects the horrible realities of these two countries at the time. My first hand experience was a text exchange with a professor at a prominent university. He had several thoughts that he shared. Every time that I challenged those thoughts, he changed the subject and was never able to defend his positions, and he is teaching 18, 19, 20, and 21 year olds. He ended our text exchange when he could not defend that capitalism was imperialism. Oppressor and oppressed. From everything that I could see from The Dark Valley. Stalin and Hitler were very oppressive. Thanks again!
Capitalism is about money.
Socialism is about people.
Conservatives care only for money, . . . their own and yours, too.
LIes
Eat any Wal-Mart steaks at the Crypto Bribery Dinner?
Pay your 1.8 million dollars?
You were predicted by Goethe who opined "nothing is more terrible than ignorance in action".
Mirror?
Joe,
As usual, you have a keen and, what seems today to be a lost perspective, which makes your writings refreshing, whether they are short X-posts or your lengthier Substack writings. Reading your thoughts reminds me of the era in which I was told my future was my responsibility, and I could make it whatever I wanted. We all have our impairments, which are part of life. To live a good life, we must overcome those imperfections; they are gifts that teach us that just about anything can be overcome. Everyone's path is unique, but we can apply some standard techniques, and with an open mind, we can learn from others or reinvent the wheel; the latter is less optimal. Hard work will always overcome sloth. Being a victim of circumstances is one way to approach life, and overcoming impairments, not ruminating on them, is essential for growth. The unknown and unforeseen impairments, and how we address them, differentiate us.
On the topic of Education, at least in Texas, and seemingly not that long ago, we were taught:
The purpose of education was to shape citizens who could sustain a free republic by embracing natural rights, and these rights, as they are today, are enshrined in historical analogs.
Today, we see education captured by ideologues who attempt to program our youth against our country's history and principles.
This has created a class of youth who despise a merit-based system based on history and principles.
Capitalism is now a dirty word, as in Jimmy’s era, it is the collective that matters, and socialism is the only way forward.
The education system is failing children, providing participation trophies, without academic rigor. Children are leaving high school with nominal skills. Some are leaving without being able to do simple math or 8th-grade reading abilities.
The rebranding of Marxist principles into Identity Politics has proven to be successful and created massive chasms in society.
“Equity” and “Social Justice” have become paramount, leaving out the atrocities that are directly linked to Communism. Ironically, the historical record of Communism’s path is skipped over, including Stalin’s killing of between 6 and 20 million people. The Russians were not as fastidious in their record keeping as the Germans.
Education ignores the Chinese threat, an outgrowth of their Cultural Revolution, and their long-term plans for dominance.
Education is now, more than ever, an indoctrination of two classes, the ‘oppressors’ and the ‘oppressed.’ Done so by rewriting history to conform to that narrative. At the same time, they are attempting to silence those who dissent.
That said, we are seeing hope, be it the creation of the University of Austin or the longstanding Hillsdale College and its four pillars: Learning, Character, Faith, and Freedom.
As a transplant from Texas, I find it wonderful that Texas Senate Bill 24 aims to require Texas schools to teach students about the dangers of communism and its modern manifestations.
Also, instead of ‘critical race theory,’ critical thought and analysis, especially as applied to historical facts rather than historical fiction, are being recognized as essential.
As you correctly pointed out, it will be through education, based on unsanitized and co-opted history, vs. indoctrination, that we will have a citizenry that will preserve the republic that we must choose to keep, with its freedoms and truly unique American values.
Your work does not go unnoticed or unappreciated. Through your criticisms, people are learning that citizens have a duty to fight back against the corruption of the educational system and teach the next generation about communism and the value of freedom.
Thank you,
Jay Stallard
X: @jaystallard
Participation trophies,,,sick, sick, sick,,,,,my niece had to suffer through "no scoring softball" for several years during her elementary school days,,,the kids were so bored and we sat there in the bleachers just lost!!!! ..I guess we have been trained to be afraid of the school employees,,,,,so we sat in silence,,,,,Hmmm,,,that we pay for with our after tax surrendering of more money in the form of property taxes,,boy they love our property and preach how private property is evil, dontcha know!!!!!
Greed made capitalism a dirty word.
Trump is Greed.
Blind and ignorant
A long winded response mirroring the article, adding nothing to the conversation.
It is not the critic that counts...
Agreed. You don't count.
Indoctrination of oppressed & oppressor is Marxism breaking all freedom for new slavery!
Reading Writing & Arithmetic is how I was raised!
Amen to that!!!!
No thinking
Only nationalism?
Nationalism causes wars.
whats wrong with the United states?
where is your nation
Have you considered starting your own school? Just like you are doing with U of Austin, but for younger kids.
Countrywide with connections to Hillsdale