One Allan Bloom wrote a book entitled:
CLOSING OF THE AMERICAN MIND.
Prophetic, realistic, and tragically happening today in America and to some extent around the world.
The ability to think and to express thinking freely, thoughts and ideas, whether creative or noxious is the basic pillar of democracy. Its that freedom to think, to express, to engage at all times in free speech, or press, or assembly or especially religion for if that is taken away, democracy dies and all freedoms of humankind with it.
That my fellow Americans is happening now, right now in so many of our educational institutions, both university and even high school. Somehow, radical faculty and teachers have gotten control of education and the teaching curriculum and with that, demanded a certain way of thinking, introduced new intellectual standards, and new moral values. The freedom to think differently and exercise the right of free speech no matter how differing from the current orthodoxy has been so largely controlled or even eliminated. Radical, progressive faculty control.
The faculty and administration at American universities and colleges has now been determined to be radical – progressive at a ratio of 13:1. In short, there are 13 liberal faculty to one conservative, thirteen Democrat faculty to one Republican. They are there, do what they do to indoctrinate rather than educate. They are determined to radically change America, to aggressively move this country from capitalism to socialism, to ignore our Constitution or reinterpret it, and to challenge the rule of law wherever possible including a failure to condemn riots and violence. That tragically for America today is the AMERICAN MIND, closed and closing at a horrifically rapid pace.
How these elites and educational saboteurs gain such power is surprising to many. But they have, and they intend to exercise that power to the detriment of American education and especially to free speech. These educational elites have become pampered, spoiled, fully accustomed to getting their way with virtually full power to discipline any who disagree. So many of these university professors have become arrogant, prideful and totally intolerant of dissent of any kind. The university system of hiring provides for TENURE which when granted, protects these professors for a lifetime, A LIFETIME! So that, absent the most egregious conduct, they can not be fired nor can what and how they teach be censored or monitored. They are EXEMPT, above normalcy with an ever–growing disrespect for the average citizen and especially the young American mind. They are spiritually bereft and determined to change the morals of America. They wish to radically change American history, they condone the destruction of historical property like statutes and they promote the rallying cry of today, namely RACISM everywhere and in everyone, especially every white person. They want control, absolute control, the radical transformation of American society and especially AMERICAN EDUCATION.
These radical professors and administrators are, unbelievably, subsidized by federal and state governments. They receive large grants from the governments, furthering the notion the universities and their professors are exempt from any standards, rules or values other than their own. No matter the educational culture, these federal and state subsidies subsist and there is never a financial concern on the part of the professors. So many of the universities have in addition, further financial security in the form of large endowments so much so that they are immune from normal financial regulations and requirements operating and spending as they please without regard to bottom line financial accountability.
They operated under the assumption that every successful American had to have a university degree, a higher education imprimatur. As such, they the educators deserved what they had and even more, which in their minds was something guaranteed to them and the university education system, taken for granted and never to be changed. As a result, year by year, tuition and annual expenses were raised to a point now sky high and virtually unaffordable by the average American family. The educational culture and demand was further influenced by the demands and dominance of the American wealthy and especially by rich, foreign students who sought out the very best and most credible American educational institutions and their degrees. Prestigious schools like Harvard, Stanford, University of Chicago, MIT, the Ivy League generally and so many others were in high demand, employed rigid admission standards and with governmental, endowment finances, alumni giving and sky–high tuition, thought little or nothing about financial responsibilities. Students, anxious or even desperate for admission, incurred large loans, serious debt which they carried with them long after graduation. In fact, student debt in America today is at or about the staggering sum of $1.6 trillion dollars, 1.6 TRILLION DOLLARS!
Those staggering financial realities do not seem to affect university education or college professors in any real way. That is a problem for someone else, not those elites who are special, above, deserving and guaranteed what they earn and what they have. As long as they are paid large salaries and, in some cases, unbelievable benefits, and they are tenured, fully guaranteed and protected, they really care little about the overall financial structure which makes that happen. As long as they can promote and control radical classrooms, educational life is good. Afterall, they are above American financial normalcy and the radical education continues.
So many of these professors teach much less. They turn over classroom instruction, basic education to interns and assistants. They are busy writing, indoctrinating, lecturing, and otherwise building self–reputation.
They champion lightweight and trendy curricula. Course electives or even majors now are such that, upon graduation, there is little in the education of four years which is attractive to modern American business. In fact, there are some businesses which refuse to hire university graduates from the most liberal and progressive universities. They know so many would come to change the business culture, effectuate their own wishes and ideas and engage in the transformation process they were taught in college at the business level, to the detriment of that employer. Small wonder that so many of these college graduates simply fail to find placement and a growing number become radicalized, anti–American and more determined than ever to change the so called system. In those cases, the universities and their radical professors have accomplished their radical and transformative objectives to the detriment of the student and the American financial way of life.
Higher education is riddled with bias. One pundit has referred to current university teachings as IDEOLOGICAL HECTORING. Indoctrination and intimidation have replaced education and free expression. So many university graduates today come to the marketplace with an inability to think, create, react in spontaneous mental ways, with an inability to problem solve, inept at dialogue and debate, in many ways a mere clone of the university and the indoctrinating professors. They come as young adults, immature and inexperienced, determined to effectuate radical change with no ability or desire to work within the system for that change, but to either radically transform or eliminate that system. They care far more about what they perceive as the need for social justice than financial return. So many are ready to employ any means whatsoever to effectuate that change including intimidation or the possibility of violence. They regard America as it is as evil, wrong, socially unjust, ready to rise up at any time. To be sure, there are thousands who graduate who are not that way, love America for what it is and what it stands for, determined to build successful lives for themselves and their families. They are the real and only hope for America but unfortunately, they seem very much in the minority among today’s graduates. The fight is on for the survival and the continuation of the AMERICAN WAY. There are those seeking election 2020 who will continue and advance this radical transformation, this destructive approach to American traditions and values and if elected, radical things will happen to the delight of the vast majority of university professors. America is at a tipping point, an unbelievable cultural crossroads, her very life and future very much in danger.
In some cases, the cost for the CAMPUS EXPERIENCE can now be in excess of $80,000 annually, all in. And now, the results of the Corona pandemic require that some or even all of university education today be virtual, online and ironically and arrogantly so, at the same price of admission! Tens of thousands of students actual and potential, are refusing to pay. Professors are less available. College courses and curricula become trendier and less relevant. Campus social life and extracurricular activities are virtually gone. Sports and athletics of all kinds are eliminated or occur without fan participation. Housing and fraternities can never be the same, temporarily shut down or open with highly restrictive social distancing policies. Under these circumstances, it may become easier than ever to gain admission to HARVARD! Why should any student pay $80,000 annually for the college experience when that is delivered to them by ZOOM, or SKYPE or otherwise online? The worth and value of any university degree under those circumstances is really no better than any other. And, perhaps that will be the seismic shock which these arrogant, elitist universities and their professors need in order to face a real reality and return to some degree of normalcy. PERHAPS!
Nonetheless, so many of these arrogant, tenured professors continue on in their ANTI-AMERICAN WAYS. They are determined to rewrite history. They continue, determined to change American standards, values and especially spirituality. They are aggressive champions of the new WOKE and whatever actions this new intellectual, social, cultural and historical awakening takes, they are prepared in almost every case to offer an apology so that the end justifies the means. It is a sad, sad day for American education and the American intellectual. It seems as though the American mind has indeed enclosed, perhaps never to really reopen. Free speech as a result of contrary thinking has never been more endangered. That led one pundit to state that America might very well be far better off to subsidize plumbers, electricians, carpenters, doctors and others, any but the present educational class which would virtually guarantee a far better return for the investment.
I wonder if you have any member of your family or friends in such an educational environment. If so, you should rethink the matter. There are still some educational institutions which respect the American way, encourage free and spontaneous thinking, and free speech and press and allow assembly of those like–minded whether or not contrary to the liberal – radical university stance. There are religious and sectarian institutions, those with differing objectives but tolerant of the American way, our beloved Constitution and the rule of law. Those you love would be far better off educated by one such college or university rather than so many others.
Even as radicals would transform America, change it or even in some basic ways destroy it, so men and women of goodwill should reenter the educational area, aggressively so, and themselves seek radical change, CHANGE BACK to an open, unbiased educational experience which cultivates spontaneous thinking, different points of view and dialogue, so that the mind can be firm, structured and ready for the challenges of the modern world. Education is a critical factor in today’s society, now more than ever. Right thinking people need to control education as never before. Constitutional principles should fully apply so that the America we love can be preserved, protected and defended. I for one love America, love it with all my heart. There is no society anywhere now or in history perfect including and especially socialism and communism. But, it is our privilege and our duty to work for change, constructive change, peaceful change, growth, understanding, and the reestablishment of traditional American values. We the people do that now or the freedoms we take for granted will be lost and once lost:
LOST FOREVER.
Don’t let that happen my fellow Americans. Do the right thing and exercise your voice, your personal beliefs as you vote elections 2020. If radical, progressive, socialistic candidates are elected, they will change America FOREVER. As you vote:
DON’T LET THAT HAPPEN!