OH NOES!!!!111 They are controlling my child's mind!

[Sal Atticum]

Sorry everyone, I've been reading blogs today to see what the feeling of the country is.  I came across this little gem of a comment:

31. Mom in Georgia:

The propoganda works because the lack of education actually starts in the public schools. Why is there so little focus on the history of this country in ’social studies’? It is well known that liberal elitists have complete control over most colleges, but they have also gained control of public middle and high schools, as many more principals, teachers, and administrators are phd’s from “schools of education.” Social studies textbooks are also created by the libs - with “multicultural advisory boards” listed in the front cover -but no historians!!!

Now, my post-election resolution is to not group people together arbitrarily, and to avoid the terms "liberal," "conservative," "Democrat," and "Republican."  This may mean a lot of "WTF?" over individuals, but we'll see how it goes.  I just want to do my part to get the country back on track and not be divisive.

So, my issue is that "Mom in Georgia" feels that children are being propagandized even in junior high and high school.  She asks why curricula doesn't focus on history in "social studies."  I have a wild guess, but that might be because social studies and history are two very different subjects.  True, one can lead into the other, but I think the purpose of social studies is to learn about other cultures, right?  The purpose of history is to learn (well, a lot of things...) what's happened in the past and why things are the way they are today.

I take offense at the term "elitist" as it is used here (and as it was used prior to the election).  What makes someone an elitist?  Is it that they think they are better than someone else?  I suppose you could apply that label to just about every group on Earth, simply because what's the point of joining a group that thinks it sucks?  The dictionary on my Mac tells me that an elitist is someone who "thinks that society should be dominated by an elite."  Is "Mom in Georgia" really saying that there is some master plan by all "liberals" (note, here and elsewhere, that in this case we have NO IDEA what she means by "liberal."  She could mean fiscal liberal, she could mean, social liberal, she could conceivably mean "Democrat," and she might just mean "people with whom I don't agree") to influence her children to believe that a) there should be a ruling class and b) "liberals" should be the rulers?

Furthermore, she implies that the "liberals" have taken over higher ed, high school, and middle school in order to put their plan into action.  Who let that happen?  I find it hard to believe that every person in power in our education system is secretly working for the "liberal" menace.  Heck, I would even put forth this idea that if we wiped the slate clean and fired everyone involved in education, elected a bunch of people randomly as superintendents to rebuild the school systems, and let them go a-hiring, we'd end up with pretty much what we have now.  It seems some people are more inclined to believe the world is out to get them than others.

Now look, I didn't pull this comment out in order to give this woman a hard time.  The thing is, I doubt I could change her mind if I tried, and she might not be able to change mine if she tried.  That's a problem at the moment, and I fear that we won't be able to get anything done because we're too busy dealing with this great divide down the middle of the country.  We can all do our part, however.  Hopefully you voted yesterday, and if you did I salute you.  There is more you can do, because in the United States of America, we have that power.  If you are afraid of the direction your schools are going, get involved with the school board.  Write to your representatives on the state and national level.  You have the power to make your case to change what you feel is important.  All I can ask (and all I can try to do myself) is to try to look at all sides of every issue before you react.  Try to see things not as win or lose for your "side" or your own ego, but for the people around you.  We are all here together, for good or for ill, and I hope we can make the most of it.

[red hibiscus]

Note to self: all PhDs are liberal elitists.

Hmm...

[Sal Atticum]

Note to self: all PhDs are liberal elitists.

Hmm...

Yup, you'd better watch out.  Even those PhDs they have on Fox News are liberal elitists, in disguise.

[pmp6nl]

Nice post.

I have often found it interesting that many people automatically attribute higher education to a highly liberal (propaganda) device.  Of course as you mentioned they never seem to define what sort of liberal they are talking about.  I suppose I would tend to assume they might be referring to those higher education people as being social liberals, but the fact of the matter is I have never heard one of those people explain their rationale for their comments.

Now I would consider myself liberal on some social issues, but I have to say that not all of my interactions with professors, administrators, students, and others have shown that there is an extreme level of liberalism among the people in higher education, in fact I have met several professors ans students who would be considered rather socially conservative and conservative in other ways.

I have heard it several times, but I have never had the chance to test the validity of it or not, but I hear that the more education you have the more liberal you become.. of course those are very broad, blanketing statements.

I suppose an easy way to begin to look into this would be to identify what are considered liberal and conservative social issues and see how they pair up with people that have different levels of education and of course we could throw in some other externalities that may enhance

hummm... let em think about this some more.