<> [Inventiveness, exuberant energy, rebelliousness, a sense of fun, and
careless courage are among the qualities that made America. Today,
however, when we find such habits among the young, we scold, suppress,
suspend, arrest, or try to drug them away]
||| M MURPHY - That is true, but it is not new. America has had a strong
Calvinist streak since the beginning. It was nowhere stronger than in
New England, where the public school idea began. New England sent wave
after wave of schoolmarms into the West, ostensibly to teach the 3 R's.
But unconsciously they suppressed natural curiosity, devalued academic
achievement, rewarded toadyism and propagated the values that underpin
plutocracy. It was their brown-nosing little students who made the
public school system what it is today. Thanks to their small-minded
officiousness, America became the first corporate state with a rock
solid Calvinist foundation.
References:
Richard Hofstadter's "Anti-Intellectualism in American Life". The last
three chapters are an eye-opening capsule history of the public school
system.
Leon Botstein's "Jefferson's Children." Botstein, president of Bard
College; advocates abolishing high school and replacing it with a sort
of mentoring system, beginning at age 16, which harnesses and channels
adolescent passion into a customized education program, rather than, as
in the present system, constantly fighting adolescent passion and trying
to suppress it. This is a paradigm-busting idea and my favorite
'education reform plan.' It was received like a fart in an elevator.
Read Edward Luttwak's insightful essay "The Three Rules of Calvinism" at
Then there's H.L. Mencken's definition of a Presbyterian. I can't find
the exact quote but it is something like "someone who lays awake
worrying that someone somewhere may be having a good time"
Finally, there is an initiative in Washington State to require anyone
running for public office to take the WASL test given to all 10th
graders now.