We have previously discussed the rising anti-intellectualism in the GOP race from the rejection of basic science principles to the demonification of academics and higher education. Rick Santorum this week ramped up on the attacks on colleges and universities with a speech that seemed to call for voters to avoid supporting — or even attempting — college. Santorum appears to be proudly embracing the pledge of Will Rogers that “America is becoming so educated that ignorance will be a novelty. I will belong to the select few.”
Santorum explained to an enraptured audience in Naples, Florida how “the left” long ago took over universities to indoctrinate young people for the purpose of “holding and maintaining power.” It was all part of the plan of the liberal overlords, he suggested, and “we’ve lost our higher education, that was the first to go a long time ago.” Now, Obama is pushing college which Santorum portrays as a type of entry drug to liberalism:
“It’s no wonder President Obama wants every kid to go to college,” said the former Pennsylvania senator. “The indoctrination that occurs in American universities is one of the keys to the left holding and maintaining power in America. And it is indoctrination. If it was the other way around, the ACLU would be out there making sure that there wasn’t one penny of government dollars going to colleges and universities, right? . . . If they taught Judeo-Christian principles in those colleges and universities, they would be stripped of every dollar. If they teach radical secular ideology, they get all the government support that they can possibly give them. Because you know 62 percent of children who enter college with a faith conviction leave without it.”
Santorum, therefore, called on true Republicans to stop giving money to colleges:
“I’ll bet you there are people in this room who give money to colleges and universities who are undermining the very principles of our country every single day by indoctrinating kids with left-wing ideology. And you continue to give to these colleges and universities. Let me have a suggestion: Stop it.”
It was a truly Palinesque moment of attacking those who would challenge GOP positions with facts or history. Now the race to the bottom is complete with a call to just say no to education and to embrace doctrine as truth. Of course, this is not a new idea. Mao Zedong launched a Cultural Revolution based on the same notions:
Although the bourgeoisie has been overthrown, it is still trying to use the old ideas, culture, customs, and habits of the exploiting classes to corrupt the masses, capture their minds, and endeavour to stage a comeback. The proletariat must do just the opposite: It must meet head-on every challenge of the bourgeoisie in the ideological field and use the new ideas, culture, customs, and habits of the proletariat to change the mental outlook of the whole of society. At present, our objective is to struggle against and crush those persons in authority . . . and repudiate the reactionary bourgeois academic “authorities” and the ideology of the bourgeoisie and all other exploiting classes and to transform education, literature and art, and all other parts of the superstructure . . .”
Now this is not meant to accuse Santorum of plagiarism: you would only learn about the Cultural Revolution in those colleges that he wants us all to avoid. I can deal with the re-education camps, but I am a bit afraid of what Santorum will select as his Little Red [State] Book. If it is Sarah Palin’s America by Heart : Reflections on Family, Faith, and Flag, I will be the first to turn in my colleagues hiding in the attic.
Source: CBS
Elaine,
I was asking because I didn’t really understand what you meant. I can’t guess what you mean so I was asking a genuine question. You clarified it, now I can respond.
Although elites running things is nothing new, Hedges argues and I agree that the left has sold out the people. He says that leftist elites no longer work on behalf of the disposed because they have become an integral part of the elites. He argues and I agree, that this is different from earlier times in our nation when left wing intellectuals/activists actually confronted the powerful. He feels and I agree, that their collusion with the elites has created a vacuum of left wing policy, discussion and movement for justice. Our side has largely folded its tent. This has been a disaster.
Mike S.,
You are exactly like my very good neighbors who told me over and over again that Bush was a good guy, that they had to vote for him because he was the lesser of two evils, that Bush would use his power wisely so it was O.K., that he was a little misguided but really a nice guy who maybe lost his way a bit. There is no difference in your belief system from theirs. These are good people, not bad people. They believed what they were saying with all their heart. That’s why I can’t call all conservatives evil and hate them!
I actually think a person who votes for someone who tortures, imprisons the innocent, welcomes felons into his administration, etc. because he’s on your “side” might be the authoritarian, but I will leave that decision up to you. I can’t agree that the best way to do things is to keep doing what we’ve done before and expecting a different result. I can’t agree that Obama is the lessor of two evils. I don’t even agree that elections are the best way to go, let alone that one can and should vote for a major party candidate. Like this authoritarian always says–do what you want, I’m working in a citizen movement for justice!
Creationism creeps on…..and it’s moving through the Indiana Senate. A Senate committee has just agreed that it be taught in schools. I wonder if Mitch Daniels, one of the few sane Republicans, would veto it?
How can we use ‘santorum’ correctly in a sentence. How about “Current republican politics is a santorum of conflicted and conflicting ideas”.
I still think they should nominate Rick; he’s funny…
Mike S.:
Thanks for your excellent posts on this topic and for pointing out the fact that while both sides have to carry blame, the lions share fall on the side of the Republicans due to their open disparagement of women, minorities, non Christians etc. as well as a willingness to support nonsensical positions like creationism with a general hostility to reason, evidence and science. One just has to look at all the trash that is put out by right wing think tanks where facts are optional. As former Senator Daniel Patrick Mohniyan put it..”You are entitled to your opinions but not your own facts.”
That Chris Hedges guy is very interesting. He appears often on Free Speech Tv. I even interrupt the Animal Planet programs to watch Hedges. If you cannot get Free Speech TV see if you have LinkTV on your cable portolio–Chris Hedges is on there as well. But after awhile Chris hedges towards preaching politics. That can be tedious. Then they pass the plate.
Thats ok becasue they dont have traditional sponsors.
“You keep making the mistake that dumbing down is just done for/to conservatives.”
Jill,
You keep making the mistake that you understand this more than I do, because of some of the political positions I take. If one looks at the history of my writings for years here, they would see that I’ve excoriated the left as much as I have the right and in the process pointed out the sad similarities between both. My comment to you was on how you keep hijacking every thread to throw in your Obama hatred and that it is not only tiring, boring, but quite uninformed.
“To you, this nation is a disaster because of Republicans and to me it’s a disaster because elites (who don’t have a party) are running us into the ground.”
Just look back and see that I’ve out written you by far on how the elites are running and have run this country. That is just in comments alone. I’ve also written about 20 blogs that deal with this issue and they were hardly partisan screeds. So don’t play your silly little characterization games with me, Jill, just because I have stated that I support the man you think is the devil. I’ve given more than adequate expressions of distaste for his policies, but I’ve also given reasons for why I think voting for him is the prudent thing given that our society would tip over the brink into full totalitarian, corporatist feudalism if he loses and Congress too is lost.
You may disagree, but your solutions are non-existent, given the threat of an overt takeover of this country by the fascist right wing, that is the current Republican Party. Just like the Radicals, Communists and Socialists I knew in the 60’s whose need for “purity” let Richard Nixon get elected and wipe out most of the gains of both the Civil Rights and Anti-War Movements, your positions would help destroy our ability to even write what we write here.
Yet you comfort yourself with the Mantra that I am just an “ObamaBot Democrat” foolishly supporting evil. If I hadn’t left a written trail of evidence
that gives lie to your attack, perhaps it might stick, but since I have that trail, it just exposes you to the charge that it is you who are the complete partisan of whatever you choose to call your point of view. Another way to put it, based on “The Authoritarians” is that you are a Left Wing Authoritarian, whose beliefs are unquestioningly informed by those you believe to be the true Authorities. I think for myself and my best authority is myself, my experiences and history.
Jill,
Your earlier comment seemed to imply–to me–that the elites having control of things is something new. I was responding to that. There is no need to read anything more into my comment. I would hope that you’d know by many of my past comments and posts that I’d like to change the status quo in this country.
The Texas State School Board members that favor changing the textbooks to teach creationism and change history itself are conservative republicans. Think that is the case in the other states too.
Oro,
That was the exact bit of Jefferson’s correspondence I was thinking of. 😀
Mike S.,
You keep making the mistake that dumbing down is just done for/to conservatives. It’s equal opportunity and it’s been successful on liberals and conservatives alike. I know you and I will never agree on that. To you, this nation is a disaster because of Republicans and to me it’s a disaster because elites (who don’t have a party) are running us into the ground. They are aided in this task by people, left and right, who have all agreed with certain truly awful US policies, like torture and imprisonment of the innocent, along with financial crimes against the people, are acceptable as long as it’s the “good” side engaging in those policies.
Fidel Castro: Republican candidates display ‘idiocy and ignorance’
The State Column | Staff | Thursday, January 26, 2012
Read more: http://www.thestatecolumn.com/articles/fidel-castro-republican-candidates-display-idiocy-and-ignorance/#ixzz1kaKynRI7
Chris Hedges is one of the good guys. I was only trying to point out that he does come from an elite backround.
As to the real topic of this thread we owe Little Ricky a debt in overtly acknowledging what has been the aim of the Ultra Conservative movement since the Goldwater defeat. Literally billions have been spent to dumb down the American public. School boards taken over by no-nothings have revised the curriculum to homogenize the teaching of history. Budget cuts mandated by conservative officials have destroyed the concept of teaching Civics, a subject that always included a firm grounding in the background and principles of our Constitution. Geography, which grounds students in the layout of our world gets thrown away. Now fifty+ years later we have an electorate uneducated about how our nation is supposed to be run. Ignorance is indeed bliss for the ruling elites and they want to keep it that way.
For Jill and Gene:
“Preach, my dear sir, a crusade against ignorance; establish & improve the law for educating the common people.” – Thomas Jefferson to George Wythe, August 13, 1786
Elaine,
I’m struck by statements such as, things have always been a certain way. Why does that matter? Elites have always run things but that has never been good for our society. To me, the solution lies in recognizing a problem and taking action to remedy the harm that is being done.
It’s why we don’t have as much slavery as we did in the past. Slavery has been part of human society for a long time., It still is, both in this and other nations. I agree it’s important to understand the history of slavery. That is what will help us to make things better and we owe other people the truth, both about the past and the present. Is that the way you meant your statement or did I miss something?
oops! think about it.
If education is so bad, will Ricky willingly trade in his credentials? He went to a very good Catholic prep school in the Chicago suburbs, followed by Penn State and Pitt where his education was subsidized by the public.Perhaps he could pay back what the citizens of Pennsylvania wasted on him.
Jill,
Must you hijack every thread to get in an Obama screed? We get it, you hate him, but even you can’t believe he is everything wrong with this country, or maybe not.
Mike S.,
Of course…some peoples problem is Just the One in office now…If we had a different president….then everything will be all better…I have said and will say it again….I will probably most likely vote for Obama unless some Other Candidate runs that strikes my fancy….
As you duly noted….the problems did not just start a few years ago….They go way on back…That is the issue today…Some states are considering emergency manager positions so they can take over a city, town including but not limited to school districts….The Republican’s have created this mess so that they can further the Koch Agenda…also known as ALEC…..It is called the Right to Work issue at this moment….
“How we got from a slave owning white male propertied elite to a black president of modest means is quite remarkable when you think about.” (SwM)
Well, it all began to change after women got the vote … 😉
SwM,
The Unitarian Church??!! That’s a good one … I thought he didn’t believe in atheists