Education, Culture, Ideology

SELECTED PASSAGES …At the end of the 20th century, the U.S. had won World War II and the Cold War, liberated half the planet from history’s most dehumanizing ideologies, advanced a free-market capitalism that had led more humans out of poverty than any economic system ever devised, and given the world the richest bounty of… Read More

SELECTED  PASSAGES … ‘Death to America!” is a common refrain from antifa rioters from Portland, Ore., to Kenosha, Wis. … Neither political party has been willing or able to end this anarchy. Extremism becomes more entrenched in American politics with each passing day. These acts of violence encapsulate five decades of neo-Marxist indoctrination in American schools,… Read More

SELECTED  PASSAGES  …Somewhere between the rise of cable news and social media, our shared sense of reality splintered. We live in an era of endless political narratives, in which the phrase “my truth” is supposed to be taken seriously. .. Americans today cannot agree on the existence of facts, let alone what the facts are…. Read More

Colleges need to be accredited; state universities answer to governing boards. Accrediting agencies and governing boards are created through a political process. What if voters were to insist that those agencies demand answers to some elementary questions? For example: How can a department of political science that excludes half the spectrum of viable political ideas be competent to offer degrees in the field? How can a history curriculum be taught competently when only one extremist attitude to social and political questions is present in a department? How can a campus humanities faculty with the same limitation teach competently? How can these extraordinary deficiencies deserve either accreditation, or support by state and federal funds? Read More

SELECTED PASSAGES Czesław Miłosz…wrote, “The Captive Mind… in 1953, to warn the West of what happens to the human mind and soul in a totalitarian system.  Miłosz knew from experience, having lived through the Communist takeover, how totalitarianism strips men and women of their liberty, transforming them into “affirmative cogs” in service of the state… Read More

…the world’s oldest constitutional democracy is in grave danger. We stand at a crossroads, called to protect this democracy and to work toward unity. Current and future generations will look back to examine how we chose to act, and why.
A key part of our task is to reinvigorate teaching and learning of American history and civics in our nation’s schools. A constitutional democracy requires a citizenry that has a desire to participate, and an understanding of how to do so constructively… Read More

University of Chicago President Robert J. Zimmer delivers remarks upon accepting the 2017 Philip Merrill Award for Outstanding Contributions to Liberal Arts Education. He spoke of how the “openness of universities to divergent and clashing ideas, to analytic debate, to rigor, and to questioning, is a critical ingredient in illuminating societal, scientific, and humanistic issues.” President Zimmer stressed that because “universities are virtually unique in making this long-term contribution only highlights their importance to society.” The award was presented on October 20, 2017. Read More