Random Ponderings on Top Issues

Given the title of this article, in reality this will focus on one major issue for the remainder of this year with different posts, as there is a lot to discuss and much of it will be impromptu, drawing from things I have written in my personal journals and other sources.  I want to begin this random series of perspectives by saying that one thing most of us need is a systematic statement of our world view on different issues and situations, and in studying a lot of different things this past year - G.K. Chesterton's writings, as well as the writings of such people as Ivan Ilyin and others - I have come to the conclusion that there are several things that need reform in this nation, and as I have come to that conclusion it has made me more resolute in some long-held positions I have had, but also given more clarification as to views I have held but may not have been able to classify by name.  In many cases, much of what I say will no doubt tick off people, as I am not guaranteeing "political correctness" on some things, and also I will not always even march lock-step with those who call themselves "conservative" either.   No one is perfect, in other words, and what we need to do as critical thinkers is to sort out what doesn't sound right and instead focus on the virtues of a given position.  In doing so, this means a radically new way of looking at things in some cases, even for me personally.  That being said, why don't we open this by way of introduction by stating some simple facts about where I stand politically and philosophically.

Some of the material I have been exposed to recently has included Hillaire Belloc's The Servile State, as well as Chesterton's The Everlasting Man.   Both of these books have something in common which has more or less given form to ideas I have had before, and that is both of them advance a socio-economic viewpoint called Distributism.   Also espoused by other well-known writers and activists such as Dorothy Day, Distributism is a viable alternative, with a strong Judeo-Christian foundation, to much of the nonsense that both Corporate America and big government espouse, in that a Distributist model starts at grassroots and doesn't serve the establishment well.   The tenets of Distributism stress things such as the right of all to property ownership, the importance of the family as the cornerstone of a society's economy, and also this position would be much friendlier to local business interests in contrast to corporate conglomerates.  Having a solid grounding in Judeo-Christian faith too, it also affirms the role of faith in business practices, something that the ethics-deficient corporate world needs these days.  Critics of Distributism say that it is promoting an agrarian society at the expense of technology, but it really is not - as a matter of fact, technology should be utilized properly as a tool to aid the stability, both socially and economically, of a society.   While Distributists often do romanticize agrarian life as the ideal, Distributism as properly understood applies just as equally to the small-town and even urban culture.  The reason many people associate Distributism with agriculture is probably due to the property ownership emphasis it has, but people can own properties in towns too.  The real impetus behind Distributism is to promote a greater self-sufficiency among families and individuals, while at the same time allowing for charitable effort where needed and also the interdependence of each self-run business regarding the success of the local economy.   So far in this year's Presidential race, it is unfortunate that none of the major candidates, Republican or Democrat, have the interests of the family in mind;  one candidate is a major figure in Corporate America, and espouses a "crony capitalism" in which smaller businesses suffer in order to advance the large corporation.   The other candidate is about more centralized government, and subsequentially more government control in daily life, and this is depersonalizing as it detracts from encouraging people toward self-sufficiency.  Neither the corporate executive nor the bureaucratic socialist have a clue as to what makes the average family tick, and that is why I will support neither of them.

Another idea I have in relation to this is the reinstatement of a system of guilds and co-ops to aid communities.  I want to focus on the co-op, in that I believe it is the key to benefitting everyone in a given community.   The way I perceive a co-op to work is quite simple really - a system is set up in a community, and the members of that community contribute as they are able, and then the system is there to benefit those who require its services.  Take for instance a medical clinic which is run on a co-op principle.  As part of the community ordinance, people would be encouraged (not coerced) to contribute an amount they are able to give to a pool fund, and that pool fund would aid in the operation of the clinic.  If some become financially unable to contribute at some point due to loss of employment or other situations, then the co-op would provide for them anyway via a discretionary account set up for that purpose.  In this way, people could get the care they need without having to stress about bills and insurance rackets.  In essence, a system like this would be a true insurance policy in that all members of a given community could benefit from it.  A system like this would quickly do away with the oppressive system of "Obamacare" as well as health insurance rackets which charge exorbitant premiums but then deliver little in return to those paying into it.  This is one idea I have among many, although it would take much more thought and planning to really iron out the details.

Another area that would be a target of reform is community upkeep.  In a truly Distributist situation, the community is the responsibility of those living in it, and what this would mean is volunteer-based beautification projects which would eliminate the need for overpaid and underqualified government workers.  One part of this would be resurrecting the old "Adopt-a-Highway" programs which were very effective years ago.  Also, planting things such as community vegetable gardens and other projects would aid in achieving the goal as well.   One thing for projects like these too would be to target younger people - if young teens are put to work, it would keep them out of trouble and they could have a sense of accomplishment for what they do.  For poor teens from low-income households, a fund could even be set up to pay them a minimal rate for their work, thus helping them contribute to their family's income too.  If more communities would do stuff like this, it would cut down on crime, and if such programs were made mandatory in problem areas (dare I say Black neighborhoods in many cities, which are notoriously crappy-looking and crime-ridden, although it is probably not "politically-correct" to say so and may get me some badmouthing from loudmouths like Al Sharpton), it would cut the need for entitlement programs and instead encourage the development of a responsible work ethic.  It could also be made part of the school curriculum for local high schools, colleges, and universities as well, given past success rates with such things.  Known as "cooperative education," such programs benefit both the young person and the community, in that it also helps the young person develop practical work experience to make job searching less stressful later.  College and even high school credit could even be given in some instances for participation.  It is programs like this, which are at their core essentially Distributist, which will revitalize many communities if people would just take such things seriously.

The key to something like this working is a change in attitude on the part of so much of the American public.  We have been, by and large, swept up in a post-modernist "feelings-centered" mentality where encouraging hard work and self-sufficiency is viewed by such people as "racist" or "offensive."  It is so much easier for the detractors (many of whom are radically left-leaning in politics and morality) to throw money at a problem rather than fixing it at the fundamental level, and hence the problem.   Distributism understands that often it does more good to temporarily hurt someone's feelings in order to motivate them to do better, and although the person may not find getting his toes stepped on too endearing, in the end such a person, if receptive, will be thankful for the assertive approach.  This is why also we need to get the wimps, pansies, and sissified career politicians, many of whom will say or do anything to keep their cushy jobs (another reason why Congressional term limits are a great idea, but that is for another discussion), out of office and elect real leadership which is more about correct action and motivation than political rhetoric.   Good candidates with a more Distributist approach to economics and who listen to those who voted for them will in time be able to even resolve the national debt if we cut some "fat" regarding entitlement programs from the Federal budget.  Until we do, America's fate is questionable at best.

Those were a few thoughts today on Distributism and economics, and hopefully I can share more soon.

Random Ponderings on Education

I grew up, as many know, in rural West Virginia.  I also grew up without a lot, coming as I did from being raised by a single mother in poverty.  Depictions of West Virginians in the media are often of us as being backward hillbillies who sit around drinking moonshine and plucking out "Dueling Banjos" on ratty-looking stringed instruments while we date our cousins, and the lamestream media (not a typo, as most media is lame these days!) seems to love to caricature people who hold to traditional values and firm religious convictions as being like this in general.  Yet, when I look at today's educational system, I am actually thankful for how I was brought up, because I learned something.  Many kids in today's schools cannot make that same statement, as they come out more ignorant than they went into school.  Let me give a couple of examples I read about recently, as it just proves how stupid the really ignorant are, and the really ignorant are often the teachers standing in front of public school classrooms.

Just this past June, a little boy in New Jersey got into some trouble over what is really a stupid reason.  The little boy either brought brownies to class or was talking about brownies to another student, and the idiot teacher calls a fully-armed cop into the class to interrogate the boy!  As a result of the incident - which was abuse by the teacher of a dumb New Jersey 'hate-crimes" law that really needs to be taken out of the books - the boy was traumatized, and his mother was upset (understandably!).  The mother (who is of Brazilian ethnicity) is exercising her right to take her son out of that stupid school, and she should.  What is bizarre about this whole incident is that a Black thug can kill cops and get called a "hero" by that incompetent ding-dong in the White House (that would be Obama, whose equally idiotic wife launched a crusade against peanut butter sandwiches for the same reason), yet an innocent child is punished over brownies (this story is at http://patch.com/new-jersey/collingswood/third-graders-racist-brownie-comment-prompts-police-response-new-jersey.  Accessed July 25, 2016) .  If teachers were to focus more time on teaching kids how to count, how to write, and how to be intelligent human beings rather than being agents of a "politically-correct" dictatorship, we might have a better educational system in this nation.  I want to contrast that with what I learned in our little three-room "ignorant" West Virginia school.

The little elementary school I went to, Grassy Lick Elementary in Kirby, WV, only had three rooms, and we had two grades taught by one teacher in each room of the school.  The high school I went to - East Preston Senior High School in Terra Alta, WV - was not much bigger, but both of these schools (over 2 hours apart from each other) have some things in common.  In these schools, one thing that could be guaranteed was that our teachers were strict!  When you were in class with them, at the time you would probably hate them, but years later you really appreciate them so much because they dedicated a lot of effort to making sure you learned what they gave you effectively.  One such teacher that comes to mind was my 10-grade math teacher at East Preston, Dorothy Schwer.  If you know German, you may pick up that her last name meant "difficult," and she did live up to that!   As I had German at about the same time, the joke that was quipped among some of us then was "Ist Frau Schwer schwer?"  But, I will tell you something about Miss Schwer that I would not have admitted when I was a 16-year-old high school sophomore over 30 years ago - she was a dedicated teacher who took her job very serious.  She wasn't there to make friends of her students, but rather to make them apply their brains God gave them to learning how to work with numbers in their future jobs.  She was definitely a challenge as a teacher, no argument there, but at the same time she was challenging us.  In retrospect, she was being an effective teacher, and God bless her for it.  Miss Schwer is now long retired, and on occasion I still say hello to her on social media, and I appreciate her dedication to us as her students.  And, I should consider that, as should all of her former students, a blessing - she imparted to us a great gift, but it was up to us to learn how to use it.

Grassy Lick School, Kirby, WV - as it appears today

Another such teacher I had like this was my 5th and 6th-grade teacher at Grassy Lick, the late Guy Dispanet Jr.  Back then, especially as a young kid of 10, I was actually intimidated by Dispanet and his character - he was huge, had the demeanor of a Marine boot-camp sergeant, and he went by a strict regimen in his classes.  At the age of 10, I was sort of in a state of flux - I was living in a poor household, and I wasn't really applying myself as I should.  So, that particular year Dispanet did me a huge favor - he flunked me in 5th grade, and I had the privelege then of having him as a teacher for three years instead of two.  The retention to repeat the 5th grade was my own fault, and Dispanet was only doing his job - like Miss Schwer, he was dedicated to his students, and they were going to learn something out of him come hell or high water.  And, God allowed it because Dispanet was ordained by Him to get my act together and be the person I am called to be.  In the following two years though, something very neat took place - thanks to Dispanet, I was able to really draw out a lot of my own talent and giftings, and I earned both his respect as well as his guidance.  His motivation was something I honestly needed, and God knew how to get me where He wanted me, and Dispanet was His instrument for doing that.  I am now completing graduate school as a result of Guy Dispanet's strict but caring guidance, and although he passed away in 1992 from an unfortunate illness, I was truly blessed to have the opportunity of learning from him.

Another such teacher was one I had in first grade, Mrs. Frances Harper.  Mrs. Harper was a young teacher back in that first school year of mine in 1976, but she too took her job seriously.  One thing Mrs. Harper saw in me that stood out was that I had the capacity for learning in a way that was sometimes eccentric, but she knew just what to do.  It was from Mrs. Harper that I learned two things - one an appreciation for reading, and the other learning to organize things systematically, which I still practice to this day.  She was another one of those teachers I owe much to, and recently I was able to get in touch with her - she remembered me very well too!  As a rambunctious kid of 6, I was also prone to getting into mischief, and I must have driven that poor lady to distraction, but at the same time she also knew how to challenge me in order to channel my energies in more productive ways.  Do current educational standards reflect the stellar education I received?  Let's talk about that.

In our parish church we have a gentleman named Dick who serves as the parish Senior Warden, and he is a retired teacher as well.  One day I was talking to him about education and its current state, and what he told me echoes the sentiments of many good teachers who are often deprived of their vocation to serve as glorified babysitters in classrooms.  Dick was substitute teaching in a neighboring county just prior to his retirement, and one Sunday he came to church really frazzled - the school he was working in the previous week was nothing but gang fights and goof-offs, and Dick said he spent the majority of his time breaking up fights and doing other duties, and his position entailed very little actual teaching.  In his own words, he more or less said that he didn't spend all the time and money on tuition to go to teacher's college to be a glorified referee and babysitter, yet that is what he was essentially having to do.  His frustration was understandable, as today most of the educational system is run by corrupt politicians who are more concerned about students knowing about "diversity" rather than teaching them to actually spell it and pronounce it correctly.  These politicians are often fueled financially by a wealthy lobby of professional educators with radical agendas which we now call the NEA.  The result of much of this has been a dumbing-down of the educational system in order to promote "tolerance" and other BS, and let me now talk about an example of that.

Thanks to the Obama Administration and its own radical agenda, many disciplines taught in schools have been dumbed-down to the degree that it is almost ridiculous for a real educator to even waste time teaching them.  A perfect example of this is what is called "Common-Core Math."  For many of us who are from earlier generations, we remember how rigorous math was, and it was a hated subject - constant memorization of multiplication tables, etc.  But, you did learn from that, and it enhanced one's educational experience.  Instead of learning multiplication tables, "Common Core Math" has students do math the stupid way.   Let me give you an example.  For anyone taught math like it was supposed to be taught, you can do this equation in your head:

32 + 24 = 56

That is really not that hard for most of us, is it?   However, here is what "Common Core Math" has students to do, and it is just nuts:

10+10+10+13-5+2+20-10+10-4 = 56

Although you eventually come to the same answer, it is so ridiculous how they do it, and it wastes a lot of time.  The primary reason for "Common Core Math" is just like the rationale behind why a lot of things are taught weird in other disciplines - it is not about students applying themselves to learn anymore, but rather about them feeling good.  It is likewise true in literature as well - most of your average high-school graduates in Florida schools these days know less than I did when I was in the 6th grade in a little "backward" West Virginia school.  For instance, to have classic stories like Joel Chandler Harris's Tales of Uncle Remus banned as "racist," as well as banning my good friend Robert Newton Peck's book A Day No Pigs Would Die because it accurately sums up how life is on a farm, especially during the Depression, is the height of lunacy considering the same people who banned those would allow their first-grader to read "Heather Has Two Mommies" or their junior in high school to read Alfred Kinsey's sick theories on sexuality.  The "idiocy factor" among so many of our youth has grown astronomically due to hippie burn-outs teaching radical politics in place of basic skills in classes, and it is a scandal on Western civilization.  As D. James Kennedy, Kent Hovind, and even generations earlier with G.K. Chesterton have noted, when you remove certain things from public life, it causes problems.  Let's consider what has happened in the past 53 years:

1.  1963 - Prayer in schools is banned.

2.  1973 - Roe v. Wade legalizes abortion as an industry and radically alters how people value human life. 

3.  2015 - Under Obama, the Obergefel ruling of the Supreme Court mandates recognition of  "same-sex" marriage, undermining the family.  

These three fundamental actions of our own leadership have assaulted and attacked three fundamental areas of human development - the home itself, the family unit, and the value of each individual human life.  Let's think about that really carefully - when a bunch of radical academic elites (many of whom don't know their keisters from kickstands) start dictating to people that God doesn't exist and that human beings are mere "evolved apes" with no more value than a common garden earthworm (some of them value worms more than their own kids!), it doesn't bode well in the classroom when you start teaching kids they are mere "animals," for in time they begin to act like animals.  We see the consequences of that mentality now - the Columbine shootings of 1999 were a very serious and tragic example, but when you have to walk through security checks and have your bags checked for metal detectors before entering home room at school, there is something amiss.  And, that is why we have so much violence today.

Patriotism is another virtue that has suffered because of this.  All through school, we always recited the Pledge of Allegiance before every class day started, and it was something that was considered honorable to do.  Also, once I was in sixth grade, it was considered a privelege when those of us who were older kids got to put up and take down the American flag each day, and we were taught to handle that flag with the utmost respect.  I was shocked recently when my wife received a medical certification at a technical college she studied at for a while, when at the graduation ceremony the National Anthem was sung but the majority of the people in the auditorium just sat on their fat rumps and disrespected the whole thing - in my day, when the Anthem was sung, you stood up, put your right hand over your heart, and you respected what was going on as proper protocol.  When I saw that shameless display of disrespect in that auditorium a couple of years back, I wanted to literally flog the whole lot of those slackers.  We need to respect the flag, and honor the National Anthem when it is sung - patriotism is a virtue and a fundamental traditional value, and by taking it away it compromises who we are as a nation.  

That all being said, we need to get back to teaching our kids not only academic excellence, but also moral and social etiquette when it comes to certain customs which define us as Americans.  Until we learn that, we will never be the nation we once were, and we will also cease to exist as the America we know.  Considering who is now running this nation, maybe that is not such a bad thing either - perhaps the dissolution of the United States as a political entity will preserve in its remnants what it means to be truly American.  Any rate, thank you for allowing me to share. 

The artwork in this article was painted by a gifted artist named Jim Daly.