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Excerpts from FCF Programming and Other FCF Projects
July 5, 2001
The Free Congress Guest Commentary
Sons of the Red Pioneers: Lowering of School Age & Other Questionable
Academic Reforms Promote the Cause of Socialism
by Frederick B. Meekins
The fundamental goal of socialism is the establishment of a sociopolitical
milieu where the individual is controlled by the state from the cradle to
the grave. It seems this dream has taken a few steps closer to reality for
young children living in Washington, DC.
The City Council of the District of Columbia is considering a bill designed
to lower the age of compulsory school attendance from five to three years
old. WorldNet Daily points out that even children as young as two,
unfortunate to have their birthdays fall after the commencement of the
academic year, will be mandated to participate.
While the proposed legislation does not yet necessitate mandatory classroom
attendance, it does require parents not forfeiting control of their toddlers
to engage in formalized learning activities overseen by professional
educators.
The bill's primary sponsor, Councilman Kevin Chavous, told the Washington
Post, "It would force the school system to take responsibility for every 3-
and 4-year-old in the city to make sure they are prepared for kindergarten."
In other words, the government - not the parents - are to be the one's
granted ultimate authority in the eyes of the law over such young children.
Even more shocking, very few public officials objected to the scheme on
ethical or philosophical grounds. Most only raised logistical or financial
concerns. Most endorsed it with the enthusiasm of a Nazi Gaulieter invited
to a Nuremberg Party rally or bookburning.
Mayor Anthony Williams endorsed the need to drag the exceedingly young into
the snares of statist education. Particularly revealing as to the true
agenda of this bill were the comments of Superintendent Paul Vance who told
the Post, "The earlier you can get these youngsters to make social and
cognitive impressions, the better your chances for having productive
learners. I'd like to get all these youngsters in school as early as
possible."
I bet these scoundrels would. For when the Superintendent speaks of "social
and cognitive impressions" he means more than having pupils learn their
"ABC's" or saying "please" and "thank you". One might be surprised to learn
that there is more to the notion of literacy nowadays in certain elite minds
than "Seeing Spot Run."
Along with more traditional interpretations of the concept pertaining to the
comprehension of numerical and linguistic textual symbolism, Christian
researcher Berit Kjos points out in the article "Redefining Literacy for a
New World Order" posted on WorthyNews.com this academic goal has been
transformed into a euphemism designed to impose a litany of dangerous social
agendas onto the mind of America's impressionable school children.
Among these new literacies ranks "sociopolitical literacy" (which Mrs. Kjos
defines as the acceptance of differing interpretations of the Constitution,
usually those limiting individual freedom) and "cultural literacy" (the
appreciation and unquestioning acceptance of all other cultures, excluding
of course the American version of the Western tradition).
It is highly doubtful either of these will do much in developing critical
thinking skills because these will be downplayed since students will also be
evaluated as to their compliance with workplace literacy. Workplace
literacy will not so much gauge one's work ethic or ambition for personal
achievement but rather one's willingness to bend to the mentality of the
herd or the whims of management.
But perhaps most disturbing of all is something referred to as "family
literacy". Berit Kjos reveals that under the Workforce Investment Act of
1998 parents are to be trained as the primary educators of their children.
So in essence, they will be subject to the same kinds of governmental
oversight as other professional teachers, no longer to be seen as the
independent caregivers of their offspring but simply as glorified zookeepers
in an expanding bureau of centralized socio-economic planning.
The DC proposal, hoping to lower the school age, is just the tip of the
conspiratorial iceberg. As anyone who has studied progressivistic
evolutionary socialism knows, that unlike its cousin violent revolutionary
Communism known to take over through an abrupt seizure of power, this form
of totalitarianism slithers towards assuming absolute control by steadily
taking often imperceptible but highly strategic steps.
Lowering the enrollment age is one such baby step. Elsewhere we find that
legislators in states such as Maryland suggesting that couples go through an
intensive period of counseling emphasizing the state's version of
appropriate family dynamics before being granted a license to marry. Yet
nothing is done to punish those deciding to shack-up without the blessing of
God or the sanction of law; and if children happen to result from these
illicit pairings, the couple is often rewarded with extravagant welfare
benefits.
Aldous Huxley in the dystopian masterpiece Brave New World foresaw a culture
not unlike our own where babies were produced in a laboratory genetically
preconfigured to assume their assigned social roles and where the government
maintained control by distracting the population through gratuitous sexual
entertainment.
Atheist philosopher Bertrand Russell argued in publications such as Why I am
not a Christian that only women sanctioned by the government as certified
breeders should be allowed to have children. Russell also hoped to strike
an additional crippling blow to the traditional family (and to no doubt
cover-up for his own philanderous proclivities that would make even a
Congressional Democrat blush) by reducing marriage to a temporary
arrangement based solely upon the criteria of physical connubial
satisfaction.
Since these kinds of ideas already enjoy a robust airing in many
intellectual circles, it is not hard to imagine a day when children will
become property of the state upon leaving the birth canal. Already on some
kibbutz communal farms in Israel children hardly even live with their
parents, instead spending most of their time in separate barrack facilities.
Laws and regulations lowering the school age and subjecting non-abusive
parents to scrutiny by school officials are merely designed to desensitize
the average American to this brand of radical sociological tinkering.
While one expects this nonsense to be quickly slurped up by pea-brained
liberals, Americans had better think again if they expect to get much relief
from powerful Republicans regarding these scholastic intrusions into their
private lives. Republican leaders might not be as brash or overt in the way
they endeavor to implement these kinds of social changes; yet the elephant
is, nevertheless, plodding down the same destructive path as the ass in this
regard.
Berit Kjos quotes former President Bush on his educational program America
2000 as saying, "Nations that stick to stale old notions and ideologies will
falter and fail. So I'm here today to say ... NEW SCHOOLS for a NEW WORLD
ORDER." Never mind the fact that the new approaches are what sparked
America's educational decline to begin with.
In some ways, the new George Bush is an improvement over the first occupant
of the Oval Office to bear that name, but on the issue of educational policy
he is clearly a case of like father like son.
According to Berit Kjos, at the Summit of the Americas in April 2001 George
W. Bush announced plans to establish "Hemispheric Centers of Teaching
Excellence". So much for Republican talk of returning control of education
to local hands.
Now it seems those sliding into office on promises of reducing the scope of
government now want to expand its influence beyond our national borders, no
doubt administratively consolidating the Americas and conditioning the
peoples of these respective nations into placidly accepting whatever lot
they are assigned by a gargantuan planetary bureaucracy by taking control of
the minds of young people.
America's system of public education is indeed in a state of near total
disarray. However, good citizens must learn this is no excuse to allow the
forces of despotism to undermine successful private sector approaches or as
justification to abolish both our network of cherished liberties or the
bonds of our loving families.
Copyright 2001 by Frederick B. Meekins
Frederick B. Meekins is a Notable News Now reader.
For questions or comments, contact Angie Wheeler [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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