short notes:
will brady's ruminations
will brady's ruminations
2008-11-13
politics: the know nothings
Now that the US Presidential election is over and the 21st Century version of the Know Nothings have completely overrun the Rethuglican Party leadership we can get back to work at solving our various social, economic and political ills.
There are some notable replacements from the Catholics, Irish and Chinese immigrants with Muslims, Arabs and "the Gays", but I expect the new know nothing leadership [still up for grabs but could include Rush Limbaugh, Lou Dobbs, Ann Coulter, maybe even Sarah Palin?] will be able to improvise.
Formally named The American Party, the Know Nothings had some basic tenets which included:
• Severe limits on immigration, especially from Catholic countries
• Restricting political office to native-born Americans
• Mandating a wait of 21 years before an immigrant could gain citizenship
• Restricting public school teachers to Protestants
• Mandating daily Bible readings in public schools
• Restricting the sale of liquor
Thanks to the persistent dumbing-down of public education that has taken place since the Reagan Era, the evisceration of the Fairness Doctrine [You know, that FCC policy that mandated broadcast media had an obligation to provide for for discussion of contrasting points of view on controversial issues of public importance], the odd promotion of "home schooling" [with precious little oversight as to whether or not the teachers were even prepared], Dubya's so-called "No Child Left Behind", the upsurge of violent thought numbing video games, and the proud braying of opinionated propagandists to blot out any opinion save their own [the Fairness Doctrine's reinstatement could help counter that], the social atmosphere for a new generation of intolerant uninformed know nothings is ripe.
Can't say I'm happy to see this resurgence, but now we know it's there, I do think one of the Obama Adiminstration's goals ought to include re-examining and rebuilding the engine that successfully provided universal education for USA citizens more than half a century.
Now that the US Presidential election is over and the 21st Century version of the Know Nothings have completely overrun the Rethuglican Party leadership we can get back to work at solving our various social, economic and political ills.
There are some notable replacements from the Catholics, Irish and Chinese immigrants with Muslims, Arabs and "the Gays", but I expect the new know nothing leadership [still up for grabs but could include Rush Limbaugh, Lou Dobbs, Ann Coulter, maybe even Sarah Palin?] will be able to improvise.
Formally named The American Party, the Know Nothings had some basic tenets which included:
• Severe limits on immigration, especially from Catholic countries
• Restricting political office to native-born Americans
• Mandating a wait of 21 years before an immigrant could gain citizenship
• Restricting public school teachers to Protestants
• Mandating daily Bible readings in public schools
• Restricting the sale of liquor
Thanks to the persistent dumbing-down of public education that has taken place since the Reagan Era, the evisceration of the Fairness Doctrine [You know, that FCC policy that mandated broadcast media had an obligation to provide for for discussion of contrasting points of view on controversial issues of public importance], the odd promotion of "home schooling" [with precious little oversight as to whether or not the teachers were even prepared], Dubya's so-called "No Child Left Behind", the upsurge of violent thought numbing video games, and the proud braying of opinionated propagandists to blot out any opinion save their own [the Fairness Doctrine's reinstatement could help counter that], the social atmosphere for a new generation of intolerant uninformed know nothings is ripe.
Can't say I'm happy to see this resurgence, but now we know it's there, I do think one of the Obama Adiminstration's goals ought to include re-examining and rebuilding the engine that successfully provided universal education for USA citizens more than half a century.
Labels: education, kow-nothings, noise, politics, propaganda, social change, social control
¶ 07:37 0 comments
