Yesterday we talked about failure as a teacher. In that post we linked to a study on how grade inflation is actually harming the life-time earning of students. This picture gets darker, however. San Francisco has, for the last twelve years, not taught algebra in the 8th grade for the sake of “equity.” The results have been appalling and the policy is now being reversed. But the problem also runs deeper.
You are grown, you are educated – but you cannot get any actual information. The host took to his Fox column to once again note how awful legacy media coverage of the war actually is. Meanwhile, in Missouri, the federal government has signed a consent agreement admitting to efforts to control the flow of information on social media.
It is tempting to get all up in arms and speak in conspiratorial terms about censorship and media bias and all the rest. And you would have a point. But, this is a big but, we should learn from history.
Historically, nations that try and control information fail. The Soviet Union is the latest example, and I personally think that China will, eventually fail or reform. The only reason China did not fail soon after the Soviet was it reformed significantly – reforms that have only been reversed in recent years. Sure, this natural process requires patience, and while there are things we can do to hasten the process, in the end it’s usually something unforeseen that finally cracks the egg. (e.g. – In the Soviet Union, Chernobyl)
The United State of America is not designed to never screw up – it is designed to be self-corrective. This nation is designed to change course when things get tooo far out-of-bounds. I look around and I think we are self-correcting.
The second election of Donald J. Trump is nothing short of a political miracle. The man’s demeanor and gracelessness can be, at times, almost self-defeating. Democrats, and their media allies have launched every weapon in their arsenal, from lawfare to media manipulation, at him and there he stands. BUt with his second election the American people have stood up to all that nonsense and said, “ENOUGH!” The American people elected DJT, his foibles notwithstanding, precisely to correct the errant course on which the nation found itself.
But, let us learn from China as well. The forces of Obama/Biden, et. al. have not accepted their defeat. The possibility of a reversal of the Trump reforms is a possibility – but only if we, the American people, allow it. But we got here through the ballot box and it is through the ballot box that we can continue the course. Their lies and obfuscations will not stand, provided we seek information and do not sit back passively and accept the drivel that our media would hand us.
All that energy we are so tempted to put into decrying the information control efforts of our opponents should instead be directed towards something positive – towards moving good information forward. They will fail if we just keep moving forward.
