The Failure of Progressive Education

Education has become a panacea for every problem in society.

Crime?  More education.
Racism?  Education.
Littering?  Education.
Stupidity?  Education will fix that.

For every social problem we have, education is pushed forward as the all in one solution.

America has a long & illustrious history of quality education.  We have gone to the moon, & made technological advances never imagined in times past, all from the building of the knowledge base, adding to it, & innovation... the sum of good education.

But somewhere along the line, when progressive ideology began to dominate the culture, education became a tool, not for critical thinking & discovery, but indoctrination.

Historic American education had a few basic tenets:

1. Natural law & human freedom.
2. Moral absolutes.
3. A universe of order.
4. The scientific method.
5. Open minded critical thinking.

There was no conflict in these areas, as they all combined to give the aspiring student a broad, liberal arts education.  He was taught to read, write, & do arithmetic.  He was taught to spell, use proper grammar, & had exposure to the classics.  He was taught history & civics, the nature of governments, & the importance of self rule & the American experiment.  Teachers from this era were patriotic, & valued the dream of America.

When i was in 4th or 5th grade, in the 60s, my elementary teacher was a fairly young woman in her early 30s (an old hag to a 10 yr old!)  She taught civics, & had the class memorize the first part of the Declaration of Independence.  I had a head start, as my old grandma had me do that in preschool, but we all dutifully memorized it, & recited it before the class.  She saw the power, wisdom, & basis for our country summarized in this document.  I don't know if it was her curriculum, or if the whole school did it, but this class knew about human equality & natural rights from an early age.  I think by middle school, we studied the constitution, & the different branches of govt.  We read classic literature, which covered a wide variety of subjects.  Science was science.  There was no blending of religion or philosophy, but only factual science.  Origins were properly presented as 'theories', not settle science.  There was no indoctrination over global warming, or the evils of loggers & industry.  Hunting was something many of the locals did, & it was not demonized as bloodthirsty killers of Bambi.

“Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom.” ~Albert Einstein

Progressive education has changed the emphasis:
1. Collectivism.  Individual freedom is subordinate to the needs of society, and the ruling elite will decide what is best for us.
2. Moral relativism.  There is no god, & everyone can do as they please, but try to be nice.
3. Laws can change with the times, & the goalposts can be moved to make things fair.
4. Science is a tool to accomplish social justice & other more important social issues.
5. Indoctrination can build a pliable, subservient citizenry.  Conformity is the goal, not individual thinking.

So we spend millions of taxpayer dollars pursuing the fantasies of progressive utopia, where a New Man can be made, molded, taught, & will evolve us into the perfect society.  Justice is not a deterrence, but a place to 'reform' or teach the misguided criminal who is just a victim of inadequate education.  But the only basis for teaching morality is, 'why can't we all just get along?', a whiny, pathetic, weak appeal to try to overcome the violence & aggression that is in Man.  There is no fear of retribution, or God, or punishment, or even family discipline.  The progressive state has emasculated fathers, & promoted the death of the family.  We daily see the results of this madness, yet no one says, 'Are you crazy?  Stop this, right now!'  Instead, the same old tired pleas for more money & more indoctrination go out to the working man, who is expected to foot the bill for these stupid, failed policies that are only destroying the culture.

They teach that there is no need for God, as life happened spontaneously, & has evolved over millions of years, with no  morality, no responsibility, & no purpose for life.  You are just an accident of nature, & it doesn't really matter what you do.  It is a dog eat dog world, & only the strong survive.  They use science to preach this philosophy, even though it is not even a good theory.  They ridicule God & morality, & undermine any values that the parents or a religious institution might instill.

They do not teach critical thinking, but conformity.  They mock & ridicule any outliers, & put tremendous pressure on impressionable young people to align themselves with progressive ideology.  They do this in matters of policy, politics, & religion.  They indoctrinate the student in all the pet tenets of leftist ideology: collectivism, social justice, global warming, evolution, & naturalism.  Students cannot challenge the progressive status quo, though they are encouraged to mock & ridicule traditional values of family, religion, free market capitalism, & American self rule.

So how has that worked out for us?  Do we have a more evolved society?  Has the New Man created the ideal society?  Is there more altruism, tolerance, & acceptance of diversity?  Do students all hold hands & sing kum-ba-ya?  Are the citizens industrious, responsible, & caring?

No.  The fruit of progressive education is rotten to the core.  They breed criminals, where the 3 r's are 'rape, robbery, & racism'.  They promote dependency & are a breeding ground for crime, drugs, & despair.  They do NOT teach skills to survive in the world, or basic values of human dignity.  They trap people in a gulag of dependency to make them all wards of the state.

This is the direction progressive ideology is taking us.  They are undermining the values that made America the most prosperous, free, & opportune nation in the history of mankind.  They are taking us back to the dark ages & totalitarian rule, where lords & masters direct our every choice in life.  Education has become an enemy of American society, destroying the foundation of the culture.

It is, in fact, nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry.  ~Albert Einstein

What is the solution?
1. End all federal involvement in education.  Let local & state govts handle it.
2. End teachers unions.. they do not promote what is best for the children, which should be the overriding goal.
3. End tenure.  Teaching is a job like any other, & should be based on competence, not seniority.
4. Break up the monopoly on teaching, & promote educators with life experiences, not just indoctrinated education degrees from complicit institutions.  Test for competence in the subject matter.
5. Clearly define the goals & mission statement of the schools, & have them be more subject to the community of parents, especially with regard to curriculum & values.
6. Return to recognizing the equality of man, natural law, the basic rights of the individual, & reject the collectivist indoctrination currently preached.

It will not be easy.  Hordes of slimy progressives have wormed their way into the institutions of education, do nothing useful, & exploit the children.  It will take a national awakening, to see the evils in place, & make a concerted effort to eradicate it.  But if we want to return to a civilized society, with freedom, opportunity, & sanity running the culture, this is the only solution.  If we surrender to the progressive destroyers, they will continue their destruction, until the nation is a pile of rubble.