Quote of the Day – Charles Darwin

Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge.

-Charles Darwin

Homeschooling – Putting the FUN back in Ignorance

I heard NPR say today that one of the reasons Huckabee won the Iowa caucus is that he had help from “home-schooling networks”.  And I thought to myself, “homeschooling?  WTF?”

I guess here is the idea of homeschooling:

It is the ignorant leading the ignorant with the added bonus of no social development in the child.  Wow.  That sounds great.  If you want your child to know nothing about everything than homeschooling might be for you.  Why trust your child’s education to professional teachers?  That doesn’t make any sense.  No, for the family on the go there’s nothing better than stupid, socially inappropriate children.  And let’s face it.  There are dangerous ideas out there that you can’t risk your child being exposed to!  Evolution, Philosophy, and the existence of dodecahedrons are all things your child is better off not knowing about.  Besides, there is no school out there that can as effectively distort history to fit your agenda as you can.  You’ll find that multivariable calculus is a snap to teach as you blunder your way through subjects and ideas that you know nothing about.  And in the privacy of your own home, you can feel free to beat your pupil for any wrong answer!  All this dysfunction and more can be yours – just pull your kid out of school today!

I’ve only known one person who was home-schooled (and yes, his parents were very Catholic).  Let’s just say that I think he would have done better to be exposed to the social atmosphere and hierarchy of an actual school.

Here’s a pro-home-school site that lists 10 common problems of home-schoolers: 

10.Fear of the Internet
Let’s face it—the Internet can be dangerous! There is so much out there that we do not want our children to see and so many people out there we do not want them to meet!

Also, The top fifteen problems with homeschooling.  Including, “Sex education with Mom consists of nothing but gardening metaphors.”

And you know you’re going places when you get one of these:

Slavery Not That Bad

Townhall.com has a fascinating post by Michael Medved called “Six Inconvenient Truths about the US and Slavery”.

An honest and balanced understanding of the position of slavery in the American experience requires a serious attempt to place the institution in historical context and to clear-away some of the common myths and distortions.

1. SLAVERY WAS AN ANCIENT AND UNIVERSAL INSTITUTION, NOT A DISTINCTIVELY AMERICAN INNOVATION.

2. SLAVERY EXISTED ONLY BRIEFLY, AND IN LIMITED LOCALES, IN THE HISTORY OF THE REPUBLIC – INVOLVING ONLY A TINY PERCENTAGE OF THE ANCESTORS OF TODAY’S AMERICANS.

3. THOUGH BRUTAL, SLAVERY WASN’T GENOCIDAL: LIVE SLAVES WERE VALUABLE BUT DEAD CAPTIVES BROUGHT NO PROFIT.

4. IT’S NOT TRUE THAT THE U.S. BECAME A WEALTHY NATION THROUGH THE ABUSE OF SLAVE LABOR: THE MOST PROSPEROUS STATES IN THE COUNTRY WERE THOSE THAT FIRST FREED THEIR SLAVES.

5. WHILE AMERICA DESERVES NO UNIQUE BLAME FOR THE EXISTENCE OF SLAVERY, THE UNITED STATES MERITS SPECIAL CREDIT FOR ITS RAPID ABOLITION.

6. THERE IS NO REASON TO BELIEVE THAT TODAY’S AFRICAN-AMERICANS WOULD BE BETTER OFF IF THEIR ANCESTORS HAD REMAINED BEHIND IN AFRICA.

In short, politically correct assumptions about America’s entanglement with slavery lack any sense of depth, perspective or context. As with so many other persistent lies about this fortunate land, the unthinking indictment of the United States as uniquely blameworthy for an evil institution ignores the fact that the record of previous generations provides some basis for pride as well as guilt.

Ah yes.  And here I had started to think that slavery was this awful thing that was in every way morally reprehensible- but it turns out that it’s not so bad.  I mean after all, live slaves are more valuable than dead slaves – why doesn’t anyone ever bring that up?  Thank you Michael Medved -

 Thank you for showing that although this country abolished slavery there is still a long way to go until we have racial equality.  Thank you for demonstrating the amazing ability of Americans to be complete fucking morons – always choosing hate and ignorance over all else. 

Let’s take on his six points one by one, shall we?

1.  America didn’t invent slavery.  So the fuck what?  I don’t recall anyone suggesting that we did.  The fact that we were not the first slavers does not mean that we are absolved from its evils. 

2.  Slavery existed only briefly.  So the fuck what?  The Nazis exterminated 6 million people in only a few years – so if you’re saying that time is proportional to seriousness than the holocaust is actually a very trivial event – really not even worth remembering.

3.  Live slaves worth more than dead slaves.  So the fuck what?  That statement misses the point entirely.  In your estimation then it is ok to own another human being, as long as you don’t kill them?  There is more going on with slavery and morality than accusations of genocide.

4.  The US didn’t become wealthy solely from the use of slave labor.  I repeat – so the fuck what?  I mean, that’s what really made slavery evil, right?  The white man was making money off of the black man.  Those heartless bastards. 

5.  The US should get credit for getting rid of slavery.  SO THE FUCK WHAT?  What you want?  A fucking cookie?  It’s ok judge, sure I killed that guy, but I haven’t killed anyone since then, don’t I get credit for that? 

6.  Africans wouldn’t be better off if slavery never happened.  Holy shit.  Medved, you’re an asshat.  So the fuck what?  If we didn’t enslave them, someone else would have!  Oh, that makes it all better!  Here I was under the impression that it was worse to beat someone yourself . . . but if they’re going to get beaten anyway, it is your moral responsibility to beat them yourself.

What the fuck is going on in this country?  How is Medved allowed to exist?  How can we live in 21st century America and still breed such ignorance?  It’s people like this that make me wish I believed in Hell.