What do you think people like Rick Santorum mean when they say that higher education creates liberals and atheists? I have long been aware that one of the foundations of modern social conservative thought is the idea that higher education in the wrong hands leads to civil disorder and instability. This crowd is convinced that all of America's social problems are the result of allowing access to higher education to all of our citizens. They are convinced, and are probably right, that if not for the University experience, America would never have embraced racial integration, women's rights, gay rights and other changes that have made America a more inclusive experience for so many who are not white, male and straight.
When I was young I was very optimistic about America's future. This was largely because I was convinced that education was the key. My mother raised me to believe that racial prejudice was largely a result of ignorance and that the better educated people were, and the more people were able to have shared experiences, the more racial injustice would fade away into the past. To some degree this has been proven to be true. The part I didn't realize is how much basic greed, and the desire to hold power would move some among us to resist movement in positive directions, and just how hard they would fight to keep a status quo that they felt kept them with the upper hand.
I now see clearly that America is presently in the fight of its life. While it is easy to believe that the election of Barack Obama proves that America has turned the corner and can never go back to its legacy of racial and gender based injustice, it is clear to me that the social conservative movement has been invigorated. What they see is the chance to convince as many as possible that Obama is the proof that America should never allow such people to have power. And they realize they don't need a majority to agree with them, they only need enough of the wealthiest and most powerful to share their agenda and that such a minority can create a smokescreen that will allow them to do all that they would like to while convincing the majority it is in their best interest. It may be a tired, worn out example, but no example rings as true in modern times than the example of Adolph Hitler and how successful he was at executing exactly this type of plan, and the people were not only fooled but invigorated until the horrible truth came to light.
I urge all Americans to clearly see and understand what is at stake in America right now. Santorum has become so confident he is openly hinting at what he believes. Realize that what he is really saying is that this is why we must reduce funding of schools. This is why we must abolish the department of education. This is why we must shrink government so that there are no impediments to the local citizens council executing whatever policy they see as just, without interference by the people at large. Realize that there is no way this kind of thought will lead to a better economic climate in America for anyone but the privileged few, who will rule like the oil barons, railroad barons, manufacturing barons of our past did before there was organized labor and federal regulation to protect the average person. We have already seen in our history what happens when we leave our fates up to the whims of the rich and powerful, and no one other than the privileged few who really understands what America was like before organized labor would want to return this nation to those days.
Understand that the policies advocated by the right wing, social conservative movement as promoted by Rick Santorum, Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann and all the others who preach this doctrine can only lead to a violent, bloody revolution in this nation. I, like many others, will not allow America to go back to a nation that would allow my grandchildren and their children to face what my mother faced growing up. I will fight to my last breath, and trust me, the dynamics of America today are much different than they were in the 1920's. There is no chance this type of social conservatism can work or last in the long term. And the attempt to implement and enforce it will destroy America as we know it along the way, and is in no ones best interests, not even the people advocating it.
And also understand that the Ron Pauls of the world, who may seem as if they are pursuing different goals by explaining their ideas in different terms, are pursuing exactly the same result as the Rick Santorums economically and politically. Who do you think takes control of the power vacuum that results when the federal government is rendered all but powerless as advocated by Ron Paul? Surely you realize it will be the same privileged few that social conservatives like Santorum insists should be the only ones allowed access to higher education in a responsible society.
When I was young I was very optimistic about America's future. This was largely because I was convinced that education was the key. My mother raised me to believe that racial prejudice was largely a result of ignorance and that the better educated people were, and the more people were able to have shared experiences, the more racial injustice would fade away into the past. To some degree this has been proven to be true. The part I didn't realize is how much basic greed, and the desire to hold power would move some among us to resist movement in positive directions, and just how hard they would fight to keep a status quo that they felt kept them with the upper hand.
I now see clearly that America is presently in the fight of its life. While it is easy to believe that the election of Barack Obama proves that America has turned the corner and can never go back to its legacy of racial and gender based injustice, it is clear to me that the social conservative movement has been invigorated. What they see is the chance to convince as many as possible that Obama is the proof that America should never allow such people to have power. And they realize they don't need a majority to agree with them, they only need enough of the wealthiest and most powerful to share their agenda and that such a minority can create a smokescreen that will allow them to do all that they would like to while convincing the majority it is in their best interest. It may be a tired, worn out example, but no example rings as true in modern times than the example of Adolph Hitler and how successful he was at executing exactly this type of plan, and the people were not only fooled but invigorated until the horrible truth came to light.
I urge all Americans to clearly see and understand what is at stake in America right now. Santorum has become so confident he is openly hinting at what he believes. Realize that what he is really saying is that this is why we must reduce funding of schools. This is why we must abolish the department of education. This is why we must shrink government so that there are no impediments to the local citizens council executing whatever policy they see as just, without interference by the people at large. Realize that there is no way this kind of thought will lead to a better economic climate in America for anyone but the privileged few, who will rule like the oil barons, railroad barons, manufacturing barons of our past did before there was organized labor and federal regulation to protect the average person. We have already seen in our history what happens when we leave our fates up to the whims of the rich and powerful, and no one other than the privileged few who really understands what America was like before organized labor would want to return this nation to those days.
Understand that the policies advocated by the right wing, social conservative movement as promoted by Rick Santorum, Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann and all the others who preach this doctrine can only lead to a violent, bloody revolution in this nation. I, like many others, will not allow America to go back to a nation that would allow my grandchildren and their children to face what my mother faced growing up. I will fight to my last breath, and trust me, the dynamics of America today are much different than they were in the 1920's. There is no chance this type of social conservatism can work or last in the long term. And the attempt to implement and enforce it will destroy America as we know it along the way, and is in no ones best interests, not even the people advocating it.
And also understand that the Ron Pauls of the world, who may seem as if they are pursuing different goals by explaining their ideas in different terms, are pursuing exactly the same result as the Rick Santorums economically and politically. Who do you think takes control of the power vacuum that results when the federal government is rendered all but powerless as advocated by Ron Paul? Surely you realize it will be the same privileged few that social conservatives like Santorum insists should be the only ones allowed access to higher education in a responsible society.
