Archive for the ‘Education’ Category

By Susie Schnell

What is the difference between John Goodlad and Bill Ayers?

Answer: One was a revolutionary terrorist who served time in jail before he realized the best way to revolutionize America is through public schools. The other socialist already knew this.

What is the difference between John Goodlad and Bill Ayers’ Educational Philosophy?

Answer: There is no difference. Bill Ayers’ is the Keynote Speaker at the 2010 John Goodlad NNER Conference in October 2010. (Link)

For those that may never have heard of Bill Ayers, you can look him up on the web and there are a couple of links below the table. He participated in the bombings of the New York City Police Headquarters in 1970, of the Capitol building in 1971, and the Pentagon in 1972. Then he went into hiding and emerged with an intense desire to bring democratic education to students.

Check out this comparison chart:

John Goodlad	Bill Ayers
Current Professor, College of Education University of Washington.	Current Professor, College of Education University of Illinois, Chicago
University of Chicago Earned a Ph.D. and was on the faculty	University of Chicago Currently on the faculty
Prolific Author Published over 30 books, 80 book chapters, and more than 200 journal articles about education reform.	Prolific Author Written at least 23 books on education reform
National Education Speaker	National Education Speaker
Humanist Author of Toward a Mankind School: An Adventure in Humanistic Education “The curriculum of the future ‘will be what one might call the humanistic curriculum.’” (John Goodlad, NEA Journal 1966)	Humanist “For humanists and democratic educators, the largest, most generous purpose of education is always human enlightenment and human liberation, and the driving principle is the unity of all humanity. We embrace the conviction that every human being is of incalculable value.” (Ayers commentary of Eugenics and Education, July 2008)
Democracy Author of Education and the Making of a Democratic People with Roger Soder and Bonnie McDaniel Goodlad says we will not have the schools we need, “until community leaders, educators and policymakers agree on the democratic purpose of public schooling and work together toward its advancement.” (Seattle pi opinion, November 28, 2008, Judging the Bush years: Well-educated or much-schooled?) Enculturating the Young into a Social and Political Democracy (Developing Democratic Character in the Young) Agenda for Education in a Democracy (AED) (Teacher training to advance democracy training, National Network for Educational Renewal (NNER)	Democracy Bill Ayers, “The State of Democracy in America: Education Reform and Civic Engagement” In the 1960’s belonged to Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) in Chicago which eventually became the Weather Underground under Ayer’s leadership, a terrorist organization to revolutionize America. “Capitalism promotes racism and militarism – turning people into consumers, not citizens. Participatory democracy, by contrast, requires free people coming together voluntarily as equals who are capable of both self-realization and, at the same time, full participation in a shared political and economic life.”(2006 speech at the World Education Forum, Venezuela with President Hugo Chavez)
Child Belongs to the State Goodlad wrote, “A century has passed since the prescient educational historian Ellwood Cubberley wrote the epigraph with which this writing began: “Each year the child is coming to belong more to the State and less and less to the parent.” “My only disagreement with his observation pertains to the implication of our owning children. We parents do not own our children; we just rent them for a while. Given the extent to which what he was troubled about has expanded, however, his reference to state ownership may well be appropriate.” (2010, Washington Post, Goodlad on school reform: Are we ignoring lessons of last 50 years?	Child Belongs to the State
Follower of John Dewey (Socialist) In Praise of Education (John Dewey Lecture Series) Earned John Dewey Society Outstanding Achievement Award (2009)	Follower of John Dewey (Socialist) Ayers said, “John Dewey was one of the brilliant, brilliant writers about what democratic education would look like and was himself an independent socialist. (October 2006 interview of Bill Ayers in Revolution (the self-styled “Voice of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA”)
Education and Politics “Schooling is a practical, political affair.” (Developing Democratic Character in the Young) “The state we should strive for is better described in Deweyan terms as a social democracy.” (John Goodlad, 2001: Developing Democratic Character in the Young)	Education and Politics “…the separation of the concept of progressive education from the concept of politics and political change. You can’t separate them.” (2006 interview with Bill Ayers, Voice of Revolutionary Communist Party, USA)
Role of Parents “Parents do not own their children. They have no ‘natural right’ to control their education fully.” (Developing Democratic Character in the Young, pp. 164.) “Most youth still hold the same values of their parents…if we do not alter this pattern, if we don’t resocialize, our system will decay.” (Education Innovation, Issue 9.)
Morals Wrote The Moral Dimensions of Teaching with Roger Soder and Kenneth Sirotnik “Educators must resist the quest for certainty. If there were certainty there would be no scientific advancement. So it is with morals and patriotism.” (Education for Everyone, p. 6.)	Morals Wrote Teaching Toward Freedom: Moral Commitment and Ethical Action in the Classroom “Even though we think of ourselves as political, we weren’t politicians. We were people who had a moral vision of what was possible.” (At a 2007 reunion of former members of the Weather Underground and Students for a Democratic Society)
Spoke at NNER 2005 Conference with ASD Superintendent and Administrators	Spoke at NNER 2005 Conference with ASD Superintendent and Administrators
Proponent of Social Justice “It is my expectation that Teacher Education for Democracy and Social Justice will become a rich resource for continuing this multi-layered conversation-from democratic belief to democratic action-that is the hallmark of educational renewal.” (Goodlad’s forward to Teacher Education for Democracy and Social Justice, Nicholas Michelli and David Lee Keiser)	Proponent of Social Justice Wrote Education in and for Democracy: The Case for Social Justice in the Classroom Teaching for Social Justice: A Democracy and Education Reader (1998) “I walked out of jail and into my first teaching position—and from that day until this I’ve thought of myself as a teacher, but I’ve also understood teaching as a project intimately connected with social justice.”(Bill Ayers’ 2006 speech at the World Education Forum in Caracas, Venezuela in front of Pres. Hugo Chavez).
Recognized as a leader of educational reform Goodlad’s best known book, A Place Called School (1984), received the Outstanding Book of the Year Award from the American Educational Research Association and the Distinguished Book of the Year Award. He is a past president of the American Educational Research Association and, in 1993, received that organization’s Award for Distinguished Contributions to Educational Research.	Recognized as a leader of educational reform In 1997 Chicago recognized him as Citizen of the Year because of his key role in advancing educational reform in the city’s public schools. Ayers was elected Vice President for Curriculum Studies by the American Educational Research Association in 2008.
Reason for Public Education “Schooling is a practical, political affair.” (Developing Democratic Character in the Young) “It was clear a year later that health care and schooling were high on President Obama’s action agenda.” The nation’s cultural readiness for a long-overdue great turning—might come to pass. “Clearly, there must be a great turning in schooling. The new will not evolve out of what we have now or try to fix. It is not broken. Indeed, it is very stable and solid, guided by ideologies that will not be disturbed, no matter what the evidence to their contrary. “What we must do now nationwide is begin the 20-or-more-year process of creating a new tomorrow. “Education is the great equalizer. Unfortunately, in policy, family, community, the marketplace, institutions, and more, it turns out not to be.” (2010 Washington Post article by Goodlad) “A standardized curriculum of basic skills such as reading, writing and arithmetic cannot prepare people to participate in a democracy.” ”Enlightened social engineering is required to face situations that demand global action now.” (John Goodlad, Preface to J.M. Becker: Schooling for a Global Age)	Reason for Public Education “We share the belief that education is the motor-force of revolution… overcome the failings of capitalist education as you seek to create something truly new and deeply humane.” (Bill Ayers’ 2006 speech at the World Education Forum in Caracas, Venezuela in front of Pres. Hugo Chavez). “Education either reinforces or challenges the existing social order, and school is always a contested space…” (2006 Speech, Venezuela) “Venezuela is poised to offer the world a new model of education– a humanizing and revolutionary model whose twin missions are enlightenment and liberation.” (2006 Speech, Venezuela) “Education—teaching and schooling—either reinforces or challenges the existing social order. For humanists and democratic educators, the largest, most generous purpose of education is always human enlightenment and human liberation, and the driving principle is the unity of all humanity.” (Bill Ayers.wordpress.com, review of Eugenics and Education by Ann Winfeild)

Which socialist/humanist/atheist radical would you choose as an educational consultant? How about neither.

For more information see these articles:

Bill Ayers and the Subversion of Education

Bill Ayers Scary Plans for Public Schools

I was wrong and I freely admit it. In my “Full Story” document I had a section talking about how ASD had removed a damaging web page from their site. However, after someone read my document, they did further searching and were able to find the page still alive and well. Click the link below and become an eyewitness to this quote.

“Arguments for compulsory education have been based on the idea that the school is the only institution that can counter the accident of birth, guarantee quality of opportunity, and provide objective and fair ways to select and train talented individuals.” – Walter Feinberg

https://www.alpine.k12.ut.us/phpApps/genericPage.php?pdid=777

ASD-Democracy-The Moral Dimensions (click for pdf version of the page in case it disappears)

I’m not certain who posted this page but Barry Graff’s name is at the bottom of it and it says if you have questions or comments to contact him. He is also one of the 4 Goodlad appointed “AED” (Agenda for Education in a Democracy) scholars in this region. (link)

Utah County…

The most conservative county in the most conservative state in the country…

It can’t happen here…

All is well…

If it can happen here, it’s probably happening in your school district too.

(Please spread this message)

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

After sending someone the first draft of my story (right-click to save the pdf), she wrote back that it kept her up till 1 am reading it and then she couldn’t go to sleep till 4 because she was so mad. I can only hope it has the same effect on you when you see these events and concerns chained together. I hope it will help you realize that a change in educational leadership is needed in Alpine School District (ASD).

The full story is attached which details the experience of many parents in dealing with ASD over the last several years including the Investigations math fiasco, down to some of the latest disturbing events which you may have read in the press concerning the district’s infatuation with someone Charlotte Iserbyt calls “the nation’s premier change agent.” I hope you will read at least portions of the attached letter, but I will post 2 things below for your convenience. First my endorsements for school board race candidates in ASD, and second the historical list of concerns with the district.

Primary voting is June 22nd. Early voting is happening through the 18th. Check for locations at https://elections.utah.gov.

*Candidates I endorse, mainly due to their positions on math and civics education (This list has been edited after the primary to only show the candidates that made it through the primary. All are in the November election against a candidate that will maintain the status quo.)

A1-Lehi/Saratoga Springs/Eagle Mountain
*Paula Hill (https://paulahill4u.wordpress.com/)

A2-Highland/Alpine/Cedar Hills/Small segment of Northeast Lehi
*Wendy Hart (https://wendyhart2010.com)

A3-American Fork
Incumbent-*Tim Osborn (https://www.electtimosborn.com/)

A5-Southwest Orem
*Scott Bell (https://www.BELLforSchoolBoard.com)

The Abigail Adams Project invited all the candidates to answer a number of questions for voter guides. You may view all of Utah here for those candidates that responded:
https://www.abigailadamsprojectut.com/voterinformation.htm

Historical List of Concerns with the District

Investigations Math

• Alpine School District (ASD) intentionally removed the times tables, long division, and division by fractions from schools when they implemented Investigations math.
• ASD’s school board failed to fix the problem when presented with clear and mounting evidence of increased failure rates.
• ASD’s school board failed to remove Connected math when presented with facts about its failure, its removal from the state approved program list, and lack of any studies to support it.
• ASD actually confiscated textbooks at 4 known schools to ensure teachers had to switch to Investigations math. John Burton, candidate for school board in American Fork, was over those schools at the time. His direct role in that (if any) is unknown.
• ASD intimidated and threatened some teachers’ contracts at two elementary schools if those teachers didn’t implement Investigations math.
• Multiple parents were individually told “you’re the only one that’s ever complained about the math” by a district math official in an attempt to isolate them. A similar thing happened when parents complained about another program a few years earlier.
• ASD school board read a statement in 2003 to the Utah legislature on why they wouldn’t approve any more charter schools in ASD because the board wouldn’t be able to vouch for quality of education in those schools.
• Orem investigated breaking away from ASD so ASD promised a choice for schools between “standards-based” (Investigations style) math or traditional math.
• ASD only offers 2 “standards-based” programs (slightly better than Investigations). Then ASD provided teachers with Investigations math books the week before school, encouraged their use, and touts they now use “balanced” math. Public is lulled back to sleep while some ASD teachers use Investigations 100%.

The United States Constitution

• ASD is the ONLY school district in the state to refuse to help distribute “In God We Trust” posters to teachers…because the word “Republic” was on the posters.
• ASD is indoctrinating teachers (which filters to students) that we are not a Republic. Teachers in turn tell students we are not a Republic.
• ASD promotes social and political democracy (Definition of social democracy: transformation from capitalism to socialism).
• ASD linked their website to a radical anarchist who calls our Founding Fathers “predatory elitists” and is grateful we are moving away from being a republic toward pure democracy.
• ASD blames *parents* for “misrepresenting” their position.
• ASD refuses to tell how, and then lied about how the link got put up (told a parent the link just appeared out of nowhere).
• ASD’s school board refuses to respond to parent’s questions—instead, defends the district. (Who do they work for?)
• ASD administrators are given national awards for their commitment to promoting John Goodlad’s agenda.
• ASD continues to pull web pages from their site due to controversial content
• ASD just adopted a new termination policy limiting freedom of speech of district employees. You may be terminated if you bring “reproach” on the district.
• ASD has paid for BYU employees at CITES with our tax dollars.

In spite of these negatives I am eternally grateful to ASD because if it wasn’t for their ability to be the poster child for reform in Utah:

• We wouldn’t have a State Charter School Board
• We wouldn’t have got the state math standards raised
• We wouldn’t have got the help of legislators and the state school board to review the social studies standards and get the word Republic put back in the standards (in process)
• Parents wouldn’t be waking up to the dangers of socialism right in our own back yard

Sincerely,

Oak Norton

The Full Story (right-click to save the pdf)

The Deseret News published my response “‘Social Democracy’ a Dangerous Idea” to BYU English Professor Brian Jackson’s op-ed piece of a week and a half ago. Please check it out here:

https://www.deseretnews.com/mobile/article/700040067/Social-democracy-a-dangerous-idea.html

Here is the text of my response.

*********

In response to Brian Jackson’s op-ed piece (“Political sentiment is far from reason,” June 2), I would like to respond as one of the chief “McCarthyites” he chastises for taking issue with the Alpine School District’s mission statement, “Enculturating the Young into a Social and Political Democracy.”

This is ironic. Jackson, an English professor at BYU, is defending a man (John Goodlad) who redefined the term social democracy and is apparently completely OK with that. Then Jackson ridicules parents who mentioned a definition for “social democracy” from Wikipedia. Perhaps Jackson would like these similar definitions better from Merriam-Webster’s: “(1) a political movement advocating a gradual and peaceful transition from capitalism to socialism by democratic means. (2) a democratic welfare state that incorporates both capitalist and socialist practices.”

What Goodlad openly espouses is that we should vote on not just candidates for office, but as a society we need to vote on knowledge and morals. In his atheistic view there is no God, so we as a people need to determine what truth is and what morals we should subscribe to based on their relative current value to society. This is called moral relativism.

In 1966, Goodlad wrote in the NEA Journal, “The curriculum of the future ‘will be what one might call the humanistic curriculum.’ ” The Humanist Manifesto was written based on the Communist Manifesto, and John Dewey was one of the original signatories. The Manifesto actually declares itself a “religion” that espouses atheism and moral relativism. I wonder if Jackson would be OK if educators were given LDS, Jewish, or Muslim teachings in their professional development training? No? Then why humanism? It’s simply another religion.

In 2001, Goodlad wrote in “Developing Democratic Character in the Young” that “parents do not own their children. They have no ‘natural right’ to control their education fully.”

From “Education for Everyone: Agenda for Education in a Democracy,” Goodlad says, “In the quest for learning, educators must resist the quest for certainty. If there were certainty there would be no scientific advancement. So it is with morals and patriotism.” This is utterly ridiculous. If we have no certainty then how do we measure and confirm “scientific advancement?” If we have no certainty then we have no basis for measurement.

We have a serious case of affinity fraud in Utah where the public so trusts the people in educational positions of power, they don’t take the time and effort to dig into what’s being taught. If you do, and openly declare it, you are castigated by people who support the power and authority of people who have given us gems such as “investigations math,” where for three straight years children were not taught the times tables or long division in Alpine School District (another “gift” from Goodlad the constructivist).

I encourage you to dig a little deeper into Goodlad and awake to the fact that his organizations, the National Network for Educational Renewal in particular, are an affront to all people who believe in moral absolutes and natural rights that come from God. If you search the Web, you’ll find plenty of troubling things like how his NNER is trying to push the homosexual movement into BYU. His organizations are nothing more than “enculturation” centers for educators, lapping up a dangerous and destructive agenda that when fully realized will overthrow constitutional government and public morality. Do I think it is the intent of the people in Alpine School District and the BYU McKay School of Education to do this? No, I’ve never espoused a conspiracy there. I just think they’re willingly ignorant because Goodlad is such a prominent national education figure. He’s dangerous but well-respected.

California school officials are in shock by what one teacher posted in his classroom.

I read this letter at the state convention last Saturday and asked this young man to email me a copy so I could send it out. I hope we’ve got more like him in the rising generation to help light the way! What a great letter.

Dear Rep. Matheson:

I am an eighth grade student at Mountainville Academy in Alpine, Utah. I am highly concerned about the terrible state our nation is in. I am especially concerned about health care and the way our congress has handled it. Instead of listening to common sense and reason, they listened to special interests, unions, and the socialist countries of Europe. We can all agree that our nation’s health care system needs to be fixed, but creating a totalitarian system where the government forces you to buy health insurance is not the answer. This is why we need you to repeal the health care law.

It has been proven time and time again that a universal health care system is a terrible way to improve the health of the citizens. What a disgrace it is to the miracle of modern medicine, that the person making decisions about my health won’t be a surgeon or a doctor, but a politician in Washington who most likely doesn’t know anything about medicine. The result of this system will be decreased health and less care for patients.

If this “health” care system was all about health, then why the hefty price tag? If they really want to improve the health of Americans, then why is the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in charge of our health care instead of private health care providers? The answer is simple, it isn’t about health care, it is about power and control. After this bill was passed, the US government now owns among others; the entire health care system (which is 1/6^th of our economy), the student loans industry, pieces of General Motors and Chrysler, and almost 70 percent of my home state Utah.

We all know that what they are doing is unsustainable. I believe that this was the plan all along. There are many politicians in Washington that would like to fundamentally transform these united states into some socialist utopia where the roads are paved with gold and candy rains from the sky. The only way for them to do it is to first slowly build up their framework within our economic infrastructure, then they tear it down and start on their path to communism, which will ultimately fail. I believe that this law will become the straw that will break the camel’s back .

We need to repeal this law so we can fix health care the right way, by puting it in the hands of the people! The government is just a tumor that feeds on the entrepreneurial spirit of Americans. If we remove the tumor, then Americans are free to work their magic. That is what they did in the forgotten depression. Let me explain, during 1920-1921 our country went through a small depression. It could have lasted for many years like the great depression, but it didn’t.Thomas E woods explained why in his paper, The Forgotten depression; “The economic situation in 1920 was grim. By that year unemployment had jumped from 4 percent to nearly 12 percent, and GNP declined 17 percent. No wonder, then, that Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover (falsely characterized as a supporter of laissez-faire economics) urged President Harding to consider an array of interventions to turn the economy around. Hoover was ignored. Instead of “fiscal stimulus,” Harding cut the government’s budget nearly in half between 1920 and 1922. The rest of Harding’s approach was equally laissez-faire. Tax rates were slashed for all income groups. The national debt was reduced by one-third..”By the late summer of 1921, signs of recovery were already visible. The following year, unemployment was back down to 6.7 percent and it was only 2.4 percent by 1923.” That is the beauty of the free market system. If you have a problem, you have the people solve it, not the government. Ronald Reagan once said; “Government is not the solution to our problem, Government is the problem.” What they did during the lost depression is what we need to do with health care, get government out of the way so private insurers and health care providers can straighten out the mess.

I would like to conclude with another passage from Thomas Woods’ paper; “The experience of 1920-1921 reinforces the contention of genuine free-market economists that government intervention is a hindrance to economic recovery. It is not in spite of the absence of fiscal and monetary stimulus that the economy recovered from the 1920-1921 depression. It is because those things were avoided that recovery came. The next time we are solemnly warned to recall the lessons of history lest our economy deteriorate still further, we ought to refer to this episode, and observe how hastily our interrogators try to change the subject.” I hope that you will use the lessons learned in the past to help our country today.

Sincerely,

Mitchell Baker

I came across this excellent address by Jefferson and if you’re pressed for time, just read the bold items below. If you’re REALLY pressed for time, just read the items in blue which directly relate to our Republican form of government.

Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address

March 4, 1801

Friends and Fellow-Citizens:

Called upon to undertake the duties of the first executive office of our country, I avail myself of the presence of that portion of my fellow-citizens which is here assembled to express my grateful thanks for the favor with which they have been pleased to look toward me, to declare a sincere consciousness that the task is above my talents, and that I approach it with those anxious and awful presentiments which the greatness of the charge and the weakness of my powers so justly inspire. A rising nation, spread over a wide and fruitful land, traversing all the seas with the rich productions of their industry, engaged in commerce with nations who feel power and forget right, advancing rapidly to destinies beyond the reach of mortal eye—when I contemplate these transcendent objects, and see the honor, the happiness, and the hopes of this beloved country committed to the issue, and the auspices of this day, I shrink from the contemplation, and humble myself before the magnitude of the undertaking. Utterly, indeed, should I despair did not the presence of many whom I here see remind me that in the other high authorities provided by our Constitution I shall find resources of wisdom, of virtue, and of zeal on which to rely under all difficulties. To you, then, gentlemen, who are charged with the sovereign functions of legislation, and to those associated with you, I look with encouragement for that guidance and support which may enable us to steer with safety the vessel in which we are all embarked amidst the conflicting elements of a troubled world.

During the contest of opinion through which we have passed the animation of discussions and of exertions has sometimes worn an aspect which might impose on strangers unused to think freely and to speak and to write what they think; but this being now decided by the voice of the nation, announced according to the rules of the Constitution, all will, of course, arrange themselves under the will of the law, and unite in common efforts for the common good. All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression. Let us, then, fellow-citizens, unite with one heart and one mind. Let us restore to social intercourse that harmony and affection without which liberty and even life itself are but dreary things. And let us reflect that, having banished from our land that religious intolerance under which mankind so long bled and suffered, we have yet gained little if we countenance a political intolerance as despotic, as wicked, and capable of as bitter and bloody persecutions. During the throes and convulsions of the ancient world, during the agonizing spasms of infuriated man, seeking through blood and slaughter his long-lost liberty, it was not wonderful that the agitation of the billows should reach even this distant and peaceful shore; that this should be more felt and feared by some and less by others, and should divide opinions as to measures of safety. But every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. We have called by different names brethren of the same principle. We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists. If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union or to change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it. I know, indeed, that some honest men fear that a republican government can not be strong, that this Government is not strong enough; but would the honest patriot, in the full tide of successful experiment, abandon a government which has so far kept us free and firm on the theoretic and visionary fear that this Government, the world’s best hope, may by possibility want energy to preserve itself? I trust not. I believe this, on the contrary, the strongest Government on earth. I believe it the only one where every man, at the call of the law, would fly to the standard of the law, and would meet invasions of the public order as his own personal concern. Sometimes it is said that man can not be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the forms of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question.

Let us, then, with courage and confidence pursue our own Federal and Republican principles, our attachment to union and representative government. Kindly separated by nature and a wide ocean from the exterminating havoc of one quarter of the globe; too high-minded to endure the degradations of the others; possessing a chosen country, with room enough for our descendants to the thousandth and thousandth generation; entertaining a due sense of our equal right to the use of our own faculties, to the acquisitions of our own industry, to honor and confidence from our fellow-citizens, resulting not from birth, but from our actions and their sense of them; enlightened by a benign religion, professed, indeed, and practiced in various forms, yet all of them inculcating honesty, truth, temperance, gratitude, and the love of man; acknowledging and adoring an overruling Providence, which by all its dispensations proves that it delights in the happiness of man here and his greater happiness hereafter—with all these blessings, what more is necessary to make us a happy and a prosperous people? Still one thing more, fellow-citizens—a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities.

About to enter, fellow-citizens, on the exercise of duties which comprehend everything dear and valuable to you, it is proper you should understand what I deem the essential principles of our Government, and consequently those which ought to shape its Administration. I will compress them within the narrowest compass they will bear, stating the general principle, but not all its limitations. Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever State or persuasion, religious or political; peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none; the support of the State governments in all their rights, as the most competent administrations for our domestic concerns and the surest bulwarks against anti-republican tendencies; the preservation of the General Government in its whole constitutional vigor, as the sheet anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad; a jealous care of the right of election by the people—a mild and safe corrective of abuses which are lopped by the sword of revolution where peaceable remedies are unprovided; absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the majority, the vital principle of republics, from which is no appeal but to force, the vital principle and immediate parent of despotism; a well disciplined militia, our best reliance in peace and for the first moments of war, till regulars may relieve them; the supremacy of the civil over the military authority; economy in the public expense, that labor may be lightly burthened; the honest payment of our debts and sacred preservation of the public faith; encouragement of agriculture, and of commerce as its handmaid; the diffusion of information and arraignment of all abuses at the bar of the public reason; freedom of religion; freedom of the press, and freedom of person under the protection of the habeas corpus, and trial by juries impartially selected. These principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation. The wisdom of our sages and blood of our heroes have been devoted to their attainment. They should be the creed of our political faith, the text of civic instruction, the touchstone by which to try the services of those we trust; and should we wander from them in moments of error or of alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty, and safety.

I repair, then, fellow-citizens, to the post you have assigned me. With experience enough in subordinate offices to have seen the difficulties of this the greatest of all, I have learnt to expect that it will rarely fall to the lot of imperfect man to retire from this station with the reputation and the favor which bring him into it. Without pretensions to that high confidence you reposed in our first and greatest revolutionary character, whose preeminent services had entitled him to the first place in his country’s love and destined for him the fairest page in the volume of faithful history, I ask so much confidence only as may give firmness and effect to the legal administration of your affairs. I shall often go wrong through defect of judgment. When right, I shall often be thought wrong by those whose positions will not command a view of the whole ground. I ask your indulgence for my own errors, which will never be intentional, and your support against the errors of others, who may condemn what they would not if seen in all its parts. The approbation implied by your suffrage is a great consolation to me for the past, and my future solicitude will be to retain the good opinion of those who have bestowed it in advance, to conciliate that of others by doing them all the good in my power, and to be instrumental to the happiness and freedom of all.

Relying, then, on the patronage of your good will, I advance with obedience to the work, ready to retire from it whenever you become sensible how much better choice it is in your power to make. And may that Infinite Power which rules the destinies of the universe lead our councils to what is best, and give them a favorable issue for your peace and prosperity.

Someone asked where Ezra Taft Benson’s quote came from that was used in my original letter to the Daily Herald. This is the talk.

A Plea to Strengthen Our Families

Elder Ezra Taft Benson. General Conference, October 1970.

As a people, we have three great loyalties: loyalty to God, loyalty to family, loyalty to country.

I come to you today with a plea to strengthen our families.

The Family Unit

It has been truly stated that “salvation is a family affair … and that the family unit is the most important organization in time or in eternity.”

The Church was created in large measure to help the family, and long after the church has performed its mission, the celestial patriarchal order will still be functioning. This is why President Joseph F. Smith said: “To be a successful father or a successful mother is greater than to be a successful general or a successful statesman …, ” and President McKay added: “When one puts business or pleasure above his home, he, that moment, starts on the downgrade to soul weakness.”

And this is why President Harold B. Lee said only yesterday, “The Church must do more to help the home carry out its divine mission.” Read the rest of this entry »

While on Red Meat Radio this morning, Scott in Sandy called in to share how a Republic is more representative of the people than a Democracy. Here’s a simple analogy.

Lets say you have 100 people in your country. In a Democracy, you would need to get half plus one (50 +1) of the votes in an election, or 51.

On the other hand, if you had 10 states in this country with 10 people each (total population again 100), in each state you would need a simple majority again (5+1) which would be 6 votes in an election. This has the potential to give the winner 60 votes (6 times 10 states) which is more than a simple majority of 51 in a Democracy.

Republics therefore, better represent the majority of the population.

Thanks Scott!

John Gatto – Extended Childhood

I discovered an audio file recently that is one of the very best files I’ve ever listened to for explaining what has been intentionally done to our education system to dumb it down and transform our children from independent thinkers to preparing them for Pavlovian behavior in an industrial world.

John Taylor Gatto was selected as the New York City teacher of the year THREE times. He finally quit his job during the year he’d been selected for the third time by announcing in a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece that he was no longer willing to hurt children.

I cannot stress enough the magnitude of this audio file. It is one of the most riveting stories I’ve ever listened to and tremendously vital in understanding today’s current education climate and who the players are that have sought to take down the original entrepreneurial spirit of our country. It was apparently given in 2001 to the LDS Homeschooler’s Association.

I obtained the audio from this site which has a lot of great quotes on freedom and various topics, but I’m posting the audio here as a convenience if you want to listen to it in a podcast player.

https://www.ourrepubliconline.com/OurRepublic/Article/48

John’s website is www.johntaylorgatto.com and he has written a number of popular books
on this topic.