Yeah, you're right. It IS a scary thing.

It's scary that not even a [u]HISTORY[/u] teacher knows the difference between a "democracy" and a "republic". [V]

So how the hell is anyone else supposed to learn history if the "ekspert ejukators" in history themselves are so dumbed-down?

I am Canadian.

Liberals don't want to teach the values of freedom to kids.  It will make it that much harder to take the freedoms away later.

So at least we know Canadian schools teach how to cut and paste [;)]

This past semester, in my english literature class, we were discussing W.F. Yeats poem, The Second Coming, written in 1921.

She was telling the class the poem was written like a prophecy prior to WW1.My Jewdar automatically activiated when I heard this.

I thought it was just a slip of the tongue the first time. BUT, when I heard it a second and third time I raised my hand. I didn't want to sound like a know-it-all, but the whole class was hypnotized by this drivel.

She pointed to me as for me to ask a question, but I told her "Ms. Li, WW1 happened from 1914-1918,  three years before this poem was written."

She fired at me, "No. I have been teaching this class and using this particular poem for years...I have researched this and asked history colleagues, etc" Very pissy about the whole thing.

I retorted with, "Ms. Li, no offense, but that is incorrect.WW1 did not happen during the 1920's.I hate to be a jerk, but listening to this is wrong"

She was very agitated after this cause her face turned red and I sensed my grade shrink from an "A" to a "D" almost instantaneously.[:D]

I was expecting a lecture from her after class because while I was talking she jotting some notes down.

The next class, when she returned our journals, she left a stick-it on the back page of my journal/report with "Yes. You were correct about WW1, but please do not correct me in class again"

Now, I know my place in regards to college, but listening to this crap really got my goat.Maybe it's because I'm an olde pharte now[:D]

I got an "A"[:D]

They don't teach this in school.

Their teaching "Billy has two daddy's trying to climb into bed with Billy".

ED

History isn't PC! Therefore we have to make it that way for the kids.[rolleyes]
With all the editing going on in history books the stories they tell might as well have happened on mars. All they teach kids is how to conform.

Kids don't know who Paul Revere was (isn't he the guy who makes those stainless pots mom has?) or Lewis & Clark (aren't they the black & white comedians?).  What I was taught about U.S. History was extremely biased, but at least it was a starting point for which I'm grateful.

Let's just say, that in my 20's and 30's I learned that most of what I was taught as history was a lie.  Like the War for Independence, after reading Ben Franklin and Thomas Jeffersons autobiographies, I came away with a completely different version of the story as to what I remember from high school.

In my late 30's I learned the term "revisionist history".

I love the story from Tactical_Jew, how appropriate!

In college history, or high school history did you ever learn about how the Federal Reserve Bank was created?  Really created?

Did they ever teach any one that the IRS was formed by the Federal Reserve Bank, and not one congressman nor senator ever voted it into existance!  Ever wonder why they do not teach this truth?

Hell in high school I came away thinking that Thomas Edison was the father of modern electricity.  It was not until I reserched on my own, and found out who Nikola Tesla was and the first power plant backed by Westinghouse and J.P. Morgan.

Hell I know men and women with PHD's in Physics, Geophysics, Petroleum Engineering, Biology, etc.  and they had never heard of Nikola Tesla.

I don't get how someone can spend 4 years in public education, and 8 years in higher learning institutions, and come away not ever having heard of Nikola Tesla.

Even when they learn about Maganetism & Electricity and a measuremant with the unit of tesla, and still not know who the guy is!!

The Dumbing Down of America.  The smarter they are, the more arrogant they are, the less they really know!!!!!!!!!

Hell it is no wonder none of the students today can repeat one of their constitutional rights!

[red]If you don't know you have it, you won't miss it when it is gone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![/red]

We had a 21 year old rookie working at our station last year who was the epitome of the title to this thread...(keep in mind...he was a high school graduate [b]AND HAD BEEN IN THE MARINES!!![/b])

One day we were sitting in the day room between runs, watching Saving Private Ryan.
Some of us noticed by some of the comments the rookie made...that he thought he was watching a movie about Viet Nam.

This prompted a line of questioning from myself, and another firemedic who is also a history buff.
Below are [b]some[/b] of the results:

[blue]Question:[/blue] Where [b]IS[/b] Viet Nam?
[red]Answer:[/red] Ummm...China?

[blue]Question:[/blue] Who did the U.S. fight against in World War II?
[red]Answer:[/red] England

[blue]Question:[/blue] Who did the U.S. fight in the Revolutionary War?
[red]Answer:[/red] Canada (said with confidence)

[blue]Question:[/blue] Who Attacked Pearl Harbour?
[red]VERY SAD Answer:[/red] The Germans. (learned it from the movie Animal House)

[blue]Question:[/blue] Who fought in the French and Indian War?
[red]Answer:[/red] Well, obviously the French fought the Indians...but the Americans were involved also.
[blue]Really?..[/blue] Which side did the Americans fight on?
[red]Answer:[/red] They helped the French.

[red]Some added factoids:[/red]
1) Japan was not involved in WWII, because it was not a country yet.
2) The atomic bomb was dropped on Viet Nam.
3) Canada was part of the Union, during the Civil War.

WOW, I'm baffeled, in the Marine Corp. I learned a lot about history and the history of warfare.  That was back in 1978-83.

It was what I learned in the Marine Corp that prompted me to look into history on my own, and not trust the traditional version of the story.

Hummmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I guess they do not teach the Marines about their history in combat anymore.  Either that or this dumbass was sleeping, day dreaming about snatch, or off in never never land during the history lectures.

Well...This particular person [b]IS[/b] kind of "dense"...
He no longer works for the dept...He failed the random pee pee test.

Special interest groups on state textbook committees pressure publishers to publish books that reflect diversity, the accomplishments of women and minorities, and portray the worlds evils as being somehow directly caused by white males of european background.

In states like Texas and California which spend lot of money on the books, there is much influence on what is written in them.

Hehe - apparently you didn't get the A for remembering his middle name.  [:P]   (and The Second Coming was written in 1920)


Just playin' with ya - I LOVE W.B. Yeats.  One of the finest poets ever, in my dumbed-down, know-nothing liberal private-university professor opinion. [;)]

I was never even taught the difference between a democracy and a republic.

I'm guessing:

A republic is just a representative democracy, but the government affords protections to the people which can't be taken away?

Just to defend academia a little:



In research-1 universities, you have to publish or get fired.  You simply do not have the luxury of caring about things outside your own narrow little speciality - at least not until you get tenure.



University professors, on average do not really make very much money.  If you count the productive wages they lost while wasting their time getting PhD's, most are actually quite underpaid.  The exception is generally business schools and law schools - btu a physics professor at a really good university makes squat. Once you go to the crappy universities, they make even less.



Idiots are everywhere.  What are you going to do about it.  When it comes to research quality, there's no real difference between the top private schools and the top public schools.

I'm sure there are lots of private universities that totally suck ass, just like there are plenty of regional campuses of state universities that are a joke.

Close.

Though some people make it their mission to point out the fine differences between a "democracy" and a "republic", for the most part nowadays they're used interchangeably. Even Jefferson used the terms interchangeably - a point Madison made quite a big deal over in the Federalist Papers.

The REAL big difference is how a "democracy" tends to rely upon popular opinion to rule even when that opinion goes against the law and the Constitution.

In my on crude defintions:

"Democracy" = tyranny of the majority.

"Republic" = rule of law.

Has anyone ever gone looking for good classes on American History. - I could not find anything decent, I searched a few JC's and UC's in a few states and the results were so pityful I gave up.

So then I went looking for good books on the subject - They are few and far between.

BTW [b]starsil9[/b] I wish they would re-Open the Nikola Tesla museum here in Colorado Springs.

"They are discovering, as others before them, the resolve of a [b]great democracy[/b]."- GWB, September 11, 2002

"Leaders must be responsible, and in our [b]great democracy[/b], the top responsibility rests with the president of the United States."- GWB, October 26, 2000

"I came to encourage you to learn as much as you can about this [b]great democracy[/b]..."- GWB, February 10, 2000

"But I go into this fabulous office [the Oval Office] -- by the way, it is just a -- it's a shrine to our [b]great democracy[/b]"- GWB, January 2002

"We must not allow such a regime [the Taliban]  to threaten our [b]great democracy[/b]."- Donald Rumsfeld

"I would therefore like to thank you, President Bush, and thank your [b]great democracy[/b] and your great people."- Silvio Berlusconi, Prime Minister of Italy, 22 November 2002

Starsil, beyond the measure of electricity being in Tesla units, everybody has at some time or another played with a Tesla coil.  Those metal balls on a pole that make your hair stand up when you touch it, or those lightning in a bottle things where the lightning follows your fingers.

As to revisionist history, Japan fired on the US first.  [b]WRONG!![/B]  The US provided troops in the form of the Flying tigers to China to fight against Japan.  A war that had been going on for almost 5000 years.  (yes, long before Jesus)  The civil war was fought over slavery.  [b]WRONG[/b] The federal government passed laws through a northern majority which were in violation of the constitution.  The southern states, due to the "breach of contract" (The constitution is merely a contract between the states) seceded and formed their own country, the Confederate States of America.  Seeing a major loss of agricultural products, the United States of America then [b]INVADED[/b] the CSA.  Henry Ford invented neither the car or the assembly line.  He just put the two together.  Harley Davidson was not the first motorcycle.  Gasoline was originally a stain remover.  Pearl Harbor was not a surprise attack.  We knew it was going to happen, but it is easier to get the people behind you if it is a sneak attack.  Hiroshima was a secondary target.  It is not pronounced hero sheemah.  Fat man and little boy are not a comedy duo.  The first jet fighter WAS German.  The first ICBM was German.  The first guided missile was german.  And French wine sucks.

"Our [b]Republic[/b] would surely founder but for the faith and confidence that we collectively place in our Constitution. And it could not prosper without our diligent commitment to upholding the Constitution's original words and implementing its founding principles."
~ [red]George W. Bush[/red], September 17, 2001.

"The [b]democracy[/b] will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."
~ [red]Thomas Jefferson[/red].

"I subscribe to the principle, that the [b]will of the majority[/b] honestly expressed should give law."
~ [red]Thomas Jefferson[/red].

"It must be acknowledged that the term "[b]republic[/b]" is of very vague application in every language... Were I to assign to this term a precise and definite idea, I would say purely and simply it means a government by its citizens in mass, acting directly and personally according to rules established by the majority; and that every other government is more or less republican in proportion as it has in its composition more or less of this ingredient of direct action of the citizens.

...Such a government is evidently restrained to very narrow limits of space and population. I doubt if it would be practicable beyond the extent of a New England township."
~ [red]Thomas Jefferson[/red].




See? Even great Presidents like GW and Jefferson sometimes use "democracy" and "republic" interchangeably. [:)]

I can say that although we were taught the ride of Paul Revere was to alert the town of British troops we were not taught that the reason for the British raid was to capture rebel leaders and conficate arms from the general populace.

Today thety aren't teaching the Constitution, at least not here in SW Michigan.  My job takes me into several public schools each month, when I go into the social studies classrooms they have posters around the room with something called "The Core Democratic Values"  with one of the primary values being DIVERSITY!  WTF!!!  And these are in every school, regardless of the district.  I am told that this is what is being taught instead of our founding documents.  I have a degree in history and have thought hard about becoming a high school social studies teacher, I think I'd be fired right away for a host of reasons, not the least of which would be telling my students outright that the required curriculm was total bullshit.  The libs have totally gotten hold of the minds of our upcoming generations through the public education system.  We even had a teacher around here asking elementary school kids to tell her whether or not mommy or daddy kept a gun in the house.  This, I believe is how they're going to get us in the end.  They will breed the gun culture out of existence because kids are learning in school to be afraid of inanimate objects and that guns are inherantly evil.  Time to take the kids out to the range and make sure you support organizations like the Boy Scouts who still have youth marksmanship programs.

Yep.

The American Revolution was all about excessive taxation and firearm-confiscation.

Hmmmm.... sounds vaguely familiar.

Tactical Jew Wrote:
> The next class, when she returned our
> journals, she left a stick-it on the back
> page of my journal/report with "Yes. You were
> correct about WW1, but please do not correct
> me in class again"

So I dont expect that she actually informed the rest of the class about her mistake and corrected it?

So they wondered out of class thinking WWI was in the 1920's?

Thats very, very wrong, well done public edjumacator.

/PHil

Well most of the book from what I see focus on the evil white man holding everyone down and are biased to hell.  Since that seems more important to some schools maybe its good kids are rembering this junk they are told.

Did God have a special purpose in America, causing this nation to be blessed beyond measure?



If God is God and is purposeful and not capricious, as we know from the Scriptures, then He has purposes for nations as well as individuals.



To discover this purpose, it would be good to revisit the stated goals of our very first permanent settlements, in Virginia in 1607, and then at Plymouth in 1620.



The goals of the Virginia Company, chartered by King James, was stated in "A True and Sincere Declaration of the Purpose and Ends of the Plantation Begun in Virginia." It stated "The principal and main ends… were first to preach and baptize into the Christian religion, and by propagation of the gospel, to recover out of the arms of the devil, a number of poor and miserable souls, wrapped up unto death… and to endeavor the fulfilling, and accomplishment of the number of the elect, which shall be gathered from out of all corners of the earth…"



These first permanent settlers in America landed on the coast of Virginia. Their first act was to plant a cross at Cape Henry, at what is now Virginia Beach, and dedicate the new continent to God Almighty.



A few years later, in 1620, the settlers at Plymouth made a covenant with God and themselves, then established their new government that acknowledged God's sovereignty and honored Him. Before the Plymouth settlers even came ashore in 1620, they made a covenant with themselves and God called the "Mayflower Compact." It began "In the name of God…Having undertaken for the glory of God and advancement of the Christian faith… "

The pervasive Christian influence of our Founding Fathers and in our Constitution is well-documented.



In a speech on July 4, 1837, the 61st anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, John Quincy Adams proclaimed "Why is it that, next to the birthday of the Savior of the world, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day? Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the progress of the gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer’s mission upon earth?"



Former Librarian of Congress and renowned historian Daniel Boorstin writes that early Americans believed the victories and miraculous growth of our nation were for a greater purpose "From the beginning, Americans had been unwilling to believe that their emigration, their expansion, their diplomacy, and their wars had no high purpose, and they commonly defined that purpose as a ‘mission.’"



Even Herman Melville, the American novelist who was no great friend of Christians, compared the American experience with that of the Israelites in Scripture. In 1850, Melville wrote "We Americans are the peculiar, chosen people -- the Israel of our time; we bear the ark of the liberties of the world."



This is our high purpose -- to bring liberty, hope, and renewal to those lost in sin. In her infancy, America entered into a covenant with God to extend the light of Christ’s love to the world, to become, as John Winthrop said, "a shining city on a hill." As the New England Confederation proclaimed in 1643 "We all came to these parts of America with the same end and aim, namely, to advance the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ."



Having experienced God’s guidance and protection, our forefathers were entrusted with the responsibility to tell what God had done and share His great blessings with others.



When we consider the nation we have become over the last 500 years, the plan and purpose of God for America becomes apparent. Nineteenth-century historian Charles Bancroft recognized that America was destined to exert great influence "America, then, will colonize ideas extensively when her institutions are thoroughly matured. The process indeed commenced with her birth, and her spirit sails with her ships in every sea and visits all lands."



Bancroft was not saying that America would one day hold colonies as Britain did, but that our ideas would be carried by our people to every nation on earth. Political leaders in America may desire to influence other nations to change from dictatorial to democratic forms of government. While this is a worthy goal, it is not our main objective. Our most important influence has been in exporting, not just material wealth and political wisdom, but the gospel of Jesus Christ. The United States of America has been the greatest missionary sending nation in history. It has been estimated that today that the U.S. supplies 85 percent of all resources spent in the world on evangelistic missions.



Of all the good we have done, this is the greatest. In this way, our blessings do not just benefit us, but also those who receive the gospel message. Also, wherever in the world this gospel has been taken, the missionaries and indigenous Christian workers have brought hospitals, schools and orphanages which would have never otherwise existed.

Sigh.... another historical canard. The reason for General Gage sending the regular army (this was still British territory in 1775....) to Concord was to seize and destroy all military goods or goods that could be used to help a rebel army. They were not trying to capture any rebel leaders, although Hancock and crew thought that was what the British wanted, but rather some big 24-pounder cannon that the rebels had stolen from Castle William months before- those could have caused the British some serious problems in a firefight. The gun barrels were hidden in a leafpile in a nearby farm, so all the British could find in Concord were some barrels of musket balls, barrels of flour and peas, and some half-completed gun carriages, which they disposed of or burned.

After the events of April 19, 1775 (I'm leaving out a lot here), and the ensuing Siege of Boston, the British allowed residents of Boston to leave, but only on condition of them turning in all firearms- only then were firearms expressly sought out as weapons that could be considered dangerous to the Royal government.

For further info, read David Hackett Fischer's "Paul Revere's Ride"- dispels most of the myths re Lexington and Concord, and shows our founding fathers to be even more courageous and more organized than had been previously thought.

If I were still a public school teacher, and were to read that to my class, I'd get fired, and sued.

OTOH, here in libland Massachusetts, my kid's recent 5th grade publik skool stage play, presented to the town, was an adaptation of the book Johnny Tremain, and I couldn't believe how many times God was mentioned on stage and how many hymns were sung.....

Err, I think that's the point there mac...[^]

Well, we can start off by acknowledging that the rights we have are

[size=6][b]INalienable[/size=6][/b]

not unalienable.

Sheesh, if we can't get that right, what the hell is the point?

You are correct, Professor, about the poet's name.[BD]

Ok, I thought I had read it was 1921 as 1921 was in parentheseis:The Second Coming(1921).
Thats probably the publish date and not the year it was written in.




One of my fav's, too.

Correct.

It was a class of 25 women and two men.Myself and another guy.

They didn't seem to overly care about what happened in the past.They did care about what the latest fashion in hairstyle was, though!!

I do care about history and in particular the history of our GREAT Nation.

I personally won't sit there and listen to a load of drivel. Sure, one of these days it'll cost me a grade, but at least I stood up.

edit to fix some spelling [BD]

YES!!!!  I knew if I scrolled down far enough I'd find some gay-bashing!  Thank you for renewing my faith in ar15.com.

BTW - in my high school it was "Married male gym teacher caught molesting 13 y/o female students."