How have overtly irrational perspectives, unsupported by history, science or logic, gained the upper hand in American civil discourse? Why have the overtly and dramatically successful concepts of inherent rights and capitalism been so persistently purged? How have clearly false narratives gained the upper hand?
The answer is a combination of intimidation, censorship and thinly veiled threats. An Education News editorial explained:
“Disturbingly, progressives have concluded that they simply will not tolerate Christianity, patriotism or push-back against their transformation of America. Progressives’ behavior tells us that if it takes violence to purge conservatives from America, so be it… Progressives demand that we ignore thousands of years of wisdom, commonsense and scientific truths…”
That most fundamental of American ideas, the very concept of rights emanating not from those in power but from God or nature has been drastically assaulted. The use of logic and evidence in political theory have been shoved aside. Numerous examples abound of how this wreaked havoc on society.
American citizens are being told that, despite socialism’s century of horrific results, that the unparalleled economic success of capitalism should be replaced with its clearly failed concepts.
The argument has been made that, despite the absence of a single discriminatory law, rule or regulation, that “systemic racism” exists. The false claim has unnecessarily sparked racial animosity to an extraordinary level.
City inhabitants are forced to accept a growing, deadly nightmare of crime that Progressive policies of police defunding, bail elimination, early jail releases, and tolerance for aberrant behavior have caused.
Despite an approaching national debt exceeding $30 trillion, taxpayers are informed that even more debt must be adopted, and that their nation must provide welfare to the rest of the planet.
These overtly flawed concepts have succeeded in dominating America’s political and social conversations, through both the elimination from conversational acceptability of more rational ideas, and the sources from which they flow.
The knowledge of how successful basic American concepts — devotion to the Bill of Rights and the economic principles of capitalism have succeeded — has been drummed out of our schools, originally at the university level and now prevalent throughout education. Many of the most strident proponents of leftist concepts operate out of ignorance, for they were not given the basic instruction in how these ideas created the most prosperous and liberated society in human history.
Luke Smith, writing in the Harvard Crimson in 2003, noted:
“After four years at Harvard, students can graduate … without knowledge of Aristotle, Shakespeare… or even the Constitution of the United States. The present structure of Harvard’s Core Curriculum allows students to escape all of these topics and replace them with multicultural alternatives…students can readily substitute for “Democracy in America and Europe” courses like “Gendered Communities: Women, Islam, and Nationalism in the Middle East and North Africa.” The distinction between these two topics is clear. The first has profoundly impacted the structure of Western government, the formation of Western values and the fabric of a Western way of life. The latter has not. It is embarrassing that Harvard students can graduate ignorant of major Western authors and philosophers.”
Those “Dead White Guys” deleted from higher education include not only the profound people and documents mentioned, but also the bedrock concept of our civilization, the Judeo-Christian ethic. The purge of religion begins at the lowest levels of grammar school, where it is now increasingly common to see discussions of sexual matters. But a mere mention of Christ, Moses or the gifted works of the religions they inspired merits imminent sanctions or dismissal.
There is a significant reason for that defensiveness against both the Judeo-Christian ethic and the Bill of Rights. Those unique philosophies are based on the divine worth of each human being, a concept anathema to those socialists who see individuals only as a cog in the wheel of society. They will use any method to censor out anyone who points out that uncomfortable truth.
