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Part 2: Unabomber victim David Gelernter details America's dismantling

Not all was rosy in the time of "Mom and Apple Pie."  As such author David Gelernter didn't discount some of the problems that the era faced in the years spanning the late 40's to 1975. Racial bigotry was bad. Anti-Semitism was also prevalent and was given even greater importance by Gelernter than racial bigotry. 

Part 1 by Nancy Throner details this nations cultural transformation from the late 40's to 1975.   http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2013/07/unabomber-victim-david-gelernter-details-this-nations-cultural-transformation.html#more

By 1975, however, the major goals of the cultural revolution had taken place and a new elite had taken charge in what had been a gradual step-by-step process over a period of years.

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How did this happen?  It came about through a two-step process:  

1. There was a takeover of the elite-most influential universities (the top 50-100) from the WASPS (White, Anglo-Saxon Protestant), who initially funded the great universities, put up their building, paid their bills, supplied their art collections, and populated their student bodies, faculties and governing councils, by the PORGIs (post-religious,globalist, intellectuals). These so-called intellectual elites, unlike the WASPS, harbored a distrust of patriotism and hostility toward the family. 

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There were WASP defections. McGeorge Bundy, initially an academic WASP, didn't attempt to stop the transformation from happening and even worked to topple the old WASP establishment. Coming from a true blue elite family -- both Bundy and his father were Yale graduates -- Bundy morphed into a leftist,   Once a hawk in the Kennedy administration, Bundy eventually had a change heart when he left government service in 1966 to become head of the Ford Foundation, driving it steadily leftward. 

McNamara, described as a self-hating Jewish WASP, became an influential force at a critical time in history, helping as he did to topple the old WASP establishment and set PORGIs on the throne instead.  McNamara turned against his past actions, even hating himself, when he condemned his own conduct as defense secretary and apologized for being "wrong, terribly wrong" about the war in Vietnam.  

2. With the takeover by the PORGIs, came the expansion of individuals going to colleges. This resulted in the disbursement of their alumni to places of influence in society. According to Gelernter there exists a huge branch of Yale alumni in Hollywood.

It was only natural that a similar transformation would take place at the public school level.  Intellectualism was relegated to academic experts to do our thinking for us and to become our guiding lights.  It mattered not that these academic experts lived in a world of theory with disdain for facts.  Not surprising is that global warming is advanced as fact, and that America is spoken of as a nation that is almost always nasty, while others nations are equally nice. 

The secret weapon presented by David Gelernter to counter America's cultural dismantling and to get back in the driver's seat was online or digital learning.   Education must be recreated from scratch, for only in transforming education can this nation be transformed back to one which can offer a better future for those who follow.  It is urgent that schools change now. The Internet was given as the way to go, a wonderful tool that must be utilized.  

Gelernter wondered aloud why conservatives are not making use of the Internet?  All the big players in education like Harvard know where the future lies.  They are using the Internet to reach pliable and receptive minds through course offerings, etc.

Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, as a Christian University, is reaching thousand of students through Liberty University Online.  

Conservatives should be establishing Internet schools at every level, recognizing the Internet as the educational tool that it is.  Such neutral or mildly right-leaning Internet grade schools and colleges could tug against the reactionary left of the elite universities and give conservative ideas a fighting chance.

As an addendum to my two-part article spotlighting David Gelernter and his book, American-Lite, it would be an omission not to mention a Digital Learning Symposium that was held in Chicago on Tuesday, June 25, especially after the strong endorsement given by Gelernter about the powerful tool of the Internet in education.

The Illinois Policy Institute, in partnership with the Union League Club of Chicago and its Public Affairs Committee, hosted the one-day conference at the Union League Club of Chicago. Explored was how students can achieve their full potential with digital learning.

The keynote speaker, Dr. Howard Fuller, Distinguished Professor of Eduction and Founder/Director of the Institute for the Transformation of Learning at Marquette University, continues to explore how digital can transform learning while empowering families to choose the best options for their children.  His concern is the future of education in America and the role of digital in disrupting the traditional education model.

Sunday, July 28, 2013 at 12:47 PM | Permalink




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