For as much as we talk here about the anti-intellectualism of the right, I don’t think I’ve ever shared this piece of George Carlin video with you. (See below.) It’s only three minutes long, but it gets right to the heart of things. In it, Carlin says bluntly that public education in America will never get any better. The reason, he says, is that the men who pull the strings don’t want “a population of citizens capable of critical thinking.” No, he says, they want “obedient workers.” They want people just smart enough to do what they’re told. I was reminded of this observation of Carlin’s a few days ago, when I read the following, taken verbatim from the 2012 platform of the Republican Party of Texas.
…We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar programs that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery learning) which focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of challenging the student’s fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority…
That’s real, by the way… In a world beset by God knows how many problems that could eventually spell the end of humanity, these folks apparently feel as though it’s vitally important not that we foster a culture of intellectual curiosity, but that we police our schools, ensuring that our children are not taught “critical thinking skills.” Because, really, who needs scientists who can discover ways to mitigate the effects of global warming, when all we really need is to deregulate industry, and allow the unfettered invisible hand of Capitalism to point the way toward salvation…
And, in related news, I just read today that Louisiana has eliminated all state aid to public libraries. Louisiana, you might be interested to know, is also, under their expanded school voucher program, aggressively channeling children away from their defunded public schools, and into religious schools, where they’re learning that evolution isn’t real, as evidenced by the existence of the Loch Ness Monster. Here, for those of you who don’t believe me, is a clip from the Scottish press.
…One ACE textbook – Biology 1099, Accelerated Christian Education Inc – reads: “Are dinosaurs alive today? Scientists are becoming more convinced of their existence. Have you heard of the ‘Loch Ness Monster’ in Scotland? ‘Nessie’ for short has been recorded on sonar from a small submarine, described by eyewitnesses, and photographed by others. Nessie appears to be a plesiosaur.”
As much as it kills me to say it, as I grew up obsessed with the idea of the Loch Ness Monster, it’s now known to everyone …except for perhaps the scholars behind this Christian textbook, and all of the kids subjected to it… that the famous 1934 photo of the monster was in fact a hoax, perpetrated by Christian Spurling, Marmaduke Wetherell and Colonel Robert Wilson. According to Spurling, who confessed to the hoax on his deathbed in 1994, the “monster” was in reality a toy submarine, outfitted with a sea-serpent head. But, who is to say that their lies don’t warrant the same consideration as our facts, right? This is, after all, America.
And, now, with all of that said, here’s George Carlin.
[note: For what it's worth, the Republican Party of Texas says now that their inclusion of language concerning the importance of quashing critical thinking skills was an "oversight." As of this moment, however, from what I can tell, it has not been removed from the party's 2012 platform.]