Category Archives: Uncategorized

Blackboard Jungle, Teen Cult Film–

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Blackboard Jungle (1955) – an historically important film about an idealistic WWII veteran in a gang-ridden school, featuring Sidney Poitier as a rebellious student (A heartfelt thanks to Jacob Peretson for bringing this remarkable film to my attention.)
1.) In film history, Blackboard Jungle, is notable for being the first film to have a rock and roll soundtrack – Bill Haley’s classic “Rock around the Clock.” In fact, the film shot the song to the top of the charts and made it the classic that it is.
2.) The film was so popular with teens that it caused riots at screenings around the world – or at least dancing in the aisles of the theaters and the tearing up of seats. The young John Lennon would be terribly disappointed when this did not happen when he went to see it.
3.) The film is evocative of the gang culture in West Side Story (1957). A MODEL FOR THE “INSPIRATIONAL TEACHER” FILM – eg. To Sir with Love, Stand and Deliver, Lean On Me, Freedom Writers
A MUST SEE – especially if you have any interest in either film history, cultural history,  or the problems of dysfunctional schools.

The health care issue is mis-framed – the real issue is not health care or health insurance it is health.

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Elaboration: the debate is all about maximizing health care and maximizing health insurance but the real aim should be maximizing health. Health care and health insurance account for only 10% of what drives health. The real drivers are behavior and the environment. We should focus on the 90% not the 10%. Why don’t we? Let’s keep it simple. But not too simple.
First, the big health care players are health care companies and health insurance companies.  Guess what? They are seeking to maximize their revenues. As they should. Problem:
Maximizing health actually reduces their revenues. Oops. We are patsies in a game
we don’t understand.
Second, we don’t want government messing with our behavior and our environment.
We’d prefer that government give us stuff. And have someone else pay for it.
More health care and more health insurance sounds good.
Third, politicians want to make us happy. They make us happy by promising more
stuff. The politician’s dilemma is simple: tax, lose votes, spend, get votes.
Not really a tough decision. No wonder our health care liabilities keep rising.
And no wonder the costs are hidden.
What do you think?

Ethics

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What does it mean to do the right thing?

 

                    #1                               #2                                 #3

Ethical Core of

All Great Religions

 Piety, aka

Gratitude, aka

Humility

 Charity, aka love,aka kindness,

Mercy

 Self-Control,

Discipline, aka desire control
Political virtues Equality before the law, aka universality Reciprocity —no rights without duties, duties without rights Proportionality of punishments to crimes, rewards to merit
Economic virtues Diligence, hard work, first do no harm (eg. do not be a burden on others) Frugality – postponement of gratification

(marshmallow experiment)

 Pursuit of Excellence, self-improvement

(eg. kaizen)
Classical

Virtues and Vices

 Courage,

Temperance,

Prudence

Justice –

4 Cardinal Virtues

 Seven Vices:

Pride, wrath,envy, sloth, lust, gluttony, greed

 Right thought, right speech, right action, right mindfulness, right concentration, right livelihood
Ethics by profession and stage of life

 

 Warrior versus Priestly ethics

Versus Business ethics

 Physician versus

fiduciary codes of ethics

 

 The student stage versus the householder versus the wandering holy man
 

Traditional Virtues

 

  

Obedience

 

  

Loyalty

 

  

Honor

 

History

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                                         Lesson #1                     Lesson #2                     Lesson #3

 

 

 

 

Progressive

consensus

 Class is ultimately all that matters. All

history is the history of the exploitation of the have-nots by the haves.

 The history of the West is the history of the exploitation of the non-white by the white and the history of mankind is the history of the exploitation of women. Western and US imperialism

are the causes of anti-Americanism and terrorism.

 

This is the lesson of Vietnam, Iraq.
 

 

 

Conservative

consensus

 Communist premises lead to tyranny, injustice,

and poverty —

as in Soviet Union, China,

Cuba, Zimbabwe

 Free markets lead to rising standards of living —in China

As in the US,

Europe, Brazil, Mexico. The West has been a hugely net positive force in world history.

 Peace comes through strength not appeasement.

Weakness encourages aggression. This is the lesson of Munich and 9/11.

 
 

 

 

Is there a middle ground?

 

 

 Free markets lead to rising standards of living —in China

As in the US,

Europe, Brazil, Mexico. The class

Is all that matters premise is false.

The driver of history is human imagination not class struggle.

Property is not theft but the fence of liberty.

 Free markets are not enough.

Education and health are public goods and high standards of each for all are the government’s business. The West has been a net positive force

for the world and this can be measured by the relative degree of gender and racial equality there

 The lessons of Munich, 9/11, Vietnam, and Iraq are all worth remembering.

Hindsight is 20/20.

The choice of the wrong analogy could result in untold human slaughter. What sane person would want to take on

that burden?

(ie what sane person would want to be president?)

 

Rhetoric

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To be a thinking citizen demands being attuned to logical and statistical fallacies and the propaganda tricks of demagogues.

A rhetorically un-trained citizen is a patsy at the poker table of modern politics.

Logical Fallacies Statistical Fallacies Propaganda Tricks
Begging the Question  Data Omission     Code words
The Straw Man  Correlation and Causation

Confusion

     Manipulative Images
The False Dilemma  Misleading aggregate data     Dog whistles
 Ad hominem  Survey question framing     Wedges
 Appeal to Emotion:

(spite, fear)

  Cherry picking     Old fashioned bold lies
Appeal to Authority Sampling errors     Camera angles
The Red Herring    Composition
Appeal to the Majority    Lighting
Moving the Goal Posts    Testimonials
Fallacy of Composition    Scapegoats
Moral high ground fallacy
Furtive fallacies
Hasty generalization/

Converse accident
Argumentum ad baculum

(might makes right,

appeal to consequences)
Post hoc, ergo propter hoc
Non sequitur

 

A fallacy does not prove a claim false. But its use does undermine it.

Swift quote on lies: falsehood flies and truth comes limping after it.

A lie travels halfway around the world while truth still putting on its shoes.

People remember the lie not so much the truth.

Education

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Principle                        Fact                         Solution

Side A  

Education is the business of parents, churches, state and local government not the federal government.

  

92% of funding for primary and elementary education comes from non-federal sources.

  

Keep the federal government out of education.

 

Promote vouchers to improve quality and lower costs.

 
Side B  

Education is a fundamental right that must be guaranteed by the federal government.

Equal protection of the laws requires equal quality of schools across the nation.

 

  

Without federal intervention, Southern schools would still be segregated by law.

 

Huge disparities exist in the quality of schools nationwide.

 

  

Education should be nationalized to guarantee equal protection of the laws.

 

Increase federal spending on schools.

 

Abolish charter schools.

 
Side C

 

 

  

Identify best practices and model their application.

 

Address the links between family structure and neighborhood safety and school performance.

 

Focus on joys not skills or fun.

 

  

High standards and high expectations are the keys to a successful school.

 

Schools need the families and communities to reinforce the message.

 

Successful models exist in the US

And elsewhere.

  

Roll out the Harlem Children’s Zone model across the country.

 

Roll out the Education First Party’s 8 point program.

 

Learn from Iceland, Rafe Esquith. Amy Chua.

Political Process

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Principle                        Fact                               Solution

Side A  

 

No real democracy without proportional representation.

 

  

First past the post disenfranchises even large minorities and facilitates gerrymandering.

 

 Adopt proportional representation’
Side B  

Money is corrupting politics.

 

 

 

  

The more money you have the more political influence you have.

 

  

Over turn citizens United.

 

 
 

 

Side C

 

 

  

Non-elected officials from the judiciary to the Fed have too much power.

 

If Congressmen don’t read bills, who writes them?

 

 

 

  

The Fed Chairman is the most powerful economic actor in America.

 

One swing voter on the supreme court has the power to overturn legislation backed by the vast majority of the American people.

  

Adopt a rule-based monetary policy.

 

Abolish Life tenure for judges.

 

Make unanimity a requirement for Supreme Court decisions.