"Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education." Franklin D. Roosevelt
H'mm-this is the same guy who used Hair Dye when
he was over 70 yrs claiming the 'colour was his own!!'
Did Reagan really think up this quotation himself
or was it his speechwriter quoting from another
source? Hugh, we need your scholarly erudition to
solve this...
Optimism with an honest acknowledgement of the situation, followed by careful planning and the taking positive forthright action will bring the best results.
"Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education." Franklin D. Roosevelt"
greatcometof1577,
Roosevelt, I'm afraid, was only partially right. In his day, education was indeed the real safeguard of democracy.
Today, however, education is controlled by ideologues who subordinate everything to the dogmas of multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion. It's no accident that children today think that all history began with the civil rights and womens movements of the 1960's, and that everything before that was the dark ages.
If we can ever wrestle control of our educational systems away from the ideologues that control them, maybe we can return to the happy days Mr. Roosevelt was talking about.
"The only thing we learn from History is that we learn nothing from History." Hegel.
"Religions which condemn the pleasures of the senses drive men to seek the pleasures of power. Throughout History power has been the vice of the ascetic." - B. Russell.
"Yesterday is history; today a gift; tomorrow, mystery." -Unknown.
Beware those who want to take the unknown out of reality and replace with paralyzed dogma.
rational, you are on it. The educational system(and I have a grade schooler, a high schooler and two in college) at all levels needs to be tempered by parents who aren't distracted by the NFL, casino gambling, making scrapbooks or working out.
If I had a dime for every stupid thing someone told my kids in school...
I am gearing up for my annual Columbus Day onslaught. You know, the man who brought diseases to this country and took away peoples' religions.
History is a great teacher for those who pay attention
If history teaches anything, it teaches that self delusion in the face of unpleasant facts is folly. -- Ronald Reagan
As the saying goes: "history is a fable not quite agreed upon". Much of history is written to rationalize the subduing and conquest of some lately "indigenous cultures", "indigenous peoples". All of history is in this pattern, with every ethnic group and every religion blazing a trail of violence and bloodshed, often justifying it in the name of God. Most of the Imperialists (Western, Japanese, etc.) have apologized (to some degree or other) for the exploitation of others in the name of supremacist religion-ideology. However, only Muslims, particularly Arabs (who were extensively involved in the Negro slave trade) and Turks pretend that they are not/were not a feature player on the stage of predatory Imperialist history. Muslims (particularly Arab Empire, Ottoman Empire Imperialists) remain unapologetic for their extensive crimes in history.
Beyond this, it is intriguing that recorded history is only between 6,000 to 10,000 years old. However, human beings have been on earth much longer than recorded history (cave drawings, fossil records, etc.). What of pre-recorded history? Were there previous civilizations?
I have a hunch that there very well developed civilizations (much more advanced than current civilizations) that preceded recorded history and that they were wiped out by war, pestilence, and famine-the usual triad natural destroyers of man. We are part of the biological picture-though we like to think we are "special". It's part of our self-delusion.
There have been great civilizations that were devastated, with all traces crushed/wiped from the earth by crushing ice ages, diseases, famines, war, and other cataclysms. I suspect that many of our myths (great floods, etc.) are collective memories of past earth civilizations that have vanished under the powerful hammer of nature.
rational, CapitalistGig, greatcometof1577 - check out: http://www.goacta.org/flashindex.html - the American Council of Trustees and Alumni. I can tell you, as someone who was raised in a devoutly union-liberal-Democrat home, who has been teaching at the college level for 18 years - your worst nightmares are true. They loathe, and want to destroy, Western civilization, and are willing to sign over our freedom to the communists and jihadists, hoping vainly that every sort of perversity will become normative behavior.
President Reagan understated the case when he said that "self delusion in the face of unpleasant facts is folly". That is virtually a tautology. In fact, such self-delusion is dangerous to oneself and those around him/her, or to society as a whole if that individual occupies an influential position in the polity, the media, or the academy.
Indeed, given the mortal danger to all civilizations on the planet from militant Islam, one must go further and say, with the cognitive psychologists, that such self-delusion is prima facie evidence of mental illness. I used to cringe when Dr. Michael Savage (ne Weiner) said "Liberalism is a mental disorder"; now I think it is a mere empirical observation. I am sorry, I do not mean to offend the many gallant traditional liberals who fight jihad, including many on this website. But in our generation, there is only one issue, namely: do we have the will to survive - and to take WHATEVER actions are necessary to insure our survival?
great link-added it to my favorites. No offense to liberals, but they make up the majority of educators, and the history classes ("social studies") are usually abysmal.
After 9/11, the educators in my state put a full court press on classrooms with Islamic immersion, culture, etc. to understand "why these people hate us." It amounted western civilization being reduced to imperialism, slave trading, racism, sexism, and all around "puritans" who were superstitious and uneducated. In short, all the reasons why America is bad and the only question is, why did this not happen sooner?
I had to contact the dean of my daughter's university (it has a ranked business school) because the micro-econ prof spent the first half of the semester showing Al Gore's and Michael Moore's movies. And "for credit" exercises he assigned students to barrage Exxonmobil. This guy wouldn't know a yield curve from a yield sign.
The problem with the whitehouse is we keep putting evangelicals in there who are sure Jesus will save us from Islam and wont lift a finger to stem the tide.
KAOSKTRL believe you me, not all evangelicals would be "waiting for Jesus to save us from islam". There are times when fighting is necessary to preserve the blessings granted to us by God. I'd venture to guess that many in the Armed Forces are evangelical. We've had 4 from my church join the Marines in the last 5 years, for example and there are numerous veterans in the congregation as well. Also, we're hearing clear headed thinking on Islam from the likes of John Hagee, Franklin Graham, Pat Robertson and Hal Lindsay among others.
Don't confuse us evangelicals with the President.
Remember the old saw that God helps those that help themselves.
"It's no accident that children today think that all history began with the civil rights and womens movements of the 1960's, and that everything before that was the dark ages."
Your observation is dead on. The boomer generation, those who "lived" the 1960s, have grown from the most free-thinking, radical generation in America to the most intolerant and dogmatic generation as older adults. Just wait until they reach their uber-power in Congress in about 10 years. Generation Xers and younger will be the ones faced with cleaning up their denial of unpleasant facts.
The boomers would say that Vietnam and Iraq are the unpleasant facts. They find that this is a sufficient platform from which to mount their campaign against any justification for armed defense. To see the folly of this one need only look back past... the 1960s.
as times passes we realize more now than ever what a great president Ronald Reagan was. how l hope we should have another great man in the Whitehouse again!
From the same "Evil Empire" speech (thanks for the link, greatcometof1577):
Our military strength is a prerequisite to peace, but let it be clear we maintain this strength in the hope it will never be used, for the ultimate determinant in the struggle that's now going on in the world will not be bombs and rockets but a test of wills and ideas, a trial of spiritual resolve, the values we hold, the beliefs we cherish, the ideals to which we are dedicated.
This also applies quite nicely to the anti-jihad. It doesn't matter if a Republican or Democrat said these words; an American said them, and they're right on target.
Amen...only those who fail to defend themselves do not survive, not just in adequate means, but the will & fortitude to do what is necessary...
Renaldus Magnus simply took JFKs words to the next level...
"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of Liberty.
This much we pledge—and more."
They can kill people, but they can never kill an idea(l)...and Freedom is never free.
The sad thing about some boomers is this - we used to have ideals, beautiful ideals about peace. We believed it when the Beatles sang, "All you need is love." But along the way to now, we lost our ideals when we had to face up to reality.
But even sadder is the fact that many boomers haven't faced up to it yet.
Paging Chritianne Amanpour
You have a message.
History doesn't repeat itself, except for this: Man's capacity for wishful thinking is unbounded.
Unfortunately, it's also easier. Acknowledging unpleasant facts means they must be dealt with.
To follow that up with another quote:
"Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education." Franklin D. Roosevelt
Keep educating Mr. Spencer...
H'mm-this is the same guy who used Hair Dye when
he was over 70 yrs claiming the 'colour was his own!!'
Did Reagan really think up this quotation himself
or was it his speechwriter quoting from another
source? Hugh, we need your scholarly erudition to
solve this...
Wishfull thinking while the cancer spreads is a common but uneffective course of treatment.
The line comes the "Evil Empire" speech.
See:
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1982reagan1.html
When it walks like a duck...and quacks like a duck...
It's a duck.
Optimism with an honest acknowledgement of the situation, followed by careful planning and the taking positive forthright action will bring the best results.
"Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education." Franklin D. Roosevelt"
greatcometof1577,
Roosevelt, I'm afraid, was only partially right. In his day, education was indeed the real safeguard of democracy.
Today, however, education is controlled by ideologues who subordinate everything to the dogmas of multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion. It's no accident that children today think that all history began with the civil rights and womens movements of the 1960's, and that everything before that was the dark ages.
If we can ever wrestle control of our educational systems away from the ideologues that control them, maybe we can return to the happy days Mr. Roosevelt was talking about.
"The only thing we learn from History is that we learn nothing from History." Hegel.
"Religions which condemn the pleasures of the senses drive men to seek the pleasures of power. Throughout History power has been the vice of the ascetic." - B. Russell.
"Yesterday is history; today a gift; tomorrow, mystery." -Unknown.
Beware those who want to take the unknown out of reality and replace with paralyzed dogma.
The 7th century was bad enough once.
rational, you are on it. The educational system(and I have a grade schooler, a high schooler and two in college) at all levels needs to be tempered by parents who aren't distracted by the NFL, casino gambling, making scrapbooks or working out.
If I had a dime for every stupid thing someone told my kids in school...
I am gearing up for my annual Columbus Day onslaught. You know, the man who brought diseases to this country and took away peoples' religions.
History is a great teacher for those who pay attention
Reagan's line parallel's G.B. Shaw's saying:
"We are made wise not by the recolllection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future."
Morgane-
Time to worry about the henna-dye in the pedohile "prophet" Mohammad's beard more than the Gracian Formula in (teasing) Reagan's hair.
If history teaches anything, it teaches that self delusion in the face of unpleasant facts is folly. -- Ronald Reagan
As the saying goes: "history is a fable not quite agreed upon". Much of history is written to rationalize the subduing and conquest of some lately "indigenous cultures", "indigenous peoples". All of history is in this pattern, with every ethnic group and every religion blazing a trail of violence and bloodshed, often justifying it in the name of God. Most of the Imperialists (Western, Japanese, etc.) have apologized (to some degree or other) for the exploitation of others in the name of supremacist religion-ideology. However, only Muslims, particularly Arabs (who were extensively involved in the Negro slave trade) and Turks pretend that they are not/were not a feature player on the stage of predatory Imperialist history. Muslims (particularly Arab Empire, Ottoman Empire Imperialists) remain unapologetic for their extensive crimes in history.
Beyond this, it is intriguing that recorded history is only between 6,000 to 10,000 years old. However, human beings have been on earth much longer than recorded history (cave drawings, fossil records, etc.). What of pre-recorded history? Were there previous civilizations?
I have a hunch that there very well developed civilizations (much more advanced than current civilizations) that preceded recorded history and that they were wiped out by war, pestilence, and famine-the usual triad natural destroyers of man. We are part of the biological picture-though we like to think we are "special". It's part of our self-delusion.
There have been great civilizations that were devastated, with all traces crushed/wiped from the earth by crushing ice ages, diseases, famines, war, and other cataclysms. I suspect that many of our myths (great floods, etc.) are collective memories of past earth civilizations that have vanished under the powerful hammer of nature.
Or as our friend Walid Shoebat says:
"What part of 'kill the infidels' don't you understand?"
rational
Oh I know...trust me I know.
:)
rational, CapitalistGig, greatcometof1577 - check out: http://www.goacta.org/flashindex.html - the American Council of Trustees and Alumni. I can tell you, as someone who was raised in a devoutly union-liberal-Democrat home, who has been teaching at the college level for 18 years - your worst nightmares are true. They loathe, and want to destroy, Western civilization, and are willing to sign over our freedom to the communists and jihadists, hoping vainly that every sort of perversity will become normative behavior.
Speaking of which, see Diana West's amazing new book, "The Death of the Adult": http://www.amazon.com/dp/0312340486/ref=s9_asin_title_1-1966_p/103-3679478-8109464?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_r=0A3QXHEDXT3G8YT7KHSB&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=278240701&pf_rd_i=507846
President Reagan understated the case when he said that "self delusion in the face of unpleasant facts is folly". That is virtually a tautology. In fact, such self-delusion is dangerous to oneself and those around him/her, or to society as a whole if that individual occupies an influential position in the polity, the media, or the academy.
Indeed, given the mortal danger to all civilizations on the planet from militant Islam, one must go further and say, with the cognitive psychologists, that such self-delusion is prima facie evidence of mental illness. I used to cringe when Dr. Michael Savage (ne Weiner) said "Liberalism is a mental disorder"; now I think it is a mere empirical observation. I am sorry, I do not mean to offend the many gallant traditional liberals who fight jihad, including many on this website. But in our generation, there is only one issue, namely: do we have the will to survive - and to take WHATEVER actions are necessary to insure our survival?
What would it be like to have a real man in the whitehouse again?
Surak,
great link-added it to my favorites. No offense to liberals, but they make up the majority of educators, and the history classes ("social studies") are usually abysmal.
After 9/11, the educators in my state put a full court press on classrooms with Islamic immersion, culture, etc. to understand "why these people hate us." It amounted western civilization being reduced to imperialism, slave trading, racism, sexism, and all around "puritans" who were superstitious and uneducated. In short, all the reasons why America is bad and the only question is, why did this not happen sooner?
I had to contact the dean of my daughter's university (it has a ranked business school) because the micro-econ prof spent the first half of the semester showing Al Gore's and Michael Moore's movies. And "for credit" exercises he assigned students to barrage Exxonmobil. This guy wouldn't know a yield curve from a yield sign.
The problem with the whitehouse is we keep putting evangelicals in there who are sure Jesus will save us from Islam and wont lift a finger to stem the tide.
"History shows again and again
How nature points out
The folly of men, Godzilla!"
Blue Öyster Cult - Godzilla
KAOSKTRL believe you me, not all evangelicals would be "waiting for Jesus to save us from islam". There are times when fighting is necessary to preserve the blessings granted to us by God. I'd venture to guess that many in the Armed Forces are evangelical. We've had 4 from my church join the Marines in the last 5 years, for example and there are numerous veterans in the congregation as well. Also, we're hearing clear headed thinking on Islam from the likes of John Hagee, Franklin Graham, Pat Robertson and Hal Lindsay among others.
Don't confuse us evangelicals with the President.
Remember the old saw that God helps those that help themselves.
If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a man and a dog.
-Mark Twain
MontyRockIV...lol !
Oh no... there goes Tokyo
What would it be like to have a real man in the whitehouse again?
Posted by: MadMom
You can ask Hilary when she gets there. Ha Ha....too good to pass up!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ec63BGemTQs
rational writes
"It's no accident that children today think that all history began with the civil rights and womens movements of the 1960's, and that everything before that was the dark ages."
Your observation is dead on. The boomer generation, those who "lived" the 1960s, have grown from the most free-thinking, radical generation in America to the most intolerant and dogmatic generation as older adults. Just wait until they reach their uber-power in Congress in about 10 years. Generation Xers and younger will be the ones faced with cleaning up their denial of unpleasant facts.
The boomers would say that Vietnam and Iraq are the unpleasant facts. They find that this is a sufficient platform from which to mount their campaign against any justification for armed defense. To see the folly of this one need only look back past... the 1960s.
as times passes we realize more now than ever what a great president Ronald Reagan was. how l hope we should have another great man in the Whitehouse again!
From the same "Evil Empire" speech (thanks for the link, greatcometof1577):
This also applies quite nicely to the anti-jihad. It doesn't matter if a Republican or Democrat said these words; an American said them, and they're right on target.
Amen...only those who fail to defend themselves do not survive, not just in adequate means, but the will & fortitude to do what is necessary...
Renaldus Magnus simply took JFKs words to the next level...
"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of Liberty.
This much we pledge—and more."
They can kill people, but they can never kill an idea(l)...and Freedom is never free.
Sic Vis Pacem, Parabellum.
"What would it be like to have a real man in the whitehouse again?
Posted by: MadMom "
....that is what Monica Lewinsky wants to know...
lycaste -
Not all boomers are pacifist lefties.
The sad thing about some boomers is this - we used to have ideals, beautiful ideals about peace. We believed it when the Beatles sang, "All you need is love." But along the way to now, we lost our ideals when we had to face up to reality.
But even sadder is the fact that many boomers haven't faced up to it yet.
"History is the sound of silken slippers going down stairs and wooden shoes coming up."- Voltaire.