Welcome friends!
I think I’ve mentioned a couple of times now that I’m beginning to suspect that one of the fundamental characteristics that forms the body of the two headed monster of contemporary conservatism (that is, economic and social conservatism) is a shared determination to pretend the world is simpler than it really is. If you read the papers you’ll know I’m apparently not the only one who’s been getting that impression recently. Perhaps you recall the story from a few weeks ago about Bobby Jindal, leading Republican and governor of the ultra-conservative state of Louisiana, telling the Republican National Committee they should “stop being the stupid party?” I wouldn’t necessarily have put it that way myself unless I were feeling particularly cranky and frustrated that day, but I suppose it’s really all just variations on a theme: stupidity, ignorance, a quest for misleading simplicity. Anyway, I read another entertaining article by Paul Krugman the other day that I think raises this issue to a whole other level.
The thing that really caught my eye in Mr. Krugman’s article was a passing reference he made to a little event that everyone else probably got tired of discussing a year ago, which was the Republican Party in the state of Texas putting out a party platform that “explicitly condemned efforts to teach ‘critical thinking skills’ because, it said, such efforts ‘have the purposes of challenging the student’s fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority.’” ... Sorry but only selected archived (previous year) posts are currently available full text on this website. All posts including this one are available in my annual anthology ebook series available at the Amazon Kindle Bookstore for a nominal fee. Hey, we all need to make a buck somehow, right? If you find my timeless jewels of wisdom amusing or perhaps even amusingly irritating throw me a bone now and then. Thank you my friends!
