Truth Worse (NOT Stranger) than Fiction

(H/T: Drudge)

Somehow, socialist educators at a private school in (where else?) Seattle have decided to use Legos® to teach kids about the evils of a capitalist society.

Pardon me while I pause momentarily in stunned silence.

[...]

Thank you.

Here are a few quotes from the article:

According to an article in the winter 2006-07 issue of "Rethinking Schools" magazine, the teachers at the private school wanted their students to learn that private property ownership is evil.

So I'm an evil person for owning my two cars, assorted pieces of furniture, and the clothes on my back. Interesting ideal. (Notice I do not include my home in this list. The bank owns my home, not me. Just wanted to clarify.) I also happen to own [numerous] Legos. That probably makes me twice as evil.

There's more, of course:

According to the article, the students had been building an elaborate "Legotown," but it was accidentally demolished. The teachers decided its destruction was an opportunity to explore "the inequities of private ownership." According to the teachers, "Our intention was to promote a contrasting set of values: collectivity, collaboration, resource-sharing, and full democratic participation."

The children were allegedly incorporating into Legotown "their assumptions about ownership and the social power it conveys." These assumptions "mirrored those of a class-based, capitalist society -- a society that we teachers believe to be unjust and oppressive."

And aren't those teachers just so miserable that they missed out on all the fun they could have had in the Soviet Union? But there's still time. I'm certain North Korea is accepting permanent resident visas.

The key phrase, of course, is "full democratic participation." Ah, yes. The old fall-back position. Fairness can only be achieved when everyone has an equal say in everything. Which means that I should be perfectly happy if I really wanted to buy a Honda (which, by the way, I do) but my neighbors voted me down, insisting that I buy an American-made car so I can support our poor, oppressed unions. They forget that this is precisely why the framers of the Constitution opted for a representative form of government in the first place.

A few days ago, ZeeMeister Bob (or "Step-Dad" to Woody) sent along something he'd gotten in one of those email strings that I tend to regard with suspicion, unless I happen to agree. I happen to agree with this one:

Father- Child Talk

A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. Like so many others her age, she considered herself to be a very liberal Democrat, and was very much in favor of the redistribution of wealth.

She was deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch Republican, a feeling she openly expressed. Based on the lectures that she had participated in, and the occasional chat with a professor, she felt that her father had for years harbored an evil, selfish desire to keep what he thought should be his.

One day she was challenging her father on his opposition to higher taxes on the rich and the addition of more government welfare programs. The self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to be the truth and she indicated so to her father.

He responded by asking how she was doing in school.

Taken aback, she answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, And let him know that it was tough to maintain, insisting that she was taking a very difficult course load and was constantly studying, which left her no time to go out and party like other people she knew. She didn't even have time for a boyfriend, and didn't really have many college friends because she spent all her time studying.

Her father listened and then asked, "How is your friend Audrey doing?"

She replied, "Audrey is barely getting by. All she takes are easy classes, she never studies, and she barely has a 2.0 GPA. She is so popular on campus; college for her is a blast. She's always invited to all the parties, and lots of times she doesn't even show up for classes because she's too hung over."

Her wise father asked his daughter, "Why don't you go to the Dean's office and ask him to deduct a 1.0 off your GPA and give it to your friend who only has a 2.0. That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA and certainly that would be a fair and equal distribution of GPA."

The daughter, visibly shocked by her father's suggestion, angrily fired back, "That wouldn't be fair! I have worked really hard for my grades! I've invested a lot of time, and a lot of hard work! Audrey has done next to nothing toward her degree. She played while I worked my tail off!"

The father slowly smiled, winked and said gently, " Welcome to the Republican party."

Agree or disagree, in my mind her father gives a perfect description of "full democratic participation."

Seattle private schools - reason #1,276 why we homeschool.