Education – Deep Thoughts on the ‘WHY?’ of the Human Condition

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Education

Education and How To Fix America;
1990 Teacher of The Year Acceptance Speech

Check out John Taylor Gato’s speech in 1990 as he was accepting the New York State Teacher of the Year Award. Almost 30 years ago Gato was bringing out the role of parenting and critical thinking in American education. Some of his ideas are a bit much but it shows the power of the public education system forming our country. (Read it all HERE).  Some of the excerpts that jumped out at me include:

Our school crisis is a reflection of this greater social crisis. We seem to have lost our identity. Children and old people are penned up and locked away from the business of the world to a degree without precedent – nobody talks to them anymore and without children and old people mixing in daily life a community has no future and no past, only a continuous present. In fact, the name “community” hardly applies to the way we interact with each other. We live in networks, not communities, and everyone I know is lonely because of that. In some strange way school is a major actor in this tragedy just as it is a major actor in the widening guilt among social classes.

The hunger for community is very pronounced in society today. The community used to take place in churches, in neighborhoods and in civic club and events. As our churches emptied and security concerns keep kids indoors and the role of service fades in our busy society we are seeing a rise in anit-depressants, loneliness, and opioid drug abuse.  As humans, we evolved to be social and adapt in groups others to survive.  One of my favorite books by Jonathan Haidt, Righteous Mind, explains from an evolutionary point of view why we developed morality.

Here is another curiosity to think about. The homeschooling movement has quietly grown to a size where one and a half million young people are being educated entirely by their own parents. Last month the education press reported the amazing news that children schooled at home seem to be five or even ten years ahead of their formally trained peers in their ability to think.

And if you take the references of Televisions and shift them to ‘screen time’ to encompass the games and phones in a child’s life, this quote, again from 30 years ago, starts getting really scary;

Two institutions at present control our children’s lives – television and schooling, in that order. Both of these reduce the real world of wisdom, fortitude, temperance, and justice to a never-ending, non-stopping abstraction. In centuries past the time of a child and adolescent would be occupied in real work, real charity, real adventures, and the realistic search for mentors who might teach what you really wanted to learn. A great deal of time was spent in community pursuits, practicing affection, meeting and studying every level of the community, learning how to make a home, and dozens of other tasks necessary to become a whole man or woman.

But here is the calculus of time the children I teach must deal with:

Out of the 168 hours in each week, my children sleep 56. That leaves them 112 hours a week out of which to fashion a self.

My children watch 55 hours of television a week according to recent reports. That leaves them 57 hours a week in which to grow up.

My children attend school 30 hours a week, use about 6 hours getting ready, going and coming home, and spend an average of 7 hours a week in homework – a total of 45 hours. During that time, they are under constant surveillance, have no private time or private space, and are disciplined if they try to assert individuality in the use of time or space. That leaves 12 hours a week out of which to create a unique consciousness. Of course, my kids eat, and that takes some time – not much, because they’ve lost the tradition of family dining, but if we allot 3 hours a week to evening meals, we arrive at a net amount of private time for each child of 9 hours.

It’s not enough. It’s not enough, is it? The richer the kid, or course, the less television he watches but the rich kid’s time is just as narrowly proscribed by a somewhat broader catalog of commercial entertainments and his inevitable assignment to a series of private lessons in areas seldom of his actual choice.

And these things are oddly enough just a more cosmetic way to create dependent human beings, unable to fill their own hours, unable to initiate lines of meaning to give substance and pleasure to their existence. It’s a national disease, this dependency and aimlessness, and I think schooling and television and lessons – the entire Chautauqua idea – has a lot to do with it.

Think of the things that are killing us as a nation – narcotic drugs, brainless competition, recreational sex, the pornography of violence, gambling, alcohol, and the worst pornography of all – lives devoted to buying things, accumulation as a philosophy – all of them are addictions of dependent personalities, and that is what our brand of schooling must inevitably produce.

And what do we do to correct the problem:

It’s high time we looked backwards to regain an educational philosophy that works. One I like particularly well has been a favorite of the ruling classes of Europe for thousands of years. I use as much of it as I can manage in my own teaching, as much, that is, as I can get away with given the present institution of compulsory schooling. I think it works just as well for poor children as for rich ones.

At the core of this elite system of education is the belief that self-knowledge is the only basis of true knowledge. Everywhere in this system, at every age, you will find arrangements to place the child alone in an unguided setting with a problem to solve. Sometimes the problem is fraught with great risks, such as the problem of galloping a horse or making it jump, but that, of course, is a problem successfully solved by thousands of elite children before the age of ten. Can you imagine anyone who had mastered such a challenge ever lacking confidence in his ability to do anything? Sometimes the problem is the problem of mastering solitude, as Thoreau did at Walden Pond, or Einstein did in the Swiss customs house.

Independent study, community service, adventures in experience, large doses of privacy and solitude, a thousand different apprenticeships, the one day variety or longer – these are all powerful, cheap and effective ways to start a real reform of schooling. But no large-scale reform is ever going to work to repair our damaged children and our damaged society until we force the idea of “school” open – to include family as the main engine of education.

There you have it.  Family, experience, time to think, apprenticeship, a study of history…and on and on. All pretty basic and pretty cheap stuff to fix our nation.

For more on the state of education and our countries future, I caught an interview done by AEI with a panel of military retired Generals and Admirals. (Military Readiness and Early Childhood; What’s The Link?)

Gatto has similar beliefs in the future of work and the skills needed for a future society as Seth Godin in his book Linchpin.  When I read it my ideas of what children need to prepare themselves for the future shifted. It’s not the value of writing a five paragraph essay or understanding the Pythagorean theorem, instead, the skills needed for tomorrow have to do with critical thinking, values and virtues and a heavy dose of Grit (Angela Duckworth -Grit)

 

 

(Ethos3) For years there has been only two teams in the workforce: management and labor. Godin proposes that a third team now exists: the linchpin.

A linchpin does not need a map to follow. A linchpin creates opportunity and vision without a manual.

The linchpin brings humanity, connection and art to work everyday.

Every person has the potential to bring his or her humanity and artistry to work, and become a linchpin.

Godin proposes that part of the human brain, the amygdala, resists anything that seems risky or dangerous, including being bold in business. The amygdala is the reason that there are not more linchpins.

Godin’s list of what makes a linchpin indispensable:

  1. Providing a unique interface between members of the organization
  2. Delivering unique creativity
  3. Managing a situation of great complexity
  4. Leading customers
  5. Inspiring staff
  6. Providing deep domain knowledge
  7. Possessing a unique talent

The role of the Liberal Arts in Education.

Epstein and Ferguson explain how a well-rounded education. In this day and age of transition, I believe our education system needs to adapt to focusing on generalist, critical thinkers.

 

Dear Tech World, STEMism is Hurting Us

In a blistering assault on the value of the liberal arts many months ago, former Sun Microsystem CEO Vinod Khoshla offered anything but nuance in his opening indictment: “Little of the material taught in Liberal Arts programs today is relevant to the future.”

The rest of his article is a tirade against majoring in the liberal arts.

However, Khoshla’s own field, tech, is full of people who’ve devoted their university days to the liberal arts:

    • Susan Wojcicki (CEO of YouTube) majored in history
    • Reid Hoffman (founder of Linkedin) majored in philosophy
    • Stewart Butterfield (CEO of Slack) majored in philosophy
    • Alexa Hirschfeld (cofounder of Paperless Post) majored in Classics
    • Parker Harris (cofounder of Salesforce) majored in English Literature
  • Jack Ma (cofounder of Alibaba) majored in English….

…

Steve Jobs understood the advantage of incorporating fields that focus on pushing the boundaries of human knowledge. His obsession with beautiful fonts stemmed from a course on calligraphy at Reed College. As he once said, “it’s in Apple’s DNA that technology alone is not enough — that it’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the result that makes our hearts sing.”

Our world overflows with talented minds that have achieved entrepreneurial success aided by a value for visual aesthetics and trained in literature, history, and philosophy. This is not news for the business and tech world. Yet whenever STEM evangelists in tech preach the gospel of STEM, they inevitably trash the “soft disciplines.”…

A company comprised of people with HEAT backgrounds will produce diversity of thought — the yeast of innovative thinking. Training in psychology, anthropology, art, literature, history, philosophy, Classics, and journalism are skills that will advance innovative and creative thinking in an organization.

Scott Hartley articulates not just the value of the humanities in the tech world but the vital role the liberal arts will play in its future:

“When we talk about ‘software eating the world,’ there’s a flipside to that. Software is touching every aspect of our lives, which in turn means that we require more diversity of thought, passion, and methodology to apply that tech meaningfully to the biggest problems we face. Code is necessary, but not sufficient. Lost in the drumbeat of STEM is the human context.”

Thomas Sowell – Vulgar Pride of Intellectuals

The Value of Work – Blue Collar America

 In America, there’s an assumption that the most meaningful careers are found in office buildings, among those taking part in the information economy rather than in the nitty gritty of blue collar trades. To be eligible for these desirable white collar jobs, you need to take out tens of thousands of dollars in student loans so you can go to college for 4 years to get a degree. The sacrifice is always worth it though, or so we’re told.

Dismantling America – Thomas Sowell

For the person who lives a virtuous life, of steadfastness and good judgment, happiness is always within reach

Massimo Pigliucci

Seneca wrote a number of tragedies that directly inspired William Shakespeare, but was also one of the main exponents of the Stoic school of philosophy, which has made a surprising comeback in recent years. Stoicism teaches us that the highest good in life is the pursuit of the four cardinal virtues of practical wisdom, temperance, justice and courage – because they are the only things that always do us good and can never be used for ill. It also tells us that the key to a serene life is the realization that some things are under our control and others are not: under our control are our values, our judgments, and the actions we choose to perform. Everything else lies outside of our control, and we should focus our attention and efforts only on the first category.

Yep. Teach, study and learn the above and good things will happen.

School Choice

Listen to this discussion by Eva Moskowitz, the CEO and leader of Success Academy Charter Schools. I knew of the NY charter network and their high results but after listening to Moskowitz’ journey to believe that school choice was the solution to failing schools I have a deeper appreciation for her work.  Eva started out as a NY City Councilperson and made it her mission to improve outcomes in public schools. After run-ins with the teacher’s unions, she embarked on building out the Success Academy network. A dozen years later, her system has 40+ schools with thousands of kids receiving a top-notch education.  Give the lecture a listen;

 

What’s The Cost-Benefit Of  A College Degree Today?

A friend of mine, Frank Antenori weigh in;

 

Elitists, crybabies and junky degrees

A Trump supporter explains rising conservative anger at American universities.

… Washington Post – November 25, 2017

Antenori said many young people would be better off attending more affordable two-year community colleges that teach useful skills and turn out firefighters, electricians and others. Obama promoted that same idea, launching new efforts to boost community college and workplace training. But Antenori said he believes Obama pushed young people too hard toward four-year degrees.

“The establishment has created this thing that if you don’t go to college, you’re somehow not equal to someone else who did,” Antenori said, sitting with his wife, Lesley, at the dining room table in their modest one-story ranch house.

Antenori said when he was in high school in the 1980s, students were directed toward college or vocational training depending on their abilities.

“The mind-set now is that everybody is going to be a doctor,” he said. “Instead of telling a kid whose art sucks, ‘You’re a crappy artist,’ they say, ‘Go follow your dream.’ ”

The Antenoris did not steer their two sons, 23 and 22, toward college, and neither went. One helps at home on the ranch, and the other is enlisted in the Army.

Antenori is just as happy his sons aren’t hanging out with the “weirdos” he reads about on Campus Reform, a conservative website with a network of college reporters whose stated mission is to expose “liberal bias and abuse on America’s campuses.”

In a sign of the intensely partisan climate on campus, its recent headlines include: “Prof wants ‘body size’ added to diversity curricula,” “Students cover free speech wall with vulgar anti-Trump graffiti” and “College Dems leader resigns after declaring hatred of white men.”

The federal government spends $30 billion a year on Pell grants, which help lower-income students, including a large number of minorities, attend college. But studies show that half of Pell grant recipients drop out before earning a degree.

The overall college dropout rate is also high. Only 59 percent of students who start at four-year institutions graduate within six years, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. That leaves millions with debt but no degree.

More than 44 million Americans are paying off student loans, including a growing number of people over 60, according to the Federal Reserve. The average student loan debt of a 2016 college graduate was $37,000. At $1.4 trillion, U.S. student loan debt is now larger than credit card debt.

Antenori said taxpayers should help pay only for degrees, such as those in engineering, medicine or law, that lead directly to jobs. If a student wants to study art or get a “junky” degree in “diversity studies or culture studies,” they should go to a private school, he said.

And he said dropouts who have received government aid should pay it back: “That would be awesome,” he said, flashing a big smile.

“You want to create someone who’s going to be a contributor, not a moocher,” Antenori said. “Go out and generate revenue; that’s what it’s all about.”

David McCullough is one of the best storytellers of all time.  (60 Minutes – Journey Through History) Jump up to about 30:00 to this lecture to hear about the power of education and the type of education I believe in.

I work in a Classical school. The foundation of the curriculum and the pedagogy is history told through great literature.  Why do I think this is one of the best ways to learn about life is capsulated in this clip.

‘This is how the world is….this is how you should behave in it.’  The power of story, the power of literature.

Quotes:

The problem is that our culture has engaged in a Faustian bargain, in which we trade our genius and artistry for apparent stability.

Society – Deep Thoughts on the ‘WHY?’ of the Human Condition

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How Society is Evolving

Abundance leads to apathy. This documentary breaks down the philosophy that Strauss and Howe coined and studied a theory known as the 4th Turning. In a nutshell the 4th Turning is a study of how generations rise and fall in an 80-year cycle. The pair studied history and put forth a fairly important argument. Below is a documentary by Steve Bannon, yep that Steve Bannon that holds a very important seat in the Trump White House.  Al Gore, while Vice President bought copies and sent the books to all the members of Congress in the late 1990’s. So the idea is bipartisan! Below is Neil Howe explaining the theory of the 4th Turning and generational archetypes.

https://youtu.be/bsqu9gh6xhk

 “Worldwide, people are losing trust in institutions,” he said. “Trust in the military, small business, and police is still there. But trust in democracies, media, and politicians is dropping.”

“When was the last time we saw these changes and the rise of right-wing populism?” he asked. “The 1930s.”

Howe’s statement is borne out of a June 2016 Gallup poll. When poll takers were asked how much confidence they had in institutions in American society, the results were troubling.

Just 15% said they had a “great deal” of confidence in the US Supreme Court. Banks trailed behind at 11%, followed by the criminal justice system (9%), newspapers (8%), and big business (6%).

Meanwhile, just 16% expressed a “great deal” of confidence in the presidency, with that number plummeting to 3% for Congress.

In his keynote, Howe shared his forecasting logic:

“My method is to step back and realize one thing: There is something we know about the world in 20 years’ time. The people who live there will be all of us, 20 years older and playing a different role. I call this ‘looking along the generational diagonal.’”

The critical thing to remember about the current crisis period is that what comes next will be an era in which there is a new order.

According to the Strauss-Howe generational theory, as this new order takes root, individualism declines and institutions are strengthened.

“History is seasonal, and winter is coming,” Howe has said. But after winter, comes spring.

As the American Revolution was followed by calm, as the Civil War was followed by reconstruction and a gilded age, and as the Great Depression and World War II were followed by an age of peace and prosperity, so too will this crisis period be followed by a calm, stable era.

It’s simply a matter of time.

“Imagine some national (and probably global) volcanic eruption, initially flowing along channels of distress that were created during the Unraveling era and further widened by the catalyst. Trying to foresee where the eruption will go once it bursts free of the channels is like trying to predict the exact fault line of an earthquake. All you know in advance is something about the molten ingredients of the climax, which could include the following:

  • Economic distress, with public debt in default, entitlement trust funds in bankruptcy, mounting poverty and unemployment, trade wars, collapsing financial markets, and hyperinflation (or deflation)
  • Social distress, with violence fueled by class, race, nativism, or religion and abetted by armed gangs, underground militias, and mercenaries hired by walled communities
  • Political distress, with institutional collapse, open tax revolts, one-party hegemony, major constitutional change, secessionism, authoritarianism, and altered national borders
  • Military distress, with war against terrorists or foreign regimes equipped with weapons of mass destruction” 

 The Fourth Turning – Strauss & Howe

 

Jonathan Haidt is looking closely at society and how things evolve. Jonathan David Haidt is an American social psychologist and Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University’s Stern School of Business. His academic specialization is the psychology of morality and the moral emotions. Jonathan’s  book, The Righteous Mind, is a fascinating read on the why’s, how’s and what’s of human morality.  Morality you ask? How boring! Well at the root of all things on earth, at the intersection of all events in history, at the rise and fall of all civilizations, in your daily interactions with your family or at work, morality, and how we as people process our world is the root of everything.

Haidt weaves a theory that is well argued that there are 6 pillars which create the human moral compass.  He looks anthropologically to prove the point that humans are social beings, we use our moral tools to get along and thrive in groups.

The Five Foundations 

1. The Care/Harm Foundation

This foundation makes us sensitive to signs of suffering and need. In order to maximize care and minimize harm, we enact laws that protect the vulnerable. We punish people who are cruel and we care for those in suffering.

2. The Fairness/Cheating Foundation

This foundation leads us to seek out people who will be good collaborators in whatever project we are pursuing. It also leads us to punish people who cheat the system. People on both the right and the left believe in fairness, but they apply this foundation in different ways. Haidt explains:

“On the left, fairness often implies equality, but on the right it means proportionality – people should be rewarded in proportion to what they contribute, even if that guarantees unequal outcomes” (161).

3. The Loyalty/Betrayal Foundation

All of us, whether on the right or left, are “tribal” in some sense. We love the people on our team, and loyalty makes our team more powerful and less susceptible to our failure. Likewise, we have a corresponding hatred for traitors. Those who betray our “team” for the other side are worse than those who were already on the other side.

Though Haidt sees both left and right as being tribal, he recognizes “the left tends toward universalism and away from nationalism, so it often has trouble connecting to voters who rely on the Loyalty foundation” (164).

4. The Authority/Subversion Foundation

Authority plays a role in our moral considerations because it protects order and fends off chaos. Haidt explains:

“Everyone has a stake in supporting the existing order and in holding people accountable for fulfilling the obligations of their station” (168).

5. The Sanctity/Degradation Foundation

No matter the era, humans have always considered certain things “untouchable” for being dirty and polluted. The flipside is that we want to protect whatever is hallowed and sacred, whether objects, ideals, or institutions.

People on the right talk about the sanctity of life and marriage. People on the left may mock purity rings.

6. The Liberty/Oppression Foundation

This foundation builds on Authority/Subversion because we all recognize there is such a thing as legitimate authority, but we don’t want authoritarians crossing the line into tyranny. Both the left and the right hate oppression and desire liberty, but for different reasons.

The left wants liberty for the underdogs and victims (coinciding with their emphasis on Fairness/Cheating). The right wants liberty from government intrusion.

He digs into great thinkers like Plato and Hume who intuitively put forth arguments as to who’s in control in our minds, the urge driven ego or the rational moral compass.  Haidt, like Gladwell and Duckworth (below), uses research studies and cross discipline analysis to prove, probably the most important point of all, which is  ‘what makes people tick?’ His use of analogies like the real motivations in people are the large elephant and the part that controls our impulses and urges is the nimble rider help illustrate that to changes someone’s mind and belief system, you can’t appeal to the rider, you must get the elephant to WANT to change.  Haidt references my favorite book of all time, How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. The Righteous Mind is a great read if you want to get to the root of the ‘why’ of human nature.

Haidt sums up his morality as an evolutionary tool theory:

Dr. Joseph Henrich on Society and how we evolved. Henrich comes from an anthropological view point. His examples are fascinating. Henrich focuses anthropologically and sets up many of the arguments Haidt takes on using both how we evolved and where we are today.

(Cambridge, MA – September 15, 2008) Moral Reasoning 22: Justice, taught by Professor Michael Sandel inside Sanders Theatre at Harvard University. Staff Photo Justin Ide/Harvard News Office

I stumbled on Prof. Michael Sandel from his podcast feed that hasn’t published since 2009. Dr. Sandel teaches political philosophy at Harvard to a standing room only class or auditorium (here’s his Harvard site). What I liked about the format was that he would take the big issue of the day and take the audience on a journey to explore all sides. His ability to powerful question and to make us students look at our deeply held perceptions in a new way is truly his gift.

Sandel’s ability to formulate a point and weave together history, economics, sociology, and politics to explain our current political situation is exceptional.

Listen to Sandel from a London School of Economic lecture series.  It aired in March of 2017.  Lots of ideas to ponder on where we are as a society – HERE

Here’s The Thing – Alec Baldwin – WNYC

I spent a whole day listening to Baldwin interview leaders in the entertainment industry. First, I know about Alec’s life from a distance and his battles with addictions, anger and how he’s grown as a man. He proves my theory that most men are broken and their journey to be fixed makes them a deeper spirit and someone I am drawn to. Second, his knowledge of his industry, his credentials, and his interview style makes these long form interviews really interesting to watch. He reads his guest, he’s patient, his ability to build rapport and get guests to open up is truly world class.  If you can imagine, celebrities get interviewed for a living.  I’ve never really enjoyed listening to a typical mega star interview. I find them superficial. Not on this show.  Alec is a respected peer and he’s honed his interview skills to a point where he gets big stars to open up, share stories, get to the root of who they are and what makes them tick. I  recommend you dig into HERE’s THE THING. I particularly liked the Jimmy Fallon interview, it’s a great start.

The Jerry Seinfeld interview is pretty special. Funny men through history have typically been some of the highest paid celebrities of their generations. Think Jerry Lewis, Bob Hope, Bill Cosby.  Jerry breaks down his past, dissects the art of stand-up comedy and why he’s found his sweet spot. His conversations about the entertainment industry and his philosophy of doing what you love is pretty inspiring. Jerry exhibits the Grit Philosophy and obviously has the talent. He very clearly explains that the secret of success is tenacity.

 

Victor Davis Hanson on Great Literature

Victor Davis Hanson explains how the great works of literature, found in Classical Education, is more relevant today than ever.  Of course, I happen to be building out an educational network that focuses on the Classics. The deeper I dig the more I like it. Give it a listen – HERE

 

 

Victor Davis Hanson – Book Discussion on Wars from the past and today: HERE

Black Mirror Looks At Society

For a little flashback to the old Twighlight Zone days, the Black Mirror series on Netflix is great. My favorite episode speaks to the world we now live if with likes and selfies and a constant obsession with social media.  All the episodes have a deep meaning but this one is so chilling.

https://youtu.be/tdz4DvDG_gg

Former Facebook exec says social media is ripping apart society

‘No civil discourse, no cooperation; misinformation, mistruth.’
By James Vincent  

Another former Facebook executive has spoken out about the harm the social network is doing to civil society around the world. Chamath Palihapitiya, who joined Facebook in 2007 and became its vice president for user growth, said he feels “tremendous guilt” about the company he helped make. “I think we have created tools that are ripping apart the social fabric of how society works,” he told an audience at Stanford Graduate School of Business, before recommending people take a “hard break” from social media.

Palihapitiya’s criticisms were aimed not only at Facebook, but the wider online ecosystem. “The short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops we’ve created are destroying how society works,” he said, referring to online interactions driven by “hearts, likes, thumbs-up.” “No civil discourse, no cooperation; misinformation, mistruth. And it’s not an American problem — this is not about Russians ads. This is a global problem.”

 

 

Art of Manliness: Jordon Peterson on Exploring Archetypes – Show Highlights

Why do societies across the world and across time share some of the same archetypes?  Author Jordon Peterson digs into the phenomenon and does his best to explains the patterns and how are time is much like other times. History does repeat itself.

  • How Jordan’s interest in myths percolated

  • A quick primer on Carl Jung’s philosophy

  • How stories and myths give meaning and order to life

  • The Darwinian nature of myths that have been passed down thousands of years

  • How myths — like creation stories, worldwide floods, and apocalyptic events — relate to everyday life

  • The big archetypes found throughout world history and cultures

  • How meta-narratives instruct us and set the pattern for action and behavior

  • Why accepting and even welcoming struggle is important for a flourishing life

  • Why ideologies are dangerous

  • Nietzsche and the death of God

  • Making the case for mythology in a post-secular world

  • Why Jordan’s work attracts far more men than women

  • Why men should forego the pursuit of power and instead seek competence

Once again, Peterson is on with The Art of Manliness.  The theme…Life is hard, set a course, get uncomfortable and do the work.  PLEASE listen to this one, you’ll know exactly where I’m coming from and how I approach this crazy journey;

 

Charles Murray – AEI Events – Sounds Super Familiar!

I’ve heard of Murray and a couple of his books, in particular, Bell Curve.  This interview (I cued it up to when it really gets good), raps up his life’s work of researching and writing about culture, politics and social science. A few themes that jumped out at me include his education outside of traditional education. While writing Human Character, Murray spent 6 years digging into the arts and music aspects of humanity. His 6 years of research mirror my work in building out the curriculum of a classical model school. The effort was the largest undertaking I’ve ever experienced. It took me forever to research and build out 9 grades and 8 subjects per grade all focused on the great ideas of Western Philosophy.  The experienced made me look at society through the lens of over 5000 years of civilization. The rise and fall of civilizations follow a few distinct patterns.  Murray’s comments about retiring because he’s, basically moving to a spot of hopelessness about the future prospects of America. He comments about wanting to make way for a new brand of Libertarian/Conservative thinkers that aren’t so jaded.  I feel like I’ve been on a similar journey as Murray but I’m about 25 years younger. I relate to his feeling of hopelessness. After years on the radio, waking up and complaining and researching all the nuances of the day, I got to the point where I felt like our country can’t pull out of the tailspin we are in.  I have the fortune to know this and also be given a path to be in a position to impact the bleak future through my current career.

I relate to his belief that community, work purpose, family and faith are critical to happiness. Give this a listen;

Murray then reflects on how politics and policy have changed over the past few decades, and he closed with advice to all those who still hold libertarian or conservative principles: Character is destiny.

A few more Charles Murray interviews:

Author Charles Murray on Bubbles, Marriage and ‘Coming Apart

Charles Murray on Education Myths

Charles Murray on the Stossel show.

 

Love Mike Rowe

The outrageous costs of getting a 4-year degree is no longer the ticket to a better life.  Society pushes student debt and ballooning University costs as the way to the good life. Education is one thing but good old fashion GRIT will get you a long way as well.  Mike nails it in this interview:

 

Income Inequality – Haves and Have Nots

Despite spending $15 trillion since LBJ enacted the Great Society legislation, poverty in America still hovers at around 10% of the population.  The why’s and how’s of poverty have been studied by at length. One of the causes that I’ve watched is the use of restrictive land planning enacted by local communities to keep poverty out of their back yard.  I’ve covered the impact of restrictive zoning (in the name of no-growth and environmental preservation) in Pima County and I’ve seen first hand how these policies have driven up the poverty rate.  The green belt surrounding Boulder is another area that I’ve watched make housing less affordable and force the lower rung workers to have to commute 45 minutes plus to get to a low wage job.  This interview by  Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Richard Reeves discusses his book “Dream Hoarders: How the American Upper Middle Class Is Leaving Everyone Else in the Dust, Why That Is a Problem, and What to Do About It.” The book argues that the top 20 percent of income earners in America are increasingly passing their status to their children, reducing overall social mobility for the bottom 80 percent.  AEI Banter interviews Reeves. In particular notice, the discussion on heavily Democratic run cities that practice their politics as long as it doesn’t impede upon their home values.

Full AEI interview – HERE

 

You’re seeing economists on the left, right, and center talk a lot about housing now. Could you get into that?

The more I look into housing and the combination of local zoning ordinances, federal tax subsidies in the form of the $70 billion a year mortgage interest and local property deduction, housing wealth, neighborhood schools, and so on, the more I have come to believe that regulation of land is becoming a bigger and bigger problem in the US. The US used to be a big country, it’s getting to be a smaller country in the sense that the areas of economic prosperity and growth are smaller. We’re also getting really expensive. Why? Because of land use regulation. You look at places like LA, which used to be zoned for 10 million people, now 4.6. It didn’t get any smaller. What happened was all these zoning ordinances came around in single family dwellings. And then, it’s totally in my self interest as an upper middle class person to resist any encroachment on that.

I don’t in any way underestimate the political problems here. It does seem to me if we’re willing to say “Look, these people are always going to be self-interested in everything they do and everything they vote for,” there’s no chance of making any kind of progress, so let’s just walk away. Either let’s live with the consequences of a fractured and unfair society or become really egalitarian and move towards very strong redistribution. Because if we’re going to give up on the idea of mobility, well in that case, we better start compensating the losers much more handsomely. I don’t really want to go either of those ways. Because neither of those ways seem to be particularly American. To give up on the idea of mobility and fluidity and meritocracy in the proper sense or to just say, “Look, let’s just accept the fact we’re going to have to take lots of money from these people and give it to the poor people who can’t possibly keep up with them.” Both of those are un-American solutions, so let’s at least try. (Reeve’s Lego YouTube)

 

Guns and Mass Shootings;

We must own up to the fact that laws and regulations alone cannot produce a civilized society. Morality is society’s first line of defense against uncivilized behavior. Moral standards of conduct have been under siege in our country for over a half a century.

Moral absolutes have been abandoned as guiding principles. We’ve been taught not to be judgmental, that one lifestyle or set of values is just as good as another. We no longer hold people accountable for their behavior and we accept excuse-making. Problems of murder, mayhem, and other forms of anti-social behavior will continue until we regain our moral footing.

 

 

Patagonia – Arizona – Where It’s At – What’s There – Its History

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Where It’s At

Patagonia Arizona is about an hour and 15 minutes outside of Tucson.  There are two ways to get there from Tucson. With your GPS mapping, our address doesn’t show up yet so if you put into your mapping app, Flux Canyon Dr. and Acorn Rd, Patagonia Arizona (Google Maps),  you’ll be taken to our gate. If you come through the town of Patagonia, you’ll turn at Flux Canyon Rd. which is right after mile marker 17.

The shorter route is through Sonoita (65 miles)

The longer route is through Nogales (77 miles)

What’s Around

The Town

The population of Patagonia is just under 1000 people.  The area is made up of a strong artist community and transplants from other states that want to Arizona western experience. A couple things to watch for (first of which is your speed while in town);

To Eat

One of our go to’s is Gathering Ground Coffee and Grill – Great coffee and pastries for take out or any of their scratch breakfast or lunches.

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The Stage Stop Inn – get the burger, it’s local beef and really good.  For lunch the burgers are $12 and $16 for dinner. The Arizona burger is my favorite. The hotel was recently renovated and the rooms are great if you’d like to stay the night.

The Velvet Elvis (pizza) – YELP

The Pancho Villa 

Great family-run Mexican restaurant. (Yelp)

Home-cooked street tacos, burros for breakfast or lunch. Can’t go wrong!

 

The Wagon Wheel – (bar and restaurant) –
Food is OK, the old western bar is pretty cool. YELP

The Patagonia Market

Patagonia is a small town rich in the arts. Many buildings were brightly colored and with good taste. Here, the town market.

Red Mountain – Farmers Market

Gas Station – Politically Incorrect Gas Station (P.I.G.S.)

Most days you can see a couple of locals, sitting out front passing the day away.

You got to love small town America.

Our Property

Our area was once owned by Norman Cousins. Cousins was an author and editor from New York. He owned 150 acres which have now been divided into 3 to 25-acre parcels. Cousin’s book, Anatomy of an Illness was made into a movie starring Ed Asner. Cousin’s breakthrough work was on laughter and curing cancer. Once you get to the Flux Canyon area, you’ll see that Cousins was on to something.  There are dozens of huge oak trees that are probably over 200 years old.  The entire Sky Islands area (click HERE) is filled with wildlife and is an internationally known bird watching location.  The contrast of grasslands, forests, sheer mountains all occurs on our property.  We have 14 acres down low and 1 acre up high.  Neighbors either call you a Nester or a Percher based on what you like the most. We are definitely Nesters and love the oak forest and grasslands.

Flux Canyon Rd is a county maintained road that turns into Forest Service access all around our property. It’s not uncommon to see ATV or sightseeing tourists venturing up into the mountains around our property.

 

Before you come to the property, study THIS treasure map and see if you can find all the spots:

If you’d like to stay and you’re not nuts about camping, check out my neighbor, Jean’s Airbnb guest house. It’s about $100 per night and really a nice place to stay;

The Lake

Patagonia Lake is just over 2 miles away from the turn into Flux Canyon.  The lake has campgrounds, a market, boat rentals and a beach.  Make a day of it or camp out.  Last time I was there it’s about $20 per carload for a day pass.

 

Nogales

The border town of Nogales is about 20 minutes to the south of our property.  All the major shopping stores (Walmart, Home Depot, Fry’s Grocery) can be found in Nogales. A day trip across the border is a great time.  The Fray Marcos is a great spot to check out, it’s the large highrise right on the main drag.  Jesus Peugeot is the grandson of the owner, look him up, and drop my name.  The restaurant La Cava is a must see.  I can recommend some dentists down there if you’re interested.

Sonoita

About 20 minutes north of Patagonia is the town of Sonoita. Check out the Steak Out and get the burger or a steak. The beef is raised right in Elgin by they Wycoff family. Here’s their ranch website. 

 

History of Patagonia

(from Town of Patagonia) Father Kino was in the area as early as 1692 carrying out his missionary efforts.  Principal residents at that time were the closely related Sobaipuri and Papago Indian tribes who were also closely related to the Pima Indians who lived in the Tucson area. The Apaches were also nearby and conducted periodic raids into the area.

Continuing raids by the Apaches inhibited efforts at mining and cattle raising as well as intimidating and driving away the other tribes so that at the time of the Gadsden Purchase in 1853 reports indicated that the area was so ravaged that little was left in the area.  Mining activity, however, was picking up, and in 1856 US Troops were sent to the area to restore order.

Unfortunately, with the onset of the Civil War, the troops were withdrawn in June of 1861 to deal with matters elsewhere and the Apaches resumed their depredations.   In 1865 they killed miner and entrepreneur William Wrightson, for whom a nearby mountain is named. Stories about that event also mentioned that the three previous mine managers had also been killed by Apaches so clearly those were hazardous times in southern Arizona.

In 1867, with the war done, the army was sent back into the area, creating Camp Crittendon and mining and ranching activity picked up once again. By 1900, Patagonia rated a two-story railroad depot and by WWI Patagonia had running water, an Opera House, three hotels, a schoolhouse, two parks and several stores and saloons.

The 1920s were a period of uncertainty, and the stock market crash in 1929 was one of three town misfortunes that year. The economy didn’t improve until the late 1930s when ASARCO built a mill and power plant at the Flux and Trench mines in the area. Those and other mines were revived to supply lead, copper, zinc, and molybdenum to the allied armies of World War II.

In 1947, townspeople called for incorporation, which became official on February 10, 1948. In 1957 troubles came again as ASARCO closed the Mill and Power Plant. In a month, the railroad had abandoned the depot and was pulling up the tracks.  Suddenly the town’s main sources of income were gone.

Since then the Town has made slow but steady progress, capitalizing on the area’s scenic beauty and unique ecology as an area with perhaps the greatest diversity of plant and animal species to be found in the US, together with its favorable climate and a growing colony of artisans and artists. Birders, fishermen, and hikers share the streets with shoppers looking for that perfect, unique gift, and everyone revels in the delightful weather.

 

Prior Owner of Flux Canyon – Norman Cousins

From the Tucson Citizen – Cousins, then president and editor of Saturday Review magazine, was speaking to a combined audience of the Young Democrats of Greater Tucson and the Nucleus Club.

In an interview, he said that Tucson was in “far better shape than Phoenix, which is fast becoming one of the worst polluted cities in the U.S.” He urged Tucsonans to take action before this area was “another smog bowl.” Cousins had reason to be concerned about the quality of the southern Arizona environment, as he was building a home near Patagonia.

Cousins and his wife, Ellen, owned 400 acres near Patagonia, where they made their home. In 1972, he and renowned engineer Buckminster Fuller (HERE) made plans to build geodesic domes in Flux Canyon. Each structure would be an integral unit, complete with its own energy system.

His book, Anatomy of an Illness was made into a movie starring Ed Asner.  He was diagnosed in 1964, with a degenerative disease that affects collagen production in the body.  He bought the Patagonia property in the early 70’s and wrote his best selling book in 1979. Norman Cousins died of heart failure on November 30, 1990, in Los Angeles, California, having survived years longer than his doctors predicted: 10 years after his first heart attack, 26 years after his collagen illness, and 36 years after his doctors first diagnosed his heart disease.[1]

 

Mining Reopening in Patagonia

There is a proposed mine set to open up on top of Harshaw Rd and the forest service access to Flux Canyon. There are people on both sides of the issue.  Wildcat Mining has drilled over 176 exploratory holes around an old Asarco mine. They found huge supplies of silver among other things and are planning on doing an underground mining operation.  The impact on traffic and water have been a big debate in the Patagonia area.  Mining has been going on in the Patagonia mountains and Harshaw since the 1800’s. Arizona Mining (Wildcat) is a junior mining company out of Canada that is doing the preliminary work.  From my understanding, they have enough private property to begin operations and go for a decade or two. They’ll end up having to work with the US Forest Service, using the Mining Act of 1872 to expand and keep going.  To brush up on both sides, check out;

If Not Near Patagonia, Where Should Mining Occur? – Nogales International

Patagonia Could Become A Mining Town Again – KJZZ

Arizona Mining Inc. Purchases Historical Mining Site, Sparks Controversy – KOLD

Here are the two sides:

Arizona Mining Company Website

Patagonia Resource Alliance

Birds are a big deal in the Patagonia area. The connection of mountains and abundant water is perfect for annual and migrating birds.  Check out the Hummingbird Sanctuary between town and our property (HERE). Tourist info – HERE

Movie and TV Production

There have been a number of films shot in and around Patagonia. Some of these include:

The Outlaw Josey Wales 

McLintock –

Many well-known western movies and TV series were filmed on or near the Empire Ranch (Sonoita). They include (in alphabetical order):

  • 3:10 to Yuma, Glenn Ford, Van Heflin (1957, Delmar Daves)
  • A Star Is Born, Barbra Streisand, Kris Kristofferson (1976, Frank Pierson)
  • Another Man, Another Chance, James Caan, Geneviève Bujold, Francis Huster (1977,  Claude Lelouch)
  • Bonanza, Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, Dan Blocker, several shows (1959-73 TV series, various directors)
  • Broken Lance, Spencer Tracy, Robert Wagner, Richard Widmark (1954, Edward Dmytryk)
  • Desperado, Alex McArthur, Yaphet Kotto (1987 TV, Virgil W. Vogel)
  • Duel In the Sun, Jennifer Jones, Gregory Peck, Joseph Cotten (1946, King Vidor)
  • Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Rhonda Fleming (1957, John Sturges)
  • Gunman’s Walk, Van Heflin, Tab Hunter, James Darren (1958, Phil Karlson)
  • Gunsight Ridge, Joel McCrea, Mark Stevens (1957, Francis D. Lyon)
  • Gunsmoke, James Arness, Dennis Weaver, Amanda Blake, several shows (1955-75 TV series, various directors)
  • Hombre, Paul Newman (1967, Martin Ritt)
  • Hour of the Gun, James Garner, Jason Robards, Robert Ryan (1967, John Sturges)
  • Last Train From Gun Hill, Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn (1959, John Sturges)
  • Monte Walsh, Lee Marvin, Jack Palance (1970, William Fraker)
  • Night of The Lepus, Stuart Whitman, Janet Leigh, Rory Calhoun (1972, William F. Claxton)
  • Oklahoma!, Gordon McRae, Shirley Jones (1955, Fred Zinneman)
  • Pocket Money, Paul Newman, Lee Marvin (1972, Stuart Rosenberg)
  • Posse, Kirk Douglas, Bruce Dern (1975, Kirk Douglas)
  • Posse, Mario Van Peebles, Stephen Baldwin (1993, Mario Van Peebles)
  • Red River, James Arness, Bruce Boxleitner (1988 TV, Richard Michaels)
  • Red River, John Wayne, Montgomery Clift (1948, Howard Hawks)
  • Return of the Gunfighter, Robert Taylor, Chad Everett (1967, James Neilson)
  • Ruby Jean and Joe, Tom Selleck, Ben Johnson (1996 TV, Jeffrey Sax)
  • The Big Country, Gregory Peck, Jean Simmons, Charlton Heston (1958, William Wyler)
  • The Cowboys, John Wayne (1972, Mark Rydell)
  • The Furies, Barbara Stanwyck, Walter Huston (1950, Anthony Mann)
  • The Last Hard Men, Charlton Heston, James Coburn (1976, Andrew V. McLaglen)
  • The Outlaw Josie Wales, Clint Eastwood (1976, Clint Eastwood)
  • The Wild Rovers, William Holden, Ryan O’Neal (1971, Blake Edwards)
  • The Young Pioneers, Linda Purl, Roger Kern (1978 TV series, various directors)
  • The Young Riders, Stephen Baldwin (1989-92 TV series, various directors)
  • Tom Horn, Steve McQueen (1980, William Wiard)
  • War Arrow, Jeff Chandler, Maureen O’Hara, Jay Silverheels (1953, George Sherman)
  • Winchester ‘73, James Stewart, Shelley Winters (1950, Anthony Mann)

Surrounding the property is the 5000-acre ranch owned by the Circle Z dude ranch. You can live the entire Arizona ranch experience, complete with trail rides and

The Circle Z Ranch, which started as a sheep-herding operation in the 1880’s, was developed as a dude ranch in the 1920’s. It is the oldest continuously operating dude ranch in Arizona.

In 1874, Denton Gregory Sanford, a native of New York, arrived on Sonoita Creek. He homesteaded on what is now the Circle Z Ranch, a courageous endeavor considering that the Apaches were still raiding and robbing at that time. His four-room adobe, plus auxiliary buildings made it “the finest hacienda in the southwest.” An impressive set of the Sanford adobe ruins remain today across Sonoita Creek from the Circle Z complex.

A number of Sanford’s relatives followed his lead, soon claiming hundreds of acres and controlling the water supply of a ten-mile strip of land. Cattle thieves were a constant problem in the area, but swift justice was meted out to rustlers, who soon learned to leave Sanford’s stock alone. John Cady was foreman on the Sanford Rancho in 1881 when they closed out their cattle stock and set 13,000 head of sheep grazing on the range. The sheep were only run until 1884 and proved quite profitable. Scarcer than cattle, they brought a better price.

It was not until 1925 that the old Sanford Ranch passed out of the hands of the Sanfords. In that year, the Zinsmeister family of Louisville, KY, purchased the 5,000-acre spread from Sanford’s daughter for the location of the present Circle Z Ranch. They immediately began to develop one of the finest guest ranches in the state. It was the golden age of dude ranching and the Dude Rancher’s Association was just forming. The facilities were opened in 1926 with a capacity of 24 guests. Over the next few years, it was increased to accommodate 70. The average length of stay for a guest was one month and some families remained the entire season. Private railway cars of some guests remained in town on a siding by the Patagonia station. The flat land under Sanford Butte and west of the corrals served as the Circle Z polo field.

By 1929, the annual Fourth of July picnic and barbecue at the Circle Z was one of Santa Cruz County’s biggest attractions. Upwards of 2,000 people would attend this event; arriving by train and private car, they were served pit barbecue with all the trimmings. Guests enjoyed band concerts, a rodeo including calf roping, wild horse and mule riding, bronco riding and a cigar race. A dance at Patagonia concluded the day.Then the Depression arrived, as did the drought, and the picnics were discontinued in 1934. Today, we scratch our heads in wonder about how all of it was accomplished without today’s conveniences.

In the 1930’s Circle Z was the home of El Sultan, the Spanish stallion owned by the ranch. He was a Cartuja Spanish sire with the unique distinction of being the only one of his breed in the U.S. Established in 1500, it is one of the oldest breeds in the world. He started as a gift from the Royal Spanish house, before its abdication, and reached the U.S. via Cuba. There were only 6 such stallions outside of Spain. In Spain the breed is known as “Caballo Santo” (the saintly horse) because it was originated by the church and has an extremely gentle disposition. The Spanish Remount has used the breed for centuries to produce cavalry horses. To this day, the Circle Z is noted for its fine horses. They are bred, raised and trained on the ranch.

World War II put a crimp in the resort and travel business, and the Circle Z ended up changing hands several times. In 1949 Fred Fendig came from Chicago and purchased the Circle Z. He was the owner-manager for the next 25 years. In 1952 the centrally located main ranch house with its two beautiful living rooms and large dining room burned to the ground. The Zinsmeister house was taken over and became the lodge in that year.

Hollywood has visited the ranch many times. Such movies as Broken Lance with Spencer Tracy and Monte Walsh with Lee Marvin have been filmed here. Scenes from El Dorado, with John Wayne, and the final episode of Gunsmoke were filmed on ranch property as well. In 1969, after considerable battling pro and con, the government dammed up Sonoita Creek several miles below the Circle Z. This formed Lake Patagonia, a narrow body of water three miles long, to be used for public fishing, boating and water supply. The high bluffs and tall cottonwoods seen in John Wayne’s movie El Dorado lay beneath this water. The TV Series Young Riders chose the ranch for locations, and the ranch tack house was used as the background for part of a nationally circulated Chevy truck advertisement. Arizona Highways magazine has frequently visited the ranch for photographs and feature articles.

Around the Flux Canyon development and the Circle Z property are thousands of acres of forest service land.

 

Artists and Authors

Patagonia and the southern Arizona region is a hotbed for artists and authors. Above we referenced Norman Cousins as the prior owner of Flux Canyon but he joins a long list of creative souls who have found their muse in the rolling hills and majestic mountains of our area.

Here’s a list of some of the people that call our area home:

Jim Harrison

It’s a rare talent for one to be gifted with both the pen and the paintbrush, and it’s a talent that Jim Harrison brings to life in a special way through his books. His books are the signposts in his passage as one of America’s foremost representational artists and touch on many of the subjects he loves.

(Mens Journal) This weekend brought with it the news that Jim Harrison had died at the age of 78. Harrison remained a prolific author throughout his life: earlier this month, his collection The Ancient Minstrel was published, the second book of his to be released this year. Harrison remains a paradoxical figure: though he certainly had an outsized personality, a willingness to speak his mind, and an acclaimed body of work — there’s also no one single book that’s universally hailed as the best place to start reading him. While other writers of his generation may have favored grandiose and sprawling narratives, Harrison favored succinct and taut forms, with a particular fondness for poetry and the novella. Several of his works were adapted for film over the years, including the novellas Legends of the Fall and Revenge. For a time, Harrison did a substantial amount of writing for the screen: his credits also include the 1994 Jack Nicholson werewolf film Wolf.

Phillip Caputo

I stumbled across Phil’s book Crossers before I knew he lived in Patagonia. The tail of drug runners and their travels back and forth across the border is not only a great story but a chance to take in the sights and sounds of Nogales, Tucson, and the San Rafael Valley.

Caputo has won 10 journalistic and literary awards, including the Pulitzer Prize in 1972 (shared for team investigative reporting on vote fraud in Chicago), the Overseas Press Club Award in 1973, the Sidney Hillman Foundation award in 1977 (for A Rumor of War), the Connecticut Book Award in 2006, and the Literary Lights Award in 2007. His first novel, Horn of Africa, was a National Book Award fin

alist in 1980, and his 2007 essay on illegal immigration won the Blackford Prize for nonfiction from the University of Virginia.

He and his wife, Leslie Ware, a retired editor for Consumer Reports magazine, and now a painter and novelist, divide their time between Connecticut and Arizona. Caputo has two sons from a previous marriage, Geoffrey, a professional guitarist with a day job as an electrician,  and Marc, a political reporter for Politico
.

Joe Brown

(Patagonia Regional Times) Well-known western writer, and Patagonia resident, JPS Brown (Joseph Paul Summers Brown) has written 15 books, more than 200 short stories and received two lifetime achievement awards for his contributions to southwestern literature.

Now 88, he has a long history in the Patagonia area. Born in Nogal

es into a family of ranchers, he is related to many of the founding settlers of the region.

Brown is first and foremost a cattleman and a cowboy. He received a

scholarship as a heavyweight boxer (he even sparred with Rocky Marciano) to study at Notre Dame University, where he earned his degree, spent four years in the U.S. Marine Corps, and worked as an alpine rescue instructor, a gold prospector, cattleman, a stuntman and a movie wrangler. His first book, Jim Kane, was made into a 1972 movie “Pocket Money” starring Paul Newman and Lee Marvin.

Decline of America – 12 Chapter Book In Process By Joe Higgins

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Decline of America – 12 Arguments That America Is In Decline

The decline of a great society doesn’t happen overnight. There are certain stages and warning signs that are hard to miss. As you go about your day you may be like me and you come across a story or, a fact or, a chart that makes you pause to ask yourself ‘that can’t be a good thing’.  This book is my attempt to string these ‘that can’t be a good things’ together and look at macro trends happening in America.  Some of these trends have been going on for generations and others can be started or compounded from one election cycle to the next.   This collection first started for me during the daily grind of 7 years in morning radio. I started to see some alarming patterns.  These patterns and trends were first gathered into 25 categories. As I researched and edited, I finally developed the top 12 areas that I believe are leading to the decline of a great society. Those top arguments are arranged into the chapters that make up this book.

Taken individually one of these 12 topics can be seen as a crack in the foundation of what made America great.  Taking them all in conjunction you can see how each of the chapters of this book contribute to a pattern and the piling together of the patterns are leading our Country to a decision point. Will this decision point be a conflict, will we wake up and change course, can we turn the ship around?  These are all questions I ask myself every day. Hopefully, this book will help you make decisions for your family, your community and ultimately our country.

It will be easy to counter argue a particular point I’m making but I challenge you to take the analysis in their entirety and judge for yourself.  Judge our Country on the dozen items I put forward and ask yourself if we are a Country on the rise or the decline.  Analyze your particular school or city council. Look at your State and how our country rules and makes a decision.  Use these points and start watching the news or reading the newspaper with a more enlightened analysis of where we are heading as a society.

When researching this book, it helps me to look at the history behind some of the decisions or directions our country is taking.  I’ve been fascinated with the formation of America.  The debates, the amendments, the structure, all were deliberately put together to ensure that the human desire for power and the focus on self-interest would be minimized for a greater good.  The Founders of our country studied the fall of great societies and tried to put in place a form of government that pitted branches of the federal government against each other.  They pitted States rights against a Federalist system. They built a government and a nation that survived over 240 years.  My contention is that the more we erode the founder’s original structure of government the more damage we’ve done to our Country. The erosion of State’s rights, the election of Senators by popular vote instead of from the State legislatures have all had profound and negative impacts on our society.

The natural inclination, as I researched these topics, is to step back and ask yourself ‘how does this end up?’  Once you are aware that the path we are on as a country doesn’t look very promising, ‘how do I take care of my family?’  In the final chapter, I’ll spend some time pontificating on how our society will react to societal pressures, political vacuums and market gyrations.  No one knows the future but we can look to the past to get an inkling on what happens next.

This book has something for everyone, politically that is.  I am a Republican, I do a morning radio show on a conservative Christian talk network.   I’ve run for elected office,  I’ve helped local Republican candidates and as an entrepreneur, I step into the arena every day.  I am the grandson and son of a butcher.  I grew up in a small farming community.  I value hard work.  I believe the free market is the best way to deliver goods and services between two parties. I believe the answer to poverty is a healthy economy, unmarred by heavy government intervention.  I believe in small government and lean libertarian on many issues.  I stay clear of social issues relating to how people choose to live their lives, who am I to judge.  I’ve been blessed in my life and  I return the favor through board services with organizations that I believe in. I believe that in America, no matter where you started out your life, you can make any dream come true.

My radio show, columns, and this book are about putting ideas out into my community aimed at helping families see a different narrative than is portrayed in the media.  I hope to weave a number of data points that you see on the evening news into a trend that paints not so bright picture.   This book is about how I see my Country.  For the past ten years, I’ve immersed myself in politics, faith, education,  society, and culture.  Being a part of the media has given me access to the leaders and decision-makers in my community, my State and in the Country.  Over the years I’ve seen patterns emerge. I’ve seen the challenges at making a true change at the ballot box, I’ve seen the contrast between liberal and conservative governance.  I’ve observed how people handle the mantle of power and what affects their decisions.  These life experiences have to lead me to write this book.

 

Decline of  A Great  Society

When you look at the decline of other great societies there are historic clues that don’t always line up perfectly with the arguments I put forth in this book but there are definitely patterns that should scare you and make you take notice.  Alexander Fraser Tytler, a European historian published The Decline and Fall of the Athenian Republic. In his analysis, Tytler concluded that from his research that the following stages of societal growth and decline are clear guideposts that great societies follow:

“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising them the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over a loss of fiscal responsibility, always followed by a dictatorship. The average of the world’s great civilizations before they decline has been 200 years. These nations have progressed in this sequence:

From bondage to spiritual faith,
From spiritual faith to great courage,
From courage to liberty,
From liberty to abundance,
From abundance to selfishness,
From selfishness to complacency,
From complacency to apathy,
From apathy to dependency,
From dependency back again to bondage.”

The American experience, at just shy of 240 years old, is following  Tytler’s stages.  From our Countries foundation and the pushback against tyranny at the hands of the British empire to the roaring 20’s, industrial revolution, post WWII economic booms on through to the rise of the counterculture, hippies, free love and into the rise of illicit drug use through the cocaine and crack 80’s and 90’s. The final stages we are now living include lack of trust in our governmental institutions from Congress to your local school district, the rise of the entitlement state and the ‘selfie generation’ who ask ‘what is my government going to do for me?’ Read more

Protected: Business and Governments All Too Cozy Relationship in America – Book Notes – ‘Decline of America in 12 Chapters’ – J HIggins

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America, How Are We Doing?

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The decline of a great society doesn’t happen overnight….

There are certain stages and warning signs that are hard to miss. As you go about your day you may be like me and you come across a story or a fact or a chart that makes you pause ask yourself ‘that can’t be a good thing’.  This book is my attempt to string these ‘that won’t end well’ events and stat together and look at macro trends happening in America and the world.  Some of these trends have been going on for generations and others can be started or compounded from one election cycle to the next.   I attempt break these patterns or trends into 25 categories and then researched and honed the arguments down to the top 12. This dirty dozen areas are what I believe are leading to the decline of a great society.

Taken individually one of these 12 topics can be seen as a crack in the foundation of what made America great.  Taking them all in conjunction you can see how each of the chapters of this book contribute to a pattern and the piling together of the patterns are leading our Country to a decision point. Will this decision point be a conflict, will we wake up and change course, can we turn the ship around?  These are all questions I ask myself every day. Hopefully this book will help you make decisions for your family, you community and your country. robert-frost

It will be easy to argue against a particular point I’m making but I challenge you to take the analysis of all 12 chapters in their entirety and  judge for yourself.  Judge our Country on the dozen items I put forward and ask yourself if we are a Country on the rise or the decline.  Analyze your particular school, or city council.  Use these points and start watching the TV pundits or reading your online news with a more enlightened analysis. Wake up to where we are heading as a society.

When researching this book, it helps me to look at the history behind some of the decisions or directions our country is taking.  I’ve been fascinated with the formation of America.  The debates, the amendments, the structure was all deliberately put together to ensure that the human desire for power and the focus on self interest would be minimized for a greater good.  The Founders of our country studied the fall of great societies and tried to put in place a form of government that pitted branches of the federal government against each other.  They pitted States rights against a Federalist system. They built a government and a nation that survived over 240 years.  My contention is that the more we erode the founders original structure of government the more damage we’ve done to our Country. The erosion of State’s rights, the election of Senators from popular vote instead of from the State legislatures have all had profound and negative impacts on our society.

The natural inclination, as I researched this topic, is to step back and ask yourself ‘how does this end up?’.For me, knowing that the path we are on as a country doesn’t look very promising, ‘how do I take care of my family?’  In the final chapter I’ll spend some time pontificating on how our society will react to societal pressures, political vacuums and market gyrations.  No one knows the future but we can look to the past to get inkling on what happens next.

This book has something for everyone, politically that is.  I am a Republican, I do a morning radio show on a conservative talk network.   I’ve run for elected office,  I’ve helped Republican candidates and as an entrepreneur ‘I did build that’. I believe the free market is the best way to deliver goods and service between two parties. I believe in small government and lean libertarian on many issues.  I stay clear of social issues relating to how people chose to live their lives.  I’ve been blessed in my life and  giving back through board services with organizations that I believe in.

My radio show, columns and this book is about putting ideas out into my community aimed at helping families figure out there future.  This book is about how I see the my Country.  For the past eight years I’ve emerged myself in politics, society and culture.  Being a part of the media has given me access to the leaders and decision makers in my community, my State and in the Country.  Over the years I’ve seen patterns emerge. I’ve seen the challenges at making true change at the ballot box, I’ve seen the contrast between liberal and conservative governance.  I’ve observed how people handle the mantle of power and what affects their decisions.  These life experiences have lead me to write this book.

 

Cycle of Decline

alexander-tylerWhen you look at the decline of other great societies there are historic clues that don’t always line up perfectly with the arguments I put forth in this book but there are definitely patterns that should scare you and make you take notice.  Alexander Fraser Tytler, a European historian published The Decline and Fall of the Athenian Republic. In his analysis, Tytler concluded that from his research that the following stages of societal growth and decline are clear guideposts that great societies follow:

“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising them the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over a loss of fiscal responsibility, always followed by a dictatorship. The average of the world’s great civilizations before they decline has been 200 years. These nations have progressed in this sequence:

From bondage to spiritual faith,
From spiritual faith to great courage,
From courage to liberty,
From liberty to abundance,
From abundance to selfishness,
From selfishness to complacency,
From complacency to apathy,
From apathy to dependency,
From dependency back again to bondage.”

The American experience, at just shy of 240 years old, is following  Tytler’s stages.  From our Countries foundation and the push back against tyranny at the hands of the British empire to the tytler-cycle-2roaring 20’s, industrial revolution, post WWII economic booms on through to the rise of the counter culture, hippies, free love and into the rise of illicit drug use through the cocaine and crack 80’s and 90’s. The final stages we are now living include lack of trust in our governmental institutions from Congress to your local school district, the rise of the entitlement state and the ‘selfie generation’ who ask ‘what is my government going to do for me?’

Historian Arnold Toynbee wrote a 12 part series in 1961 called A Study of History.  Toynbe argued that civilizations travel through many distinct stage;

Genesis

Growth

Troubled Times

Universal State

Disintegration

Toynbee believed that a civilization declines not by external influences brought on by environmental concerns or attacks from invaders but his research showed societies become very good at problem solving but are not able to adapt to new, more sophisticated problems.  Their societies have created too many layers and they’ve overdeveloped their problem solving structures and can’t adapt. arnold-j-toynbee

He studied the role of the “Dominant Minority” that forces the minority to obey. The “Creative Minority” which once was the source of new ideas, adaptations and the ability of the minority to influence the majority continues to bask in the glory days of the past and looses their ability to challenge and push society into a new direction. .

He argues that the ultimate sign a civilization has broken down is when the dominant minority forms a large centralized ruling system, a central government or a Proletariat, which stifles political creativity. He states:

First the Dominant Minority attempts to hold by force – against all right and reason – a position of inherited privilege which it has ceased to merit; and then the Proletariat repays injustice with resentment, fear with hate, and violence with violence when it executes its acts of secession. Yet the whole movement ends in positive acts of creation – and this on the part of all the actors in the tragedy of disintegration. The Dominant Minority creates a universal state, the Internal Proletariat a universal church, and the External Proletariat a bevy of barbarian war-bands.

Tonybee argues that, as civilizations decay, they form an “Internal Proletariat” and an “External Proletariat.” The Internal proletariat is held in subjugation by the dominant minority inside the civilization, and grows bitter; the external proletariat exists outside the civilization in poverty and chaos, and grows envious. He argues that as civilizations decay, there is a “schism in the body social,” where groups are pitted against each other. Instead of virtue and community the people in the society become jealous and envious.

When short term gain for the ruling majority is bypassed for the long term gain of what is best for the society cracks emerge in the societal fabric. We will dig in deeply to the political structure, bureaucracy and once trusted institutions that are now corrupted or incompetent to deliver on their mission.  America is moving towards an ‘every man for themselves’ philosophy and this shift is not only counter to what made this Country great but could spell the end of this great experiment envisioned 240+ years ago.

Wikipedia

Our society is straining at many levels, this book will try to provide you with the arguments that describe this decline.  The rot is showing itself in our financial institution, our commercial sector,  the education system and in many aspects of our societal contracts. The health of our institutions are manifesting in our  our cultural decay.

For the past decade, I’ve been on a journey that first to fix my community, then to fix my State, then my Country.  The further I researched and the more I learn the more I realized that we are living in a Country that is in the final stages of a great empire.  Just like my great grandparents who fled Ireland in the mid 1800’s and moved to America for greater opportunity,  I’m trying to impart upon my children and by this book impart upon whomever will do the hard analysis that you may have to leave the Country where you were born in to find opportunity in a different opportunity.

About Me

I am no different than many of my generation.  I grew up as a Reagan Republican educated in Catholic schools through high school, put myself through college at the University of Arizona and studied Political Science and Economics.  I’ve been an entrepreneur all my life.  Coming from a middle class family I saw the life of a small business owner as the path to financial security and a life less ordinary.  As I worked hard, found success and raised my family I had that moment where I asked myself ‘is this it?’   That searching led me to plug into the social program to help those less fortunate than myself.  I gravitated towards Catholic organizations that needed the skills that God had given me.  After years of running and growing businesses, raising my family and giving back  to my faith I started seeing a patterns.  The pattern that emerged was that no matter how much money we raised to help those less fortunate the ranks of those in need kept growing.  Solving the pain and suffering in my community was more than raising money, it was about the direction our elected officials were taking my community.

The next logical step, crazy as the experience was,  was to step up and run for elected office. I looked locally at where the concentration of power was an determined to run for a County Supervisorjoe-postcard-front position and challenge a 16 year incumbent in the Republican Primary.  I did not win but after much sole searching the race for office wasn’t’ about winning, it was about making my community better.  As a candidate I did a number of local radio interviews.  After the election, I was given the opportunity to co-host a morning radio show with Chris DeSimone.  Our show expanded into 2 hours per day on morning drive time.  After six years of probably the most fascinating time to have a ring side seat to State and national politics I started seeing patterns.  I wrote them down, researched these patterns form a historical perspective, dug into stats and data to identify trends and project how these patterns would play out in our economy, our political system and in our culture.  The patterns were developed into 12 categories that I put forth to show the decline of the American empire.

wake_up_tucson_imagexEach chapter of this book is dedicated to one of these arguments that I put forth demonstrate that America is on a trend that leads to only one conclusion.  According to Tytler’s assessment our society is moving from Apathy and Dependency to Dependency and Bondage.   You  may disagree with a particular chapter but I encourage you to analyze my arguments in their entirety.  I have no agenda, I am not selling any financial instruments to hedge against where I see our county going.  I am simply putting forth where I see America heading and ask you to prepare, become aware and watch for future signs.  I have no crystal ball as to when or how long the decline will take. We may stay in the Apathy and Dependence phase for decades.  A jolt to the financial system that stops credit financing of American debt could move us to Dependency and Bondage overnight.

What started with a run for political office lead me to a 6 year journey on local conservative talk radio.   To produce two hours every morning involved devouring every minutia of the news of the day.  Our radio show involved local topics and our take on national issues.  With interviewing everyone from dog catcher to US Presidential candidates patterns start to emerge.  The more time I spent reading, tracking and interviewing the more I realized how genius the framers of America really were.  They studied the rise and fall of great societies of the past, the Romans, ancient Greeks, the British Empire,

When you boil everything down, Countries are led by men and women that are fallible.  Our constitution was set up to protect the Republic from the wills of majorities against minorities, from States against the Federalist system, from one branch of government against another.  The more I saw what was happening in present day American the more I dug back into the foundation of our country. In reading the debates of our founding fathers it is apparent that they didn’t envision the intranet or nuclear weaponry but they did realize that leaders in the 1700’s, or 500bc have the same motivations as leaders in the 2000’s.  They studied great societies of the past and put all sorts of circuit breakers in to stop or slow the greed, ego and natural tendencies for a government and bureaucracy to grow ever bigger and encroach on the liberty of the individual.  Through this book there are major inflection points in our history that eroded the constitution and the framework that the founders envisioned. I would argue to our detriment.

From the beginning of society humans have had aspirations, inclinations, flaws, ego and desires to create a better world for our families.  The foundation of this country, our Constitution was designed to keep our elected officials in check, to protect minorities from the tyranny of the majority. The people, through the ballot box, will ultimately retain and wield the power of their elected leaders.  Our government was set up with a series of checks and balances to keep the people from being abused.  Over the past 240 years, where we comprise, interpret for our times, or neglect these checks and balances we see our country slipping away from what made this great experiment work.  Perhaps we need to go back to the original framework that made us great to restore those freedoms and put our government in check.

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.

Ronald Reagan

 

A study of the past and a glimpse at the future;

From the formation of our government in the 1790’s through the Civil War in the 1860’s, on through the industrial revolution and right up to the Great Depression, America had a hands off philosophy surrounding the national economy. The Congress lacked the authority to dig into the day to day activities of the citizens and businesses.  There were encroachments and shifts in thinking and shifts in policy but not until the FDR administration did we se wholesale shifts in the role of the Federal government and it’s role in every day American’s lives.  The constitution protected the rights of States and the individual. The Framers understood the role of concentration of power in a central government and went to great lengths to reign in that power. For the majority of our Countries history is was every man for himself, rugged individualism, free markets and the freedom to freely engage in commerce.

Woodrow Wilson in 1887 glorified the role of the administration and ushered in a cadres  of administrative elites who he believed had the scientific knowledge about human behavior and where better equipped to run society.  He believed administrative power was to be insulated from politics just as engineering and medicine  stood on their own. Wilson saw federal bureaucracies “of skilled, economical administration” comprising the “hundred who are wise” empowered to guide the “thousands” who are “selfish, ignorant, timid, stubborn, or foolish.” (The Study of Administration – Essay by Woodrow Wilson). Wilson believed that educted technorats were the answer in solving societies problems.

After the stock market crash of 1929 ushered in the Great Depression, the USA was at a crossroads. The pain brought on by the exuberance of the roaring 20’s caused quite a hangover.  The cheap credit extended to the wealthy and powerful burst and the hangover was difficult to overcome.  Hoover loosened credit and turned the US into the lender of last resort for the banks. With the recovery not taking hold, Hoover expanded Keysnian, government initiated spending programs that included work programs, agriculture controls and other top down controls and stimulation to get the economy moving.

With the election of FDR government intervention and stimulation went into overdrive. FDR’s New Deal brought the formation of the SEC, the FDIC, the NLRB, and the infamous WPA . For the first time in our nations history we jumped on the collectivism bandwagon.   The checks and balances set up by the founders where trampled over.  Leading to an attempt to court pack the Supreme Court in 1937 to overcome a series of rebukes to his legislative agenda.  Government as last lender and savior of the day became in vogue and it continues today. Through LBJ’s war on poverty and creation of Social Security and Medicare all the way through Obama’s Affordable Care Act, economic stimulus and massive intervention by the Federal Reserve, our Country is drifting farther and farther from the beliefs and principals set forth by the Founders.  In the end, Government is a trailing indicator to society, perhaps, as we go through the chapters of this book, you’ll find that we have the exact government that we deserve.

Solutions

All is not lost. There are short term and long term solutions that can put the American experience on the right track.  The solutions range from improving education and building schools around teaching critical thinkers instead of factory workers.  The solutions involve changing attidudes related to work and saving. The solutions involve instilling virtues back into society through stronger families units or active and engage faith networks.

Chapter 2 – Debt and Banking