#826 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Friday December 29)
Good morning,
IT WAS A COMPLICATED YEAR
2023 had its periodic bright spots but a bunch of goofiness.
First, some bright spots…The last year saw a climate bill, increased success with renewables, reduced child poverty, more flexible work environments, advances on cancer prevention, upholding of democracy and reproductive rights in several plebiscites, the center increasingly turning against the conspiracy theories and election denial, inflation is down, Donald Trump being held accountable (though that won’t matter much) and some great examples of art and culture.
That said, there was no shortage of craziness and disturbing behaviors. George Will cited a few of the nuttier things:
NUTTINESS IN SCHOOL AND BEYOND
“Some Colorado school officials, with no sense of irony, cracked down on a 12-year-old whose backpack had a “Don’t tread on me” patch. A Florida charter school principal was forced to resign for not notifying parents that she planned to illustrate Renaissance art by showing her sixth-graders Michelangelo’s “David.” A Northern Virginia playground’s 21 rules include “no loitering” at the slide’s bottom.
Progressive criminology blamed cars for being stolen: Several cities sued Kia and Hyundai for making cars that are too easy to steal. In Maryland, the guardian of four teenagers arrested for car theft picked them up at the police station in a stolen car.
California’s third draft of a new K-12 math curriculum toned down the progressivism of the first two, but still urged instructors to “teach toward social justice” and “focus on complex feelings.” Oregon recommends teachers attend a seminar on “ethnomathematics.” Perhaps Oregon is influenced by nearby Seattle’s math framework, which asks, “How important is it to be right?” (Implied: Not very.) A Maryland test found that 40 percent of Baltimore public high schools had no student proficient in math. The authors of Rhode Island’s social studies standards think the Russian Revolution happened before World War I.”
DECORUM IS SO PASSE
In an amusing indictment of bad behavior in public, and the rationales proffered to explain such bad behaviors, Will cites a few notable examples:
“After being expelled from a Denver production of “Beetlejuice,” Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) said, “I simply fell short of my values,” when she (who says God called her to Congress) continued vaping, taking flash pictures, singing along with the cast and being friskily affectionate with her date. A former (and perhaps future) president, whom Boebert adores, explained in a deposition that he once said “stars” can grope women because “historically, that’s true.” Provided with 40,000 hours of video from security cameras on Jan. 6, 2021, Tucker Carlson concluded in 2023 that, aside from “a small percentage” of “hooligans,” most of those who smashed their way into the Capitol were actually “sightseers” who were “orderly and meek.” (Approximate number of injured police: 140.)…”
THEN THERE’S COLLEGE
An indispensable 2023 book, “The Canceling of the American Mind” by Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott, reports that Yale has “one administrator for every four students. That’s the same ratio the government recommends for child care of infants under twelve months.” Northwestern University’s student government offered “mental health support” for students traumatized by news that a conservative speaker was coming to campus. After the Supreme Court declared race-based college admissions policies unconstitutional, the Boston University School of Law student government assured students that BU’s “wellness resources,” a.k.a. therapy, could help them “navigate these times.” Perhaps related: A YouGov survey in June found that more than one-third of American adults under age 45 sleep with stuffed animals.”
Wishing for better days in 2024, beginning, of course, with the final vanquishing of MAGA ultra-nationalism, thinly disguised racism and democracy under siege.
TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY
As Disneyland’s Carousel of Progress promised us, and as I wish for us all, “there’s a great big beautiful tomorrow…”
Have a great year,
Glenn