How do we educate the youth in public schools? Teachers are not allowed to teach... only to indoctrinate and sell the "approved by leftists" curricula. Our 'reach' is already too small and it looks like it will only decrease over time (going by past trends). As for recent arrivals... I don't see "befriending them" happening, much less teaching them how America is "supposed to work". Sorry....but ...I have relatives that are currently teachers in public school and it is already too far gone to hope for that kind of change. Even here in Texas, teachers are not allowed to speak up against the already unworkable "system" (disciplining unruly or violent students) for fear of being labeled racist at best, and fired or "reassigned" at worst.
Sorry, but Eff the schools. The only way to change that is to run for the School Board,
Better to do it when your kids are grown so your actions don't come down on them (yes, that does happen, I experienced it personally, even back when, in MD). Run on a platform of solid, useful, education. Tech is nice, but useless if you don' know enough to apply a formula appropriately, or just don't know enough to ask the right questions.
There is no earthly reason that we can't work math problems the same way our grandparents did and show that to our kids and grandkids and all get the same right answer, except that the Education Industry is trying to cast itself as the keepers of the sacred scrolls by overcomplicating what should be simple. (They do it to give the kids the impression that their parents are 'dumb' and don't know anything). It does not help that parents can't access the workbooks and online texts the kids use, either, one complaint to take to the School Board meetings with you.
You teach them one on one, outside of the schools. Show them practical examples. You tell them to say what they have to in school for the grade, but
here is how it really is supposed to be, kid...
As for befriending people, I reckon it depends on where you are, where you work, etc. People all want the same basic things--better for their kids, some security, a full belly, a little jingle left over for the weekend. If they aren't interested in anything but the bare minimum, well that's what they'll get. Point out that they can have better and show them the plan to get there if they want to take it. Most young people have been sold hopelessness all their lives because it makes them easier to control or more malleable, or have been handed some line about how they can be a sports star or a rapper. Point out that they have to eat in the meantime, and that it doesn't ever hurt to have skills. At least most people come here (North Dakota) to work.
First of all... social media is already being "censored" by the leftists that run it. Social media is just AS leftist-biased as the MSM. So...if ""it"" is going to happen... it needs to happen over the next 4+ years.... since after that...
all bets are off.
I don't use social media much. I prefer face to face. You can get a lot more out of inflection, expression, body language, etc. than you will ever get off a screen. Encourage this, show 'kids' the 'tells' when people are lying to them. They'll thank you later, if not right away. Teach them to look for the weasel words in advertising, and make critical thinkers out of them. What's the catch? "
Up to" X% savings?, etc. Teach them how not to be suckers. Show them how credit works, when it's a good deal and when it isn't. They'll love you for it.
The time to start is last year. Seriously, if you aren't doing these things already, you're slacking off. Opportunities present themselves, and if we're paying attention, we have the chance to aim younger minds down the right track. You think kids don't know BS when they see it? Sure they do, even if they don't want to admit it. If they don't, point it out, especially by asking questions. (Socratic method) Once the lights go on, they'll ask for more.
Yes, right now.... we have the advantage. But our time is probably short.... and we're not exactly miracle-workers. This problem that needs fixing has been morphing into the ruin we see for decades... two generations, in fact. You think we can fix it in 4-5 years?
WE aren't going to live long enough to fix it. I never said we would, and said the last 160 years of heading down the totalitarian path aren't going to be fixed in a generation, maybe not two, short of serious upheaval--and there's a serious chance it'd all be lost in that case. The ones who will fix it are the kids who aren't allowed to do jack squat right now, who heard their grandpa and grandma tell them about things like buying a rifle through the mail by cutting a check and putting it in an envelope with the only form they had to fill out--the order form. Teach them to work on that old pickup (more kids here driving "antiques" (40+ year old vehicles) than brand new ones--and an amazing number of those have lift kits). It inst a big money thing, so much as those are vehicles that survived well where we don't use road salt and they don't rust out. The engines and drive lines are easy enough to rebuild, and because they're classics, parts aren't as hard to find (aftermarket, NOS, and even remanufactured parts are out there, and cheaper than the equivalent parts for newer vehicles.)
All very big "ifs". But I like your optimism. I need to hear such. For I fear that I have become quite jaded and possibly incapable of seeing that turnaround happening in just the next four years. I think we have been granted a reprieve. A delay to get our houses (symbolically) in order.
We have been granted a reprieve. Why? because people were absolutely fed up with the direction the country was headed. Lies and deceit and bad outcomes don't garner support from the people working to pay the tab. It's up to us to seize the day and capitalize on that lull.
Yes, our values and our principles need be held up and upheld. But.... have you seen how the rest of the country apparently thinks and behaves? Have you seen their (most of them) values on display? The recent superbowl half time antics are probably the best example of what I'm referring to. The endless crap coming out of Hollywood (and out of the mouths of the Hollyweird) is yet another. Most tv shows now have the "f" word or other expletives interspersed frequently... along with the obligatory lesbo/homo love scenes.
Remember the media are all about appearances and images, making something look like something it is not. Some guy on a trapeze setup in front of a green screen is suddenly transformed into 'our hero' hurtling through space, flying through an explosion, whatever. It is, after all, an illusion. Those same illusions are used to distort our perceptions of reality, and the whole GLBTQXYZ movement is a prime example. Not that that isn't effective--remember the "10%" number that was thrown around? At the time, 10% (or nearly so) of the population in only one city were of that ilk. The city? Washington D.C. Those remodeling/home buying shows on teevee that have one couple in three with same sex partners--a ratio that is waaay off, by any standard. The whole gig is to 1: desensitize the breeders to homosex, and 2: mainstream a fringe behaviour in the collective psyche. Commercial has two daddies? Two mommies? I'm not buying their social model, and I'm damned sure not buying their product. I'll even write them and tell them so.
Is that working? You decide. I turn that sh*t off and don't tune in again. We always have a choice.
Sorry but... it (American culture and values) all seems to be going to Hell in turbo mode (yeah, if that makes me sound like an old fogie, I'll own it). And before anyone points out that every generation has had people that see things that same way, I must point to the evidence of it being more true now than ever before.
But that is exactly what the media want you to think, be it entertainment ( agenda based, biased, and pushing the devaluing of all that is good, and the glorification of every evil known to man), or just the news--where if it bleeds, it leads.
Don't let 'em bamboozle ya kid. Our world is what we make it, if we have the guts to do so.
So if anything is going to be fixed or "turned around"... it needs to be done over the next four years. And quite frankly, I don't think that's going to be enough time.
Like I said, we aren't going to fix it. Not us. I might have 30 years left on this planet (at the outside, likely less) and that won't be enough time. BUT we can get the ball rolling by teaching the next generation (especially grandkids) to rebel against the things they see and know aren't right, fair, or equitable, who have that child like understanding of right and wrong if we first teach them to stand in the other person's shoes for a moment.
Teach them their rights. Teach them where they come from. Make sure you introduce them to God.
I have taught most of my grandkids to shoot. They can handle a firearm. It is not a mysterious dangerous evil monster in their minds, but a tool, that can be used for good or evil, depending on who has it. They know how to handle them safely. When I go, those who can legally own one by today's standards (in North Dakota) will each get one, off the books, in sealed crates with manuals, parts, ammo, etc., if I need to do it that way, or the map to their inheritance, some digging required. I'm not giving anything up. I will not comply.
