Undoing the damage. This time of year, as college students return home for the summer, many parents may notice how many politically correct ideas they have acquired on campus. Some of those parents may wonder how they can undo some of the brainwashing that has become so common in what are supposed to be institutions of higher learning. The strategy used by Gen. Douglas MacArthur so successfully in the Pacific during World War II can be useful in this very different kind of battle. MacArthur won his victories while minimizing his casualties â something that is also desirable in clashes of ideas within the family. Instead of fighting the Japanese for every island stronghold as the Americans advanced toward Japan, MacArthur sent his troops into battle for only those islands that were strategically crucial. In the same spirit, parents who want to bring their brainwashed offspring back to reality need not try to combat every crazy idea they picked up from their politically correct professors. Just demolishing a few crucial beliefs, and exposing what nonsense they are, can deal a blow to the general credibility of the professorial pied pipers. For example, if the student has been led to join the crusade for more gun control, and thinks that the reason the British have lower murder rates than Americans have is because the Brits have tighter gun control laws, just give him or her a copy of the book "Guns and Violence" by Joyce Lee Malcolm. As the facts in that book demolish the gun control propaganda fed to students by their professors, that can create a healthy skepticism about other professorial propaganda. There are other books that can likewise demolish other politically correct beliefs that prevail on campuses. My own recent book, "Intellectuals and Race," has innumerable documented facts that expose the fallacies in most of what is said about racial issues in most college classrooms. For those students who have bought the campus party line on Third World nations, the classic study of that subject is "Equality, the Third World, and Economic Delusion" by the late P.T. Bauer of the London School of Economics. He made a veritable demolition derby of most of what has been said in politically correct circles about the relationship between rich and poor countries. For those students who have been conditioned to regard the welfare state as the solution to social problems, there is no book that exposes the actual human consequences of the welfare state more poignantly than "Life at the Bottom" by British physician Theodore Dalrymple. He has worked in both low-income neighborhoods and in prisons, so he has seen it all.... More http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/052013-656837-defeating-college-professors-propaganda.htm
I agree with your premise of carefully choosing which battles to fight with your children. I have two daughters, ages 14 and 11, and I apply this principle on a daily basis. The key is to know what's truly important to your kids. Don't fight the small stuff. For example, my older daughter is a competitive student and getting excellent grades is very important to her. Last fall, a few days before the election, she announced at the dinner table that "people like us should pay higher taxes." I said, "Okay. Let's think about this. You just studied very hard for a science test and got a grade of 100 (an A+), the highest in your class. Some students got very low scores. Some may have even failed. I think people like you should give away 30 points to other students who don't do as well. If you do, you'll be setting a good example for me and maybe I'll consider voting for candidates who want to raise my taxes." When she tried to argue with me, my wife jumped into the conversation and called our daughter "greedy and selfish" for not wanting to share her test points with other students. My daughter sat there for a few moments silently picking at her dinner, then asked to be excused so she could do her homework. End of discussion.
1) Did your wife graduate from a community college or regional state school? 2) You should have replied, "Honey, is it okay if I "share" myself with other attractive and sex deprived women?"
My wife has two graduate degrees in science; one from a major university in Australia and the other from a major university in the United States (UCLA). And you missed the point of the discussion with my daughter entirely... It's about what's earned vs. what's given/taken. Offering to "share" myself with other women would be a betrayal of trust, something you're obviously incapable of understanding. Your feeble attempt to insult my wife exposes you as just another asshole trolling for a fight.
The school my kids go to is somewhat liberal, but much less so than most schools in California. At most schools in California, only one point of view is allowed -- the far left. All other points of view are excluded. That's why we moved our kids into the school they now attend, a place where all points of view are encouraged. Most of my older daughter's liberal ideas come from one of her friends whose mother is a non-stop far-left political machine -- you known the type -- when Bush was in office, she had a bumper sticker on her Prius that said "Dissent is Patriotic." As soon as Obama was elected the bumper sticker came off. Now that her man is in the White House, all dissent is racist.