Failing Schools: New Study Shows the Pandemic Rocked States Under Democrat Influence Harder Than Republican States But all right, there’s something else. In this case, it’s interesting that the report comes from The Economist in London. It’s not coming from an American source, it’s not coming from the context of American politics, but it definitely will have relevance to American politics. The Economist reports that learning loss, according to the same studies we’re looking at, the same tests and reports, learning loss has been worse, “In places run by Democrats.” Now it’s interesting that they see the pattern and that they run the story. The explanation they give, it’s pretty compelling. That is, that labor unions in these areas, teachers unions in these areas, and liberal politicians, democratic politicians in these states and localities, they were quick to shut down the schools and very slow to open them back up. Why? The Economist of London points to what we know to be true. That was largely because of the power of teacher unions. The teacher unions, I’ll just tell you this, when you look at what they do and what they demonstrate their activism about, it’s really not about teaching. As a matter of fact, this is just further evidence that the teacher’s unions are, in so many ways, the enemies of teaching. (Exactly what I've been saying ever since 1993 when I began teaching full time.) You see the result here in this report. The Economist states, “New research offers a culture wars twist on this deficit learning loss during the pandemic was measurably worse in America’s Democrat-leaning states rather than Republican ones.” A recent analysis, and this is coming from the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, “Suggests that prolonged school closures during the pandemic bear much of the blame.” I’ll continue here. They found that while NAEP scores, “Declined considerably in every state between 2019 and 2024, pupils in Democratic or evenly divided states, where school closures lasted for longer, suffered greater declines than those in Republican states.” Another moral category that’s interesting to us here is that Thomas Dee, a professor at Stanford University says that the problem of rising absenteeism is due to what he calls “norm erosion.” Now, Christians, our ears should pick up on a term like that norm. That means moral norm erosion or moral principle erosion. “Many students and parents simply began seeing less value in regular school attendance.” This tells us that the norm in one sense, the norm that has now suffered erosion is the norm that children should be in schools and parents should hold children accountable to be in school. The fact that fewer parents are doing so and more children are not regularly in school, that’s defined here as an evidence of norm erosion. Another way to put that would a breakdown or a tear in the moral fabric. It’s an erosion in norms. In so many cases, norms mean, for instance, a shorthand for morals or a shorthand for the principles by which a society is organized. A society like ours is organized at least on the principle that parents ought to have their children in schools and see to it and children and teenagers ought to be in school. The failure to do that, of course, I’m not talking here about parents who’ve made alternative arrangements for the education of their children. We’re talking about children who are not in any other educational context and are not in school. All right. Well, we think about the way of the world and how government works. There’s another little say bomblet in this. “Chronic absenteeism is now easing somewhat, but for most pupils who have spent prolonged periods away from the classroom, simply turning up again will not be enough.” Listen to this. “In the wake of the pandemic, the federal government doled out some $190 billion, that’s the last administration, $190 billion, “to help pupils recover, giving school districts broad discretion over how to spend the funds.” $190 billion. It turns out that a lot of those states built buildings or spent the money on capital improvements rather than what turned out to work, which was an investment in “Academic catch up such as intensive tutoring in small groups.” That’s also the way in the world. The government hands out $190 billion to help students catch up and a lot of that money isn’t spent on anything that really helps students catch up. ~ Albert Mohler I've been seeing the city of Long Beach demolishing entire school campuses to make way for totally new school buildings and I've been asking myself, "Where in the world did they get all that money?" Now I know.
Is socialism a ploy of the devil? Karl Marx's son, Edgar, addressed his father as "my dear devil" in at least one of his letters. His wife called him "my wicked knave." Friedrich Engels described Marx as a "dark man from Prussia who hops and leaps and springs on his heels, the monster of 10,000 Devils." Marx's father wrote to him in 1837, expressing concern that his heart was governed by a demon and questioning whether he would ever be capable of truly human domestic happiness. What Does the Mephistophelian ethos have to do with Karl Marx? The "Mephistophelian ethos," characterized by destruction, rebellion, and a rejection of existing systems, has been linked to Karl Marx's philosophy by some critics. This association often points to Marx's critique of capitalism, his belief in the inevitability of revolution, and the perceived negative consequences of his ideas, particularly in their implementation. Some interpret Marx's revolutionary fervor and condemnation of existing structures as mirroring Mephistopheles' disdain for the established order and desire for change, even if it involves destruction. Here's a more detailed explanation: Marx's Critique of Capitalism: Marx saw capitalism as an exploitative system that alienated workers and inevitably led to class struggle and revolution. This critique aligns with the Mephistophelian ethos of tearing down existing structures and seeking radical change. Revolutionary Ideology: Marx's theory of historical materialism and his call for a socialist revolution can be seen as a rejection of the existing social order, much like Mephistopheles' rejection of God and traditional morality. Consequences of Marxist Ideas: Some critics argue that the violent revolutions and oppressive regimes that have been inspired by Marxist ideas, particularly in the 20th century, are a manifestation of the Mephistophelian ethos, where the pursuit of a new order leads to destruction and loss of freedom. The "Everything that exists deserves to perish" quote: Dr. Paul Kengor, for example, suggests that Marx's philosophy is exemplified by Mephistopheles' famous quote, highlighting a destructive and radical mindset.