My Traveling Days are Over…for the Summer. Just got back from a week-long event put together by the McConnell Center and Liberty Fund for Kentucky high school and middle school social science teachers. Let’s begin by giving huge kudos to the McConnell Center. That is Mitch McConnell, by the way—you know, the Senator—who is married to Elaine Chao—you know the former Secretary of Labor (who, it is worth noting, is a) a Mount Holyoke grad and b) not only has not received an Honorary Degree from Mount Holyoke, but has still not been invited to campus to give a speech (shameful, just shameful)). No matter what your politics, no matter whether you hope McConnell wins or loses in the next election, you should be very, very pleased with what the McConnell Center is doing for Kentucky education. Very pleased. As an example—they just sent 15 school teachers for an all-expense paid week to Annapolis, to spend the time discussing a thick reading packet of Great Books readings (from Plato, Aristotle, and the Bible, though the Romans to the English to the American Founding—great reading list on the whole). The teachers come, have some fantastic conversations and then head back to Kentucky. Kentucky school children win. As I said, no matter whether you like Mitch McConnell or not, this Center is doing some seriously great work.
The Kentucky teachers were also great. I did this last year too (in Princeton) and
was also impressed. I wish my kids had
teachers as good as the ones with whom I just spent the week.
As for me, I learned a lot too. Things like this prove that no matter how
many times you have read Great Books, you always learn something new when you
read them again and talk about them with others. This week, I spent a lot of time thinking
about Paine’s distinction between Society and Government (in Common Sense); I
coupled that with a question about whether the Constitution or the Bill or
Rights was more important (if you could only have one, which?); I arrived at
the conclusion: A good constitution setting up good government structures is
the aim. Society is responsible for the
Bill of Rights type thing. If you have a
society which values things like Freedom of Speech, then a good government can guarantee
that citizens have Freedom of Speech.
But, once Society no longer values Rights and Freedom, then Rights and
Freedom are doomed no matter what government structures you have set up. This leads to the disturbing thought
experiment—imagine you live in a society in which commitment to fundamental
rights is waning. Imagine people in this
society would prefer physical luxury to fundamental rights. Is there anything that can stop the
deterioration of freedom? I wish that
was a hypothetical question.
But not everything I learned this week was so morose. I also learned a great number of things while
the McConnell Center/Liberty Fund was providing free drinks in the evening.
1. I learned a new work: miswell. Two syllables, the stress is on the first
syllable (mis) and the “i” in the first syllable is long. Miswell.
Great word. Usage: “I miswell
tell you what the word means.” Most people
think it is three words (Might as well), but run them together and sound like
you are from Kentucky and you have a nice word.
2. If she were present, Amanda, from whom I learned this
word, would insist that I tell the rest of the story about item #1.
And since the rest of the story provides an interesting commentary on
modern schooling, I’ll do so. Imagine Amanda
in her first year of college; she is very bright, and undoubtedly did extremely
well in school. (I’m being serious about
Amanda being particularly bright—I suspect if she had gone to Mount Holyoke,
she would have excelled here.) On an
English paper in college, she was told that “miswell” was not a word. Amanda was shocked. She had been using the word forever. Her teacher asked her to use it in a
sentence, which she did. It was then
that Amanda was told that the expression was “might as well” not
“miswell.” Amanda called home later that
day furious with her parents and her school system. How did nobody (nobody!) ever (ever!) correct
her before she went to college? Amanda
was right to be incensed. But, Amanda’s story
is far too common in the modern American school system—a bright kid gets
routinely told she is doing well because she is obviously bright, but every single
teacher she ever had is too lazy to help this bright kid out by correcting
basic grammar. It’s sad. Which is why, I might add, that it would have
been far better to simply acknowledge the beauty of the word “miswell," and not
hear the story which Amanda would have insisted I tell.
3. I also learned about a new food: Goetta. One of the teachers at this conference is the
heir to the Finke Goetta Fortune; the Finkes were one of the families which brought
Goetta to America. It is a very popular
food in the Cincinnati area…and nowhere else.
Which, sadly for my new friend, means that the Finke Goetta Fortune is
incredibly small, indeed, so small it can’t accurately be described as a fortune. But, everyone from the Cincinnati area waxed
poetic about the wonders of Goetta. Next
time you are in Cincinnati, you should try some. I know I will. Also, you need to get Finke’s Goetta, not one
of the inferior brands. See here.
4. I also learned that if you are in a discussion about the
Old Testament, and you want to mention a moral law, it might be wise to choose
a different prohibition than the one on bestiality. Mentioning bestiality as a sin has a way of
getting one associated with mentioning that sin. Poor Jack.
5. Annapolis is a weird town. It’s not big.
It has the State Capitol, the Naval Academy, and St John’s College. Not much else. Yet, it is clearly a tourist town. Small—easily walked.
6. The tomb for John Paul Jones at the Naval Academy is a
wonder to behold. He must have the
fanciest burial place in America.
Seriously. Why? He is barely important. But, when the Naval Academy wanted a Founding
Hero, they decided Jones was the best they could do, so they gave him a burial
place that make him look like a Roman emperor.
There is no way Jones deserves a fancier tomb than Washington,
Jefferson, Lincoln, et al. Your tax
dollars at work.
Speaking of the Naval Academy…
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