WHAT GUMMINT DO
West Virginia Diploma Test - 1931
Jodi
Lou sent me this 1931 West Virginia Elementary School Diploma
Test. You can download the entire thing (,pdf) HERE.
Of
course it will elicit the usual comparisons between then and now; the
older you are the harsher the comparison. But, this is what
struck me
the
most.
Look at the Geography section. The emphasis on the
local economy and West Virginia itself hearkens back to a time when
people saw themselves as citizens of their state first, and Americans
second. When Robert E. Lee was offered command of the Army of the
Potomac in 1861, the Virginian rejected the command on the
day after
Virginia seceded. It was with Virgina, he felt, that his sacred
honor
dictated he must follow. And what a wonderful notion it was,
federalism.
It meant that if the state you lived in wasn't being governed to your
satisfaction, you could vote with your feet and move to another. It was
what the framers anticipated. All that ended with the election of FDR
in 1932.
Yes, you can still vote with your feet, but to little avail,
since the
Federals and their courts dictate what the states may, or may not
do. We have chained ourselves to a central
government, so that today
we are reduced to debating passage of New Jersey Democratic Sen.
Frank Lautenberg’s “21st Century WPA Act” to reinstate the FDR's
New Deal employment program. Laut's estimated cost
— through 2013?
— $250 billion! I am positive Lautenberg would have failed this
West Virginia test.
Here a 1910 test
from Washington state.
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New Jersey needs to have it's statehood revoked.
ReplyDeleteCasca
That's exactly what I propose. Rather than seceding from the union, the good states need to expel states like Jersey (neither action being prohibited by the constitution, btw).
ReplyDeleteI regard myself as a citizen of the Free State of Tennessee.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the Feds (and SCOTUS - Wickard v. Filburn) regard everything as interstate commerce and, hence, subject to domination by the Federal government.
I saw Lautenberg give a pitch for his WPA idea on TV this week. He said it would be just like FDR's WPA in 1935. He neglected to say that the original WPA didn't work. It impeded recovery, which didn't occur until AFTER World War Two. Also, at WPA camps, the rape of women was rampant, and virtually unreported. It seems FDR had the same kind of media support that the current commy has.
ReplyDeleteSchools have dumbed down every year since they hired all the hippies in the '60s-70s to go from rioting protesters to teachers/administrators. High School diplomas are now worthless and a 4-year college degree is equal to a High School degree from that era.
ReplyDeleteMy son graduates college next year and looking around his campus it appears that at least 20-30% shouldn't be there and 25% or so should be in a trade/technical school. Most can't even put together a coherent sentence.
Billions and billions of dollars are being wasted just to make the kids feel good by getting a piece of nearly worthless paper.
TimO, you mean all this started about the time the U.S. Dept of Education was created and the teacher's unions got going?
ReplyDelete