Richard Mitchell Quote

“There is only one remedy for ignorance and thoughtlessness, and that is literacy. Millions and millions of children would today stand in no need of sex education or consumer education or anti-racism education or any of those fake educations, if they had had in the first place 'an' education.”

~ Richard Mitchell

The Underground Grammarian

Ratings and Comments


Tony Trimarchi, Hancock, MA.

I agree 100%. Those fake educational programs rob young students of a decent education and are usually perpetuated by self-serving leftist liberals hell-bent on eroding the very foundations of western civilization!!

Mann, Kalamazoo

This sounds good but is in fact distressingly thin. A solid remedy for ignorance and thoughtless is the applied, intent-filled USE of literary skills. One may possess post-doctoral command of his native language, but if all one's free time is spent in front of a TV, personal ignorance and supreme selfishness becomes certain. Besides, there's nothing fake about societal misery stemming from public ignorance over sex, commerce and racism - the worst aspects of which are usually inherited from peers, parents and clergy.

Mike, Norwalk

Maybe a thumbs down. Literacy is one of many tools in most remedies to heal or fix ignorance and thoughtlessness. The concept is a spin on ancient Greece philosophies of justice. A standard of eternal principles and natural law are much greater remedies. The subject education on sex, commerce and racism in today's occidental world, by the socialist theocracies infesting the many nations, is an exercise in the brutal dismantling of moral, progressing, and educated societies - thus promoting ignorance and thoughtlessness. Most consumer based and otherwise fake educations are promoted under the guise of literacy.

Ken, Spokane

If you can move children toward socialism starting when they are in kindergarten then they will no nothing about what made this country great. All they will learn is to have a greater and greater dependency on the government. We already have a large portion of the population who "vote for a living" and have no intention of getting a job.

J Carlton, Calgary

Wut? Is yo saying the Gubmint doent no what dey is doin?

E Archer, NYC

For me, school simply drummed out of me the desire to learn -- I was not credited for learning anything not assigned, so the only thing to do was whatever they told us. The natural tendency to seek understanding should be encouraged. Literacy is not enough, one must learn how to discern. A free society requires the good consciences of the people. Civics classes in the old days helped educate good citizens on their responsibilities and rights. Honor and integrity are not the exclusive domains of religion -- and they are in relatively low supply in government institutions except as political talking points -- and these virtues are absolutely necessary for a good world.

rita, richland

Spot On!!

EmmSea, Brisbane, Australia

Spot on! The good Professor nailed it.

Patrick Henry, Red Hill

Intention makes the defining difference.

In the Garden, Beelzebub, the archetype of temporal educators, had knowledge to impart. Knowledge such as was intended not to liberate but to indoctrinate and subjugate. In the absence of the ennobling presence of Virtue and the constraining influence of Morality, education readily and commonly assumes manifold malign forms.
As in the Soviet Union and the PRC.
As in the ideology suffused contemporary American Academy.
Objectively, the most sublime purpose of education is the cultivation of character and a concomitant, humility centered, spirit of inquiry.

Mick, Manchester

I'm not sure that literacy and education are antidotes to racism, sexism and rampant consumerism however, the fact that universal literacy and the opportunity of education remains an aspiration in the modern world shames us all.

jim k, austin

Mark Twain said never let schooling get in the way of your education.

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