Funny how all the Ivy League schools started as seminaries, but now Christianity has become a dirty word and transgenders are glorified. It won't be long that toxic masculinity will lead to toxic-Americanism.  It is a war right underneath our noses.

Excellent distinction!

RBE, a while back you posted that you now have a gun and possibly even a concealed carry permit.  Would you be willing to explain your change of heart?

Thanks.  It couldn't be clearer and more obvious.

Independence, courage, and freedom are integral for a free people.  But cut off the individual from expressions of patriotism, morality, and spiritual life, where are the supports?  Individualism is not a rejection of association, but is the premise behind association itself.  The individual does not give away his/her personal power when agreeing to a code of association.  Consent can only be given voluntarily.  

"And when their servitude lasts and their thoughts follow their behavior, the state becomes totalitarian and subjection is complete."  That's how authoritarianism transforms liberty into servitude.

Indeed!  However, our taxes don't even come close to covering the expenses — the bulk of it all is borrowed on the backs of the People forever.  Frankly, the cost just isn't worth the return.  And the content of the education has become 'socialized' to indoctrinate rather than answer the questions of the student.  It's a labor racket through and through, financed by eternal debt — because no one would pay for it directly, because the investment yields little return.  Never expect education to include how the state fleeces its citizens from cradle to grave for promises that it will not and cannot keep.

Right on.

Now that I am grown up, I see that 'adults' are just old children, as foolish as when they were young.  But most spend their energies putting on airs and perfecting the 'act' that best gets them what they want.  It's interesting that the blowhard broadcaster is treated as an expert while the one that admits he doesn't know is considered a fool.  ;-)

I've learned that you can't give someone else the answer to a question they are not asking — they have no place to put it, and it doesn't make sense without the question.  More preaching is not the answer — it didn't work for you, it will not work on others either.  To inspire, spark the curiosity of others.  Imposing more rules and dogma (i.e. ethics) is just more of the same, it is not empowering.  Civics would be a better option, as few really know about due process and the Common Law.  Where does one learn morality?  It can be learned, but can it even be taught?  We either learn by example or not at all.  Be the example, and pay attention to the responses.  Life is dynamic, not fixed.

Nonsense.  Trump is not sending men to war, he's trying to bring them home.  You can blame the neo-cons Obama, Clinton(s), and Bush(es).

Hilarious!

How absolutist of you ...

The ignorant of the 21st century are those that do not ask questions.  The truth is not broadcast, it is sought out.  The truth is a destroyer of illusions and delusions, which is why most do not seek it but rather make excuses.  The same as in the 20th century and every century before that...

The 'progressives' used such rhetoric to introduce the corrupting influences of socialism/communism.  Freedom of speech has always been the foot in the door for political swindles.  Once 'progressive' policies take hold, speech is restricted to the 'party line.'  Yale Law and U of Chicago have served the political interests of socialists, whether on the left or the right.  The take-over is happening within — via 'education.'

Music is a good example.  While learning guitar and experimenting with various chord progressions, you'll 'discover' nearly every Beatles song there is. ;-)  One can't know the experience of singing in harmony with others without actually doing it.  Learn by doing.

Having home-schooled my children for a while, I often asked myself what/when/how do the children learn?  They are always learning which is why as parents we are always setting an example.  I did find that when we traveled with the children, they picked up a lot along the way, more than when at home.  The differences in language and customs always stand out, which then are compared to our own customs which we were mostly unaware of until we saw something different.

I believe so, Mike.  Perhaps with the Internet revolution, more people around the world will learn about liberty — it certainly is not taught by educational institutions.  Americans are waking up to the con.  People are bypassing university debt and studying on their own.  A college diploma does not hold the same sway as it used to because graduates are not bringing anything to the table for businesses to hire.  They are only good for government work in which they are not compensated for producing anything of worth but for propping up the regulatory structure of people from cradle to grave.  Like Waffler.

In other words, you may not teach your children anything that has not been 'approved' by you (or the 'authority' you bow to)?  A school board is tasked with administering government funds to public schooling.  It is NOT tasked with setting standards for anyone NOT attending their schools.  This is nothing less than regulating knowledge — and these days, more time is spent on 'socializing' the students than educating them.  It's become a labor racket, pure and simple, with unions running the show. 

The entire education industry has become completely corrupted, indenturing students to a debt secured by their labors, for life.  The debt cannot be discharged ever until it is paid back — unlike private business.  And what are students being taught for years and years?  Only that which furthers the racket.  It's a labor regulation racket — you've got to pay the piper if you want that 'certificate' from university.

Frankly, I have learned more on my own; my college education was outdated the moment I graduated.  It was just to delay my entry into the work force and place me on the bottom rung away from competing with the others above me while also placing on me a huge debt that would take years of labor to repay.  Considering most of what I learned, I learned on my own, the education I was paying for was hardly worth the cost.  I eventually became an independent contractor and leap-frogged over generations of guys because I could deliver what they did not learn.  Nothing I was hired for was taught to me in school.

Which is a shame since the Founders were among the most enlightened men of the time.  Studying the history of America is integral for Americans in order to know who they really are and that their government is to preserve their freedom and their rights.  Without that context, people can be made to believe that they are beholden to the dictates of 'authorities.'  Which is why immigration from 3rd world 'refugees' does not help the collective consciousness of Americans, reducing them to uneducated, un-knowledgeable, unempowered victims of their own society, bringing their failed social demands to the US.  If people are not emigrating to the US to be free and responsible citizens, then they are a burden, and not a benefit to a free nation.

We are all well aware of the indoctrination you received, Waffler. Look how you turned out — a tax collector with a federal pension.

Interesting distinction, but as I know how I would like to be treated, I do not necessarily know what others would like.  So I start there.  And if how another would like to be treated also follows the same Golden Rule, then OK.  But what about when others tell you how you MUST treat them, no matter what, then sorry, NO.  It doesn't work that way.  Does the other person ever have to consider what I would like, or must I always acquiesce to others? 

This is the result of adopting socialist/authoritarian "progressive" policies, Robert.  Look to Woodrow Wilson and FDR for attempting to make a global government (League of Nations, and United Nations) in which the US would be the dominant military power.  Central socialist administration of government requires expropriating capital from others to pay the debt-based currency system put in place — a communist plank, by the way.  Domestically, it is the way of socialists to lay claim to the labor of the people; internationally, they expropriate and infiltrate other countries — whether left-wing communism or right-wing fascism, both 'wings' are socialist/authoritarian, and 100% contrary to the principles upon which America was founded.  Put the blame where it belongs.

Please remember that it is Congress that borrows and spends, not the President.

Knowing which is which takes time and attention.  You can bet that whatever you have been 'sold' is what 'they' want you to believe is 'good' or 'evil.'  The search for the truth about anything is to find the good or evil about it as well.  To abstain from evil is to do nothing — that alone will not be enough, one must do good as well.  Truth = good, Lies = bad.  Love = good, Hate = bad.  Kindness = good, violence = bad.  It's not hard if you start with the fundamentals. ;-)