“The Fine Print”, by Michael Schrader

ARE THE EDUCATED EDUCATED?

(Written 25 February 1998. Published in the Neighborhood Journal. Posted 19 June 2009.)

The danger of being a columnist is that, to many, you are considered to be an "authority." (Or at least, you hope you are considered to be an authority.) Because of this perception, then, much of what a columnist writes is accepted as "truth."

"John Smith wrote it, so it must be the truth."

The same is true for talk show hosts. I know those who will regurgitate everything said on a radio talk show as absolute gospel. Because the pundits' opinions are perceived to be the truth, they become the truth. This, of course is very dangerous to the stability of our society.

Let me say that I try and make it obvious when I am talking in absolutes and when I am just spouting my opinion. Of course, there have been occasions that I have not done a very good job of making this distinction known, and my opinions have been misinterpreted as facts. It just so happens, on those occasions when I have blurred the lined between fact and opinion, truth and fiction, I have been called to task for it, too. (Not only by the editors, but also by readers.) Deservedly so, I might add. And I am thankful that I have been taken to task, too. I would hate to be responsible for perpetuating an untruth.

I thought about this after reading a statement made by a columnist in another newspaper. In a paragraph about why Robert E. Lee was great, this columnist compared Abraham Lincoln to Adolf Hitler and labeled the American Civil War the "War of Northern Aggression". It's one thing for a letter writer to get the facts wrong; it's quite another for a journalist to get them wrong. This columnist is well respected, so I am sure that his opinion will be accepted as gospel and perpetuated as fact. It is such perpetuations of misinformation that cause us so much trouble.

To set the record straight, let me first establish my credentials: I am a graduate student in History, and have read quite a few books on the subject of the American Civil War. So, here, for the record, is what happened. Ready?

In a nutshell, some hotheads in South Carolina did not like who was duly elected President. So, they decided to rebel. They attacked the federal forces in Charleston Harbor. In short, it was an attempted coup d'etat. Lincoln did exactly what just about every other leader who has found themselves faced with an insurrection (including Washington) has done--sent out the troops to restore order.

It had nothing to do with slavery. It had nothing to do with the North wanting to subjugate the South. It had nothing to do with the South really wanting their own country. It had to do with one group in one state not being able to accept the will of the people. That's all.

For any American to compare Lincoln to Hitler is, well, despicable. Lincoln was a legitimately elected leader trying to put down an armed revolt in his own country. Hitler was a usurper who conquered other countries, and, to the world's horror, systematically attempted to exterminate those races he deemed "unworthy." (Not just Jews, but also Slavs, Gypsies, Catholics, and any other person he decided did not deserve to live.)

The educrats shake their heads and wonder why our children are coming out so uneducated. We need to only look at ourselves. Obviously, those who are doing the educating are uneducated as well. How else can you explain how a member of the intelligentia, a journalist, could actually believe and promulgate such fiction?

I must agree with the educrats that there is indeed something wrong. Perhaps a healthy dose of skepticism will help salvage the education system. Perhaps the system is beyond the point of repair, and needs to be torn down and rebuilt from ground zero.

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