Is Patriot Day the Sign that Schools of Thought are at War?
Patriot Day - our nation's 911 call
September 11th is an indelible spot, a milestone on the mental timelines of the American people. It is the day that we lost our sense of security, confidence and optimism in ourselves and the world. We were getting a true taste of fear that comes with being marked for execution. All of our previous “battles” after the Civil war seemed to be small in scale, detachable, and on foreign soil so that we really didn’t get a sense that we were actually at war.[1]
Patriot Day changed America, but what kind of change was it signifying? Americans woke up to a new kind of reality that we had entered a new age of enmity against a new kind of foe.[2] Thirteen years later I sense though somehow our collective thoughts seem to be: That happened 13 years ago, stop rehashing the past and think of the future and forget already! There are two sides to that school of thought of course. No and Yes! No, we shouldn’t forget and we do need to memorialize Patriot Day and remember the “why” of the action! and Yes, we need to think of the future from this milestone onward having learned the “why” of the action and that it can happen again, lest we forget![3] Now with the new terror attacks vividly illustrating bolder and more direct personal acts of intimidation, I was left with a clear sense of déjà vu. This wasn’t over for them or for us! I wanted to find out why.
It seems to me now it was in actuality the first visible nail on the coffin of America’s apparent demise.[4]
I phrase the question in the context of Patriot Day because of all the rhetoric out there in regards to the supposed “schooling” of radicalism. The September 11th memorial seems to portray the most visible examples of ideologies gone awry. We have to wonder: how did we get there? And can we conduct such atrocities according to what we have have been taught?
From everything I've learned in the course of my studies I have to conclude that their schools of thought teach: retaliation & hate – by word or sword.[5]
I just need to preface here because I don’t want to be misunderstood, as I try to tackle this “explosive” subject from an academic, school of thought perspective. I am not in any way belittling or negating the tremendous suffering families, friends, and people went through and are still going through on either side. I am trying to establish what “we” did before and why we did what we did after that fateful day.
The “we” are those that had not been directly impacted by the projectiles of destruction and could easily “move on” with life. I am talking about those of us that weren’t physically, psychologically or spiritually crippled by the trauma, but were still able to dust off, clean up and get on with living. Once we determined that we had survived, the dust settled, we cleaned up the rubble of destruction and we said goodbye to our old lives, what was it that caused us to think like that? What schools of thought taught us to look to the future and proclaim a “memorial” day? What school of thought taught us to unveil our symbolic memorial like One World Trade Center as tribute to the old life and a promise to the future? I have to conclude then and concur with what former New York governor Mario Cuomo said: “Instead of hate and retaliation, our tower demonstrates our resilience and commitment to the spirit of both New Yorkers and Americans.” [6]
The Spirit of America was reborn on Patriot Day
What “spirit” was Cuomo talking about? I would venture to say it has to do with faith, hope and love of a country and its people and the promise of the American dream expressed in the Constitution[7]. The premise of the Constitution is that all Americans will be taught and live (and die) according to this creed: reconciliation and love is it's message. [8]
The 9/11 milestone, in the form of the One World Trade Center memorial and a Patriot Day on a calendar and all those other traditions, holy days, culturally relevant events are enforced and perpetuated by us humans because that’s how we’ve been taught and believe (or forced to believe). It is in our make-up; we love to make things, leave a mark(er)s or signs that remind us of significant events or things/people. If we are to be honest with ourselves, we all have beliefs, myths, cruxes, reasoning, tangible items that we have faith in that we adhere to in our societies, our cultures, our homes, our minds, and our hearts, and each of those markers or symbols is unique to the person. In order for us to find common ground, a common unity we need a symbol, a memorial, a pillar that visually and psychologically reminds us what we are living for.
Schools of thought are built on memorials too, and if we are really seeking to understand the “why” of a particular type of schooling we need to dig deep to the roots to find the foundations or the pillars of these teachings. We need to go back to the beginning to find the foundations or the teachings that causes our behaviors. I have heard it said recently that the Pareto Principle is evident everywhere: our situations are caused by 20% knowledge and 80% behavior.[9] Where does knowledge come from? From “schools” – it is a “place” where you get educated.[10] In trying to write this “educational” essay my research (all from print media) has found that all my sources believe strongly in education – it has made them and us and therefore this country into what it is today![11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21]But that’s still only 20% of our worth; apparently 80% of our daily living is taken up by our behavior to fulfill what we have been taught!
School was a place for education, now it's a place for indoctrination
In my further studies I learned that genesis of the anti-Americanism schools of thought started in the 1960’s. Schools began teaching ideologies that touted anti-majority rule [22]– and radicalism were its tools of choice. These ideologies became doctrines steeped in traditions of men[23] all believing they were doing what’s right. We forgot to go back to our humble beginnings where we: “knew ourselves”[24] and understood that we are capable of incomprehensible evil [25] and interminable good. [26] According to Dinesh D’Souza, a former White House policy analyst and author, this anti- American radicalism came about by the success of capitalism. Affluence became our nemesis and produced the generation of spoiled children of the 1960’s who were motivated by “liberating” themselves (and society) of the old ways of hard-work, self-discipline and deferred gratification from the generation that had to survive and thrive through blood, sweat and tears after the depression and WWII. Their radical approaches to liberation involved seeing themselves as victims of the power states or structures of their societies (which are parents, authorities/laws, or governments), and also “saving” others from the power states or the enemy. To summarize their schooling involved using an up-side down strategy popularized by Saul Alinsky, also known as the Lucifer Strategy which utilized polarizing, demonizing, organizing and deceiving methods. Their ultimate hope for the future would be a “socialistic” society where everything was owned by all of the people, no more middle class and “everyone” would be like everybody else. Act the same, dress the same, make the same, live the same, look the same (except for those “powers” that make “it” happen of course).
Today’s progressive (previously known as liberal or left-leaning) schools and educators teach against capitalism and they have a sort of anti-affluence campaign that goes like this: “Fair” (= equal) share not “Merited” (not equal) share. The first step in this process: Polarize: create divisions between the groups (e.g. haves and have-nots). Step two: Demonize – mark & target the groups (haters vs. non-haters); Step three: Organize those groups to mark and target each other and fourth and most important step: Deceit - keep up the pretense of a good and worthy benefactor that brought this all about (by whatever deceptive methods at your disposal).
Sounds like a god-complex to me – gods meeting out their just rewards through retaliation and hate (mind you all packaged in terms of: public health and benefit). So whichever god prevails at the moment you will see that ideological school of thought expressed more often or louder than any other and “we” (unbelievers) shall be penalized if we don’t “accept” their ideological mindset and methods.[27] Any memorials, markers or laws that do not follow in the opposing ideological guidelines will be removed, destroyed, or otherwise brought in disrepute by whatever means possible.[28] The anti-American rhetoric was primarily taught in our “Higher Learning” institutions but now it seems we have many such disciples in our “Highest” leadership positions. Progressives’ terminology and teaching sounds eerily similar to Islamists’ terminology and teaching. Is that coincidental?[29] I don't think so, it’s exactly what they want it to be: a war – in fact in all honesty – it is a holy war.
Teaching Democracy funded by Capitalism or Socialism?
Many educated people have correctly stated that capitalism is not evil or good, just like money is not evil or good. Capitalism and money are amoral. But in the hands of a human(s) and what purpose or the outcome it’s used for can be deemed evil or good. D’Souza studied this issue and concluded that capitalism created wealth and got more people out of poverty than socialism or communism ever did.[30]
Why do you think American capitalistic companies are so eager to have their customer’s sign their terms and conditions?[31] They want no part of the responsibility and accountability of “teaching” the wrong things so we can come back and sue them. We are using their products and their services at our own risks. What a novel idea. Now I see a totally different picture with our present government mindset (i.e., school of thought). It wants to take “responsibility and accountability” for everyone’s education, health, wealth and safety?[32]
Am I the only one that thinks this way: "What utter uneducated drivel am I hearing from our leaders?" I am inclined to echo the words of John Stossel and Glenn Beck et al: No, they can’t make such promises and keep them. [33] Even our capitalistic companies know better than to pontificate about that. They may try to do some false advertising (and promise you the moon – apparently everybody does it) but when the rubber meets the road, they know where their responsibility and accountability ends – the moment the customer writes on the dotted line and clicks the “Terms and Conditions” button.[34] And that’s how it should be for all of us: our government has only so much right to expect certain things from us, their electorate. We, the governed, can only expect our government to be able to do certain things for us, the rest should be taken care of on the “local” level (parents, neighbors, community, city, county, and state) by us ourselves within the American capitalistic system of ours. Granted we got a little off-track and we need to fix things (no more bail-outs, new money creation, debt-spending/wealth-spreading etc.) but we do know this for sure because we studied it: Marx’s communism* does not work, and no actual societies can function that way.
So in my humble opinion and educated hypothesis I want to offer this – Four-fold strategy to stop the war happening in our schools:
- Teach about & from the Judeo-Christian Bible
- Teach true American History & not the politically correct versions
- Teach immigrants/citizens about the American Constitution
- Teach everyone the American Creed: Work & Service
*Communism: a political theory derived from Karl Marx, advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs: https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome-psyapi2&ion=1&espv=&ie=UTF-8&q=definition%20of%20communism
[1] Time Special Publication - America: An Illustrated Modern History 1914 – 2014; The World Wars; Vietnam; Korea; Kuwait; 9/11 on US soil; war on terror in Afghanistan and Iraq – only 50% of Americans feels safe – http://news.yahoo.com/terror-isis-911-poll-134635258.html
[2] Time Special Publication - America: An Illustrated Modern History 1914 – 2014; page 104.
[3] http://dailycaller.com/2014/08/08/isis-threatens-america-we-will-raise-the-flag-of-allah-in-the-white-house/ and Dr. Mike Evans has been warning for 30+ years that this might happen: The Final Generation and http://www.westernjournalism.com/heres-next-country-taken-sharia-law/#jCuqPuuqGUyx8pvf.01
[4] Writings of pundits and scholars everywhere talk of American decline: 
[5] Excerpts of actual words out of the Osama bin Laden’s Letter to America (two questions they answered): “(Q1) Why are we fighting and opposing you? Q2) What are we calling you to, and what do we want from you?” His answers: “Q1: (1) Because you attacked us and continue to attack us. (2) These tragedies and calamities are only a few examples of your oppression and aggression against us. It is commanded by our religion and intellect that the oppressed have a right to return the aggression (emphasis mine). Do not await anything from us but Jihad, resistance and revenge. Is it in any way rational to expect that after America has attacked us for more than half a century, that we will then leave her to live in security and peace?!!” For Q2: “(1) The first thing that we are calling you to is Islam…It is to this religion that we call you; the seal of all the previous religions. It is the religion of Unification of God, sincerity, the best of manners, righteousness, mercy, honour, purity, and piety. It is the religion of showing kindness to others, establishing justice between them, granting them their rights, and defending the oppressed and the persecuted. It is the religion of enjoining the good and forbidding the evil with the hand, tongue and heart. It is the religion of Jihad in the way of Allah so that Allah's Word and religion reign Supreme.” “(6) Sixthly, we call upon you to end your support of the corrupt leaders in our countries. Do not interfere in our politics and method of education (emphasis mine). Leave us alone, or else expect us in New York and Washington.” Reitered at the end of the letter: “(1) The first thing that we are calling you to is Islam.” “(2) The second thing we call you to, is to stop your oppression, lies, immorality and debauchery that has spread among you.” The letter’s conclusion reads: “If the Americans do not respond, then their fate will be that of the Soviets who fled from Afghanistan to deal with their military defeat, political breakup, ideological downfall (emphasis mine), and economic bankruptcy. This is our message to the Americans, as an answer to theirs. Do they now know why we fight them and over which form of ignorance, by the permission of Allah, we shall be victorious?” http://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/nov/24/theobserver
And read another charismatic teacher’s words: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/kampf.html
[6] Page 126 – 127 in Time Special Publication: America: An Illustrated Modern History 1914 – 2014.
[7] U.S. Constitution: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution.html
[8] We know we are not free from error and we still have work to do in this republic. But with anything we love, we are committed to work hard to make the best of it to the best of our ability. We pledge our allegiance daily and sing our national anthems not just because they make us feel good; they are reminders of our patriotic schooling and they are actually for our good. Our American pledge, and our anthem points back to our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution – a memorial signed in 1776 and 1787 by a patriotic people to future generations of patriotic American people. We are to remember and teach about the “why” of the memorials in our lives and realize that they keep the vision of the spirit of America ever before us: that we are resilient and committed and will swallow up hate with love, so help us God.
[9] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto_principle; Mr. Pareto was an economist - heard it again in my book: Moonlighting on the internet by Yanick Silver with Robert Olic and again in my Financial Peace University classes by Dave Ramsey.
[10] A school is a building, a group, a family, an individual or books/CD’s/DVD’s, media and life-streaming etc.
[11] Article: “Get Your Child into the Ivy of her Choice – For Only $600,000* (*Before Tuition, Room and Board) by Peter Waldman. Bloomberg Businessweek. Sept. 8 – 14, 2014. http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-09-03/college-consultant-thinktank-guarantees-admission-for-hefty-price
[13] Statements from President Obama: “To avoid being mistaken for a sellout, I chose my friends carefully. The more politically active black students. The foreign students. The Chicanos. The Marxist professors and structural feminists.” From Dreams from My Father. Barack Obama. (Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin – founding fathers of communism).
[14] An Inconvenient Book. Real Solutions to the World’s Biggest Problems. Glenn Beck. 2007. Published by Threshold Ed. N.Y.
[15] Trickle Up Poverty. Stopping Obama’s Attack on Our Borders, Economy, and Security. Michael Savage, 2010. HarperCollins Publishers, N.Y.
[16] The Mentor Leader. Secrets to Building People and Teams that Win Consistently. Tony Dungy with Nathan Whitaker. 2010. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. IL.
[17] Nomad. From Islam to America – A Personal Journey Through the Clash of Civilizations. Ayaan Hirsi Ali. 2010. Published by Free Press NY.
[18] No They Can’t. Why Government Fails – But Individuals Succeed. John Stossel. 2012. Threshold Ed. NY.
[19] Blacklash. How Obama and the Left are Driving Americans to the Government Plantation. Deneen Borelli. 2012. Threshold Ed. NY.
[20] America the Beautiful. Rediscovering What Made This Nation Great. Ben Carson, M.D. with Candy Carson. 2012. Zondervan MI.
[21] America. Imagine a World Without Her. Dinesh D’Souza. 2014. Regnery Publishing Washington, D.C.
[22] It could be: anti-colonialism, anti-religion, anti-nazism, anti-communism, anti-terrorism or anti-capitalism.
[23] F.M. Davis, B. Ayers, E. Said, R.M. Unger, C. Truxillo, R. Acuna, M. Foucault, S. Alinsky – all believed in radicalism: “Revolutionaries want to change the world, of course, and teachers, it turns out, want to change the world too” statement attributed to domestic terrorist Bill Ayers on page 72 - “America, Imagine a World without Her” by D. D’Souza; in Academia: Charles Darwin brought to the forefront the shift in religious/spiritual schools of thought. Even the Judeo-Christian Bible has something to say about it: Mark 7:6 + 7 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=mark+7%3A+6+-+7&version=AMP -
[24] Socrates: “Know thyself” at http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/275648.Socrates and Romans 3: 10-12, 20 + 23-24 from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=romans+3&version=AMP
[25] Present day examples of mass extinctions of groups of people: babies in the womb, North Vietnam vs. South Vietnam, the Hutus vs. the Tutsis, the Non-Muslims vs. the Muslims, the Muslims vs. the Jews and the Christians and other Muslims etc. names change but the wars don't. Ms. Ayaan Hirsi Ali experienced first-hand the results of such radical teachings and renounced Islam after 9/11/01: http://theahafoundation.org & http://www.voanews.com/content/nigerias-boko-haram-insurgents-force-victims-to-fight-kill/2418843.html and stories of young people who get “educated” in different ways: http://news.yahoo.com/bianna-golodryg-interviews-robb-leech-025356716.html?soc_src=copy & Malala Yousafzai was marked for death because she advocated for education in a Muslim country: “I am Malala – How one girl stood up for education and changed the world” – by M. Yousafzai with P. McCormick, 2014 Young Readers Edition, Little, Brown and Company, NY.
[26] Lost Boys. Why Our Sons Turn Violent and How We Can Save Them – James Garbarino, Ph.D. page 237-238. 1999. Published by The Free Press, New York, NY and James Garbarino, PhD and Robert HA Haslam, MD & White’s Rules, Saving Our Youth One Kid At A Time by Paul D. White with Ron Arias. 2007. Morgan Road Books, New York.
There are many worldwide ministries that serve the poor and destitute: http://theahafoundation.org; FeedingAmerica.org; RedCross.org; ConvoyofHope.org; and WorldChallenge.org etc.
[27] Article by Mr. Nawaz, Founder of Quilliam (Think Tank) in the Wall Street Journal (12/12-13/2015) & author of: "Radical: My Journey Out of Islamist Extremism" - He calls this: the Voldemort effect - the refusal to call Jihadism/Extreme Islamism by its proper name ( 
[28] http://familypolicyalliance.com/issues/2014/09/11/stoplight-monuments-rule/ and I am sure you can recollect in the not too distant past we were told no more Judeo-Christian bibles, prayers, biblical creation, ten commandments, crosses, fetus/babies or “undesireables (as viewed in the eye of the beholder)” were considered worth protecting and displaying in the public square or marketplace… because as a fait accompli: We are no longer a Christian nation – and a new audacious hope had arisen to bring change and fundamentally transform this country courtesy of the progressive school of thought.
[29] “Once abolish the God and the government becomes the God” – G.K. Chesterton
[30] Chapter 10: The Virtue of Prosperity in America. Imagine a World without Her. 2014. Dinesh D’Souza
[31] Just a smattering of the jargon found in the Terms and Conditions of my telephone provider – they expressly DO NOT want responsibility of handling my life, my family, my children – and that’s exactly how it should be; the mature adult is solely responsible and accountable for the “content” of the teachings we allow in our and our family’s lives: “We make absolutely no guarantees about the Data Content you access on your Device. Data Content may be: (1) unsuitable for children/minors; (2) unreliable or inaccurate; or (3) offensive, indecent or objectionable. You are solely responsible for evaluating the Data Content accessed by you or anyone on your account. We strongly recommend you monitor data usage by children/minors. Data Content from third parties may also harm your Device or its software.”
[32] Examples of government “social policies” for the “betterment” of our citizens: “A free and pluralistic society requires everyone, including corporations with religiously observant owners, to comply with laws intended to advance public health and the general public interest.” Statement made by a lawyer for the ACLU In: http://www.fpiw.org/tyranny-good-intentions/ and article about the results of legalization of pot: http://familypolicyalliance.com/issues/2014/09/05/growing-like-a-weed/ and Childhood is Childhood, Adolescence is Adolescence: Dr. Garbarino, Ph.D. talks about a “social contract” he had with his parents; he knew his place, they knew theirs, he obeyed them and they sheltered and protected him. He notes that today’s youth are flooded with media images of sexuality and violence, naming the Clinton Sex Scandal as an example. They are treated as older adolescents, and given responsibilities and a voice they don’t understand. http://www.psychpage.com/family/library/garbarino.html
[33] No They Can’t. Why Government Fails – But Individuals Succeed. John Stossel. 2012. Threshold Ed. NY. & Conform. Exposing the Truth about Common Core and Public Education. Kevin Balfe and Kyle Olson. 2013. Threshold Ed./Mercury Radio Arts, N.Y.
[34] http://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/sep/13/scientific-research-fraud-bad-practice & http://www.citizenlink.com/2014/09/18/stoplight-clear-up-the-misunderstanding-citizenlink/
