What Would Socrates Do?
This post is a tribute to Earl Shorris, one of my favorite writers on education who passed away in 2012. I am reprinting the April 16, 2013 Wall Street Journal Book Review of his latest book, The Art of Freedom. This piece was written by Naomi Schaefer Riley. In The Art of Freedom, Earl Shorris describes his efforts […]
The Charles Schulz Philosophy
Although this philosophy has often been attributed to the creator of Charlie Brown and Snoopy, there is no evidence that he actually penned it. Regardless who the author is, it still makes my point. In our capacities as fathers and mothers, family protectors, and business decision makers, we all have to measure other people. […]
The Dawning Of A New Era
We have been saying for years that the day would come when the concepts and results of a liberal education would again be valued in politics, business, and society in general, that citizenship would enjoy a renewed position of importance in our nation, and that statesmen would rise up in our capitols to provide courageous […]
The Liberal Arts During Bondage; Part Three: The Fourth Turning: The Opportunity Of The Century
Click Here to Read Part One Click Here to Read Part Two To wrap up this series, let’s rely on history to show us a way out of Bondage. As was mentioned in part two, we not only rely on the 250-year society oriented Tytler Cycle to show us the way, but the more personal […]
The Liberal Arts During Bondage: Part Two; How Do the Liberal Arts Help Us During Bondage?
Click Here to Read Part One Bringing You Up To Speed If you will recall from part one, for the past twenty years, we have taught that America was somewhere on the “pre-bondage” side of the cycle, between Selfishness and Dependence. As we enter 2013, we have clearly entered the Bondage phase. Just consider […]
If It Saves Just One Life
I was shocked, dismayed, and like you I personally grieved for the families who lost children at the Newtown, Connecticut shooting just two month ago. What a severe act of violence. Who can make sense of 27 senseless deaths? It will indeed be a black mark on American history. And as much as I try […]
The Fat Lady Begins To Sing
And so it begins… The most recent national election declared the passion of the American people for the Nanny State. Of the almost 127 million voters, a majority preferred a governing system that favors high taxes, a saturated welfare system, forced health care, and an abundance of government dependent workers. Apparently we have learned nothing […]
The Liberal Arts During Bondage: Part One
[This series of posts are a continuation of the blog posted on January 1, 2013 at Shanonbrooks.com entitled Job Training Versus Character Education] What does bondage look like? One attribute of human nature is that we tend to acclimate over time to whatever condition we are experiencing. We get used to the hot or cold […]
Job Training Versus Character Education
Modern higher education has become proficient at convincing the American public that to earn a good living, one must hold a college/university degree. While some jobs/careers do require specialized training, the scheme of requiring a degree in most cases, is more a function of credentialism and jumping through hoops than actual job preparation. Just ask […]
A Renaissance in Social Leadership
I actually wrote and posted this article in 2009, but I felt that it was a good time to take another look. In Lee Iacocca’s book Where Have All the Leaders Gone?, he strikes a poignant cord—with all of these problems we are facing, where is the outrage? And now that he mentions it, […]