Is anyone taught basic history or economics anymore? WaPo explains an oligarchy

[Ralph Wiggum]

How f*cking stupid are these people? Are government or civics classes not even taught any more? Apparently not, considering garbage "journalism" such as this nugget (paywall, no linky):

President Joe Biden, in his farewell address to the nation Wednesday, warned that American democracy is being threatened by a burgeoning oligarchy.

“Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead,” he said.

Is he on target with that criticism, and also what is an oligarchy? Here’s what to know.


Amber Phillips       
By Amber Phillips
President Joe Biden, in his farewell address to the nation Wednesday, warned that American democracy is being threatened by a burgeoning oligarchy.

“Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead,” he said.

Is he on target with that criticism, and also what is an oligarchy? Here’s what to know.

Oligarchs are a subset of the very, very rich
Being rich doesn’t necessarily make you an oligarch. An oligarch is someone who influences politics outside the formal system, explained Brooke Harrington, who studies the issue at Dartmouth University. She spoke with The 5-Minute Fix in 2022 when U.S. sanctions were targeting Russian oligarchs at the outset of the war in Ukraine.

“It’s someone who isn’t an elected representative or Cabinet member,” she said, “but who has the ear of the president.”

She pointed to the late Sheldon Adelson, a billionaire casino tycoon and Republican megadonor who did work on U.S.-Israeli relations, as an example of an American oligarch.

Elon Musk almost certainly fits the definition today: The tech billionaire has taken calls with foreign leaders, stopped a government spending bill in its tracks and seemingly hasn’t left President-elect Donald Trump’s side since the end of the campaign. He’s an unofficial leader in the Republican Party; some Democrats have derisively called him “co-president.”

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The rest of the blather explains how the U.S. now, along with Russia also are perfect parallels to oligarchies.

I guess in all their book-learning about the oligarchs and the monopolies from the Gilded Age they've forgotten about such folks as John D. Rockefeller, J.P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Henry Ford, several others.

All of this happy horsesh*t regarding the dangers of big business is so utterly misguided. Without your Bezos, Musk, Gates, Cook, Buffett, Ellison, et al, a lot of Americans (and illegals too) wouldn't have jobs.

[SVPete]

A more accurate term for what LIEden & etc. fantasize is developing would be "Plutocracy".

As C. S. Lewis' Professor Kirk, said several times in The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe, "I wonder what they do teach them at these schools?"

[enslaved1]

There's issues with what is (and isn't) being taught in many classrooms, but there's also issues with what is not being learned in many classrooms. 

My district refuses to hold students back.  They move up, no matter what they don't know and can't do.  There are other schools and districts around the country who are doing the same thing, based on various articles and online teacher communities.

Teaching government, civics, citizenship don't matter when the kids have no reading/listening comprehension skills, no vocabulary, no logic/reasoning abilities, and know nothing about the world outside of what the social media algorithms feed them. 

Gotta have a foundation to build on, when that's missing, whatever you put up is going to fall down.  The only question is when.   

[SVPete]

My impression is that social promotion has become the norm. Can't hurt widdle Johnny's and Janey's feewings nor have to deal with their Karen- and Kyle-grade parents.

I'm so old that until 5th or 6th grade I wondered if my mix of As, Bs, and a couple of Cs (PE and Handwriting) might cause me to be held back to repeat a grade.

[enslaved1]

My impression is that social promotion has become the norm. Can't hurt widdle Johnny's and Janey's feewings nor have to deal with their Karen- and Kyle-grade parents.

I'm so old that until 5th or 6th grade I wondered if my mix of As, Bs, and a couple of Cs (PE and Handwriting) might cause me to be held back to repeat a grade.

Anecdotally, I'm going to say it's a majority, if not quite a norm.  It has come to my attention that at least a couple of nearby districts are not doing social promotion, nor cop outs like "2 weeks of half day summer school that gives you a 70 in the class, regardless of the actual work generated".  There are some anecdotal signs that this mindset is spreading, we will have to wait and see if it's too little, too late or not. 

[Old n Grumpy]

My district refuses to hold students back.  They move up, no matter what they don't know and can't do.

That’s because if they didn’t you would have 7th grade classes filled with 30 year olds

[enslaved1]

That’s because if they didn’t you would have 7th grade classes filled with 30 year olds

A lot of the stupidity gets dropped when there are actual consequences.  Many of my middle schoolers know nothing except that they will move to the next grade whether they do any work or not.  If consequences were to kick in, most of them would quickly realize they do not want to be that much older than the kids around them.  Yes, there would still be a few that don't care, but most eleven year olds will see one or two classmates with mustaches and realize that's not where they want to be.  And those few ignoranuses would be much easier to deal with than the many ignoranuses we presently have to deal with.