Consider that it is more than genetics or upbringing at work here. People are taught by authority, from school administrations to town hall meetings, to the Federal level, to keep quiet, don't make waves. More recently, an old method developed for warfare brainwashing by the Rand Corp. (very unlike our Ayn Rand, no relation), called the Delphi Technique began to be used on citizens. It is now very common to find that technique present at school "strategic plan" meetings, and local government planning sessions. It marginalizes people in a way they fear and do not understand, if they are not trained and prepared to fight it. They separate like thinking people, have plants who inform them no one else feels as they do (too many people care about that one), and get down and dirty if necessary. Our local parent's group studied the process before we went toe to toe with the administration. They use it to pass levies, to change curriculum, to implement Agenda 21 in communities - anywhere a desired outcome with public support is sought. One of our members fell silent, saying she did not think people she knew could be so cruel. Luckily, the rest survived the process and got some concessions.

I looked at the full worksheet. I also noticed this.

In November 1860, Abraham Lincoln
was elected the 16th President of the
United States. This angered many people
in the South, as Lincoln promised to
end slavery, which was necessary for a
large part of the Southern economy.


Lincoln did not promise to end slavery. He opposed slavery but promised not to end it where it already existed. Not surprising they got it wrong.

What's with the words "fair" and "obey"? I brought home a paper a couple months ago from Kinder and it also had these words in it...regarding the Constitution. It says the people are to obey, why not say the government should obey the Constitution? (I don't remember 'obey' being in any of my school work as a kid.)
It also says: "Promote the General Welfare: To help make life good for everybody. Having enough to eat, a place to live, being safe and having friends and fun times are some of the things that make our lives good." I think it would have been much better stated to say, "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Emphasis on 'pursuit'. You are free to pursuit what makes you happy, but you are not guaranteed happiness. That is entirely up to YOU to accomplish." What's wrong with being straight??
Not only are we building on the entitlements of food, and housing, we're now leading them to believe they're entitled to automatic happiness...IF you 'obey'.

Interesting the variety of comments on this topic. Some themes emerge...

1. The validity of the material referenced - Great points here about "general welfare", "pursuit of happiness" and so on. Most of the material is obviously geared to train students to submit to the government authority because it knows best. Some mentioned the mis characterization of Lincoln which is not a new issue. That has been happening in history texts for years. The Civil War had more to do with central government and states rights than it did with slavery.

2. Politicizing of education... ie. the Obama chanting going on, as well as the issues with the referenced material. The educational establishment has been mostly trained, dominated and controlled by those of more 'Leftist' leanings for over 50 years. For a long time the education system has really pushed / taught Patriotism in the form of submitting to the government, not as being a free thinking individual as it was originally intended.

3. People being submissive when it comes to politics. All you have to do is watch what happens on the public stage to see why people stay quiet. Anyone who is a free thinker and doesn't submit to whatever the party line is, becomes vilified as a 'radical' or 'nutcase'. Look at all the things said about Ron Paul. I don't agree with every single thing he said but I agree with the majority of it and in the media he was almost always cast as the outsider nutcase. In the few cases where they agreed with him, it was after the fact when he was proven right and they were just astounded..

4. Why people don't question. Simple answer. People are not taught to think. My parents taught us to question everything and try to learn the facts of something before making a decision. We have taught the same to our kids. The problem with people understanding the constitution, government roles and so on is that they only know what they have 'heard' or what the so called 'experts' have told them. People are not taught to question and learn for themselves. When you are not able to learn something for yourself, you are certainly not going to speak up. and if you do happen to have a different opinion you aren't going to speak up because you don't know WHY you have a different opinion. There are a lot of people that are 'conservatives' or 'liberals' because of one or two issues that they have been told that group supports. In reality they don't have a clue what they believe or why. If you want to think for yourself, go out and read the Founding Fathers, or various philosophers, scientists, etc... and decide for yourself what you think / believe. Don't just think something because others tell you to. I have a friend at work who is on the more 'liberal' side of the aisle that I get along with great. The reason is in talking with him, he has reasoned thought out explanations for what he believes, in other words he's not a mindless parrot. Finally...

Think for yourselves! That is a lot of the gist of what Rand was getting at in Atlas Shrugged. Don't do or think something because others say it's right... Determine it for yourself!

This is even worse than I expected! My daughter, an enthusiastic and gifted teacher quit teaching (high school English) because of all the controls, with Common Core being the final straw

I don't have a horse! (Have you not seen Young Guns? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiI8xNDH7... )
But if I did I could ride it right now...I'm in AZ.

Permalink wanted more posted on the Delphi Technique or Method, as it results in many people remaining silent without knowing why. RAND Corp. (Research and Development) was started by the US Air Force around 1944 to brainstorm and do research on warfare and nuclear programs. It was hoped the ideas would keep enemies at bay. The task was to assemble experts in the field and come up with ideas. As the program became successful, the fields of study expanded to include education and medicine, and today business. Much of the game playing at meetings of businessmen today are outgrowths of the Delphi Method.
They are used to make it fun as they sell collectivism and consensus rule to attendees, who are unaware they are being manipulated.
People often walk into school or city government gatherings unaware that the end goal has already been set. All that remains is to make it appear as if it is attendees came up with the ideas and reached majority consensus.
There is always a facilitator, who who has prior knowledge of the attendees attitudes. Those with wrong ideas are put in task groups with plants who will make them feel they are alone in their ideas and out of step.. Ideas are discussed and accepted or abandoned. With friction forming within the group, the facilitator joins, the out of step person is usually silent by then, and an idea is accepted. It is basic psychological manipulation. I have had task group members tell me the end idea accepted, they did not remember accepting. That is because they are under constant stress from being told they are out of step. I did attend one meeting as a reporter, where the group did not vote as they were supposed to, and the leaders changed the result, saying they met with task leaders later who agreed the (predetermined) outcome was best for the whole. Usually, however, the manipulation works and the predetermined outcome sails to adoption, and peoples opinions are silenced.
Also affecting when we speak out or not, believe it, is TV. The subtle messages sink in as we sit mindless in front of the screen, being fed collectivist ideas as the thing to think. Night after night, we get these messages, until we begin to think no one else in the world feels as we do. Result - our silence. Advertising may have been supposedly banned from using subliminal messages in stores, but they still exist in other places, including some classrooms. Children are told, "There is no I in team." Thus by grade school, they are already set up to not buck the supposed majority. Parents are told school staff know best about their children, thus parents, obviously inferior, remain silent about curriculum, when they should speak up. It has even come to the point where a conservative passion is labeled with some psychological name to discredit the person and keep them silent, esp. military vets and church members. I urged our daughter read "Anthem" at 9, Orwell's "1984" at 10, and passed out copes of "Brave New World" and "The Law" free to any of her classmates who wanted to read them. We have to keep a line of communication with our kids, and we have to fight to keep them thinking and questioning, by setting that example.

I he same old socialistic fallacies. I don't know what they think that the nation is comprised of. Rutabagas? It's people, you idiots! Like their untrue assertion that only 5% will have their health care canceled. Even if it were true, that's still over 17 million people. Seventeen million policy holders plus family members, probably more like 30 million. This has got to be the most mendacious administration in the history of America, maybe even in the history of the world.

Forget Common Core, the problem is much deeper. CC is only a symptom and besides, districts can adopt CC to fit their curriculum. My son and I voted in the last general election at a grammar school. The voting place was inside the school auditorium and we voted while school was in session. We walked towards the voting place and walked by a classroom where we heard the following being led by a teacher with the class responding: "Who's the best?" "Obama." "Who will lead us?" "Obama." Who will take care of us?" "Obama." It went on but by that time we were out of earshot. On our way out an elderly woman commented on the chanting from the classroom. She thought it was so dear for the children to become politically aware.

PROPAGANDA!!! Dog training. Brainwashing. Bull$#!t. What more needs said?

If my kid brought home such drivel as "schoolwork" I'd disenroll them... all kinds of socialist dogma lurking in that worksheet, and I can only imagine how bad the rest of them are...

This reminds me of public schools teaching writing with religious tracts. They say they're not establishing a religion, just teaching writing with what just so happens to be religious material. Similarly, they should not teach a political message in writing lessons. Of all the CC stuff that people don't like, this seems like the worst.

I really think those who see a secret plot to corrupt the youth are crazy. Stuff like this, though, makes it look very questionable.

I am so glad I don't have kids. Trying to fight this indoctrination must be exhausting for parents.

Sounds like a line from “Star Trek The Wrath of Kahn”, “The needs of the many out weigh the needs of the few”.

The only thing that surprises me is that anyone all is surprised

The Individual's needs are the common goods needs , since the common good is made up of individuals