Johnny can't read because the NEA using John Dewey's progressive education philosophy is teaching him not to think! Johnny is not confusing thinking with feelings, he doesn't even know what thinking is! See for yourself.
http://dewey.pragmatism.org/creed.htm

What an interesting statement. It corrects the premise I assumed of how, many progressives think; which explains my inability to understand the basis for their position on a myriad of topics.
I realized, I think differently when I’m emotional. I practice not acting when something gets me upset.
A good friend of mine who has a very high IQ said
“Your emotional quotient is more important than your Intelligence quotient.”
He’s a large man who has no aversion to intimidation or violence. He went on to explain how much that has cost him in his life.
Why do people hate Ayn Rand or Sarah Palin for that matter? There’s no logical conclusion, just fear.

That was a powerful statement.

review:
all of John Taylor Gatto's books on the genesis of public/gov schooling.
"Lincoln's Marxists"
"Hologram of Liberty" and other anti-federalist writings (Lysander Spooner et al)
all of the recent books on Utopianism and the decendants of Plato (communists/progressives/socialists, etc) to understand that the public schools are working perfectly and doing exactly what they were set up to do by John Dewey and his fellow travelers, including the groups that funded the transformation, etc., to create a nation of mostly zombies. Note the culture's recent fascination with fictional zombies - they parallel the feelings of the crushed.

Thomas Sowell is another of my favorite authors, though when he strays from his field of economics he occasionally strays from the purely rational.

EXCELLENT!!! Thank you! :) (I needed that! It goes with my Common Core topic....or did you already know that?)

It's that Johnny doesn't realize he's actually allowed to think.

Granted all the approvals, a Thumbs Down here. Ayn Rand explained how emotions are based on ideas. Your emotions are the sum total of your value-judgments. Conservatives get all weepy when they see an American Flag or hear about military martyrs. Liberals cry when stimulated by baby penguins or other icons. The rational person has an emotional response to pro-life ideas, such as the moment when Jobs and Wozniak agreed to call their computer "Apple."

I got emotional (no tears) watching a not-very-good history of the Medici.

But, you know I actually choked up when in NATIONAL TREASURE when Benjamin Franklin Gates unfurls the Declaration in Independence Hall and says, "The last time it was here, it was being signed." I mentioned that to another patrol officer in a cruiser one night and when I looked over, he was suppressing a sob. So, we all have our emotions.

The problem is not that "Johnny" (or "Mary") have them, but that they lack the introspection to know where they come from.

This guy is great. I wish the African American community would embrace him instead of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.
http://tsowell.com/