Pitchfork Solutions

The success of America has always been relative. This means, it could have been better. Instead, we chose worse. The genesis of our decline began with higher education and spread from there. At first it was largely well-intended. Americans took an interest in the world around them. They wanted to know about other cultures and such. America is a big country and also somewhat geographically isolated. Unlike Europeans, they never traveled much to see for themselves what was actually out there. Many with Jewish names were barred from traveling to certain places or were treated shabbily once they got there. In order to sate their curiosity they turned to universities and colleges. And academia set out to fill this need.

They imported foreign scholars. What better way to teach about other countries and cultures than to have a native do it! The foreign professors were eager to accept. It was their chance to strike a blow for the home team. Their areas of expertise were rapidly elevated to the same status that traditional academic disciplines enjoyed. (The new courses were popular and brought in the money.) But their envy-spawned hatred of America followed them like a dark shadow. They were articulate and relentless in their criticism of their new world. They were often flamboyantly colorful and charismatic. Thus they succeeded in persuading many young, formative minds to believe that Utopia was just around the corner and that America wasn’t it; that, in fact, America hindered any possible progress elsewhere. They brought foreign concepts to the fore which sounded intriguing: Islam; communism; Buddhism; Hinduism; tribalism; Zen; etc.

Revolt had been brewing since the early sixties. The young needed a way to distinguish themselves – to find new, exotic ways in which to express themselves. All the new subjects – many under the aegis of ‘critical theory’ - turned students away from serious consideration of old hat subjects that their parents knew, excelled in and, in some cases, fought for.

These were the privileged among us - those who could afford higher education – who would eventually assume prominent positions in government, media, finance, education and industry.

It is often heard that in order to move ahead a college education is indispensable. It’s become a hard and fast rule, like the Indian caste system. The elite graduates from their ivy-covered cocoons would seldom come in contact with ordinary people. They were well compensated and could well afford to isolate themselves from the unschooled. Elitism came in vogue and without any real understanding of how life unfolds at ground level, they devised ways to dictate compliance as they felt was their right.

Now that the failures of their theories are staring them full in the face, they have responded by circling the wagons. They will be turned out at the first opportunity, hopefully to be replaced by people with real-world experience. They can thank God that the rank and file is comprised mostly of decent, principled individuals who would never resort to entertain pitchfork solutions.