Politically Incorrect Speech Upheld
In case you missed, it a federal Court of Appeals court seems to have brought a dose of common sense to its First Amendment jurisprudence. A high school student wore a shirt that said, "Be happy, not gay." She wore it the day after her school allowed a "Day of Silence," which was held to draw attention to the harassment of gay students. The 7th Court of Appeals ruled that a school that "permits advocacy of the rights of homosexual students cannot be allowed to stifle criticism of homosexuality." Link. You know what would be wonderful? If schools would jettison the political slant altogether and focus on more boring things, like math and reading. But no, the self-righteous don't deem things like "Days of Silence" as political, but rather as fundamental human rights instruction and no more out of line than teaching about the Civil Rights movement or instructing kids to respect their elders. * * * * * * * The Solution. It's all very frustrating, but as I've pointed out before, we can get rid of most of such controversies in one fell stroke: eliminate the monopoly of public education. If people have a choice of schools, they can choose the school that fits their attitude and disposition, instead of turning every public school building into an ideological war zone. You ever wonder why these fights flare up in the public high schools? There are a few reasons, but the biggest is because the local public high school is often the only legitimate option in town for kids aged 14-18. Everyone has to fight to keep it the place they're comfortable with, or else their kid is out of place in school or has to revert to homeschooling. Instill competition in the public schools, and the self-righteous lose their bully pulpit and the rest of us don't need to fight them anymore. A heightened level of peace is thereby restored. * * * * * * * Memories. The "Day of Silence" reminds me of my junior year at the University of Michigan in the 1980s. The campus gay and lesbian crowd declared it "Jean Day." You were supposed to wear jeans if you supported gay rights. The whole thing was ludicrous, of course, since 90% of the student population wore jeans every day, but no matter. I had a pair of yellow plaid golf pants in the closet. I was quite the hit that day. One acquaintance ("Juan," an unsuccessful walk-on for the UM basketball team) saw me in the hallway, roared out a laugh, then exclaimed in a voice that anyone within 50 yards could hear, "Way ta go, Scheske! Show them faggots what's what." It was one of the best moments of my life. And I owe it to a stupid queer stunt. So you see, pretty much anything can be turned into a source of joy. Remember that the next time a pit bull lock jaws your scrotum. * * * * * * * Living Language. Remember that Nock quote from late last month? "A falling stock market seems to clarify and stimulate thought. When it is rising, nobody cares to know why or how, but when it falls, everyone is very eager to know all about it.” Well, Zero Hedge articulated the same observation earlier this week, albeit less eloquently: "Joe Peasant simply looks at the closing level on the Russell 2000 and says: 'Damn, bitch, I am rich. And the economy is just humming along. It just makes me so happy.'" Some truths span the century, but the language that expresses them changes radically. * * * * * * * And Maybe This is Why. Perhaps Joe Peasant doesn't care because Joe doesn't get it. He might also not understand why the dollar's role as a reserve currency is crucial to the United States government and, at this point, our country's entire economy. So maybe that's why China can announce that it plans on taking steps to become the new reserve currency, but scarcely anybody notices. Reuters only ran this two-paragraph blurb yesterday:
China hopes to allow all exporters and importers to settle their cross-border trades in the yuan by this year, the central bank said on Wednesday, as part of plans to grow the currency's international role.
In a statement on its website www.pbc.gov.cn, the central bank said it would respond to overseas demand for the yuan to be used as a reserve currency. It added it would also allow the yuan to flow back into China more easily.
