Actually, this is good news. Please let me explain.
I’m a high school English teacher. A lot of the crap portrayed as literature isn’t allowed into my classroom, but that’s not the topic of discussion. Here’s what I’ve found with actual students in a real classroom.
The more strident and ideological the teacher and materials, the more disinterested and cynical the student. Once a student understands that all he or she has to do to pass is vomit back the teacher’s prevailing bias, the student has learned an important lesson: the elites are full of bulls**t.
The same thing happened in the old Soviet Union, where students had to mouth Marxist platitudes in order to pass their classes. They become professionals at mindless writing which reflected the accepted ideology of their leaders. In the end, even the teachers knew it was a mirage.
Among my smartest students, the leftist platitudes about race, diversity, gender and political outlook are the source of smirking disrespect. If I had to put a label on it, I’d describe most of my students as libertarians, with a fairly strong representation of social conservatives. Outspoken leftist attitudes remain in the realm of the teachers, where such thinking is considered by students to be a sign that their classroom leader is an old hippie.
Here’s another good sign. Right now I’m taking an online degree program for my master’s degree. The college is located in Chicago. Students are scattered around the country. I’m in Alaska. There’s not a lot of liberal garbage, either - by my choice. I could have gone to the University of Alaska to get the same degree, but they wanted five times as much money and filled their curriculum with leftist ideals. Someone smarter put together an online program which gave me what I wanted, and with far less cost and headache.
There will come a day, soon, when major academic institutions will be in the same boat as the major television networks - that is to say, they’ll be anachronistic institutions that no one cares about and no one uses. Specialty schools, online or with local branches, will replace the large colleges and universities, as people grab the education they need quickly and effectively and then get to work.
By the way, I warn students about the narrowness of thinking at college or university, too. I also have the seniors read Solzhenitsyn in case they didn’t get the message the first time.
Just my two cents.
I teach English as well. My 9th graders read Anthem. My juniors read the Declaration of Independence and researched natural rights vs positive rights.
It is stupid to try to convince kids that they must serve others. They’re already going to pay for the Stimulus Bill.
My daughter is an 18 yo college sophmore in the local college. She tells me that the kids are arguing and fighting back at the leftist profs. The kids have had it.
Our sons are in high school, and what you say is consistent with much of what we're experiencing with them. They have been spitting back garbage about global warming for years, but they know it's an act. The same is true of much of the literature they're assigned. The kids are often far more astute than the indoctrinators realize.
And the ending really epitomized the hypocrisy and evil of the Soviets and Communism (but you'd miss it if you didn't pay attention, which is probably why it was allowed to be published in the Soviet Union at the time).
Ivan served a ten-year sentence, according to the book. Oh yes, ten years. This is how it was described.
There were three thousand six hundred and fifty-three days like that in his stretch. From the first clang of the rail to the last clang of the rail.
Three thousand six hundred and fifty-three days.
The three extra days were for leap years.
And that has been happening for a long time. Back in the early '80's, when I was in college, the phys. ed. instructor had us doing all sorts of crazy things - like pretending to paint each other different colors. (I'm serious.) Some things she had us do were interesting, though; for example, one exercise involved each of us taking turns being blindfolded and guided by another student. I went to every class and did whatever "work" we were given. In a way, it was fun wondering what she would have us do the next class. She and her class were the talk of the college.
Then, the very last day, she said everyone needed to answer these questions: (1) Are things better or worse today? And (2) what grade would you give yourself?
Every single student answered "worse" and "I would give myself an A." (Note: Most of them hadn't even come to every class.) When it was my turn, I said "better". I heard the guy behind me whisper: "No, no, just tell her what she wants to hear." I continued, "I think I should be given an A because I came to every class and did all the work."
Her reply: "No, I don't think you've learned anything. You get a D." When I protested, she told me to come to her office the next day.
I went to her office, and she gave me cards to sort. The cards had words such as "happy", "sad", and so on. How was I supposed to sort them? In the way I thought best, of course. So, I sat and pretended to "sort" them. When I was finished, she asked if I'd learned anything now. Realizing she was out of her mind, I said, "Yes, I have." She said, "I think you have, too," and she gave me a higher grade.
How did she keep that job for so long? Well, she'd told us the reason on the first day: The college had tried to fire her, but she sued them for sex discrimination. LOL.