Category: History & Culture
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A Chinese Reminder of a 2016 Presidential Candidate
I was showing my class a Discovery video about China’s transformation prior to the Beijing Olympics. I’ve shown this for several years now as it’s a great video to help understand the turmoil China went through in order to emerge as a 21st century powerhouse. One section of the video always produces some laughs. It…
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Record Revenues! Record Debt! Why is $3.25 trillion not enough?
The numbers for fiscal year 2015 for the US Government are staggering. It has collected an all-time record of 3.25 trillion dollars. This is far and away the largest amount any government in history has ever collected from its people. Let’s look at that number again: 3,250,000,000,000 The American people and American corporations are paying…
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Know Your History: Jeannette Rankin
A curious event happened in November 1916. A women was voted into the United States House of Representatives without the aid of one single woman vote. Jeannette Rankin became the first ever congresswoman at the time when women had yet to achieve the right to vote. It’s quite extraordinary, actually. Every once in a while,…
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The Last Thing We Need Are Safe Spaces (“Or abridging the freedom of speech”)
With all the talk about “safe spaces” on college campuses these days, what seems to be lost is the basic fact that “safe spaces” – or spaces where certain speech is curtailed – only exists in authoritarian nations. Think about that. There are college students all over America demanding that the conditions be made on…
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Myanmar: Is Democracy Here?
I have long been admirer of Aung San Suu Kyi, the pro-democracy, Nobel peace prize winning figure who has tirelessly stood against decades of oppression in Myanmar (formerly known as Burma). Now the question can be asked: Is Democracy finally here for the Burmese? Ruling Party Admits Defeat Myanmar’s past has been marred with tyrannical,…
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Know Your History: Progressives vs. Progressives (Part II)
Part I: HERE! In part one of Progressives vs. Progressives, my class researched the progressives of the early 20th century compared to the progressives of today. Part one dealt with protecting social welfare and promoting economic reform. Part two will look at the final two categories: Promoting Moral Improvement vs. Secular Progressivism Foster Efficiency vs. Regulatory…
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Know Your History: Progressives vs. Progressives (Part I)
One of the more enlightening assignments my US History students complete each year is the one where half the class researches the progressive movement of the early 20th century and the other half researches the progressive movement of the early 21st century. It’s true. No two progressives of two different time periods are the same.…
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We need more speech, not less.
Unfortunately, the more I read the news, the more instances I see of free speech being eroded in America and around the world. What’s worse is that some of the most egregious examples are happening in our schools and places of higher learning. As a teacher of both speech and history, I can attest that…
Author Mark W Sasse 