National Books by Carolyn

I'm going to break the rules of this blog (again) by copying part of a chapter from a book I am currently reading, rather than writing my own text. My intent is to begin some thinking and some dialogue about what this author writes. Read carefully and consider . . .

     In 1987, the bicentennial of the Constitutional Convention, three very important bestsellers swept America: Robert Bork's The Tempting of America, E.D. Hirsch's Cultural Literacy, and The Closing of the American Mind by Allan Bloom. They presented essentially the same message, about law, society, and education, respectively: that we have straying from our founding - and not in a good direction. . . 

     Consider Allan Bloom's profound analysis of American education. As I read this modern classic, three major points stood out. First, societies are successful when people choose to be good. If people choose mediocrity, they end up with a mediocre society. If they choose excellence, they build an excellent society; if they choose decadence, society decays. This is not only common sense, it is historically accurate.

     Second, people choose to be good when they are taught and believe in good. People's choices are a direct result of their beliefs. And their beliefs are profoundly influenced by what they are taught by parents, friends, teachers, clergy, etc. If they are taught a falsehood or even evil, and if they believe it, they will choose poorly. Teaching influences belief, which guides action.

     Third, the thing which demonstrates how well they are taught is their national books. A national book is something that almost everyone in the nation accepts as a central truth. The national book of the Jews is the Torah; Muslims, the Koran; Christians, the Bible, etc. It could be argued that Shakespeare is a national author for England, Goethe and Luther for Germany, Dante and Machiavelli for Italy, and so on. Whatever the nation, its national books, the books that almost everyone in the nation revere and believe in, will determine the culture. Good national books, like the Bible or Shakespeare's works, will lead to a good nation. Bad national books like The Communist Manifesto or Mein Kampf will lead to bad nations until they reject such books.

     Now, what of a nation with no national book, with no central text which almost everyone agrees upon as the measuring rod of right and wrong? Such a nation is simply without culture, or at best is in the process of losing it. . . 

     In fact, there is no national book in America today. No national books mean no culture; and this is very ominous for the future. Any society which loses its national book declines and collapses in ignorance, dwindles and perishes in unbelief. 

     This seems to be a propitious time to think about this author's statements. We are close upon the anniversary of our nation's birth, a time for celebration. Yet, our country is in turmoil at every level - socially, politically, economically. We are searching for reasons, for someone to blame, for some positive, forward-propelling action we can take.

     So what do you think of his three points, and why? What are the implications for our nation and ourselves if his points are valid?

     

The author has certainly given me some food for thought.

From A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-First Century, by Oliver Van DeMille. Published by George Wythe College Press, Cedar City Utah, 2008, p. 63-64.

31 Flavors and the Rules of Hospitality

 Rosebud was my first American friend.  She offered to give me rides to school when I first arrived at the Incarnate Word Academy in Houston, Texas back in 1978.  She kept giving me rides in her little green car; even after others lost interest in the only Iranian that had ever attended the Catholic, all-girl school.  When Rosebud won class treasurer, she invited a few of us to celebrate by having ice cream.  That was my first experience with Baskin Robbins and its 31 flavors.  You have to understand that growing up in Iran, ice cream was sold from late spring until the end of summer.  You could not just go to the store and buy ice cream in the middle of the winter.  Who would want ice cream when it is cold outside?  No one.  No one should.  It is forbidden.  Also, ice cream came in three flavors:  Vanilla, chocolate and strawberry.  What other flavors could there be?  So you can imagine my surprise at the assortment of flavors at Baskin Robbins.  Maybe not 31 exactly, but definitely more than three!  I don’t know why but I chose mint chocolate chip.  The chocolate part I am sure was my attempt to stick to the familiar and the mint and the green color, my leap into a new adventure.  Mint chocolate chip remained my favorite flavor for a long time.

When it came time to pay for the ice cream, I discovered another American novelty.  Even though we were celebrating Rosebud’s success, we each had to pay for our own ice cream.  I was not prepared.  In the Persian culture, when something good comes your way, a new job, a promotion, a new house, a new baby, (getting elected class treasurer, if such a thing existed), you invite your friends to celebrate and treat them with “sweets”, figuratively and literary.  At the least, you bring a box of pastries to share with everyone.  At the most, you kill a sheep and throw a party to share the meat.  I was shocked to find out that was not the custom here!  When it came time to pay, I had to scrounge around in my wallet and I think I even had to borrow a few quarters from Rosebud to pay for my mint chocolate chip ice cream.

Thirty five years in America and I have learned to exercise my right to eat ice cream any time I want.  I rarely choose vanilla, chocolate or strawberry.  After mint-chocolate chip, my favorite flavor is jamoca almond fudge.  But, if I am celebrating something, even if it is just your friendship, I exercise my right to treat. ~Susan.