John Taylor Gatto
Richard Grove of Tragedy and Hope interviews John Taylor Gatto in the ‘The Ultimate History Lesson: A Weekend with John Taylor Gatto’
Uploaded on Jan 1, 2012
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NOTE: Gatto starts 17 minutes into Hour 1 … enjoy!
1) The Ultimate History Lesson: A Weekend with John Taylor Gatto (Intro + Hour 1 of 5)
HOUR 2 OUTLINE:
1. The Ominous Continuity. Fichte, Spinoza, Calvin and Plato. “The Republic” and “The Laws.” The danger of ordinary people. Charles Darwin and “The Descent of Man”, “On the Origin of the Species by Means of Natural Selection, or The Preservation of the Favored Races” “The hopeless Irish.” The influence of Thomas Malthus. “The Book of Common Prayer” and the “Homily of Obedience”. Wedgewood Pottery. (00:25-8:57)
2. Francis Galton and the “Galton Clubs.” The so-called “Menace” to the human race and the way to render them harmless. Eugenics, Population control and the breeding of the “biologically advanced.” The Emergence of the majority of Private Schools post “Descent of Man”. “Fitter Family Competitions” and the reinforcement of Darwinian and earlier philosophies. “Natures Work or the Lords Work” (8:57-14:15)
3. Wilhelm Wundt and the Prussian Ph.D. University of Berlin and Leipzig. Edward Everett as the first American Ph.D. Clout and the ticket to intellectual management. The Japanese “Prussian” Constitution. (14:15-16:45)
4. The “domination of ideas” and connecting the dots. “Not a good way to get tenure.” The lineage of insights. (16:46-18:19)
5. Irrationality and the Utopian ideals. Adam Smith and the “Wealth of Nations.” William Playfair and the so-called destruction of the social order if everyone knew they were capable of intellectual development. “Liberal” is not a dirty word. (18:20-22:50)
6. Adolf Hitler and “Mein Kampf.” Ivy Lee, Bernays and Propaganda. (22:50-23:48)
7. Teaching 5 classes the same material. Discarding the assigned curriculum and exercising your “mental muscles.” Equality across social classes. Predestination, Moby Dick and Gregory Smith’s lesson for the teacher. Active mentalities behind the street idiom. Taking kids seriously. Jamal Watson and doing comic books right. (23:49- 32:49)
8. The nationally known Assassination’s expert that flunked out of Cornell. “Inquest: The Warren Commission and the Establishment of Truth” and “The Rise and Fall of Diamonds: Shattering of a Brilliant Illusion. ” DeBeers Diamond Mines and “worthless” diamonds. “News from Nowhere: Television and the News”. (33:38-36:25)
9. Shaking beliefs, the known universe and seeing the destructive disconnected narratives. The moral and ethical break. Medicine and Nutrition. The closed universe of education and “one hand washing the other.” Shakespeare for 8th Graders. The myth of the “dumb class.” Experts inventing problems. (36:25-40:40)
10. Innate, infinite potential. Apprenticeship, skill building and biological imitation leading to selection. Richard Branson finds his way home and drops out of high school. Independent livelihood. The rationale of corporations and political control. GM and the fast track of finance. (40:40-46:19)
11. Walkabout as a rite of passage. Fragmenting and compartmentalizing education. Striking out so history won’t repeat itself. “The bad things done in school have been intellectually justified.” The definition of marketing as “overcoming sales resistance.” (46:19-49:57)
12. Leveraging the opinion makers. Andrew Carnegie (the Atheist) and Organ donations. Carnegie and Rockefeller Pensions for Teachers. Carnegie Credit Systems. The Religion of Leverage and planning the future of Cities and Nations. The Chautauqua and the leveraging travelling Christian Ministers. Harpers Methodists and Rockefeller Baptists. The forty kinds of Baptist “one small fragment of Baptists that is like Episcopalian.” The Quaker transformation from pious, humble people to the most powerful small sect in the country.” 100,000 Quakers and two American Presidents. (49:58-54:31)
13. You can’t think clearly without the data. “How to spin a local authority into your scheme and let him do the work.” The paycheck dependent managers and those that listen to the tom-toms. Schools in 1905 vs. today. (54:32- 56:54)
14. Frederick Gates, Rockefeller Labor disputes and the idea Philanthropic “altruism.” Private corporate foundations and American schooling. Congressional investigation of Walsh and Reece and how the foundations use leverage to control the curriculum, the testing systems and the public perception. Rockefeller, Carnegie and Ford dividing responsibility. The White House conferences that homogenize public opinion. Ford and the Psychological output of schooling. Carnegie and Rockefeller and Globalization of ideas. Advertising, marketing and media. (56:54-100:50)
END TAPE — “The Mechanics of how it’s done.” (100:50-101:24)
2) The Ultimate History Lesson: A Weekend with John Taylor Gatto (Hour 2 of 5)
HOUR 3 OUTLINE:
1. Corporate and Foundation funding of Education. The Reece Committee, Norman Dodd and the Carnegie minutes. (1:09-2:43)
2. Metaphysical Club, William James, John Dewey, Wilhelm Wundt and the shapers of 20th Century institutions. Charles S. Peirce and Pragmatic Philosophy. The Old Norse Religion. Truth and Justice, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and the Judicial System. (3:15-6:51)
3. Kant and the removal of cause and effect. (Rationalizing irrationality) The Critique of Pure Reason. Pragmatism meets Justified Sinning and the ends justify the means. (6:51-8:23)
4. Bertrand Russell’s “The Impact of Science on Society”, Fichte, cybernetics and influence of Utopia. Psychology and Pragmatism and vehicle of education. (8:24-9:39)
5. Literacy in the Colonies, Coopers’ “The Last of the Mohicans”, and “Common Sense.” Thomas Paine and the Printing Press. The Complexity of Ideas. Teaching the “criminal” active literacy’s and elite boarding schools. Obama, Bill Clinton. Populism and the Science of Speech. (9:40-17:11)
6. Yale and the British Class Tradition. Harvard and the Unitarians. The Massachusetts School Committee. Fabian Socialism and the Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing. Beatrice Webb, the niece of Herbert Spencer. “Root Hog, of Die!” “Kill them with kindness. Vs. kill the brutes.” (17:11- 21:12)
7. The London School of Economics, Arthur Balfour and the Society for Psychical Research. William T. Stead, Cecil John Rhodes. The Avengers, James Bond the License to Kill (21:13-22:43)
8. The Natural Instinct and the Arch of Life. Congregationalists. Martin Luther. “Every Man his Own Priest.” Dissenting independent Religions in the new world. No continuous governments vs. the preservation of hierarchy (22:43-27:04)
9. Intellectual self defense. Oscar Callaway, J.P. Morgan interests and media control. Harry Truman calls out Rockefeller. “Virtual Global Society”, World War II and the inability to replace German losses. War Profiteering and Foreclosing the Freedom of Speech. (27:04-30:47)
10. Carroll Quigley and the Council on Foreign Relations. “Tragedy and Hope” and the “story not as delivered.” The printing controversy, Quigley’s mastery of prose and his admission of agreement. “The Anglo-American Establishment” (30:47-39:35)
11. Revisiting Charles Darwin’s “Descent of Man.” Francis Galton and the institutionalizing the anti-educational nature. (39:54-42:49)
12. The Cato Institute. Adam Smith and the “Theory of Moral Sentiments.” The religion of Libertarian Capitalism (42:11-42:50)
13. Ben Franklin as the “ultimate pragmatist.” The Printing Press, the Postal Service, and the University of Pennsylvania. Franklin and the German Pietist groups. (42:50-50:06)
14. Thomas Edison goes west and “The Grand Trunk Herald.” (50:07-53:30)
15. Documented history as birthright. The colossal crime, Thomas Malthus and “climbing the mountain.” (53:30-55:20)
16. Lippmann, Bernays and Spinoza. “Tractatus Theologico-Politicos.” Thomas Jefferson’s “Notes on the State of Virginia.” The secular religion and the Church of England. (55:20-57:46)
17. “Machiavelli as a fountain of utility for the Borgias.” Hobbes “Leviathan” How to maintain power over “the great unwashed.” (57:46-100:39)
End of Tape/ Hour 3 — The contradiction of national policy and the Trilateral Commission. “The Crisis of Democracy”. Power is never where it seems to be. The Great Books. End.
3) The Ultimate History Lesson: A Weekend with John Taylor Gatto (Hour 3 of 5)
HOUR 4 OUTLINE:
1. BEFORE Slate: Book signing. Bionomics and attempts to control evolution. David Starr Jordan of Stanford University and was President of Indiana University. He hired Elwood P. Cubberley at Stanford. “Managers of Virtue” and Cubberley’s unifying of hiring. The “Daughters of the Barons of Runnemede.” (00:00- 25:00)
2. “Metalogicon” A Twelfth-Century Defense of the Trivium” by John of Salisbury book presentation. WYBM introduction promo(25:10-26:45)
3. Who is R. Gordon Wasson? Soma and the Magic Mushroom and Wall St. heavy hitters. “Soma: The Divine Mushroom of Immortality, (Ethno-Mycological Studies)” by R. Gordon Wasson (1968)
Council on Foreign Relations meetings. (26:45-27:54)
4. Who is Antony C. Sutton? Brief correspondence. “Wall Street and the Bolshevik Revolution” (1974), “Wall Street and the Rise of Hitler” (1976) Adding up reality. Ramsey Clark marginalization. Lysander Spooner, Frederic Bastiat. “The Daughters of the Barons of Runnymede” and discovery of continuity. (27:54-30:29)
5. Who was Ignatius Loyola? Penetrating the Reformation and the Army of Jesus. Luther’s “Every man his own Priest”, “Wild Declaration of Radicalism” Getting rid of the Priesthood and the middle men. (30:30-32:
6. The influence of the Illuminati on the Education System? Powers behind the scenes. Standardized testing dismissed in most universities. Johann Pestalozzi, Johann Kaspar Lavater, and the “Leipzig Connection.” Militaristic strategies. The artificial extension of childhood. “The Story of Civilization” by Will and Ariel Durant. Beginning the productive life early. David Farragut, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson. The effects of marginalizing the young. Alexander the Great. (32:22-40:11)
7. The value of Hemp. Jefferson and Washington and the role of hemp in American history. The Hearst Family and wood pulp for newspapers. Reefer Madness. The quality of books then and now. (40:11-41:42:070
8. The necessity of reading the old books vs. reading the digests and abstracts. Marcus Aurelius “Meditations” “Nothing you can buy is worth having and no one you can order around is worth associating with.” Reading Aurelius in 6th Grade in Western Pennsylvania. Julius Caesar. Pitting classes against each other. Division by meaningless competition. What do we learn that is enhanced by competition? Keeping track of ideas. Maintaining the social and economic order through education. How to manage a society that wouldn’t require managing? (42:08-48:48)
9. The Trivium and Quadrivium. 3rd Grade Jesuit Boarding School and the intellectual diet. “The causes of the first World War.” Reality testing. Dorothy Sayers and “The Lost Tools of Learning.” The division caused by subject learning and measuring memory vs. actual performance. Making informed decisions. “Know yourself.” Personal adaptations of the Trivium. (48:49-55:47)
10. “The 12 Secrets of the Boarding School Curriculum of Power”, Groton/FDR, St. Paul’s/John Kerry, Andover/Bush, Choate/Kennedy, and Episcopal in Virginia/ John McCain. Schools grounded on Religion as well as Anglican and Quaker traditions. Passive and Active literacies. Having a strong competency in the active literacies is at the core of the elite private boarding schools. Insights into institutional forms. Theories of human nature. Mastery of the social forms. (55:48-100:25)
11. Artificial extension of childhood as a secret of crowd control. Political idioms and rhetoric, units of meeting and iambic pentameters. Building models, exercises and immediate results. (1:10:28-1:16:16)
4) The Ultimate History Lesson: A Weekend with John Taylor Gatto (Hour 4 of 5)
HOUR 5 OUTLINE:
1. Is there an easy way to learn? Understanding yourself + raw experience. Allowing kids to follow their own instincts. Group projects with tangible goals. “Principia Mathematica” Alfred North Whitehead and statistical sampling prediction. “Aims of Education and Other Essays”. (10:14-15:25)
2. Training fleas before you break their will. “Hubert’s Dime Museum and Flea Circus.” Breaking autonomy and “taking the lid off”. Imposing your will. “Hired as the lid on the container.” (15:26-18:53)
3. Wilhelm Wundt and Laboratory schooling. The Roman Collegia and 5th Century crowd control. (18:54-20:11)
4. Connections between Calvin and modern theocratic states? The impulsion of certainty, rules, and algorithms. Experimenting with humanity and enlarging its boundaries. Human ingenuity was seeing as a risk for capital formulation. Using financial crisis. “Overproduction” and “Overcapacity”, “hyper-democracy” and the inability to suppress the people. The Trilateral Commission and “The Crisis of Democracy”. Hyperinflation and warfare. (20:09-27:35)
5. The role of curiosity as “the lever that produces invention and forces you in a fun way to think for yourself.” How schools destroy curiosity. Admiral Perry and Japan. (28:41- 31:10)
6. When did the American Dream become one of lifelong servitude and debt slavery? Lincoln @the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society. “The American dream was Liberty, Freedom, and personal Sovereignty.” “The Cathedral and the Bazaar” and IT technology. Discoveries by “non-experts.” New ways to treat cancerous tumors by John Kanzius. Robert Scott Root-Bernstein. How to deal with ambiguity. (31:10-40:57)
7. “The Principles of Psychology” by William James (1890) “Habit as the enormous flywheel of society…” The world is much bigger than you believe it is, because of conditioning. (40:57-43:43)
8. “The Six Important Functions of Secondary Education”. Alexander James Inglis and “The Principles of Secondary Education”; Adjustive functions, Integrative (conformist) Functions, Directive Function, Differentiating Function, Selective Function, and the Propaedeutic Function. (1918) Getting the Inglis lecture from Harvard. (43:44-56:43)
9. Cutting out the middle man. Why can’t students just read books? Strawberry Fields Monument, “Pizza Palace Sued,” paying the way to Paris. Hampshire College. (56:43-109:36)
10. Something that would “echo through time.” “Sensible children do not wish to be incomplete human beings.” Stage theories of human development, tormenting and limiting possibilities. Don’t be your kids enemy, be a partner and enlarge the opportunity.” “No homework please!”(109:36-1:10:41)
END TAPE 5 — What does a college education really get you in the 21st Century? The last hoop to jump through that doesn’t deliver much along a prescribed plan. Cornell, Columbia and Reed College experience. No bang for the buck, unless you commit. The value of persistence and the learning process and those that demonstrate merit. George W. Bush and the Iraq War. What was the role of UNESCO in Education? Pestalozzi and “killing them with kindness”, Fabian Socialism, and “fundamental principles of human physics.” “The Imperial Cruise” and “Perfectibilists” (1:10:41-1:27:20)
5) The Ultimate History Lesson: A Weekend with John Taylor Gatto (Hour 5 + Closing and Credits)
THE END