Jeffrey Alexander Martin

In this article we get to see the philosophical foundations of a unique democratic school, a practical approach to modern homeschooling, the education of blacks during slavery, the failure of a genius, and a disagreement with a hero. 'A Place to Grow: The Culture of Sudbury Valley School' by Daniel Greenberg 2016 Greenberg was a physics professor at Columbia University. In 1965 he had the idea for a new type of school. In 1968 he founded Sudbury on a democratic model of education, and wrote many books on that experience from the 1973 to 2018. This is one of his later books. I like that he opens the book talking about where American culture comes from, and then how the education system was modified to provide workers for a newly industrialized society. He talks about how words are used to communicate culture, and how cultures are invaded by other cultures that adapt their wording. Intellectually it's an impressive understanding of the philosophical concepts and processes tha...

The French drop is a classic sleight of hand move by magicians. The basic technique is easy to learn. I learned it from a video by Penn and Teller so I could entertain my young niece and nephew. It worked great. I could make coins or small toys disappear, and then reappear somewhere else. Magic. I did it over and over and they laughed and applauded. It was fun. I only know the one trick, but it works over and over and over. Government propaganda for adults works the same way. Invading countries because of weapons of mass destruction that don't exist is going to work for the US government every time for the same reason that the French drop tricks kids every time, they don't know how it works. And, they can't know how it works. Young kids aren't developed enough to understand the French drop. They have to get older and be shown the trick to understand it. By definition the government isn't going to tell the public that it's lying to the public, so the trick can...

There are two main predictions with AI, that it will lead to disaster, catastrophe, the extinction of humans, and the end of the world. Or, that it will lead to utopia where no one has to work and everyone can live doing everything they want in a perfect world of peace and prosperity. Both are wrong, and I'll give you recent historical examples to compare that made the same predictions and didn't come true. I'll explain why these are popular predictions, and what actually happens. People love to think about the end of the world. People being arrogant, self-centered, and ego-centric love to think that they are living in the end times. That they are the special chosen ones to see the end of history. They are always wrong, but people just love the idea. People have become rich on selling the idea that global warming is going to kill everyone for generations now. Michael Crichton has a speech called 'Aliens Cause Global Warming' that is good and has an excellent title. ...

It's becoming more obvious to more people that the future of the United States doesn't look so bright. The US is making similar mistakes to ancient Rome that brought the downfall of ancient Rome. But, I think there is a possibility that even if the United States become less safe, free, and prosperous, it will still actually be the best. Europe is in a major struggle with itself. The European Union is trying to consolidate power so that the European countries are not their own countries, and instead are governments controlled by the higher government. There is a current war in Eastern Europe. The rest of Europe wants to have more war with itself. Many of the governments of Europe, and especially the European Union, want to eliminate the European race by importing massive amounts of Africans, Muslims, and Asians, which they are doing. Some places like Poland are resisting more than others, but right now the anti-European part of Europe is politically winning. Russia is an odd par...

It's fascinating to me that several Founding Fathers made predictions about how and why the United States would fall. I've written articles on George Washington's and James Madison's warnings, and here is another, Benjamin Rush. Interestingly, Washington, Madison, and Rush all basically ended up being correct, eventually. Benjamin Rush was a medical doctor that signed the American Declaration of Independence, a delegate to the Second Continental Congress for the state of Pennsylvania, a surgeon general in the Continental Army, treasurer of the United States Mint, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and founder of Dickinson College. He even assisted in founding the first black Christian church denomination in the US, and helped restore the friendship between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson in their old age. (Rush's preventative medicine was good advice and his writing on the subject was used for a century afterward, his curative medicine wasn't very go...

James Madison was a brilliant political mind. After one session of congress some friends encouraged him to write an anonymous pamphlet about the things under consideration, which he did. It's amazing to watch him think through the complex issues of his day. And there's one key paragraph. This is from 'Political Observations' by James Madison 20 April 1795. "Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes; and armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few. In war, too, the discretionary power of the Executive is extended; its influence in dealing out offices, honors, and emoluments is multiplied; and all the means of seducing the minds, are added to those of subduing the force, of the people. The same malignant aspect in republicanism may be traced in th...

In a world where the guilty go free and the innocent are persecuted, Gotham needs Batman. Billionaires, presidents, princes, and prime ministers consider themselves above the law, and have proven that they are above the law. Apparently the law cannot protect against those who make and administer the laws. A world where the department of justice is more properly named the department of injustice. When the people responsible to carry out justice are themselves against justice, when they attack victims and protect the criminals, then there is no rule of law, only the rule of psychopaths and sociopaths. The only way out is for Batman to reduce the number of psychopaths and sociopaths. If only he had a list to work off of. Gotham is based on a real place, a corrupted New York City, and now that corruption has spread to encompass all of the United States, the United Kingdom, and more. Look at Batman's most famous villains. Do they remind of you real people that live in our society? The J...

As you're reading through these think about if these apply to us now, and if they apply 2,000 years ago. If they apply now and two millennia ago, I think they are universal principles. 'The Education of the Architect' in 'The Ten Books on Architecture' by Vitruvius 25 BC If you think about architecture in ancient Rome you realize that they must have known how to educate well, and organize masses of people. When I stood in the Colosseum I thought, "You could fix this up and use it again." There are ancient Roman aqueducts and baths that are still used now, 2,000 year later. In this book on architecture Vitruvius opens it by talking about education. The whole section is wonderful. Here are the first three sections: "The architect should be equipped with knowledge of many branches of study and varied kinds of learning, for it is by his judgement that all work done by the other arts is put to test. This knowledge is the child of practice and theory. Pract...