Civil Society, the Super Rich, and Political Theory

I have discussed Civil Society in another web site. Basically, civil society stands is a layer of society between the state and the family/clan. Civil society is an advancement over simpler forms of society that were just the state and the rest.

Society is more complex now than in Hegel's time (Hegel wrote about civil society). We now have class that might be called the Uber-rich or Super Rich. These are people so rich that they might be beyond the reach of the law. They might actually control the law and our government.

Louis Uchitelle in the Sunday July 15, 2007, issue of the New York Times wrote an article, "Age of Riches; The Richest of the Rich, Proud of a New Gilded Age". He documents how the richest people living in America today rival the richest people in the history of America.

The Super Rich are a fourth element of society. They are beyond civil society. They are so rich, they might be beyond the state. They are so wealthy that they, and the corporations they control, might actually be a threat to our nation's economy. I will refer you to the Dallas Morning News, Sunday July 8, 2007, Rod Dreher writing, "Evils of Capitalism, Big Business Can be as Dangerous a Threat as Big Government."

Because the Super Rich can buy the government if they wish, the only protection society ultimately has against the power of the Super Rich lies in some members of the Super Rich having enough moral decency to act as a counter-balance against the unscrupulous members of the Super Rich.

Our society and our schools must embrace a common system of ethics. Since religion has been chased out of the schools, Confucianism is the only non-religious system of ethics that can work as universal ethics for our modern society.

America needs Confucianism for its survival.

Robert Canright

Peggy Noonan and America's Leadership Crisis

Peggy Noonan, former speech writer for Ronald Reagan, is catching on that America has trouble with its leaders. Well, she is beginning to catch on. She wrote an article in the July 14, 2007 issue of the Wall Street Journal entitled, "American Grit", and said this:

"Americans ... are disappointed, by both teams and both sides. Some part of them thinks no matter who is president he will not protect them from forces at work in the world. Some part of them fears that when history looks back on this moment, on the past few presidents and the next few, it will say: Those men were not big enough for the era."

Well said! Are leaders are inadequate, all of them, and this era is dangerous. We are in a leadership crisis. Peggy Noonan is beginning to understand the problem.

Robert Canright

Contemporary Confucian Examples of Leadership

Confucius and Mencius both had many lessons on leadership. We can solve the leadership crisis in America by applying Confucian principles. Paul Yingling and Lynn Turner are contemporary examples of leaders following Confucian leadership principles. Read the details in " Paul Yingling, Lynn Turner, and Confucian Leadership."

Robert

Leadership and a Texas Renaissance

The key to developing good leaders is education grounded in morality. Morality is the root of education, as the sages have said. Better education in Texas will lead to a Texas Renaissance, which will revitalize our leaders, our economy, and our culture.

Robert

True Leadership is in the Family

As I have said in the Hispanic Vision blog and the Education for the 21st Century blog, fathers need to be leaders within their families.

The Wall Street Journal, on Tuesday May 29, 2007, ran an article: "How is it that you can lead a staff but not a family" in Jared Sandberg's Cubicle Culture.

Families need the fathers to be leaders. Teachers have an expression for fathers who are a bad influence on their children: "The apple does not fall far from the tree."

America is in a leadership crisis, but every father can contribute to improving this country by being a good father. Of course, how many fathers truly know what takes to be a good father?

Robert

Leadership Crisis in Texas Education

In 2007 the Texas State Legislature decided to replace the unpopular TAKS test with End of Course Exams. The End of Course exams were such a failure in the past that the State of Texas replaced them with the TAAS tests.

The TAAS tests were so easy they were replaced with the TAKS test. I used to be a math teacher and I think the TAKS tests did a fair job of measuring students' learning the state mandidated curriculum.

I think there are some problems both with the curriculum and with the way it is implemented. I know there are problems in communities that are reflected in poor preformance.

The State of Texas needed to tackle the problems with the curriculum and the problems with failing schools. When the State Legislature chose to replace the test without examining the problems, it avoided facing problems.

Running away from problems is what failing leaders do. Changing tests without facing the root causes of the failures is another example of the leadership crisis facing America.

Robert