The Federal Government has rolled out a new citizenship test for green card holders applying for U.S. citizenship.
Can Trump’s cultists (who should be forced to take it) pass the new test?
From what I have seen from them, they would have to enroll in my Remedial Political Science 101 course to pass my citizenship test.
The beginning of wisdom is to define things accurately, name them, and then call them by their right names. (From an Asian Proverb)
Individuals become Patriotic Americans when they reject the primacy of all other allegiances and adopt the Culture, Mores and Creed of this nation as delineated in The Virginia Declaration of Rights; The Declaration of Independence; and The United States Constitution.
THE MAIN QUESTION ON MY TEST: What should American Patriots do if an avowed, identifiable foreign enemy stands on a platform in Washington, DC, and urges the gathered throng to stage a coup d’état against America– in effect, to overthrow the United States Government?
Passing “Pencil and Paper” tests requires only knowledge of the concepts and the ability to respond under the pressure of test-taking, an ability which increases with the amount of knowledge one has and the number of previous test-taking experiences.
One of the “tenets” in the living philosophy of our Flawed Democracy, which has worsened most extremely and dangerously by Trump’s cultists, is that symbols and words have taken precedence over what they are supposed to represent – the factual, the substance, the reality.
Citizenship in a Democracy requires more than “right” answers on tests. I can think no concept beyond education where there is a more driving need to link tightly and inextricably the words with the behavior, both denoted and connoted.
As Noah Webster told us: “Systems of education should be adopted and pursued that implant in the minds of American youth the principles of virtue and of liberty and inspire them with just and liberal ideas of government and with an inviolable attachment to their own country.”
A Liberal is someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people — their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights and their civil liberties. – John F. Kennedy
I have little doubt that many of the Trumpified rulers would put “correct” answers on the written portion of my test. Devils can quote scripture as well as any preachers.
“The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. An evil soul producing holy witness Is like a villain with a smiling cheek, A goodly apple rotten at the heart. O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!” – Shakespeare
Like LOVE and GOD, PATRIOTIC CITIZENSHIP is not functional if thought of only as a Noun. Valid citizenship in a Democracy must be considered as a most dynamic of active VERBS, indicating actions, behaviors, and processes as opposed to static verbs or nouns, e.g., answers on written tests.
Voting is a necessary action in democracies, but as critically important as voting is, citizenship in a Democracy is not simply for elections, for politics, or a party name.
Patriotic Citizenship is functional only when it culminates in the highest forms of interaction among people and their beliefs — in religion, literature, colleges, schools, and in all public and private life. – Walt Whitman
Contrary to popular pseudo-scientific notions, children are not born smart, good or Patriotic Americans. They are born merely human beings. Before they become lawyers, or physicians, or businesspersons, or teachers, or politicians, or parents, or presidents, or Patriotic Americans, they are only human beings.
If families and communities make them educated, competent, moral, ethical human-beings, they will make themselves competent, moral and ethical lawyers, or physicians, or business persons, or teachers, or politicians, or parents, or presidents and Patriotic Americans.
I don’t remember a lot about my first formal school – Gregory Nursery School, e.g., whether we pledged allegiance to the flag, but I do remember Miss Heller’s kindergarten. Starting there and first linking schooling to citizenship, we pledged allegiance to America through the 12-grade and we meant it! For my kindergarten class, this linkage began during WWII when many of our fathers were serving in the military. My dad was on a ship in the Pacific.
Valid American Patriots are not created principally because of biology, e.g., genes, but rather because of socialization — by what happens within the children after they are born fostered by their early experiences with people closest to them. If they grow up with Patriotic Americans, they are very likely to be Patriotic Americans; and such is true as well for traitors.
