Alan Singer, professor at Hofstra University, has discerned a disturbing pattern in Republican candidate Marco Rubio’s public comments: he is contemptuous of higher education.
In fact, Singer says that Rubio has declared war on higher education.
He writes:
According to Senator Rubio, liberal arts colleges are “indoctrination camps” that are only kept in business because the political left wants to protect “all their friends” that “work there.” This comes from a Presidential candidate whose political life has been kept afloat for years by one major campaign donor, Norman Braman, a billionaire Florida car dealer who also employees Rubio’s wife as a “consultant.” Braman pledged $10 million to the Rubio Presidential campaign and over the years has hired Rubio as a lawyer at his company, Braman Management, donated $100,00 toward Rubio’s salary as an instructor at Florida International College in Miami, and gave Rubio use of his private plane.
Apparently Rubio is sensitive to the problem of huge college debt because in 2008 he owed close to $150,000 on student loans. Rubio accrued this debt while drifting through three colleges, Tarkio College, a religious school in Missouri that later went bankrupt, Santa Fe Community College in Gainsville, Florida, and the University of Florida. His law degree is from the University of Miami. In high school, according to an ABC News report, Rubio was a “C” student who used to sneak out of school to drink, which might explain his later difficulties in college.
Rubio claimed he was finally able to pay off his student loans in 2012 with proceeds from the publication of a book, An American Son, described by the Wall Street Journal as “a piece with other quickie books written by still-climbing politicians: cautious, on-message and heavily tilted toward the most recent big campaign.” How Rubio earned $150,000 on this book, published by a right-wing press, remains a political mystery. The book sold only 7,800 copies in hard cover and about 35,000 in paperback. I wonder if this was another Braman intervention.
Maybe if young Marco had paid attention in high school and college he would not take some of the same political positions he does today. Rubio wants students to use work experience for class credit so like him they do not have to attend classes and he proposes that students indenture themselves to wealthy investors, kind of like he did with Braman, who will pay their tuition costs. What a student owes their investor would be subject to negotiation, although slavery and involuntary servitude have been outlawed in the United States since the passage of the 13th amendment in 1865.
Rubio has pandered to the far-right by expressing doubts about climate change and pollution; is skeptical about evolution; and is absolutely opposed to any type of abortion, no matter the reason.
Singer believes that Rubio needs a real liberal arts education and offers to provide one for him:
If Marco Rubio would like to sit in on my classes at Hofstra University he is welcome to attend. I promise not to indoctrinate him. But he will be required to join discussions, state his positions clearly, support them with evidence, conduct research, evaluate alternative views, and arrive at reasoned conclusions based on research and evidence, which should have been part of his high school and college educations. I am sorry young Marco had such bad early experiences in school and wasted a lot of money and time before straightening himself out with the help of Mr. Braman. But I suspect very few, if any, of Rubio’s teachers in Florida and Missouri were the kind of left-wing radicals he wants to drive out of liberal arts colleges.
“Why Does Marco Rubio Sneer at Higher Education?”
That’s like asking why bears poop in the woods.
It’s in their nature .
Exactly.
Don’t make it too complicated, we know why…
SomeDAM Poet and Ed Detective:
Yes. When you can’t join discussions, state positions clearly, support them with evidence, conduct research, evaluate alternative views, and arrive at reasoned conclusions based on research and evidence, you fall back on rheephorm’s default setting—
The sneer, jeer, and smear. Proof by assertion. Projecting your own worst qualities and failings onto others.
Rheeally! And in the most Johnsonally sort of ways imagining that you’ve been able to Trump facts, logic, decency and honesty.
But on Planet Reality, it’s a big fail.
Except, to be honest, you can’t fault rheephormsters of all political colorations and labels for lack of consistency in following Marxist strictures:
“Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.”
Groucho. He’s their main man.
😎
Because people know their wages haven’t gone up and he has to explain that, so he tells them they’re learning the wrong things, or not working hard enough, or it’s a plot by liberal arts professors to indoctrinate them.
I don’t think it’s real complicated- they all shift blame from politicians (themselves) and business leaders to someone else and educators are an easy target.
He doesn’t know how to address income inequality and wage stagnation OR he’s not really willing to do anything about it that would upset or inconvenience anyone with any real power, so he’ll blather on about welders versus philosophers.
I’m amused by the constant mention of “welders” among our politicians. Scott Walker invokes “welders” too. Is that the only trade they are familiar with? Let’s be honest here- none of them are lunching with welders or meeting with welders to discuss policy. In fact, most of them spend a good part of their day in DC working as hard as they can to drive down the wages and economic security of skilled trades.
Welders should be flattered by all the all the high level attention but not fooled 🙂
Ah yes. Rubio’s infamous “We need more welders, and less philosophers” gaffe from just last November:
“Marco Rubio’s quip about welders gets torched”
“By Gregory Krieg, CNN”
http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/10/politics/republican-debate-marco-rubio-welders-philosophers/
———–
As one tweet said, “We obviously need more English teachers”, as the “less” should be used when referring to quantities that can’t be counted. When referring to quantities that can be counted, you use “fewer”, as in
“We need more welders, and FEWER philosophers.”
or …
“We need more WELDING, and LESS PHILOSOPHY.”
Diane, has anyone in the media asked you to sit on a panel to discuss the candidates? I’d love to hear your perspective in this format.
I’ll bet that many of those with liberal arts degrees wish that they taken vocational arts. I would wage that many making burgers envy that electrician, HVAC tech or welder all the way to the bank. Some HS students are not mature enough or prepared for college…don’t push. I resent the label being implied about the C student. Nothing is known about his situation or the school.
I am not a supporter of his…yet
“I resent the label being implied about the C student.”
Are you against the usage of grades in describing student work?
You highlight the anti-intellectualism blossoming now in America, particularly conservatives. I see the C as less than a label as an insight to his background. There is nothing wrong with vocational trades (though I would remind you electricians and plumbers are unionized). But so many seem to sneer at those pursuing knowledge for knowledge sake.
April, I doubt anyone who reads this column makes a big deal about grades. What’s at issue is the education that someone receives, not whether someone gets an A, B or C in a particular course. (An “F” might, however, raise some eyebrows.)
So it comes down to: how can we judge the education that someone receives? The loaded word there is “judge”. We shouldn’t be too quick—an important point of Diane’s blog. While there’s nothing wrong with expecting students to have certain life skills and a command of basic facts, the softer side of learning matters, too. That includes knowing how to learn (or at least appreciating the discipline of learning, instead of denigrating it), knowing how to reason or support an argument, being tolerant of others’ views, having self-confidence, and in a characteristic American way, dreaming big!
The latter skills are important and shouldn’t be sneered at or called “indoctrination by liberals”. Taxpayers fund schools not only so that citizens may be gainfully employed (though it’s certainly a legitimate purpose), but also so that we can have fulfilling lives and—I’d argue this is most important of all—know how to live together.
I think one reason this blog pushes so hard for public education is because privatization, vouchers, charters (based on the myth of “choice”) go in the opposite direction: they teach how to live apart. It’s hard to imagine a future with that kind of education that doesn’t have warring parties! If we don’t like the red/blue divide or the gap between rich and poor and black and white, do we really want a system that further divides us? I was about to write “like sunnis and shiites”, then I realized our own history in the west gives us an equally good example of catholics vs. protestants. I don’t want that world for my children or their children; I choose *real* public education.
D.L.,
You know what I say about the F grade? F#$k it!
What a disappointment. Unfortunately for Rubio, once he opens his mouth and starts spewing his ideologies, a discerning voter can tell that he doesn’t have the smarts to be President. What’s even worse is that he is not the only Republican candidate lacking in basic knowledge (let alone the detailed skills necessary to run the US).
I’m not sure the Republican Party is the party of discerning voters…
And sadly, neither is much of Democratic Party, if they’re willing to vote for / coronate Clinton over Sanders…
While there are many intelligent Republicans and Democrats, there are also those whose educational background is similar to that of Rubio. The reason so many think Trump is a viable candidate is that they agree with his viewpoints (even after they’ve been proven inaccurate).
So much for “career and college ready”, when we should be teaching our students to become independent thinkers who can sort the “wheat from the chaff”.
College and career ready, as defined by GOP candidates:
Rubio: Knows how to weld.
Trump: Can be a low wage worker in one of my hotels.
😥
“The importance of Welding”
Rubio says that welding
Is something to be taught
While I await his welding
Just one coherent thought
Reblogged this on Lloyd Lofthouse and commented:
Discover the real Marc Rubio – should this man be allowed to become the President of the United States?
Here he is in the back row, in front of the O, chippendaling away, flexing 8 packs,
So he used to be fun, and now he wants to get rid of all the fun people from higher ed and replace them by grouchy, Bible abiding conservatives and computers. I think he just doesn’t know how to age gracefully, without envy of youth.
For a brief moment, I thought that was one of the the Republican debates.
🙂 Poet, you inspire me: I now would like to see the GOP gang conduct their next debate in Chippendale costumes; single pack and all.
One of our conservative Ohio politicians posed in full drag with another guy in a weight room as a younger man. Nothing wrong with drag if you want – I could care less where someone shops for a wardrobe. But I find it humorous all the conservative “family values” stiffs in suits work so hard to hide their past.
“We need more male lap dancers, and less philosophers.”
Is this a ploy for gay and hetero female votes?
Seriously, though, I was thinking about whether that photo could get a teacher fired.
My guess is that, if that photo was very recent or current, I would rate that the chances of that teacher — of either gender — being fired at around 95% in some conservative parts of the country, perhaps less in others.
If that photo merely represented a long ago lapse in judgment, I would still rate it at 50%, or a little less, that it would lead to that teacher — again, of either gender — leaving the teaching profession. I know of teachers who were fired for stuff found on the internet — photos, inappropriate comments — that were far less extreme or, to some, far less offensive than this photo.
OK, after this chippendale reality, I feel that some of us can’t wait for the update of the dreamy Vanity Fair’s Official 2010–11 Republican Beefcake Calendar
http://www.vanityfair.com/news/photos/2010/10/red-meat-republican-hunks-calendar-201010
Before you think, I am now seriously off topic, please observe Rubio on pic 14 in a Monroe-like setting.
.
Please look at these at a friend’s house or you may get fired for watching this immoral stuff on your surely bugged home or school computers.
“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.”
― Isaac Asimov
Wonder how many Trump, Cruz, or Rubio supporters know who Asimov is in literature?
The American voters have repeated rejected the great minds. Imagine what the world would look like today if Adlai Stevenson had been elected President instead of the popular General Eisenhower. It was “I like Ike” vs the “Egg Head”. Popularity wins over knowledge every time (or life is too often like a perpetual Junior High).
The Democrats are almost as bad, IMHO.
They just know how to hide their anti-intellectualism better.
They claim to be for science, but fully support the profoundly unscientific test and VAM madness that is current policy.
flos56. Democracy is great, except when it isn’t. I am so sick of Ohio’s low information populace thinking their Fox News talking points are the equivalent of critical thought or scientific method. It seems like all of our state has been taken over by a lumbering, beer swilling’ stereotype of dullards complete with NRA and Don’t Tread on Me bumper stickers. My own kid complained about COLLEGE students arguing against evolution and gene theory in a university biology class, even insulting the professor, but without any basis. Why the heck are these students in science if they do not practice rational thought? My kid is the outcast because she WANTS to learn and not just go through life ignorant and drunk. She is constantly bullied and harassed for her liberal views and fact she takes college seriously. I’ve given up finding anybody here who can entertain a conversation anything deeper than what the Kardashians are wearing or how high a pickup can be jacked up. Help.
MathVale – it’s amazing all the idiotic things I hear coming out of people’s mouths, some who are smart enough to know better. That’s one reason why I enjoy this blog – Even when I don’t agree, at last the arguments are intelligible.
MathVale: “Democracy is great, except when it isn’t. I am so sick of Ohio’s low information populace thinking their Fox News talking points are the equivalent of critical thought or scientific method.”
This is the standard conundrum of democracy. Conundrum, because we, public school educators, are partially supported by intelligent design fans.
My son complains about similar things at U of TN at Knoxville. My advice: consider this as a challenge. Challenge in patience and challenge in making conversations with people you don’t agree with and still live to tell about it. Teachers who teach teenagers deal with these challenges every day. The revelation is that even without direct arguments you can change people’s opinions just because they like you or respect you.
I am extremely discouraged by the current state of politics for the same reason that reading much of this thread discourages me. Name-calling, insults, and a general spirit of belligerence. Nothing will change as long as we mudsling and launch personal attacks (against people, parties, ones chosen religion, etc.) versus make solid arguments against ideas. This strategy has never worked for any common good and it has certainly never effectively changed anything.
After being called “lazy”, “communist”, and “parasite” the high road is leading us to a path of destruction. While I have tried rational thought and argument, that is a foreign concept now in Ohio. I’m done with sitting back and smiling. Crazy and Stupid run Ohio. And that isn’t an insult, just an accurate observation.
Talk about indoctrination.
The government provides the questions, grades the answers and then grades schools and teachers on how well they indoctrinate our children with their “facts”.
Gordon: “The government provides the questions, grades the answers and then grades schools and teachers on how well they indoctrinate our children with their “facts”.”
In Tennessee, it’s not the government, it’s Pearson. Seriously.
Public loathing of educational elites is a right wing plan that has been in the works for some time. Rubio’s comments reflect one of two fronts, in the assault.
After, (1) Lewis Powell’s memo directed the U.S. Supreme Court to turn against the people (2) politicians betrayed the public (3) industry insiders replaced government professionals and,(4) the media succumbed to oligarch domination, (5) universities were a final stumbling block. Colleges had been advocates for democracy and truth and, had provided a measure of public protection against feudal tyranny.
The 2nd front, hidden from the public, was campus access, bought with the wealth of the richest 0.2%. Their money influenced faculty hiring and promotion. Professors, publishing the papers that the wealthy wanted, were promoted at a mercurial pace, at the most respected ivy league schools in the nation. And, “academic” research was tailored and gained media visibility, to maximize plutocratic advantage.
Better than Singer’s question…. “Why wouldn’t the public loathe academia?”
The comments on this particular post are really kind of bizarre and convoluted and judgmental. Hard to get through all this negativity. I don’t know how I will make it through the next 10 months. Ugh:(
I think you misunderstood us here, kindergarteninterlude: Rubio, as well as many (most?) politicians, are destroying education and are replacing it with an indoctrination program via standardized tests and preparation for them.
The program is outsourced, using our money, to Pearson Software to implement it on Windows (Microsoft) computers, also paid for from our money. Kids must participate in this program from age 2 and are to be called scholars even by their parents. Teachers (us) are replaced by young guards who are trained to make sure, scholars don’t talk to each other while completing the indoctrination schedule.
Despite the fact that most of us here are losing our jobs and our kids’ soul in this program, we, in fact, are in the business of finding positive aspects of all this. For example, our thorough research found out that while performing miserably in his studies, Rubio took good care of his body and maintained a sixpack while in high school.
I personally hope that Rubio’s general good looks will inspire other weary and angry looking politicians to take care of their appearance more, beyond their standard issue neckties, suits and hair.
http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/why-politicians-all-have-the-same-haircuts
If the threats that face public education and democracy aren’t on a teacher’s radar, what is the best way to get it on radar?
As is said, “If you don’t fight for democracy, you lose it.”
Many citizens claim to be patriotic but, limit their involvement to parades. To honor the sacred sacrifices made for our nation, requires a level of discomfort. I hope you are up for it, because the resources of the oligarchs, against us, are formidable.
The website, UnKochMyCampus.org, is good place to begin.
“If the threats that face public education and democracy aren’t on a teacher’s radar, what is the best way to get it on radar?”
Simple. Refer them to this blog.
You know what I love about politicians and other pundits who SNEER at higher education and K – 12 public education? After taking advantage of the educational system and completing their degrees, they turn around and bite the many hands that “fed them.” In an an even more mean-spirited turn, now that Rubio (and other critics) has his eduction, he advocates closing schools–thereby denying to others the opportunity that he had. What a generous spirit.
With all of Rubio’s baggage, which includes the convicted brother-in-law/real estate license,
and support from (1) Braman (auto dealer and $250 charity big spender) (2) hedge funder Paul Singer/Argentinian bankruptcy (3) the biggest private prisons
and, his credit card/ personal finance misadventures, he can’t win anywhere except in the legally/ethically challenged Florida.