This is your reading assignment for the holidays!
Please write a book report.
Jeff Smith of Grand Rapids, Michigan, has compiled a reader about the lives, beliefs, and whims of the super-rich DeVos family.
I haven’t finished reading it. It is a big endeavor.
Jeff Smith writes:
“This is exactly why I have spent years monitoring, investigating and critiquing the DeVos Family. They are the most recognizable and powerful manifestation of the systems of power and oppression in West Michigan. Now, I know there are plenty of people who share the belief that without the DeVos Family, Grand Rapids wouldn’t be where it is today. I fully agree with that belief, but for reasons that are the exact opposite of those who hold the most powerful family in West Michigan in high regard.
“When Rich DeVos and Jay Van Andel founded the Amway corporation, they did so by embracing some of the most deeply entrenched lies about this country. Rich DeVos has written numerous books that promote his values. In his book Believe, DeVos, in talking about freedom, states, “that call of freedom went forth from a rugged wilderness, and Europe and Asia and Africa sent their sons of adventure to hew out a new society in a land of forests and savages.”
“This statement from DeVos is essentially an affirmation in his belief of Manifest Destiny. For those who don’t know, the company that DeVos founded with Jay Van Andel, was originally going to be called The American Way, but was changed to Amway so as to abbreviate their take on Manifest Destiny.
“In addition to believing in Manifest Destiny, Rich DeVos is also deeply committed to the values of capitalism, or what he likes to refer to as the free enterprise system. In his book Believe, DeVos states, “The free-enterprise system has outperformed, outproduced any other in the world. It is a gift of God to us, and we should understand it, embrace it, and believe in it.”
“The above statement is the perfect encapsulation of what the patriarch of the family, Rich DeVos, believes and is firmly committed to. The DeVos Family is a deeply religious family, regardless of how one defines religious beliefs. The family comes out of the Calvinist tradition and are members of the Christian Reformed Church. However, the DeVos Family, in many ways embraces a form of Christian Reconstruction. Those who practice Christian Reconstruction theology believe that society should be governed by biblical values, rather than secular values. This is exactly why the family has for decades developed relationships and funded organizations that are deeply committed to homophobia, anti-reproductive rights, patriarchy, white supremacy and free market capitalism.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Re “that call of freedom went forth from a rugged wilderness, and Europe and Asia and Africa sent their sons of adventure to hew out a new society in a land of forests and savages.” The DeVoses must have learned their history from Disney as it has been sanitized. In Great Britain the people sent or allowed to go to the American colonies were considered human refuse and good riddance to them was the predominant thought. Europe was overpopulated for the technology of the day and they didn’t want to lose their best and brightest, so “send the scum,” was the feeling of the day. There was no “call of freedom” as such a call meant a quick death. The actual “colonists” were mostly quite desperate people.
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Quote: “…to hew out a new society in a land of forests and savages.” Wow, what a way to demean, vilify and debase the original inhabitants of this land mass. The original inhabitants were no more savage than the Europeans who had been slaughtering each other for countless generations. Once you posit the idea that a group of people are savages, then you can justify or rationalize almost any horror or unspeakable slaughter against that group (Trail of Tears, etc., it’s a long list). Our treatment of the indigenous peoples amounts to genocide and ethnic cleansing on a massive scale, partially in the name of religion but it was really about greed and acquisitiveness.
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Quote: “Those who practice Christian Reconstruction theology believe that society should be governed by biblical values, rather than secular values…deeply committed to homophobia, anti-reproductive rights, patriarchy, white supremacy and free market capitalism.”
…….
I believe the bible can be used to justify almost anything. However, I do not believe Jesus wants discrimination and hurt to thrive. The wealthy seem to think that Ayn Rand and the bible are the same. Anything that makes them wealthier is justified.
There is NO justification for brutally repressing part of the human population. If these ‘believers in the bible’ wanted to do justice to their beliefs they would look upon how to help others and make life for everyone more humane. It is a gross travesty to use the bible as an excuse to be hateful to part of the human population and at the same time justifying this hatred and abuse through biblical quotes.
They are interested in getting money for themselves and care nothing for anyone else. This definitely is NOT what Jesus preached. They will find out that in the end their ‘holiness’ will result in their destruction. Unfortunately, that time won’t be soon.
I do hope for a better day for mankind. One in which humans of all types are respected, not degraded in the name of the bible. Shame on the DeVos hypocrites. They are not decent people.
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This is why the claim that ed reform is “not political” is ludicrous:
“The family has been one of the largest donors to the Republican Party for several decades now, at the federal, state and local level, as is documented in this collection of articles. In addition to supporting the Republican Party and GOP candidates, they also contribute to organizations that are committed to influencing public policy. In West Michigan, the DeVos Family has been involved in the financing, planning and development of groups like the West Michigan Policy Forum, the Acton Institute and the Right Place Inc. These groups all embrace the capitalist economic system and public policy decisions, which benefits and expands the power of those who make up these groups, including the DeVos Family.”
Their national leader has been a powerful political operative for 50 years, EXCLUSIVELY promoting Republican causes. It doesn’t get more “political” than that.
I don’t mind that they have a political agenda. I mind that they deny it. DeVos has never been anything BUT a conservative political activist. It is literally her life’s work.
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I actually give DeVos a lot of credit – she’s a very good political operative. Fifty years experience and unlimited family funding of her passion for eradicating public schools really shows.
Remember when she hired “the liberal” to get Democratic ed reformers on board?
“Jason Botel, Ms. DeVos’s deputy assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education, is best known for the waves he made in declaring support for the charter school program, and yet he is a registered Democrat, a huge supporter of Barack Obama‘s, and an advocate for low-income and minority children in Baltimore.”
We haven’t hear one word out of Jason Botel since the day he was hired. She hired him and then gave him no role. Public K-12 schools aren’t even mentioned at the federal level, unless they belong to one of three “high performing” charter chains.
Now that’s smart politics. She checked the “liberal ed reform” box and then proceeded with her anti-public school political agenda, assured there wouldn’t be any pushback from the echo chamber. It worked too. They’re all supporting vouchers now. They struck a deal. She’ll pour money and support into charters and they’ll support vouchers.
Guess who were left out of this political horse-trading? The 90% of families who use existing public schools. They got nothing out of this deal they struck. Less than nothing, actually. They got budget cuts.
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Botel is probably quietly working for her policies behind the scenes. What in his resume would indicate otherwise? What passes for liberal these days is a joke. Progressive is the new dirty word.(snark)
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What a self-righteous pair of oppressors! The DeVos family and their activities should make them the poster family for why we need separation of church and state. Like other billionaires they keep writing checks to hijack our democratic principles while they get to inflict their bias on others less fortunate. We need to go back to one vote, one voice in politics and stop allowing wealthy right wing Christians have their way. By the way buried in the tax bill is a little known rule change in campaign finance. It makes dark money tax deductible! https://www.cnn.com/2017/12/08/politics/tax-bill-dark-money-political-contributions-tax-deductible/index.html
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Amway is a sort of running joke in the midwest. It’s the top pyramid scheme in the region 🙂
Back in the day the Amway reps used to actually promote the fact that it’s a pyramid scheme. The Power of the Pyramid was part of the sales pitch.
Then pyramid schemes were discredited and they rebranded, removed that language. They have trouble selling the rip-off in the US because people figured it out so they moved to “emerging markets”- China and India. They’ll find lots of new people to rob there.
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Democrats are giving their State of the Union address response from a public high school this year.
Must be campaign season time. Time for Democratic members of Congress to show up in the unfashionable “public school sector” and pretend they support our schools.
Public schools should refuse these campaign events. It’s not fair to public school students to use them as props and then go back to DC and either bash or ignore them.
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Will Cory Booker, a guy that got a great education at his New Jersey public school, hold his nose? Or will he continue to dissemble? I am sure the ever ambitious Booker will want to be front and center behind Schumer.
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The reply is to be given by a member of THE Kennedy family, I believe a grandson of Bobby Kennedy.
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Laura:
Joe Kennedy to deliver Democrats’ response to Trump’s State of the Union address
…Rep. Joe Kennedy, D-Mass., has been picked to deliver the Democratic response to President Trump’s first State of the Union address..
…Kennedy is the grandson of former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and is the great-nephew of former President John F. Kennedy. He has represented Massachusetts’ 4th Congressional District since 2013.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/joe-kennedy-to-deliver-democrats-response-to-trumps-state-of-the-union-address/article/2647146
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What I “think” I know about Calvanism is that Calvanists believe in PREDESTINATION.
DeVoodoo’s beliefs stem from Calvanism.
Correct me if I am wrong.
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Too broad and general. I remember not buying into the idea when I was in confirmation classes over 50 years ago. My much beloved associate Presbyterian pastor put it to me this way: Because God is omniscient he knows what you are going to do before you do it. As you get older you realize, or some of us do, that the devil is in the details. It is people who stand in judgement of other people’s worth and declare that their determination is what God has determined is so.
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“God is Complicit”
God is omniscient
Knows what you’ll do
Makes Him complicit
Shame on Him too!
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“God is omniscient
Knows what you’ll do
Makes Him complicit
Shame on Him too!”
Not if you buy into the whole free will deal. I think that operates a little bit like the “free market.” If there is a God of some sort he is laughing at us.
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“Those who practice Christian Reconstruction theology believe that society should be governed by biblical values, rather than secular values.”
I think the question is whether the Bible PROMOTES “homophobia, anti-reproductive rights, patriarchy, white supremacy and free market capitalism” or whether the interpreters of the text in the Bible ( choose a specific version) select passages to promote “homophobia, anti-reproductive rights, patriarchy, white supremacy and free market capitalism.”
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In the Muslim world, fundamentalist religious extremism is represented by groups like ISIS, al Qaeda, and the Taliban. Friday, I went to see the film “12 Strong” based on a true story that took place in Afghanistan soon after 9/11. In the film, we witness a Taliban leader shooting a young mother in the head for teaching her young daughters to read and do simple math. There is also a scene where we watch a woman buried up to her chin because she had an affair. The Taliban forces the villagers to throw stones at her head until she’s dead.
In the Christian world, fundamentalist religious extremism is represented by families like DeVos, the Koch brothers, and the Wal-Mart Walton family. If these families and/or groups gain total power, expect the same brutality history teaches us from the Church’s Inquisition, a horror that swept through most of Europe and lasted for roughly 700 years starting in 1231 A.D.
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Absolutely. Religion isn’t pure lunacy, but it’s inseparable from it. Do Christians really believe in a God who will torture a young person for eternity just because he lived and died far from Christendom?
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I’ve known Christians that do.
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“I’ve known Christians that do.”
…or rather people who profess to be Christians.
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But who decides who the real Christians are? Oh, (jumping up and down with my hand high in the air) I know that answer. God on judgment day when He refuses to let them in.
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I think we are probably all able to identify people “of good faith” whether they profess to be Christians or not.
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speduktr: I really dislike self-proclaimed ‘Christians’ who have all the answers. Instead of working to make people’s lives better they spend time telling everyone what they need to do to make it into heaven. Of course, Hindus, Muslims, spiritualists or any other religion is a gateway to their version of hell.
These people do not understand that life is meant to be lived and enjoyed, not desecrated by the false belief that money will solve all answers, and they have all the money so they have all the ‘correct’ answers. Big gob of BS.
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I am with you, carolmalaysia. It seems to me that people who think they have all the answers (and let you know it) are particularly annoying. Whether you believe in a higher power or not, those who act like they have a direct line into his/her/its mind can be extremely annoying if not alarming.
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And there are a hundred verses in the Bible that warns us about fake Christians.
https://www.openbible.info/topics/false_prophets
What’s amazing is that when we start to read those Biblical warnings, those passages define the Koch brothers, Trump, DeVos, et al.
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Yes, all we have to do is give them enough time to reveal who they really are, and the tell is when some start to tell us we are all going to hell if we don’t join the religion they belong to and act and think and vote exactly as that religion tells us to do it, then we know who isn’t a real Christian.
In fact, the first sign of a fake Christian is usually when they come knocking on our homes’ doors to recruit us into their religion that has a script written by their modern day false prophet, that must be followed blindly without question or we don’t get into “their” definition of heaven.
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Why oh why has the University of Michigan been so silent about the buying of power and influence by the DeVos family in the state and beyond? Why did the School of Education not do more to protect public school schools across the state and in Detroit most notably from charterization? This is another example of what money can do. I am a UM alum but have not researched how much DeVos family may have contributed to the University.
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