National Day Of Action (Tuesday, 4/8): Kill The Cuts (UPDATED, 4/13/25)

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While we're on the subject of "Hands Off," we'd feel remiss if we didn't mention the next major opportunity to picket in your area. So, without further ado, here's the information, as it reached our transom, via the AFL-CIO:

"Yesterday was a huge day for people all across the country to speak out and fight back. Let’s keep up the momentum!

 

"This Tuesday, April 8, a coalition of union members, patients, allies and patient advocates are coming together for “Kill the Cuts,” a national day of action to fight back against Trump and Musk’s attacks on research, health care and higher education.

"The Trump administration’s attacks on the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation and Department of Education jeopardize medical progress in areas such as cancer, viral pandemics, heart disease, diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease while threatening the jobs of researchers across the country.

 

"Cutting funds to lifesaving research and medical care means abandoning working families who are suffering and costing taxpayers billions of dollars. These cuts are dangerous to our health and to our economy. 

 

"Together, working people have an opportunity to raise awareness, put pressure on elected leaders and fight back to have a voice in our health care.

 

"Join us at an event near you, and raise your voice to say, “Kill the Cuts!”

 

"In Solidarity, 

 

"Team AFL-CIO."

To see how it's working out in a local context, click here:
https://ramennoodlenation.blogspot.com/2025/04/mad-king-watch-take-v-hands-off-protest.html 

<https://www.downwithtyranny.com>

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Anti-intellectualism and authoritarianism go hand in hand, as people are beginning to understand in the Trump era; hence, one reason for this posting, beyond the immediate business that it covers. As we've been reminding people, in many respects, Trump's initial rise -- and subsequent restoration -- reflects the subordination of American education to standardized testing, a trend that gathered steam after the passage of No Child Left Behind, in 2003. 

The law resulted in many undesirable collateral consequences, notably, an emphasis a "drill and kill" mentality that elevated test preparation at the expense of broader educational goals. "Teaching to the test" became the order of the day, with local districts and states increasingly asked to take on more complex tasks, without the additional funding needed to execute them successfully. Disadvantaged students got the shaft, as did aspiring teachers, due to the higher debt loads they took on, to meet the "highly qualified" standard -- which the law didn't specifically define, but many districts took to mean a master's degree. (Hence, the inflation of credentials, and the debt required to achieve them.)

I can't help but contrast that experience with my own education. Growing up in the '70s and early '80s, as I did, I distinctly remember having to take critical thinking classes -- both at the K-8 and high school levels -- as well as an American government course during the latter era, as a junior. Knowing how the system's supposed to work is important, right? Especially if you're proposing to fix what's wrong with it.

Unfortunately, the current generation doesn't seem to be getting those same kinds of experiences. When I see polls claiming that a majority of Americans don't realize that there are three branches of government, what other conclusions can I draw? Those findings only underscore the reality behind such infamous Trumpisms as the oft-quoted statement, "I love the poorly educated, we're the smartest people, we're the most loyal people."

Time will tell if we can get basic civic knowledge and critical thinking back into the classroom, which will probably depend on how many broken pieces we'll have to pick up. In the meantime, make yourself heard on this issue, as you're doing on so many others, and ponder the implications of the Robert Reich quote below. While it's lengthy, it's worth quoting as a reminder -- for anyone still needing it -- of the stakes  involved, and allowing the current malpractice to continue. On that note, see you Tuesday.* -- The Reckoner

<Robert Reich Email>

“Authoritarians benefit from an under-informed population— which is precisely why Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and the Republican Party are carrying out the most sweeping assault on the American mind in modern history. Trump has effectively dismantled the U.S. Department of Education— gutting its staff and attempting to close the department altogether. American children be damned. "He's cutting funding to public libraries and museums— invaluable places that provide internet access, literacy programs, and homework help to millions. He's going after scientific research. Silencing dissent. Threatening universities, researchers, and students and their free speech and academic freedom… "These efforts aren’t about policy, efficiency, or saving taxpayer money. They’re about control. It's about creating a culture of fear and complacency. It's about tearing down the means and institutions that allow people to think critically, challenge authority, and participate in democracy.”

Links To Go (Up Goes The Drawbridge, Down Falls The Axe):

Down With Tyranny: Thinking About Leaving The Country...:
https://www.downwithtyranny.com/post/thinking-about-leaving-the-country-until-trump-maga-disappear-you-sure-aren-t-the-only-one

Down With Tyranny: Don't Expect To Wake Up...:
https://www.downwithtyranny.com/post/don-t-expect-to-wake-up-and-someone-to-say-trump-became-a-dictator-today-it-s-a-process

The Guardian: Yale Professor Who Studies Fascism Fleeing US To Work In Canada: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/26/yale-professor-fascism-canada

[*...And, now that April 8th has come and gone, this link should be self-evident:]
The 5051 Movement (Find A Protest Near You):

https://www.facebook.com/groups/50501movement/posts/1010022704068392/

Why Where We Are, Where We Are, Explained...In One Graphic

Grim as they are, none of these facts -- which I just came across on Facebook -- should surprise anybody who makes their living from anything literacy-related, whether it's editing, teaching, proofreading, writing...you name it. The reality of the piece is that literacy and comprehension go hand in hand with the bigger skills that you'll need later in life, to do more than just enough to slide by. This is a fact, however much those on the other side of that particular divide try to deny it.

Not too long ago, the Squawker and I were discussing how we were -- quite literally -- raised on reading. at home and at school. I have vivid memories of my mother taking me on her knee, and we'd choose a particular book to read together, and she would have me copy down the heavyweight words -- all those 50-cent and one dollar words, as they call them, presumably those with more than two or three syllables -- and go over with them with her.

My father was exactly the same way. Although he worked in construction, a job that involves hard physical labor, he always made time for reading at home. And by that, I don't mean the potboilers of the day, but pretty heavy duty stuff -- his favorite subjects leaned towards history and politics, from such esteemed historians as A. K. P. Taylor, Will Durant -- The Story Of Civilization was a particular favorite -- and Barbara Tuchman (A Distant Mirror. The Guns Of August), to Ballantine's popular series of black and white World War II paperbacks, and beyond. Of course, he always made time for classics, and whatever popular fiction struck his fancy. though I remember him favoring a bit more of the former than the latter.

Looking back, it's all the more striking, since neither of my parents had a great deal of formal education themselves. My mom got as far as a couple years in business college, which was a prerequisite in the '50s and '60s for women looking into secretarial careers -- which she never ended up pursuing, once the demands of raising children like me came calling -- while I'm not sure about my dad. I'm fairly certain he went through high school; whether he graduated, I'm not sure, but he didn't let it stop him from essentially further his education himself, whether it came on the job, or whatever he curled up to read on the couch.

At any rate, my parents understood the importance of putting a premium on understanding the world around them, and impressed that on me. Growing up in the '70s, as I did, I still remember when schools actually taught critical thinking, instead of what we've done for 30-odd years now, since the madness of No Child Left Behind forced teachers to go against their instincts -- and spend much of their time teaching to standardized tests.

While I'm over simplifying somewhat here, all I can say is, check out the above graphic for yourself, and let those facts sink in a little bit. There's a reason why the bandleader, Woody Herman, joked to his musicians, "Don't forget why they call them the Great Unwashed," and there's a reason why Trump constantly intones, "I love the poorly educated." Need we say more, especially after the fallout of Nov. 5, 2024? --The Reckoner