Asset 9 Asset 10
number 50 • Winter 2022
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Andy Smarick
Literally, Seriously, and Institutional Integrity
American political rhetoric is in a bad way. We seem to no longer understand the importance of veracity in communication, and therefore we have trouble understanding the role metaphor, symbol, allusion, and other vital rhetorical tools can play in the public realm. Our language can't be flattened into dry declarative statements, and yet we also cannot tolerate deception and propaganda. To see our way through this thicket, we must draw some essential distinctions.
Toward Real Decentralization
Decentralization plays a huge role in conservative rhetoric, but far too small a role in conservative governing. Despite nods to the value of federalism and localism, leaders on the right haven't done nearly enough to energize communities or arrest the consolidation of power and money. They have enormous resources to draw on, if they're ready to try.
The Structure of Educational Revolutions
The movement toward school differentiation and choice should not be viewed as merely an escape hatch for impoverished families or a means of forcing the district-monopoly system to work better. Instead, we should see it as a dramatically different means of organizing and delivering public schooling that has had a cascading effect on a host of longstanding practices that we have taken for granted since the Progressive Era.
Can Catholic Schools Be Saved?
For centuries, Catholic schools have been an integral part of the American educational landscape, offering a refuge from religious intolerance and helping to lift millions of children out of poverty. Today, however, these institutions are closing at an alarming rate, especially in America's inner cities, where they are needed most. Can anything be done to save them?
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