The Dangerous Child Curriculum, Part IX

For today's posting, we will return to the John David Garcia curriculum, last visited in part VII of this series. As mentioned in earlier postings, Al Fin corresponded with and visited with Garcia in his later years.

Garcia's curriculum is meant as an example or a prototype for the design of a broader, more enlightened, and distinctly more dangerous curriculum for the new generation of dangerous children.

We resume our look at Garcia's program at around age 12 of training. As mentioned before, this curriculum is meant to be adapted to each child as appropriate. It is not expected that all children will progress at the same speed.

Much of the training in Garcia's approach takes place outside of classrooms and formal settings. It is expected that multiple instructors would be involved -- most or all of whom would not be government certified as K-12 instructors. Government certification is seen as a distinct impediment and handicap, in the setting of dangerous child training.

		Physical		Biological
Avg. Level	Avg. Age	Physical Theory	Physical Practice	Biological Theory	Biological Practice
10.00	12.00	Gauss' mathematics and physics continued; general thermodynamics, the work of Boltzman Clausius and Gibbs, Maxwell's demon, the inventions of Edison and Tesla; the work of Mendeleev and the beginning of organic chemistry; probability theory as understood by Gauss and Galton	Construction of AC generators and regulators, simple radios, light bulbs, and recording devices; begin design and construction of simple internal combustion engine; experiments in organic chemistry and synthesis of organic compounds	The life and work of Charles Darwin and Wallace, the evolution of evolutionary ideas, the theory of natural selection, and the three laws of thermodynamics; the work of Pasteur continued	Each student gathers evidence for and against Darwinian evolution, taking into account basic genetic knowledge and probability
10.25	12.25	Non-Euclidean geometry and statistical mechanics; introduction to systematic probability theory and statistics; continue work in thermodynamics and organic chemistry; the work of W.R. Hamilton and Henri Poincare is studied	Continue work of previous quarter; construct interferometers and repeat the Michelson/Morley experiments; repeat experiments of Planck to derive Planck's constant; develop and derive the special theory of relativity; begin construction of automobile; continue internal combustion engine project	Neo-Darwinian theories of evolution and evolutionary genetics up to R.A. Fisher's The Genetical Theory of Evolution; explain disease and parasites in evolution	Do genetic experiments with fruit flies and molds, giving evidence for and against neo-Darwinism, theories of evolution, bacteriology; systematic study and laboratory work
10.50	12.50	The physics of the 20th century, including the General Theory of Relativity up to the discovery of quantum mechanics, is presented as a year course in modern physics (with an advanced calculus prerequisite) as it might have been given at Harvard, Cambridge, or Gottingen in 1925; physical and organic chemistry, also a year survey course; finish study of Henri Poincare	Continue work on automobile; repeat experiments leading up to Bohr atom; handmade basic tubes for radio and oscilloscope; construct a more advanced radio and oscilloscope using tubes; make photocells, synthesize organic compounds	Introduction to cell biochemistry and advanced genetics; begin chromatography and electrophoresis for separating common biochemical constituents of mammals	The chemical structure of the constituents of life; isolating nucleic acids and proteins, determining their properties through chemical and spectrographic analysis; create genetic mosaics
10.75	12.75	Continuation of previous quarter; relate physical chemistry and organic chemistry to biochemistry; theory of x-ray machines and electron microscopes	Continuation of previous quarter; finish automobile; study of x-ray machines and electron microscopes; organic chemistry laboratory; motion pictures	Continuation of previous quarter; introduction to x-ray crystallography and electron microscopy for the study of large molecules and viruses	Continuation of previous quarter; use of x-ray crystallography to determine chemical structure; electron microscopy of viruses and large molecules

		Psychosocial		Integration
Avg. Level	Avg. Age	Psychosocial Theory	Pyschosocial Practice	Integrative Theory	Integrative Practice
10.00	12.00	The theories of Marx and Engels in detail, Das Kapital and the Dialectics of Nature; the ideas of August LeComte and social science in general; the psychology of William James	Critical essay on Marxism and dialectic materialism; what is wrong and what is right about theory, what is the scientific evidence for and against the theory; why is social science so full of nonsense?	Ethical analysis of Marxist philosophy and ethics; how and why Marxism violates the evolutionary ethic; read The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky	The music of Arnold Schoenberg, the plays of Frank Wedekind, the early paintings of Picasso and the Cubists; the opera Lulu by Alban Berg is performed
10.25	12.25	The philosophy of Nietzsche and Spencer; evolutionary ethics as propounded by Spencer; ethical Darwinism, an introduction to the life and ideas of Sigmund Freud, the rise of racist fascism in Europe	Essay comparing the neo-Darwinian ethics with Marxism; the incipient Lamarckianism in Marxism compared to its ethics; essay on European racism and fascism growing out of social Darwinism	Ethical analysis of neo-Darwinian philosophy and of social Darwinism; how and why social Darwinism and fascism violate the evolutionary ethic; Freud as a Newtonian psychologist looking for mechanistic explanations which may not exist; ethical implications of the unconscious	The music of Richard Strauss, Ein Heldenleben, Also Sprach Zarathustra, and the opera Elektra; Man and Superman by G.B. Shaw is also performed
10.50	12.50	World history from 1910 to 1925; the basic writings of Lenin and a study of his life; World War I and the Russian Revolution, the world fear of communism, Leon Trotsky as an idealized communist; Freud's later works	Essay on the origins and consequences of World War I; essay on the origins and consequences of communism in Russia; essay on how the brilliant, ethical Trotsky went wrong and helped create a Frankenstein	An ethical analysis of how the Soviet Union betrayed its own revolution and turned into a monster; how the centralization of power makes corruption inevitable; read Darkness at Noon by Koestler and Animal Farm by Orwell	The music of Prokofiev and Shostakovich; the films of Sergei Eisenstein, including Ivan the Terrible; perform the Shostakovich opera Lady Macbeth of Murmansk and Mussorgsky's Boris Gudenov
10.75	12.75	World history 1925 to 1939; the basic writings of Mussolini, Hitler, fascism, Stalin, and Soviet communism; a study of Hitler and Stalin as complementary personalities who changed history; early works of Pavlov and Jung	Essay comparing the conflicting ideologies and economic factors leading to World War II; what could have been done to prevent World War II; why the United States was so immune to both communism and fascism	An ethical anlysis of how capitalistic greed and the political cowardice and vindictiveness of the European democracies made World War II inevitable; Read Winds of War by Wouk	The music of Stravinsky, the early art of Dali, the films of Chaplin, Bu_nuel, Lang, and Pabst, plus Academy Award winners; perform Hindemith's opera Mathis der Mahler and Brecht's Mahagonny

Garcia's publications that are available online

Survival Is Not Politically Correct; But It Is Mandatory

Humans of the advanced world have entered a brave and dangerous new phase of existence. We are moving through a stage where it is politically incorrect -- and sometimes illegal -- to protect oneself and one's family in order to survive a growing range of threats which one is not supposed to be aware of, much less mention in polite company.

Nevertheless, if you want to play through to the next level, you must survive this phase of existence with enough resources and in good enough condition to proceed to the next phase.

For those who are raising children, this point cannot be made strongly enough. Your children need to be raised to be dangerous. Competent, yes. Highly skilled, yes. Technologically savvy, yes. And very, very, dangerous.

But where do children go to learn skills of survival, teamwork, discipline in dangerous settings, calmness under fire, etc. in the modern hyper-feminised politically correct world? That is a very good question (but be careful where you ask it).

There is a national program in the US that is called the Young Marines, which should give program designers some useful ideas. The Young Marines is open to boys and girls from the age of 8 all the way through the high school years. The organisation provides summer camp and a wide range of training programs, including community service.

Several ranks and awards are available throughout the course of training -- similar to the Boy Scouts' ranks and badges. Here is a list of skills and goals for the most basic level of Young Marines:

• Drill movements, including march, halt, fall-in and fall-out of ranks, positions of attention, parade rest, at ease and rest
• Execution of column movements, saluting, and facing movements
• Uniform regulations
• Grooming and personal appearance standards
• Rank structure of the Young Marines
• Military customs and courtesies
• Practicing Formation
• Young Marine history
• Military terms and jargon
• Outdoor tools safety
• Assembling survival kits
• Stove & lantern safety
• Constructing a shelter
• Knot tying
• Lighting fires
• Reading of maps
• Signs on topographical maps
• Orient a map without the use of a compass
• Introduction to the compass.
• Drug Resistance
• Basic elements of speech preparation
• Duties of both a team member and team leader
• Duties of a Young Marine Flag Bearer
• Duties of fire watch
• Responsibilities of US citizens
• History of the US flag
• Components of physical fitness
• Developing personal physical fitness plans
• Tips on healthy eating
• Basic first aid techniques
• In order to proceed to Junior ranks, each Young Marine must perform 50 hours of community service

_Basic Rank Skills & Goals

Information on Ranks and Rank Advancement

The Young Marines programs should be seen as idea generators for most parents, since such programs will not be available everywhere -- and will not necessarily be exactly what many parents are looking for regardless.

But many children will learn important skills of survival, group cohesion and support, and self-discipline, when training with other children of various skills levels but with a generally unified intention to succeed and excel.

The various curricula which we have discussed in connection with dangerous child training have had little to do with military tactical or strategic thought or training. And yet, a well-rounded dangerous child should know something about military tactics -- if only to understand how to avoid being caught up in a combat situation.

For some communities that wish to establish a certain degree of independence from potentially dangerous and aggressive outside groups, a more intimate knowledge of small unit tactics, and infantry weapons may become important to acquire.

Under the US constitution, the right of individuals and communities to organise militias and to bear arms is guaranteed in the second amendment. Up to this point, very few US communities and regions have taken advantage of their constitutional rights to organise such small fighting units.

But as the US moves more deeply into its paradoxical and surreal world of politically correct denial in the face of growing and deadly threats inside the homeland itself, even a "conspiracy of silence" on the part of government, academia, and popular news media outlets will not stop a growing trend toward organised self-defense.

It is never too late to have a dangerous childhood.

Basic small unit tactics (PDF)

Out of control third world violence may be coming to a city near you

One of many potential threats

Philosophy is for Thinkers; Ideology is for Stinkers

There are very fundamental differences between philosophy and ideology. Ideology refers to a set of beliefs, doctrines that back a certain social institution or a particular organization. Philosophy refers to looking at life in a pragmatic manner and attempting to understand why life is as it is and the principles governing behind it.

...philosophy and ideology, if measured on a scale, would occupy two extreme ends of the scale. The purpose of any philosopher is to seek knowledge for the sake of wisdom and truth whereas an ideologue’s sole aim is to advocate and enforce his or her ideology wherever he can. _Differences Between.net

It was once the purpose of universities to teach students how to reason, by teaching the great thinkers and great ideas in all their variations -- from the earliest to more recent.

Now universities are more the province of ideologues, whose purpose is to indoctrinate young minds into "proper" and "politically correct" modes of thought and action.

Popper’s famous distinction between science and pseudo-science (or ideology) depends on his equally famous principle of falsification. Quite simply, he argues that if a theory is in principle open to being disproved or ‘falsified’ by the facts of the world, then it is scientific. If it is not open to being falsified by the facts of the world, then it is pseudo-science, ideology. For example, the claim “Nothing can travel faster than the speed of light”, on which the Special Theory of Relativity crucially depends, can in principle be falsified by observing something in the actual world that does travel faster than the speed of light. But the statement “God’s in His Heaven” cannot be scientific, because it’s unclear what sort of evidence in the world would count as falsifying it. Therefore it must be pseudo-science or ideology. _Philosophy Now

Similarly, theories of anthropogenic climate catastrophe are being put to the test by real world data which show a divergence between steadily rising atmospheric CO2 levels, and global temperatures which have plateaued. The alarmist branch of climate science is flirting dangerously close to pseudo-science in its over-dependence on computer modeling and its willingness to avoid possible falsification of its hypotheses.

Very few people today have learned to think on the basis of first principles, which is why classical philosophy is not a very popular subject, at least not as popular as it was during the 40s, the 50s, and the 60s. Ideological thinking has more appeal to some because it involves less work. One does not have to spend years reading the great works of the great thinkers. All one has to do is buy the ideological package and one has something by which to make sense out of the world. It is quick and easy, like instant Oatmeal or a McDonald's Drive Thru....

...An ideological construct comes as a package that contains all sorts of things, such as starting points, assumptions, premises, conclusions, prejudices, etc., and it is through this package that the world can be interpreted. The problem, however, is that if one does not know how to think on the basis of primary principles (principled thinking), one will be unable to critically evaluate the ideological superstructure through which one interprets data. Rather, one will be critical of things on the basis of the ideological package, and thus feel as if one is a free and critical thinker, but one isn't quite sure whether the ideological package contains some rotten items that should be discarded. _Ideology vs Philosophy

The willingness of modern universities to discard classical philosophy and classical reasoning in favour of politically correct ideological indoctrination, constitutes a dark omen for the future. When even the educated elite can no longer interpret data from the real world in a valid manner, society will be drifting more rudderless and out of control than it is at present -- which is more than bad enough as it is.

In conclusion, here is a summary of differences between philosophy and ideology.
1.Philosophy refers to a pragmatic approach of looking and analyzing life. Ideology refers to a set of beliefs and rules belonging to a particular group or set of people
2.Philosophy aims at understand the world as it exists whereas ideology is born out of a vision for the future and aims at changing the current state to that particular vision
3.Philosophy is objective whereas ideology is dogmatic and refuses to participate in any discussion that does not agree with that ideology
4.Philosophy does not have as much impact as an ideology would have on the world ‘“ for ideology aims at spreading the beliefs and imposing them on the rest of the society irrespective of its relevance
5.All ideologies have some underlying philosophy but it is not vice versa. _Philosophy vs Ideology

Religions are ideologies, as are political "isms," most mass movements, and almost all "advocacy" groups and movements. Almost all "non-profit" organisations are actually ideologically driven, as are most tax-exempt foundations.

Ideologies may sometimes have a "good" impact -- as in immediate post-disaster relief, for example. But any ideology that aims to institute forced redistribution, is no better than a criminal organisation. If you see such an ideologue on the road, kill him. [Apologies to the zen koan: "If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him."]

Philosophy encourages participation in discussions in order to strengthen their theories and explanations. On the other hand, ideology does not encourage discussions of any sort that do not agree with their beliefs. _Difference Between Philosophy and Ideology

It is clear that a world that is driven by ideology is an impoverished world in terms of innovation, exploration, and discovery.

Which points out the growing importance of training children -- and yourselves -- to be truly dangerous. Dangerous children are slaves to no one and to no idea.