Posted by Jesus of Suburbia on April 29, 2010, 10:29 pm Link: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/10/14/forum
A warning to lovers of Freedom and Liberty!
Those of us who live the United States as well as all other Democratic nations of this world must understand the necessity to safeguard our freedoms. We must recognize that with freedom comes immense responsibilities.
Those who oppose freedom do so for a variety of reasons. Some are out of greed. Those who have wealth and privilege seek to maintain it at all costs. Others fight against liberty out of misguided idealism. This paternalistic notion that “we know what is best” is present thought out society and is responsible for some of the worst acts of evil ever perpetrated.
The creators of Hitler's Reich, as well as Joe Stalin's henchmen were men who were often idealists. The USSR was a nation of idealists who believed that ordinary people were incapable of controlling their destinies.
This is why I created this manifesto. I want to warn everyone of what is being done to free thinking and freedom loving individuals.
This writing is warning to all who love freedom.
Be warned before you read these words. Many would like to see these words suppressed. They will stop at nothing to do so. As you read these words, it is certain that many others are doing so as well.
The Accreditation Mafia are out there. They are armed and ready.
This is a document which will be passed along in secret among a few. Hopefully it will lead to a revolution of a sort. Not a bloody revolution, mind you. We will not see another French Revolution, but rather a revolution of thinking people.
THE PROBLEM
Let us first identify the problem.
Academic Freedom is being opposed by many individuals. Many are elitists. They oppose any and all forms of innovation in academia. They fear innovation.
This is not new. In the era of Galileo there were like minded people. We know them as the inquisition.
And we see similar attacks today. We have institutes of higher learning being attacked.
Some schools are Distance Learning schools. Some are accredited and some are not.
In 2004 a US Government investigation was launched to target Distance Learning Programs. In front of the US Senate, a committee met led by Susan Collins, Republican Senator from Maine, and Democratic Senator Joseph Lieberman (who was later voted out of his party by voters in his own state.)
In this committee a Coast Guard Officer claimed to have earned 40% of her credits in an academic program in a matter of 16 hours. She did not elaborate on how this was done other than reading text books and taking tests. The School mentioned in this investigation was Kennedy-Western University, which was later renamed as Warren National University.
While, on the surface this report was damaging, it must be said that no representative from the University was allowed to testify on the institution's behalf. It also needs to be mentioned that this investigation was only for the purpose of spending government funds and could in no way be considered an indictment on this University. Many former students, in various places stated it to be improbable if not impossible to earn that many credit hours in such little time.
In spite of this kangaroo court-like procedure, the University continued to offer degrees and thrived. But other problems were encountered. In the State of Oregon, the legislature passed a law forbidding any individual to put the name of an unaccredited institution on a resume. KWU challenged this law and the State backed down with a compromise deal which required individuals to cite that their school was unaccredited.
Finally, the State of Wyoming, bowing to political pressure forbade all unaccredited schools from operating in their state. Kennedy-Western, now using the name Warren National attempted to be accredited but lost their bid and folded.
For the academic elitists this was a victory of a sort. Many celebrated this school's demise. A local opinion sheet, a publication whose name I will not mention due to legal reasons, even stated that the principles of this school should face criminal prosecution. This is rather hypocritical considering that this said publication (edited, published and written by one individual by the way) was instrumental in closing this school.
Academic Elitism, we must understand is the problem here. This is mainly because traditional education sees anything new or innovative as a threat. This is why a cabal of elitists will target schools and even stalk graduates and attempt to destroy their careers.
Consider a professor at a major Big Ten School. Again I will not use this person's name. But this individual is a well known “expert” on what he describes as “Diploma Mills.”
Diploma Mills, in the strictest sense are phony colleges which charge money to print and send out phony degrees and diplomas. But to the Accreditation Mafia, this definition is expanded to include any school which does not meet their standards. Usually this means a college or university which is not accredited. Almost always it is a school which uses teaching methods and degree granted procedures which are different from the norms.
But to return to our professor, he had continued to blast different schools and individuals. That is until he bit off more than he could chew.
St Luke's Medical School, a school in Liberia has sued this individual and the university he represents for libel and slander. It seems that this was actually a legitimate school and the Accreditation Mafia bit off more than they could chew.
THE SOLUTION
I do not wish to say that true “Diploma Mills” can be allowed to prosper and flourish. There are actually a number of bogus degree granting schools which sell nice looking diplomas for money and nothing else. Some will even provide the buyer with phony transcripts and references.
But the zeal to suppress such institutions has led to a orgy of oppression. Today many honest and decent people enroll in legitimate schools which happen to not be accredited. They spend money, work very hard and sacrifice only to be hounded by overzealous officials and the previously mentioned accreditation Mafia.
But there is hope left. We can reverse this trend and fight those who seek to oppress the free thinkers and the non conformists.
Remember that all great ideas had their opponents. Louis Pasteur, Thomas Edison, Nicola Tesla and many others have had their fights. They called them insane until history vindicated them.
We, who champion non-traditional education must stand firm and fight our oppressors head on.
We can do it by enlisting the support of others. Remember there is strength in numbers. The elitists want us to die quietly but we will continue the fight.
We must challenge those who ridicule us or spread lies. We must write newspapers that spread lies. We must post in message boards and blogs. We must spread the word that the cause of Academic Freedom is as basic a right as the right to free speech and a free press.
We much challenge all oppressive laws. Remember that the right to list your school on a resume is your own right to free speech. Academic Freedom is as basic a right as the right to a free press, free speech and peaceful assembly.
I urge everyone to copy and post these words and distribute freely.
The human mind is a powerful weapon! Free your minds and let liberty flourish!
The only way for evil to flourish is for good men to say nothing. Wise words indeed!
More sources of information:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3647/is_199504/ai_n8732901/
http://www.libertarian.co.uk/lapubs/educn/educn035.htm
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