5 October 2020

Books

You probably heard the 45th President of The United States say this over the weekend:

"It’s been a very interesting journey. I learned a lot about COVID. I learned it by really going to school. This is the real school. This isn't the 'let's read the books' school. And I get it, and I understand it, and it's a very interesting thing, and I’m going to be letting you know about it."

What I want to comment on with this is the aroma of anti-intellectualism and the apparent dismissal of bookish knowledge. Isn't that him all over? He doesn't read books and even the business-related books he has allegedly "written" have been composed by ghost writers. All fakery.

Dismissing the "let's read the books school" will chime happily with a large number of his supporters - perhaps the majority - who probably also found the reading of books pretty tiresome and overrated as they were suffering formal education.

Thank heavens for him that the medical staff dealing with him at The Walter Reed Medical Centre in Washington D.C. most certainly read books during their training. Without their bookish knowledge they would not have the foundation of knowledge that is essential to become effective medical practitioners. They belong to the "let's read books school" and that is why they have been able to help the 45th president to cope with his personal COVID19 health crisis... So far.

Not only does the president sneer at books, he also fails to follow clear guidance about self-isolation as was shown when he cruised around the Walter Reed hospital in his armoured vehicle - known I believe as "The Beast" - waving to his mainly unmasked supporters. Evidently, he belongs to the "let's break the rules school".

Finally , in contrast with the 45th president's dismissive attitude to the "let's read books school", this is what Barack Obama had to say about the value of books back in 2005: ""Reading is the gateway skill that makes all other learning possible, from complex word problems and the meaning of our history to scientific discovery and technological proficiency." 

I agree with that.

38 comments:

  1. It would be good to believe (given the power of his position), that he's not as stupid as he likes to portray himself...but it's a very convincing act.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh. I do not think he is stupid Charlotte. Just ignorant.

      Delete
  2. To use a urban dictionary or boxing word. Covid schooled Trump.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wish Covid had sent him reeling to the canvas.

      Delete
  3. I so wish my students would read more. And I don't mean the first thing they find in a Google search. It would make such a difference to their results. Our last term of the school year starts tomorrow and I have purposely embedded a guided reading activity from the textbook. I am hoping all 28 students will engage with the activity .. what do you reckon my odds are?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. At least you are trying Carol. Better to have tried and failed than never to have tried at all. I hope you have a nice, easy term Carol. Get them working (or reading) and then put your feet up and do a crossword. Easy peasy.

      Delete
  4. Trump and his supporters have nothing but contempt for reading and intellectual pursuits. There's nothing redeeming about any of them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Reading is hard! Why read books when you can download a movie?

      Delete
  5. I've always said that once you learn to read, there is nothing in the world you cannot then learn.
    Trump hasn't learned a thing in his life except how to cheat, con, and lie. And brag. Endlessly. He is a prime example of someone who obviously never reads unless forced to and even then, he does not grasp the meaning of the words.

    ReplyDelete
  6. There are people, YP, who qualify as an unbelieving Thomas (one of JC's disciples). Not that I necessarily credit Thomas with not having a brain. Maybe he was just sceptic. And that's good.

    However, unless unbelieving Thomas experiences something himself, first hand, it doesn't exist. Should Le Trump survive (and he will because maybe he gets off lightly - a cough made into a balloon) then he'll make sure that we know he is Superman and everyone else who gets their lungs scraped and/or dies is just a weak weasel without a spine.

    So there. Who needs learning and books if you can bend your narrative to satisfy your starved ego?

    U

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree that if he does get through it, he will act as though he has become the world expert on COVID19. And yet he spoke of "magical" treatments sent down by "God".

      Delete
  7. It's the "we've had enough of experts" school. It's the shedding of highly experienced civil servants in favour of those who support the idealogy school. It's the anti-school of anti-meritocracy. Or, as a student once said to me, "I don't want to know what has been done in the past because it will pollute my creativity". A guitar teacher took the opposite view: "it takes ten years before you realise how crap you are".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Interesting reflections Tasker. Thank you.

      Delete
    2. And to put it together, if you don't read or practice then you never realise how crap you are.

      Delete
  8. Why would anyone need to read a book when you have Google and Twitter? Sheesh!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's the problem in a nutshell. Instant everything. No need to find a book, open it at the right page, read it and remember it as there will always be Google.

      Delete
    2. Sounds like a song Jean..."There'll always be a Google/ While there's a country lane..."

      Delete
    3. Oh yes, and don't bother with spelling or grammar as most people will work out what you mean. As one of my previous work colleagues told me as I was correcting some items for publication.

      Delete
    4. Oh you are so pedantic JayCee! We got spellcheckers now. Spelling don't matter any moor.

      Delete
  9. Can you imagine Trump even SAYING "technological proficiency"?! No!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This is a man who can't even bring himself to read daily briefings from his top staff.

      Delete
    2. The cultural sophistication of Barack Obama stands in stark contrast to his successor's philstinic crassness.

      Delete
    3. PS After Obama's second term, I thought 'What a pity he can't stand again'...you can guess the rest...

      Delete
  10. I find that by reading books I learn how much I don't or didn't know. I guess that is why people that don't read books think they know everything.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Why read a book when you could be building a hotel or a golf course and making money, so much beautiful money.

      Delete
  11. Once he's done presidenting, maybe he'll write a Great Book about it...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No way DT. He'll get somebody else to write it and it will be beautiful, really beautiful.

      Delete
  12. I'm not so sure he's even had it. After the bun fight I wonder if he's just regrouping ready for the next one.
    Briony
    x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It seems that his symptoms were pretty mild. If you or I had had the same symptoms we would definitely not have been hospitalised. BUT his brush with COVID-19 is still not over.

      Delete
  13. Well the only thing that seemed to come out of it all is he hits the news once more like some insufferable demigod. A crass ignorant idiot no less!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He knows how to play the media in spite of his ignorance.

      Delete
  14. It does seem incredible that there are still people out there who believe the sun shines out of his every orifice!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I never thought I would ever see the day that so many Americans would be happy to have a Vietnam War draft dodger as their president.

      Delete
  15. To quote Horace "De ignorantia terret me." I say that only because I don't know the Latin for "He scares the shit out of me." I don't suppose Horace ever said that anyway.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Even if Biden wins, Trump's divisive legacy will remain. He has scarred America for the foreseeable future.

      Delete
  16. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete

Mr Pudding welcomes all genuine comments - even those with which he disagrees. However, puerile or abusive comments from anonymous contributors will continue to be given the short shrift they deserve. Any spam comments that get through Google/Blogger defences will also be quickly deleted.

Most Visits