EDITORrnThomas FlemingrnMANAGING EDITORrnTheodore PappasrnSENIOR EDITOR, BOOKSrnChilton Williamson, Jr.rnASSISTANT EDITORrnChristine HaynesrnART DIRECTORrnAnna Mycek-WodeckirnCONTRIBUTING EDITORSrnJohn W.Aldndge, Harold O.].rnBrown, Katherine Dalton, SamuelrnFrancis, George Garrett,rnE. Christian Kopff, Clyde WilsonrnCORRESPONDING EDITORSrnJanet Scott Barlow, Bill Kauffman,rnJohn Shelton Reed, Momcilo Selic,rnDavid KSlavittrnEDITORIAL SECRETARYrnLeann DobbsrnPUBLISHERrnAllan C. CarlsonrnPUBLICATION DIRECTORrnGuy C. ReffettrnCOMPOSITION MANAGERrnAnita FedorarnCIRCULATION MANAGERrnRochelle FrankrnA publication of The Rockford Institute.rnEditorial and Advertising Offices:rn934 North Mam Street, Rockford, IE 61103.rnEditorial Phone: (815)964-5054.rnAdvertising Phone: (815)964-5811.rnSubscription Department: P.O. liox 800,rnMount Morris, IE 61054. Call 1-800-877-5459.rnFor information on advertising in Chronicles,rnplease call RochcIIe Frank at (815) 964-5811.rnU.S.A. Newsstand Distribution by Eastern NewsrnDistributors, Inc., 1130 Cleveland Road,rnSandusky, OH +4870.rnCopyright © 1993 by The Rockford Instihite.rnAll rights reserved.rnChronicles (ISSN 0887-5731) is publishedrnmonthly for $28 per year by The RockfordrnInstitute, 934 North Main Street, Rockford,rnIE 61103-7061. Second-class postage paidrnat Rockford, IE and additional mailing offices.rnPOSTM.’STER: Send address changes tornChronicles, P.O. Box 800, Mount Morris,rnIE 61054.rnThe views expressed in Chronicles are thernauthors’ alone and do not necessarily reflectrnthe views of The Rockford Institute or of itsrndirectors. Unsolicited manuscripts cannot bernreturned unless accompanied bv a self-addressedrnstamped envelope.rnChroniclesrnVol. 18, No, 1 January 1994rnPrinted 111 the United Stiitw of Americ.irnPOLEMICS & EXCHANGESrnOn ChroniclesrnWe young conservatives enjoy seeing Dr.rnFleming take on the education estabhshment’srnsacred cows, but when yourndismiss us as “clumsy ignoramuses,” thisrnhits too close to home. It is bad enoughrnto read issue after issue of your magazinernand then have to look up encyclopediarnarticles on a dozen or so names we’vernnever come across; Cicero, Cervantes,rnHume, Faulkner, etc. But then we needrnto get a book of Greek and Latin phrasesrnjust to understand the first and lastrnlines of your essays. What are you tryingrnto do—turn us into truly educated people?rnLook, Fleming—we are pampered,rnselfish, and ignorant. But we like it thisrnway. It makes life easy, and besides, wernalready thought of ourselves as somewhatrn”educated.” After all, we were literate,rnwe could write a persuasive essayrn(albeit with grammatical errors), and wernknew far more than most young peoplernour age. We considered ourselves thernlucky victims of American educationalrndecline. True, little was demanded of usrnin school. But this only left more timernfor us to do what we really loved—studyrnexactly what we wanted whenever wernwanted and become knowledgeable on arnfew topics (my own personal favoritesrnwere Christian history, conservative ideology,rnand the 1960’s counterculture).rnAll in all, we didn’t consider it such a badrndeal. Fspecially since we never had torntake tests in any of these areas or seek outrninformation that didn’t confirm ourrnpoint of view.rnThen vou come along with all thesernclassical scholars and professors of medievalrnliterature and tell us that we probablyrnlearned very little of what anrneducated person needs to know, evenrnthough we went to the best colleges inrnAmerica, and that we are an educatedrnelite fit for a Third World nation. Now,rnwe just weren’t ready for a sobering critiquernlike this. We are your young alliesrnof the right. We expected you to raise arnclenched fist and shout along with us:rn”Peace through strength,” “Family values,”rn”Low taxes and high morals,” “Thernpreservation of Western culture.” Wernconsider it impudent that you would tryrnto improve our minds and souls.rnWhen you advertised all those back issuesrnof Chronicles we were tempted byrnsuch intriguing titles as “Conservatism asrnNovelty” and “The Cult of DeficientrnThinking.” Our bright but lazy mindsrnwere sure that you’d tell us all there is tornknow on these subjects. We had no idearnhow transforming your magazine can be.rnFventually we wanted to read the Bible,rnnot just a critique of why liberals don’trnrespect it. We wished we had realh’rnpayed attention when our professorsrntaught the llliad in Classics I. We couldrnno longer feel superior to educated leftistsrnby checking out old issues of the Nationrnand laughing at the ludicrous predictions.rnAnd those thousand and onernpamphlets of the Heritage Foundationrnjust didn’t seem as exciting anymore.rnWe imagine you must get a greatrnchuckle out of all of this. You know howrnlong it will take us to catch up and thernsensuous and frivolous pleasures we willrnmiss out on in our attempt to make uprnfor our deficient formal education. Yournalso know that many of us will not succeedrnin our efforts and remain dolts. It isrnenough to make one read all 36 of Shakespeare’srnplays just to spite you.rnBut the most amazing thing is thatrnyou did all of this without being able tornflunk us or ruin our resumes. Guidancerncounselors and academic advisors all overrnthe country would probably kill to learnrnyour secret. Why, the other day while inrna bookstore I found myself foregoing politicalrnmagazines for an introductoryrnLatin Made Simple workbook, with specialrnsections on the history of Latin andrnLatin phrases in everyday usage. Therndamn thing is so intriguing I can’t evenrnhave the pleasure of resenting you whilernI study it. I’ll bet you had this plannedrnall along, didn’t you? You are a cruelrnman, Thomas Fleming.rn—Mary C. StackrnBrooklyn, NYrn4/CHRONICLESrnrnrn