Youth Advocacy
Youth Advocacy
Year 3, Week 52 (242 total reports)
25.01.20245-04.02.2025
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Dr. Jerry Goebel, MBA, D.Min.
The Bluffs-at-the-Borders are smokescreens for the real damage that is being inflicted by Elon Musk and Project 2025. Don’t be distracted. If we don’t want our children to grow up in an oligarchy, we need to stay focused.
Song of the Week
Songs with inspiring, true, stories about people, like Harriett Tubman, Louis Riehl, and Congressman John Lewis, who have risen to defend human rights at pivotal times.
Top Links of the Week
04.02.2025
Elon Musk Is President
If anything should be clear following 47’s Bluffs-at-the-Borders escapades, it is that this administration is using a smokescreen to block the real agenda as defined by Project 2025 and Elon Musk. 47 is simply a tool to pursue their real agendas, the agenda of Project 2025 has been—for decades—the dismantling of the Federal Government and the US Constitution, the agenda of Elon Musk is to use his immense fortune to take over governments around the world (beginning with his purchase of the US government and using his all-too-compliant carnie, the Orange Felon of Mar-A-Lago). The “department” that Musk oversees (DOGE), is not federally approved, he has no governmental authority except what T-Rump grants and the sycophants in the GOP allow him. Musk and Project 2025 want to divert our attention elsewhere so we cannot see the real catastrophe the US has in store if congress does not check Musk’s growing power.
03.02.2025
It’s Easier to Destroy
This is an administration of smokescreens, and we should always ask what 47 and his cronies are trying to hide. They play a global shell game with economies and human beings as their pieces coldly oblivious to the suffering they are causing while golfing weekends at Mar-a-Lago. While distracting us with the most insane economic policies of this century, there is a more insidious agenda being pursued. This is the dark underbelly of a long-term conservative strategy designed by Project 2025 many Republican administrations ago. Their true goal is to sow chaos while they dismantle the Federal Government. Many long term political watchdogs, like Robert Reich, tell us to keep our eye on the ball. 47 and his oligarch friends want to undermine the constitution. While the president is distracting us on one hand, his unelected puppet-masters (Putin and Musk) are dismantling the government with the other. Most of the Executive Actions that 47 is rapidly passing, will be easy to repeal—if there is a constitutional process to do so, but don’t be deceived, Candidate 47 made it clear in his campaigning, he does not want US Citizens to “ever have to” vote again.
02.02.2025
Trump Unveils Ingenious Plan to Raise Prices, Harm American Consumers
A sane person would listen to experts on issues they obviously didn’t understand. A sane person would not attempt to start trade wars with consistent, time-honored allies. A sane person would not seek to undermine the government of those his/her electorate. But President 47 is none of those things, because he is not tied to sanity. He is tied to self, what will promote him, and what will curry favor with the oligarchs who give into his self-pleasuring. This president has gone out of his way to harm American consumers. This president has gone out of his way to undermine the constitution. This president has gone out of his way to tear the very fabric of his own nation. This President is not sane, this president is a malignant narcissist, an indicted felon, a twice-impeached incompetent leader responsible for the deaths of 100’s of thousands. And yet, he is America’s choice. We shall see how long that lasts as almost every action he takes undermines the well-being of the very people who ignorantly supported him (or allowed him to be elected by caring so little that they wouldn’t even get off their couches to vote). The theme of this administration should not be MAGA (Make America Great Again), but MCGA (Make China Great Again) as his policies are driving former allies of the United States into the welcoming economic and (by comparison) stable arms of that Asian Global Super-Power.
01.02.2025
How to Cultivate Meaning When Life Feels Absurd
Life seems extremely chaotic and many people are feeling both hopeless and helpless. Enter Professor Steven Heine professor of social and cultural psychology at the University of British Columbia. Heine has written a book, “Start Making Sense: How Existential Psychology Can Help Us Build Meaningful Lives in Absurd Times,” that seems perfectly suited to the current situation. He presents us with a roadmap, including many useful exercises, for regaining homeostasis when our sense of meaning has lost equilibrium. Reflecting on many existential thought leaders such as Jean-Paul Sartre, Friedrich Nietzsche, and others, Professor Heine offers sound advice to help you build (or rebuild) a meaningful life and to coach others to do the same. If you are a thought-leader in your own community, at home, or at work, this book can help you and those around you. We could all use a sense of meaning and purpose right now and the outer chaos is only going to increase (that is 47’s trademark; sow confusion and fear to maintain power). Grow your own inner meaning to help build resilience to maintain balance with the outer pandemonium.
31.01.2025
Alabama teachers seek to halt state law limiting lessons on Black history and civil rights
Good Trouble (as John Lewis would say) always seems to start in the most oppressed places, and few places are more oppressive to quality education these days than Red States like Alabama. These teachers are seeking “Good Trouble” as they seek to prevent education from becoming GOP Indoctrination. As mentioned yesterday, it is the goal of 47 and Project 2025 to whitewash history in education, to fabricate stories and hide difficult truths from students. What good is education if it can’t stand the test of time, or be useful in the world? Thank you to these educators, let’s hope they become a source of hope to others who seek truth in education and not the racist lies of this administration and it’s racist, fascist, biases.
30.01.2025
Trump signs sweeping executive orders that overhaul U.S. education system
What is the difference between indoctrination and education? We are about to find out. If you are involved in the lives of young people and children in the United States (or other autocratic countries), the sweeping changes brought by the Executive Action of 47 yesterday and designed (of course) by Project 2025, will soon sanction such policies as tax-payer funding of Private Education, fundamental Christian proselytization in classrooms, the rewriting of history (to exalt the role of white colonialism and diminish the impact of women, minorities, and the complete eradication of any contributions made by non-heterosexual persons. It will feature a new “patriotic admiration” (no doubt admiring the administration of the 45th and 47th president and justifying the January 6th insurrection. In short, these changes will not seek to educate children; but to brainwash them into the Project 2025 cult. How will this help make young people competitive in the world? In short, that’s no longer the goal for Project 2025’s education platform. There is going to have to be a growing emphasis on home-based learning and instruction in small community collectives. How will you prepare for this with the children you impact? What will you do to ensure our children will have accurate access to history and an education that will make them competitive in the job market of the future?
29.01.2025
‘Elections Have Consequences’: Trump and Rubio’s Foreign Aid Halt Will Hit the World’s Most Vulnerable
Heartless and cruel, these are the words I would use to describe the kickoff of the presidency designed by Project 2025, Elon Musk, and 47. As oligarchs garner more money than they could ever possibly spend, the most vulnerable in both the United States—and the world—are immediately suffering the consequences. People who voted for a reduction in the “price of eggs” are seeing the opposite occur; there is no agenda for lowering the cost of living for either the poor or the middle class. Acting surprised and feigning ignorance while watching the vulnerable around the world starve, disease increase, and education diminish, and immigrants were the first-to-blame (the whipping post) for all the political injustices, doesn’t work anymore. The people of the US have spoken, they wanted a racist, rapist, felon president who would promise to return America to a day when whites didn’t have to share public spaces with those of color, when women were silenced and kept at home. The tepid apathetic who stayed home rather than voting bear the brunt of this as well—if not more so. There is nothing worse than lukewarm. If you’re into scripture, remember this one, “So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of My mouth [Rev. 3:16].” This is what they voted for, now these are the consequences you are reaping. The cost in human lives will be staggering, especially if there is another pandemic on 47’s watch. This time, it will be far worse as he has already dismantled the agencies designed to keep the public informed about disease.
28.01.2025
Public schools try to protect undocumented students from Trump immigration raids
Under 47 and with direction from Project 2025 and tech oligarchs, ICE has become the new Gestapo. As the Orange Felon of Mar-A-Lago attempts to militarize immigration, he is now sending ICE to raid public schools. But some schools are standing firm against their agenda, declaring that, “education is for every child regardless of their immigration status.” Only valueless, vile, adults would attempt to prevent a child from being educated; any child, anywhere. Yet, that is exactly what this administration is attempting to do. This is the same administration that made it a policy to separate children from their parents without keeping an account of what prison camp either party was forced into. This is criminal, and those accepting, supporting, or enacting these policies will one day have to stand up to the raw lens of history as surely as the Nazi supporters (and deniers) of Hitler’s Germany. I’m so very grateful for these brave educators willing to put their livelihoods and careers on the line for the children they have sworn to teach. Another reason why, in a future time, we must remember that teaching is a sacred profession and deserves to be rewarded with the highest respect and recompense.
27.01.2025
How The US Became So Dysfunctional, Oligarchic, And Corrupt – OpEd
It should be noted, prior to reading this article, that the author, Finn Andreen, is a Swedish libertarian living in France. With that understanding, Mr. Andreen provides an engaging historic summary of the rise of Federalism in the US, particularly since President Lincoln. The continued power of the Federal Government over the States has—in Andreen’s opinion, led to the issues we have today with the centralized oligarchy of 47’s government under the direction of Elon Musk and Project 2025. This has become increasingly evident this week with the President’s blustery blowup (and backdown) of sending Colombian migrants to Colombia handcuffed in military planes. It is also apparent in the bellicose rants of the President about Greenland, Panama, and Canada. Despite the will of the American people, this President is recklessly pursuing a course that alienates long-time global allies. Thankfully, as we have seen in the terse showdown with President Gustavo Petro, the Colombian President, 47 is unable to sustain any whim longer than a day and has to back down when it comes to actually pursuing a policy that takes more focus than an afternoon. Apparently, no one is also around to help the President spell-check his tariff announcements as he even misspelled the name of the country he was addressing. Let’s hope this lack of focus continues.
26.01.2025
The Ungovernable Economy
This brilliant review by Trevor Jackson, of the Martin Wolf’s book, “The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism,” is perfectly timed to the political situation in which we currently find ourselves under 47’s, Project 2025-mandated economy. Jackson points out that economies that have historically led to collapse included; “policies (that) have privatized gains and socialized losses,” in which those running the government, “remove themselves from communities of obligation,” then blame immigrants, women, and minorities for the distress experienced by the economic “losers.” Besides being insightful about current economic issues from a historic perspective, Wolf goes on to present creative solutions that have stabilized countries and led to economic fairness in the past. As I read this article, additional alarm bells went off for me about the policies that 47 is trying to execute as he proceeds—through presidential fiat—the rapacious mandates of Project 2025 and the shadow president, Elon Musk. This is well-worth the read, though not exactly an easy piece.
25.01.2025
One Analysis to Rule Them All
This is a very important reminder of basic psychological principles; we become what gets rewarded or what doesn’t get punished. As the article points out, in 1957, famed Behavioral psychologist, B.F. Skinner said, “Men act upon the world, and change it, and are changed in turn by the consequences of their action.” It’s obvious why this remains important today when we look at the monster that the Orange Felon of Mar-A-Lago has become. He has been emboldened in his racist and fascist views by both his supporters and the apathy of others who don’t seem to care about the policies he is enacting. With the release of seditious criminals who tried to take over the capital at his direction, their criminal behavior will be reinforced and will become criterion for future criminal behavior as courts rally to cite this as a precedent. On a personal/educational/fundamental level, how will we explain to young people that consequences matter when they obviously don’t if you are rich and powerful?
24.01.2025
Noam Chomsky Defines What It Means to Be a Truly Educated Person
Professor Chomsky would not be appreciated in most school board discussions today, especially in the Red States—seats of MAGA cult thinking. The MIT scholar has pointed to an all-out attack on public institutions by corporations for years now. Those who support oligarchies would not want his ideas repeated in their boardrooms or public school gatherings. In this article, the author points to what Chomsky would define as the goal of education. Not the retention of knowledge, and certainly not the repetition of political propaganda, but (in his own words); “to be truly educated means to be resourceful, to be able to ‘formulate serious questions’ and ‘question standard doctrine, if that’s appropriate’… It means to ‘find your own way.’”
