{"id":58516,"date":"2020-04-02T04:15:40","date_gmt":"2020-04-02T11:15:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=58516"},"modified":"2020-04-03T16:42:43","modified_gmt":"2020-04-03T23:42:43","slug":"grandfather-says-western-civilization-is-out-of-fashion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id58516-grandfather-says-western-civilization-is-out-of-fashion.html","title":{"rendered":"Grandfather Says: Western Civilization Is Out of Fashion"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Original Oil Painting by: Grandfather’s wife<\/p><\/div>\n

Western civilization seems unfashionable in most colleges these days. “Diversity” is now the revealed truth.<\/p>\n

Anyway, Grandfather trotted out an old college textbook of his, Readings in Western Civilization<\/em>, Knoles and Snyder, J.B. Lippincott 1951, and flagged a few quotes from it. They are examples of critical thought from the past:<\/p>\n

Temperance and courage are destroyed both by excess (of nurture) and defect (of nature), but are preserved by moderation.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

— Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics<\/em>, ca. 900 BC<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Aristotle’s philosophy asserted a “Golden Mean” for human behavior.)<\/p>\n

Now in all states there are three elements: One class is very rich, another very poor and a third in a mean. Democracies are safer and more permanent than oligarchies (rule by and for the rich) because they have a middle class which is more numerous and has a greater share in the government; for where is no middle class and the poor greatly exceed in number, troubles arise and the state comes to an end.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

— Aristotle, The Politics<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

That was written about two-thousand four-hundred years ago — as was the following:<\/p>\n

… and there is no new thing under the sun.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

— Ecclesiastes 1:9<\/strong><\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

About the Author: RD Blakeslee is an octogenarian in West Virginia who built his net worth by only investing in that which can be enjoyed during acquisition and throughout life, as opposed to papers in a drawer, like stocks and bonds. You can read more about him here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Photos: Courtesy of the Blakeslee Family<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Western civilization seems unfashionable in most colleges these days. “Diversity” is now the revealed truth. Anyway, Grandfather trotted out an old college textbook of his, Readings in Western Civilization, Knoles and Snyder, J.B. Lippincott 1951, and flagged a few quotes from it. They are examples of critical thought from the past: Temperance and courage are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":150,"featured_media":52358,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","pmpro_default_level":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[490],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-58516","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-grandfather-says","8":"pmpro-has-access","9":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nGrandfather Says: Western Civilization Is Out of Fashion<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id58516-grandfather-says-western-civilization-is-out-of-fashion.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Grandfather Says: Western Civilization Is Out of Fashion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Western civilization seems unfashionable in most colleges these days. “Diversity” is now the revealed truth. 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