To our great good fortune, Donald Trump won a sizable share of the youth vote, 46%, including 54% of young men. The slim majority of youthful voters, however, have long been deluded by less than honest educators.
Indeed, when it comes to U.S. history, too many of the nation’s youth are ignorant or misguided. Take my nephew (please)! He knows very little about the U.S. Constitution and professes he “doesn’t care much” about it. Yet, the rights illuminated in that sacred document protect him more than he can fathom.
My nephew asserts that the Constitution is an “old document” and that some parts might be good, while “some parts are awful.” In a spirited email exchange when I queried him as to what parts are awful he took quite a while to respond. When he did reply, he referred to Southern slaves being counted as 3/5th in the national census – an issue which many people have routinely misunderstood.
Getting it Wrong for Centuries
Way back when, as is the case today, U.S. states with large populations were allotted more representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives. Southern states sought to have all slaves counted while still being treated as slaves and certainly not permitted to vote.
Combining slave non-voters along with white voters would result in pro-slave states having more representatives in Congress and, as such, more power to perpetuate slavery. Whatever northern states could do to diminish the head count of slaves would reduce the might of the pro-slavery lobby. Thus, the compromise to reduce the slave headcount to 3/5th was actually a tactic against slavery.
The measure wasn’t put forth to degrade slaves as if they were 3/5th human. They were already degraded; they were slaves! As author Glenn Beck emphasized in his book, Arguing with Idiots, many leaders within the northern states believed that the compromise was the only way to eventually end slavery. So, 3/5th of a person was not a measure relating to a slave’s life. It was the value counted in the U.S. Census to weaken the position of southern states.
A Founding Father named Gouverneur Morris aided James Madison in drafting the provision. Morris himself was a contributing author to significant sections of the U.S. Constitution. He called slavery “a nefarious institution, the curse of heaven on states where it prevailed.” Morris vehemently opposed the 3/5th compromise. He believed that it would empower the southern states to have enough representation to maintain slavery indefinitely. He believed that 1/40,000 was a more equitable measure for Census purposes, but that idea was never going to take hold.
Slow and Deliberate
The 3/5th compromise essentially represented a move by anti-slave states to prevent pro-slave states from wielding too much power. Nevertheless, my nephew and so many other American citizens others who view the U.S. Constitution with contempt, cannot seem to grasp the truth. Worse, even after you carefully explain the situation to them, days later they fall right back to the erroneous notion that the provision was meant to degrade slaves and that the U.S. Constitution is rubbish. How can one find any common ground or reason with such people?
If only my nephew was an isolated case. He is part of a generation that has little to no idea about America’s gifts and contributions to the world, past and present. Strongly influenced by teachers and professors who are on a mission to spread their Leftist views, my nephew has no chance at objectivity in assessing the roles played by the nations of the world. He has no idea that the U.S., Denmark, and England were the global leaders in ending the slave trade.
My nephew does not realize that Communism is responsible for 104 million deaths from 1917 to the present. Amazingly, he does not know that each day people from around the world risk all they have to make it to the U.S., while few others besides  Rosie O’Donnell actually have left or want to leave.
There Is Hope
Is my nephew and our brainwashed youth so far gone that they can’t be retrieved? That would be a shame. Fortunately, encouraging signs appears on the horizon. The significant Trump youth vote was encouraging. On a dual path, for example, Brandon Straka, a gay man, realized that the mainstream media was feeding him a non-stop series of lies.
“Once upon a time, I was a liberal,” Straka said years back on TV interview. However, “I have watched as the Left has devolved into intolerant, inflexible, illogical, hateful, misguided, ill-informed, un-American, hypocritical, menacing, callous, ignorant, narrow-minded” party, at times exhibiting “blatantly fascistic behavior and rhetoric.”
Ultimately, Straka created #Walkaway helping tens of thousands of individuals to see the light. Other self-made leaders have launched other movements. Even big labor has moved to the Right. Hope is on the horizon. My nephew and legions within his cohort might be redeemable.
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Jeff Davidson is “The Work-Life Balance Expert®” and the premier thought leader on work-life balance, effectiveness, integration, shift, blend, and harmony. Jeff speaks to organizations that seek to enhance their overall productivity by improving the effectiveness of their people. He is the author of Breathing Space, Perfect Timing, Simpler Living, Dial it Down, and Everyday Project Management. Visit BreathingSpace.com or call 919-932-1996 for more information on Jeff’s keynote speeches and seminars.
