I hadn’t heard that one: “Loser teachers.” That angers me, as well. My sister was a teacher, as are two of my closest friends. You would never meet people more dedicated or caring — oh yeah, and smart, too.

Teachers are among the best people in our society. In an earlier age, they commanded respect. (I have two sisters; one became a teacher, the other, a nurse. These were the two professions open to women; of course this reflected the belief that teachers were glorified baby sitters, and nurses were just brisker, more efficient moms, but it was a start). Teachers fire up young minds and open them up to possibilities; to critical thinking. I still remember with gratitude, and a kind of awe, teachers I had in grade school and high school.

What is so disheartening is that the meme of “loser teachers” may very well stick in people’s minds, become another of those noxious bumper stickers:
“crooked Hillary,” “fake news,” “Pocahontas”… that colors forever the perceptions of that class of voters who, thinking Trump is a cool iconoclast, jump at the chance to emulate him.

Gradually, maybe in a year, or ten, or six months, the very idea of education will be suspect and education will be scoffed at as a waste of time, something suspicious undertaken by losers to benefit other losers (we’re halfway there, actually).

The Enlightenment is snuffed out; we’re back to the scholasticism of the middle ages, where we simply parrot accepted wisdom from self-appointed authorities and believe we already know everything there is to know.

These are tryin’ times.