User Profile
Reading, cooking, and working in the community.
» View PKShaw's profile
» Send Private Message
Search
Blog Viewer
Patricia K. Shaw
Thursday, December 10 2009 - 10:37 PM
Circular economy
It’s a slow day in a little East Texas town. The sun
is beating down, and the streets are deserted. Times are tough, everybody
is in debt, and everybody lives on credit……
On this particular day a rich tourist from back east is driving through
town. He stops at the motel and lays a $100 bill on the desk saying he wants
to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to pick one to spend the night.
As soon as the man walks upstairs, the owner grabs the bill and runs next
door to pay his debt to the butcher.
The butcher takes the $100 and runs down the street to retire his debt to
the pig farmer.
The pig farmer takes the $100 and heads off to pay his bill at the supplier
of feed and fuel.
The guy at the Farmer’s Co-op takes the $100 and runs to pay his debt to the
local prostitute, who has also been facing hard times and has had to offer
her “services” on credit.
The hooker rushes to the hotel and pays off her room bill with the hotel
owner.
The hotel proprietor then places the $100 back on the counter so the rich
traveler will not suspect anything.
At that moment the traveler comes down the stairs, picks up the $100 bill,
states that the rooms are not satisfactory, pockets the money, and leaves
town.
No one produced anything. No one earned anything.
However, the whole town is now out of debt and now looks to the future with
a lot more optimism.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how the United States Government is
conducting business today.
Cybertariat says...
As it concerns the way in which workers conduct their finacial affairs rather than that of the politcal state (though the related actions of
the latter certainly do affect the former), the seemingly exponential growth of personal debt throughout the past few decades is a direct result of the fact that virtuallly all workers have not enjoyed an increase in “real wages” since 1973 and, as a consequence of inflation, have witnessed an accompanying and radical decrease in “purchasing power.” Therefore, many if not a majority of workers simply have no other choice than to turn to the use of credit in order to assure their very survival as well as that of their loved ones. In fact, the Federal Reserve’s now decades-long and seldom-wavering practice of expanding credit should be viewed as an effort aimed at compensating for the working-class’ steadily and drastically declining purchasing-power relative to declining “real wages.” It should also be viewed as an admission of one of capitalism’s many and wholly innate economic contradictions – namely, that, given capitalism’s unceasable drive toward private profit, workers are paid back – in the form of wages – but a tiny percentage of the economic wealth that their labor power and/or their intellectual power produces.
Moreover, because of sweeping and rapidly unfolding improvements vis-a-vis this society’s means of industrial production made over roughly the past twenty years (e g., automation and robotization), the infinitesimal capitalist class now finds itself in need of fewer and fewer workers (even highly educated workers given the recent and tremendous advances in computer-related technologies). Accordingly, most capitalists possess little to no motivation to raise the wages of those workers who remain.
So although the “circular” economic practices of many workers, like that of the political state, may appear to be the result of irresponsibility and instant gratification (as it can be), it is most often used as a means of simple survival within a now highly antisocial socioeconomic system; one that is so very obviously geared toward the economic “needs” of the mostly nonproductive few and to the detriment of the social majority.
Too, it may also be said that the political state’s own “circular” economic practices are the unavoidable outcome or decade’s worth of declining tax revenues in the face of ever increasing levels of spending, particularly with respect to military-related expenditures which are now very close to one-trillion dollars per year. So perhaps our author’s “rich tourist” is a fictional portrayal of oh, say, Grover Norquist who wrote “My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years, to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub [all the while still using it/workers to pay for imperialist wars, US global ”http://januarymagazine.com/features/hegemonyorexc.html">hegemony in general, corporate welfare, etc., etc, to capitalist-class-serving etc.]."
Yours in revolution.
Persevere.
Guy
Member-at-large (since 1990):
Socialist Labor Party of America (est. 1890, and the home of Marxism-DeLeonism)
( send private message )
Randy Hall says...
Guy, if the “mostly nonproductive few” gave up everything, how much would that help the “workers?” In dollars per hour would be nice, would it raise their pay by a dollar an hour?
( send private message )
Randy Hall says...
Would the “workers” have to contend with paying the light bill, insurance, ect as a consequence of their choice to own the means of production?
( send private message )
marino says...
What is this site comming to when Guy Marsh has a spelling error? Things here will never be the same.
( send private message )
PKShaw says...
Respectfully, I submit “the seemingly exponential growth of personal debt throughout the past few decades is a direct result of the fact that virtually all workers have not enjoyed an increase in “real wages” since 1973 and, as a consequence of inflation, have witnessed an accompanying and radical decrease in “purchasing power.” Therefore, many if not a majority of workers simply have no other choice than to turn to the use of credit in order to assure their very survival as well as that of their loved ones” is a load of hogwash.
Since the end of WWII Americans have bought in to the notion that we deserve the latest gadget modern technology produces, an overabundance of food, clothing deemed ‘better’ for nothing more than a logo sewn on the front of it, the biggest, most bad-ass vehicle on the market. Human beings are all about proving that, in some way, we measure higher on the scale of life than others do. Instead of using morality, or intelligence as markers we use things. I’m better than you because I have a bigger house, a faster car, or more expensive clothing. How many women spend $500 on a purse that performs no better than a $30 one but has a design or mark on it that announces to the world that the possessor of it could afford such an extravagance.
Financiers and retailers have capitalized on this one-upmanship. They provided the ultimate tool to indulge in such fantasy – the credit card. They even get in on the act with such things as “gold” and “platinum” cards. Symbols to prove the holder of such nonsense is better than those who don’t.
Retailers realized they could reap higher profits from the interest from these cards than the merchandise they sold. I remember how difficult it was for me to finally get my first credit card. I thought I had really “arrived” to world of adulthood and then later watched my teenagers open several charge accounts without so much as a steady job.
I grew up in a house that was exactly like every other house in town. We had six people living in a three bedroom, one bath, one car garage home. The one car garage worked out fine because we only had one car. We took baths in shifts and knew we would have to ‘hold it’ for what seemed like hours when we saw Dad heading to the bathroom with the newspaper. We all crowded around the one television to watch the programs Mother chose.
One generation later the standard is a separate bedroom for every family member, a minimum of three bathrooms, and it doesn’t matter how many cars garages hold because there is too much junk in them to hold cars anyway. And for those who are even ‘better’ than the average we have self storage sites on every corner. My husband and I have six perfectly working televisions but have to constantly resist the urge to throw one of them out and exchange it for one of the new flat screen models. (one of the biggest arguments we’ve had came about as a result of him buying me a new flat screen monitor for Christmas – I thought my huge, boat anchor weighted previous one worked just fine)
No, Mr. Marsh, it isn’t survival that has put this country into massive debt. It’s forgetting that the true measure of anyone isn’t what they have, but who they are.
(
send private message
)
mattkeltner says...
PKShaw wrote: ” It’s forgetting that the true measure of anyone isn’t what they have, but who they are. “
Which is something all of us you call “liberals” have been saying for a long time now!
You’re leaning a little to the left with this post, Patricia!
This just seems so odd coming from a bourgeois apologist, lazes-fare capitalist, material-girl in Rancho Vista.
(
send private message
)
Cybertariat says...
Are you kidding, marino? I commit mistakes having to do with spelling and so much more (e.g., spelling, punctuation and sentence structure) on a regular basis. Just a very few days ago I wrote “…irrespective of Scandinavian societies’ homogeneity nature” rather than “…irrespective of Scandanavian societies’ homogeneous nature.” Proceeding to an even higher level of stupidity, once I realized my mistake, I actually thought to myself "Damn, I should have written “…irresepective of Scandinavian societies’ homogeneitic nature.” The problem with that, however, was that not only did I fail to quickly identify the word “homogeneous” as having been the correct word, “homogeneitic” is not even a word. Wow!
What all of this shows is that, although I have in fact dedicated myself to ongoing self-improvement with respect to writing – over these many years and for the purpose of making my writings more compelling and, hopefully, more convincing, I am a very ordinary individual who just happens to adhere to a rather uncommon political philosophy; not formally educated nor terribly worldly beyond the political realm.
So you see, marino, I needed my proofreader who, well, divorced me, much more than what I understood at the time. Oh well. :-)
(It is my hope to be able to respond at length to both Patricia and Randy sometime prior to 6:30 this evening.)
Persevere. Guy
( send private message )
Grumpy says...
I hope none of you think the circular story actually relates to anything in the real world.
By ignoring all the other system inputs & outputs it gives the impression that nothing really happened, which is incorrect. Everyone either broke even or came out better or worse depending on all the other unspoken factors, namely what portion of the $100 each received and passed along related to the debt they paid off with it. You can’t say no one produced or earned anything because you are not provided with the full story.
The same effect could, of course, have been produced with simple barter; all they had to do was get together and agree.
The rich traveler represents the Federal Reserve, which essentially creates and regulates the money we pass around. The Federal Government, on the other hand, would have been a multi-armed Shiva who sat in the middle & grabbed a bit of the $100 every time it landed somewhere.
(
send private message
)
Cybertariat says...
Damn, Grumpy, I really thought that the rich tourist was Grover Norquist! ;-)
May all of you enjoy an enchanted evening. :-) :-) :-)
( send private message )
dbeardw says...
12/11/09 – 03:10 PM
mattkeltner says…
PKShaw wrote: ” It’s forgetting that the true measure of anyone isn’t what they have, but who they are. “
PK – Nice story in terms of a general characterization of how money moves about a community. I would even partyly agree with you closing statement. Character is based on who you are and not what you have. A million bucks doesn’t make a man passionate, empathetic, concerned or committed to anyone or anything.
My only disagreement is that in another sense what you have accomplished in life in terms of material gain can be just as important. The men who have built successful businesses that employ others who in turn feed their families and educate their children from what they make has done something extremely positive for his community. He may not be the kind, gentle soul but his ingenuity created a lifestyle and opportunities for those who may not have had any.
So for me, it’s not what you have it’s how you utilize what you have. That for me is a valid true measure of a man as well.
My parents always said you can’t help someone else if you aren’t in a position to help yourself first. That means accomplishing something besides just be a good ole soul.
(
send private message
)
dbeardw says...
Grumpy – from an organizational management perspective, the circular story Pat put forth actually is how the real world operates in simplistic terms. That’s why we talk about such things as keeping the dollars in one’s community. Once that dollar leaves your community, it is for the betterment of others, not for your community. If the traveler had left the dollar in the community — been satisfied with his accommodations, then that would have truly been a case of a circular process and what old people use to call urban renewal.
( send private message )
annette tappa says...
Old tv’s = boat anchors, isn’t that the truth?! LOL, that made my day. hehe
I have three of them and still haven’t gotten the nerve to buy a flatscreen yet. I’ll go for that computer first.
(
send private message
)
Grumpy says...
dbw: “…from an organizational management perspective, the circular story Pat put forth actually is how the real world operates in simplistic terms….That’s why we talk about…keeping the dollars in one’s community”
My point (I think) was that it is dangerous to get taken in by overly simplistic explanations. So while I do understand what you are saying, my
But you introduce a more interesting question, namely, how much should we, both as individuals and via our governments, subsidize inefficiency? “Keeping the dollars in the community” is of course a code phrase for “you have an obligation to pay more than necessary for your purchase to the person with the higher priced product because he/she is a member of your community”.
With apologies to those who reject the notion of evolution, social organisms & systems do indeed evolve and what worked in a commercial sense 50 years ago doesn’t work so well now. Wal-Mart, that symbol of the new retail reality, has done so well because they get the products consumers want into their hands at the best possible price. In other words, they embody the free enterprise system; they built a better mousetrap.
I am very partial to the free enterprise system because, as I have said before, “it works”.
Is free enterprise moral? Is gravity moral? You can debate the question endlessly, but I came across a related quote that I think encapsulates a lot of truth. “When you subsidize poverty and failure, you get more of both.”
(
send private message
)
138hwy says...
Grumps.
Your post makes total sense. Many bloggers here, mostly leftists, are opposed to the new Wal-mart in Quartz Hill.
Years ago, unionites and activists sucessfully stopped a proposed Wal-mart in Inglewood. Inglewood has an enormous un-employment problem and people need work there.
I suppose that the main objection was because the company is not unionized, and never will be.
Union good; Wal-mart bad.
Your last sentence in your blog realy sums everything up rather nicely. Thank you!
( send private message )
roxi says...
PK:My husband and I have six perfectly working televisions but have to constantly resist the urge to throw one of them out and exchange it for one of the new flat screen models. (one of the biggest arguments we’ve had came about as a result of him buying me a new flat screen monitor for Christmas – I thought my huge, boat anchor weighted previous one worked just fine)
Pk, get rid of the boat anchors, take ‘em to the recycler or donate them for free -you’ll be amazed with your next Edison bill. You don’t have to buy a big one, 32"+ works fine, just make sure it’s compatible with your dish/cable connections (you can loose some features with some).
Yes, we were told to go shopping for the past 10 years via GWB, and have accumulated A LOT of crap, some good – some not so. I’m glad to see that most people have cut back, and instead of buying quantity, their buying quality -that is if they can buy at all. $500 purses – what’s with that?
Sam Walton must be spinning in his grave. He started WalMart with American Made products – and now at that store, KHOL’S etc – all you see is crap. We could start a blog on where the ‘buys’ are. I regret buying Irish crystal for a wedding present @ Dillard’s – it was made in China.
Right, WalMart is not Unionized…and they’ve been very successful in this valley of putting H&E, etc (along with other big-box stores) out of business.
More reason to re-create the valley with smaller communities-that just might bring back the ol’ Hardware store-wouldn’t that be special?
(
send private message
)
PKShaw says...
Roxi, I can’t say I heard every speech the former President delivered but I think I can safely claim he did not tell people to run up their credit cards buying merchandise they couldn’t afford. In fact, had he spoken on this topic undoubtedly he would have told us that next to buying a home, remaining credit card debt free is the next best step on the road to financial security.
Another advantage to waiting until one can afford to pay cash for the latest technological wizardy is the prices come down to less than half what they started out at. By the time my current televisions break they may be almost giving away those new flat screen models.
As far as Wal-Mart is concerned consider that they wouldn’t be as successful if they weren’t giving people what they want.
(
send private message
)
Cybertariat says...
In view of my having written “…although the ‘circular’ economic practices of many workers…may appear to be the result of irresponsibilty and instant gratification (as it can be)…” I must say that Patricia and I do not disagree – there are indeed those workers who use consumer credit irresponsibly. (That such irresponsibility is mostly the result of capitalist indoctrination is a subject for another post.)
With that having been said, I find it revealing that Patricia concentrated solely upon that which she and I largely agree upon while ignoring, amongst other such things, the undeniable fact that the average American worker has not realized an increase relative to “real wages” since 1973. Common sense should then dictate than an ever-growing percentage of workers really are having to use credit cards toward the purchase of food and staples. Anecdotally speaking, in my line of work, I witness and hear of customers using credit cards for the purchasing of food on a regular basis.
Moreover, the recent revelation that a majority of personal bankruptcies stem from medical-related debts should go a long way toward understanding that which the Right would much rather ignore.
With that said, I know no amount of “women who pay $500 on a purse.” I do, however, know many men and women who are having to work at at least two jobs, simultaneously, when they are able to secure work at all, simply to themselves and their families fed, clothed and sheltered. I know more than just a few working people – people with jobs – who are having to avail themselves of the services of food banks and other such charities in order to avoid hunger.
Most of all, I know that right-wing politics and the social realities of the capitalist system are two, distant worlds that will forever remain utterly removed from one another.
Persevere. Guy
( send private message )
Grumpy says...
Here’s a statistic that ought to make Guy happy. It was delivered under the heading “Obama: King of All Statists”.
It points out that among Obama’s array of cabinet officials only 7% have ever worked in the private sector. This is by far the lowest percentage among the past 19 presidents.
By contrast, FDR & Truman both had around 50% with private sector experience, which was roughly the average up to Obama. Previous lowest was JFK at around 28% followed by Carter at 30%. Highest (oddly, given his famous quote about the military-industrial complex) was Ike with just under 60%.
(
send private message
)
Randy Hall says...
11/24/09 – 09:56 PM
Randy Hall says…
…
How hard is Marxism to understand?
You work for the good of society not yourself; that’s socialism in a nutshell. No more individual rights, only greater good. Everyone is equal or they are made equal for the greater good.
It only takes a few words no matter how ungrammatical to blow your ancient economic theories to pieces.
11/24/09 – 11:40 PM
Randy Hall says…
Lancaster if you don’t think of yourself first you can’t help others.
11/24/09 – 11:23 PM
lancaster says…
“and that, in a nutshell, is a lie toyboy.
THE IDEA THAT YOU CAN’T WORK TO BETTER ONESELF, AND OTHERS.
and i would argue that the conservatives i grew up with, never would have tried to live by such a lie.
i would suggest that a life lived only for oneself is a empty life. even if every thing you work for is both legal or what we would consider signs of success.”
http://www.intheav.com/blogs/Challenld/2009/11/22/slipper-people-article-retaliation
12/12/09 – 04:02 PM
dbeardw says…
12/11/09 – 03:10 PM…
“My parents always said you can’t help someone else if you aren’t in a position to help yourself first. That means accomplishing something besides just be a good ole soul.”
http://www.intheav.com/blogs/PKShaw/2009/12/10/circular-economy#comment_174873
DBW, you just hit the hornet’s nest, be ready for lancaster to lampoon your parents as being Scrooge.
It’s funny how TRUTH is transcendental; funny how DBW’s parents and me somehow agree as to what constitutes the bedrock of a healthy economy. Nowhere did I say not to help others; you simply have to look out for #1 first. Now it would be a great Christmas present if DBW took her parent’s advice and holds it as a sacred truth and promotes it as Bill Cosby does. I doubt it because her “higher education” usually works to distance the child from the parents’ beliefs.
(
send private message
)
Grumpy says...
All the 10,000 flavors of Marxism/socialism hold that those they consider to be in the proletariat class are kept in thrall to those they consider to be the bourgeoisie and that this is a terrible situation which must be corrected.
It truly is amusing, to me anyway, that their corrective plan is to have the State take over for the current bourgeoisie so that the proletariat, augmented by any surviving former bourgeoisie, are all now in thrall to The State. A State controlled, of course, by a different & supposedly improved bourgeoisie.
My problem with all this is that I can’t see what the exercise could possibly accomplish in terms of advantage to the proletariat. They would now simply be in thrall to an all-powerful and more centralized bourgeoisie that (ominously, as we have observed in other nations) has been released from our existing check-and-balance situation.
(
send private message
)
roxi says...
PKShaw says…
Roxi, I can’t say I heard every speech the former President delivered but I think I can safely claim he did not tell people to run up their credit cards buying merchandise they couldn’t afford. In fact, had he spoken on this topic undoubtedly he would have told us that next to buying a home, remaining credit card debt free is the next best step on the road to financial security.
Ahhh, PK in the dark again. Guess you were busy during those years – making money, whatever and didn’t hear Bushie telling everyone NOT to worry about the economy, or the WARS AND JUST GO SHOPPING!
He also said in November, ‘08 that he didn’t think the financial crash would happen UNTIL ‘09 – when he was out of office. There was never any warning from him about people living beyond their means. It was BUY THE AMERICAN DREAM! Buy a house!! Live the dream!!
Shrub neglected to PAY for 2 WARS, neglected to PAY for the tax-cuts for riche, neglected to PAY for Medicare – and destroyed the balanced budget Clinton left him with, adding TRILLION $$ deficites for we taxpayers to pay for generations to come.
But, don’t worry your pretty little head about all this, go shop @ WalMart for the THINGS YOU WANT TO BUY.
gag.
(
send private message
)
Randy Hall says...
Clinton had a Republican congress holding the pursestrings. GW had a democratic congress; roxi made a good point about fiscal responsibility. President doesn’t make any difference, it’s congress that spends the dough.
( send private message )
PKShaw says...
Very true Randy. It was the responsibility of Congress to reduce the amount of spending for other things to make up for what is being spent on the war. They didn’t. And now that President Obama is in the White House (pause here to note that despite my profound difference of opinion I have never once made fun of his name or otherwise shown any disrespect because he IS the President of the United States whether we like him or voted for him or not) spending has gone into mega-overdrive.
Democrats made a big point about the national debt during the campaign and how we needed Barack Obama in office in order to get a handle on it. Look how much it’s grown in the past year.
But then debt is a liberal concept, just like welfare. Both allow people to live above the standard they earn; both enslave those dependent upon it; and when someone reaches the point of saturation they file bankruptcy which forces the rest of us to pay for their bad decisions.
(
send private message
)
lancaster says...
4 2 yrs W had a democratic congress. how ya love to make shit up as u go along. they also didn’t have the seats, or the votes they have now.
since it was the last 2 yrs, most of the damage was done by the time they got that far.
now if u want to argue that they didn’t start investigations, or
fight the executive branch in those last 2 yrs , i’ll agree with u!
and pk, bankrupcty was taken off the table by W, making it much harder for anyone to walk away from credit debt.
(
send private message
)
PKShaw says...
It is pointless to argue whether it was the Congressional Dems or Repubs – both are just as guilty of spending what we have, and don’t have, like they’re not the ones who will ever have to repay it. Shame on us for repeatedly letting them get away with it.
( send private message )
lancaster says...
considering that our last balanced budget was from a dem, and the middle, and lower class americans do better under dems, i say it does matter.
( send private message )
mattkeltner says...
If there weren’t a Bush before him, the voters wouldn’t have felt like they needed an Obama later.
( send private message )
lancaster says...
so excuse me if i don’t bye into what’s being told me by a bunch of people that gave ME bush, twice.
( send private message )
PKShaw says...
Did I read this wrong or is there really someone out there who thinks ANYONE’s life is made better (or worse) by whomever is President????
First off, no one person amasses that kind of power; second, economic changes happen so slowly they seldom occur on the watch of the administration that set the wheels in motion; and third, people succeed in spite of government, not because of it.
(
send private message
)
lancaster says...
tell that to the parents of the dead children in iraq and afghan!!!
( send private message )
Randy Hall says...
Lancaster nice to worry about the children of the parents the destroyed the WTC. That shows real compassion for the murders of our innocent citizens. I wish I could have that kind of compassion for someone that just killed a brother citizen. Now if we could just get you to show similar compassion to those you disagree with you would be a real well rounded person.
( send private message )
Randy Hall says...
Jim Jeffords jumped ship taking GWs majority away. I read American history not the stuff you read.
( send private message )
Ray Cunneff says...
PKShaw says…
“Did I read this wrong or is there really someone out there who thinks ANYONE’s life is made better (or worse) by whomever is President????”
I have to disagree, PK. Lyndon Johnson made my life considerably worse.
(
send private message
)
Randy Hall says...
LBJ, enslaved millions of Americans all in the name of compassion with his War on Poverty. A war with no exit and many destroyed families in its wake.
Good choice Ray!
(
send private message
)
Cybertariat says...
roxi: “But don’t you worry your pretty, little head. Go shop.”
To be sure, roxi. To be sure! After all, what were the most significant words uttered by George W. Bush on September 12th, 2001, whilst standing atop much of the World Trade Center’s smoldering remains, not to mention thousands of human body parts, “Keep shopping”?
Yes, the promotion and perpetuation of consumerism (capitalism’s lifeblood and the ultimate cause of America’s “911”) is likely to be the most important function of the capitalist-class’ highest-ranking political errand boy or girl, whomever that may be and at any given time. (read: Had Wall Street’s political whore, Barack Obama, been the President of the United States on September 12th, 2001, he, too, would likely have urged us to “Keep shopping!”)
So it doubtful in the extreme that George W. Bush, nor any other president for that matter, would have ever told us that “next to buying a home, remaining credit-card-debt free is the next best step on the road to financial security.” —PKShaw. For, in the face of perpetually plummeting “real wages” (a plunge that, given capitalism’s many immutable economic contradictions, cannot possibly be reversed), Bush’s handlers knew perfectly well that the capitalist system cannot possibly be sustained short of an ever-growing degree of consumer debt. (The fact that such debt also serves to further enslave the working class in a myriad of ways – all of which further benefit the capitalist class will remain a subject for another day.)
Yours in revolution.
Persevere.
Guy
( send private message )
Randy Hall says...
“Yes, the promotion and perpetuation of consumerism (capitalism’s lifeblood and the ultimate cause of America’s “911”)…”
I wasn’t going to share this till I read the above: "I’ve never understood the discomfort Massachusetts liberals have with public celebrations of Christmas. After all, it’s the season of believing, and let’s face it: Liberals will believe anything.
If you thought the “fire never melted steel” crowd was nuts, check out the new study from the bipartisan Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. They find that liberals and Democrats are far more likely to believe in ghosts, psychic powers and astrology than their conservative/Republican counterparts. About 50 percent more Democrats than Republicans say they have spoken to the dead."
The rest is here: http://bostonherald.com/news/opinion/op_ed/view/20091215yes_there_is_santa_hes_no_liberal_myth/srvc=news&position=also
(
send private message
)
Grumpy says...
Regarding consumerism:
One of the major tasks facing all societies is to keep everyone busy in some fashion.
Consider what happened once humans learned to grow food (which, BTW, has been called “the worst thing that ever happened to the human species” by a highly educated academic that I personally consider a nut case).
As soon as there was excess food, the various human societies embarked on projects to absorb the excess labor capability that was released. In one way or another, people were induced to drag rocks, build things, fight for territory, etc. etc.
Consumerism is simply the task that our society has embarked on, and let’s face it, it is vastly more enjoyable than spending a lifetime piling up rocks for the boss’s tomb.
(
send private message
)
lancaster says...
really toyboy? u hold every dead iraq and afghan child responsible for what a bunch of saudis did to us.
and u think because i call u toyboy ur deserving of the same compassion as parents whose children have died in these wars?
poor baby!
(
send private message
)
lancaster says...
the saudis drove a couple of planes into our buildings, killing thousands.
u back a plan, with gusto, to take away my 4TH AMENDMENT RIGHTS!!!!
ur both my enemy.
(
send private message
)
Randy Hall says...
Lancaster, your 4th amendment rights that I want to take away are in your head. I said the parents if you read what I wrote. You jump to conclusions so fast (exercise) maybe your home is cold and your a bit slow this am? Cold like in protecting the planet, right?
( send private message )
roxi says...
RH:“GW had a democratic congress;”12/15/09 – 08:07 AM
Randy Hall says…
Jim Jeffords jumped ship taking GWs majority away. I read American history not the stuff you read.
I beg to differ. GWB had a RUBBER-STAMP GOP Congress….the Democratic Party was shown the basement door of the Capitol.
Jeffords quit – but not to change the ratio, as obviously it made no difference.
GWB was on a ‘credit card’ binge with our taxpayer $$. Talk about being responsible!
And, wasn’t Nancy Reagan into Astrology? Didn’t she plan her day and Ronnie’s too according to the ‘stars & planets’?
(
send private message
)
Randy Hall says...
“An unprecedented split in the United States Senate and the defection of a single Senator led to three changes in majorities. After the September 11 attacks, some Senators were targeted by anthrax attacks. Finally, the Congress voted to allow the President to attack Saddam Hussein in Iraq.
January 3, 2001: Senate was evenly split, 50-50, between two parties. Democrat Al Gore was still Vice President giving the Democrats a slim majority for the 17 days between the January 3 swearing-in of the new Congress and the January 20 inauguration of Republican Vice President Dick Cheney. Hillary Rodham Clinton, wife of outgoing Democratic President Bill Clinton, became the first presidential spouse to serve in Congress.
January 20, 2001: George W. Bush and Dick Cheney were sworn-in as President of the United States and Vice President of the United States, respectively, giving the Republicans a narrow majority in the Senate with Cheney’s tie-breaking power.
June 6, 2001: Senator Jim Jeffords, previously a Republican, declared himself an independent and announced he will vote with the Democrats, giving Democrats control in the Senate with a one-seat advantage. Democrat Tom Daschle became Senate Majority Leader."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/107th_United_States_Congress
(
send private message
)
Randy Hall says...
BTW, It was Ted Kennedy that wrote NCLB! Not GW.
( send private message )
lancaster says...
u hold every PARENT of a dead iraq or afghan child responsible for WHAT A BUNCH OF SAUDIES, did to us?
which is it toyboy?
did thier kids do us wrong, or did the parents do us wrong?
(
send private message
)
Randy Hall says...
“GWB was on a ‘credit card’ binge with our taxpayer $$.” In less than one year dems have spent more than GW did in 8! You better get a different thing to worry about than debt. Debt seems to be the thing dems thrive on.
( send private message )
roxi says...
RH:"June 6, 2001: Senator Jim Jeffords, previously a Republican, declared himself an independent and announced he will vote with the Democrats, giving Democrats control in the Senate with a one-seat advantage. Democrat Tom Daschle became Senate Majority Leader.”
Show me some bills that weren’t rubber-stamped & not full of pork and I’ll believe this. Explain how Congress was duped into ‘weapons of mass destruction & a call to war’ – and those who did not agree were called ‘Treasonists’. The Fear Card was played artfully…and into the hands of those who still have all our money.
Yeah Jeffords – but nothing changed, did it.
(
send private message
)
lancaster says...
yeah, roxi, but nancy was the RIGHT kind of person who beleved in astrology!
( send private message )
Randy Hall says...
This was from above but you ass is showing so I’ll repost it: Lancaster nice to worry about the children of the parents the destroyed the WTC. That shows real compassion for the murders of our innocent citizens. I wish I could have that kind of compassion for someone that just killed a brother citizen. Now if we could just get you to show similar compassion to those you disagree with you would be a real well rounded person.
( send private message )
roxi says...
Oh, I’m not dissin’ Nancy lancaster – I’m just making the point that not all who do follow astrology are Liberals! ha.
( send private message )
Randy Hall says...
I was praising you. I simply can’t feel that kind of compassion. We were attacked and we lashed out. I think that was the proper course of action as Obama thinks it is too.
Your not mad at me for offering you praise for your compassion are you? You call me names and act pissy, when I offer praise, is your daily med not working yet?
(
send private message
)
roxi says...
12/15/09 – 01:00 PM
Randy Hall says…
“GWB was on a ‘credit card’ binge with our taxpayer $$.” In less than one year dems have spent more than GW did in 8! You better get a different thing to worry about than debt. Debt seems to be the thing dems thrive on.
You’re kidding right? This is another one of your sarcastic statements, meant as a joke. Why is it every time the GOP get into office, our deficits go UP? Then, the Democratic Party gets in and cleans up the dung left behind. Endless cycle.
Get a different thing to worry about? Seems this problem is affecting everything. With our main source of economic growth: ‘shopping’ – doesn’t look like we’re doing too well.
The Demo’s have spent MORE than the GOP in 8 years???!!! That’s a good one. lol
(
send private message
)
lancaster says...
ur thinking of someone else toyboy. don’t need daily meds.
and i sure don’t need ur praise.
and this isn’t in my head.
Fourth Amendment – Protection from unreasonable search and seizure.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
(
send private message
)
Randy Hall says...
A plane in the sky is not seizure, or unreasonable search. You have indoors for your 4th amendment rights. If it isn’t meds maybe a cup of nerve calming tea?
Oh you mean when congress forced Clinton to sign Welfare Reform and Clinton started to look like a Republican? You history is terrible. Look it up first before you make an even bigger ass out of yourself.
(
send private message
)
lancaster says...
coming from the guy who thought it was in the constitution??
lol
(
send private message
)
Cybertariat says...
Oh, for Christ’s sake, lancaster and Randy, get a goddamned room!
back to it…
( send private message )
Randy Hall says...
Before you blow another gasket and add more names to your reparatory of invectives, I totally agree with you debt is bad. I think deficit spending is horrible. The war on terror was only a small part of the problem in spending. Earmarks, pork, buying votes by unscrupulous politicians is to be condemned. Selling your vote like William Jefferson did in Louisiana is to be despised. But we keep reelecting Barbara Boxer the queen of check kiting so we get what we deserve. At least a party plank of the GOP is fiscal responsibility but they have sinned and your side thinks government is responsible for everyone to have a nice home and healthcare and dammed the cost!
We have very similar dislike of our government the way it is now. But we fight and call each other names. I’m sure the pols love that!
(
send private message
)
Denise_Latanzi says...
Man, revisionist history on a very good blog.
1. Ted Kennedy did not WRITE NCLB, he was a sponsor of the bill. NCLB came with the Bush Administration. Further, it was not a “bad bill”, it was just never funded appropriately, making law a bunch of things there was no way to pay for, and leaving us with new standardized teasting, punitive measure for schools and teachers that don’t measure up, but very limited resources to put forward the things that could have made NCLB really great.
Worse, as a statistical study done on the Chicago public school system showed, teachers began cheating, changing student test answers to bring their test scores up. When the same data was applied to schools across the country, they found that what was happening in Chicago was happening everywhere. Worse, it encouraged teachers to “teach to the test”, using previous tests to devise their curriculum. That’s not to say nothing good came out of NCLB- We now have the ability to remove our children from failing schools and send them to other, better schools. It also gave schools the ability to dump teachers who weren’t making progress with their students.
2. Bill Clinton was elected on the promise that he reform Welfare, something he had already done in Arkansas. He did not need a Republican congress to get it done. If he made a mistake, it was letting his administration be solely consumed with the Healthcare debate and not moving fast enough on Welfare reforms, though the legislation was well in the works before Newt became a household word.
I was not a fan of Clinton, I never voted for him, nor was I a Democrat when he was in office, but I did have respect for what he did. Fiscally, he was more responsible than any president in recent history, including Reagan.
Back to the Blog- I was talking to a good friend the other day, and related a conversation I had recently had that just boggled my mind. I have an acquaintance that just loves my daughter and is about the same size, and she called recently to see if my girl would be offended if she cleaned out her closets and brought a bunch of clothes over for her. I said “of course not”, like most girls her age, she has a closet full of clothes, but like most, she can always fit more in there. My friend brought over what looked to be a ton of clothes, bags and bags, piled high. Way more than my daughter could possibly fit in her already stuffed closets. A lot of them still with pricetags attached.
This person explained that she was losing her home and having to move, and blamed refinancing (several times) and a shopping addiction (obviously), saying she, over the last few years, bought thousands of dollars worth of clothes she never even took out of the bag once she got home, both she and her husband have purchased brand new cars in the last 6 months, but haven’t made a house payment. They recently had their electricity disconnected.
I was shocked, told her she should take the clothes and have a yard sale of something, and she just laughed.
On the way out the door, after lamenting how broke she was, she happened to mention that she had just bought a purse on Ebay for $380 and what a “good deal” it was..
Suffice it to say I have zero sympathy for her. Her attitude about buying the new cars while losing her house was “well, we knew we were going to lose the house anyway”. I have no clue how she rationalized buying a new purse while her electricity was disconnected.
We’ve become a society of “fronts”, like Hollywood sets, people seem to think they are defined by what people think they have, rather than what is really going on. I know several people that have more debt than they make in a year, and that just mystifies me.
(
send private message
)
Harding Republican says...
Rex won’t really care if it’s an unreasonable search or seizure. He’ll get the City of Lancaster to pay major $$ for it and let the CITY (read taxpayers) of Lancaster pay for all of the court cases. Pretty good deal if you ask me. Get the taxpayers to pay for the legal road test of your product.
( send private message )
Randy Hall says...
“Since enactment,[NCLB] Congress increased federal funding of education, from $42.2 billion in 2001 to $54.4 billion in 2007. No Child Left Behind received a 40.4% increase from $17.4 billion in 2001 to $24.4 billion. The funding for reading quadrupled from $286 million in 2001 to $1.2 billion.
The legislation was proposed by the President on January 23, 2001. It was coauthored by Representatives John Boehner (R-OH) and George Miller (D-CA) and Senators Judd Gregg (R-NH) and Ted Kennedy (D-MA), and signed by President Bush.”
http://www.bing.com/reference/semhtml/No_Child_Left_Behind_Act?src=abop&fwd=1&qpvt=nclb&q=nclb
Coauthored means he helped write it. Totally different than sponsorship. Also 40% increase wasn’t enough?
How much would be enough?
Also a public school teacher cheating? That I simply can’t believe a public servant not doing their job. Note my sarcasm.
(
send private message
)
Denise_Latanzi says...
Don’t you just love Wikipedia?
Your first post on this subject was that “Ted Kennedy wrote the Bill” making it sound like he single-handedly did so, which is factually incorrect. In fact, Kennedy’s notes (included in a recent book of his) reflect that he had little to do with the bill’s writing, but signed on as a sponsor because he truly believed in the legislation. In fact, he was the one who shepherded the bill through congress, and took his share of heat for it.
Funding levels written into the bill for year 1 was 68 Billion, they got 286 million. That sound funded to you? The bill was written to include increases by year as they targeted areas of improvement, still not even close to funded.
Now, personally I think that 68 billion was way over-reaching, but even if you cut that number in half, the program is still lacking.
Wikipedia is a great source of very basic information, but there is a lot out there on NCLB, who wrote what parts, and what it has meant in practical terms. One of the best sources of information on how it has rolled out, its successes and failures, was written by Steven Levitt, co-author of Freakanomics (great book).
NCLB is a good example of a program that could have been great, and the fact that it had wide bipartisan support in the beginning was a really good thing. The problem with programs like NCLB is that they require investment and long term commitment.
(
send private message
)
Randy Hall says...
Well Denise between us we flogged that cat to death. Yes, $286 million dollars sounds like you could really do something. If it needed $68 billion then possibly we could give some of the left over TARP funds for it and see what happens. But we already know what happens when you pour excessive dollars into education. You get rich administrators, lower test scores, and increasing tuition.
( send private message )
PKShaw says...
" . . . require investment and long term commitment" – kind of like the superconducting super collider?
( send private message )
Randy Hall says...
Funny you would mention the Super Collider; I’ll bet when they finally smash those atoms at CERN they find a need for an even bigger collider later. Pesky atoms who would have thought they were so small! They don’t look that small.
( send private message )
PKShaw says...
I was living in Texas through that debacle. The feds forced people off land that had been in their families for geverations to build the thing only to cancel it a few years later before it was finished. Now there are 24 hour guards watching over a big hole in the ground. Remember this when you file your taxes.
( send private message )
Randy Hall says...
At Vandenberg AFB, they spent billions on the west coast launch pad only to find out after millions of yards of reinforced cement that the design trapped explosive gases and was dangerous. I really wanted to see a shuttle launch from Vandenberg, so I cuss that stupid engineer. I’m sure they guard that site 24/7 too.
( send private message )
Denise_Latanzi says...
You know, the type of reasoning that would make the connection between educating children and the Super Collider escapes me, so I’ll go back to talking about the funding problems with NCLB :)
At 286 Million dollars, the program was, even by the first estimates of the Bush administration, completely underfunded. If you divide that by the 47.6 million students enrolled in public education, it came out to about $6 a head, barely more than was required to administer the NCLB mandated testing.
Common sense would tell you that IF you mandate testing, then require that schools and districts must do X,Y, and Z if they are found to be failing, then somehow you have to find funding for X,Y and Z, or you’re telling people to build a house and laying the foundation, but not providing the bricks and mortar to get it built, and literally expecting a whole house from the materials to lay a foundation.
I’ve built budgets for new programs for nonprofits for a lot of years, but even if that wasn’t my line of work, I would still be able to tell you that when you build a program, funding is key. It makes no sense to begin a program without adequate funding, because in order for a program to meet its goals, EVERY part of the program must be able to deliver the expected services. Testing alone was not the goal of NCLB, the goal of testing was to identify problem schools, the purpose of NCLB was to target those schools that had issues, and raise the standards. The testing was only meant to be ONE tool in a series of them.
Parents now have the ability to remove their children from failing schools, which was huge. That, as good as it for parents whose closest school is failing, has also had its problems. One of the biggest is when you remove kids from a failing high school, the chances are very good that student also went to a failing middle school and a failing elementary school as they tend to cluster. That child, and many like them, end up at “passing” schools, then the passing schools scores begin to falter. Decent schools end up with students who need a lot of educational support, and they don’t have the resources to provide it.
The vast majority of children in this country go to public schools, less than 6 million are currently enrolled in private schools. The better the educational standards in public schools, the safer our communities are, the more competitive we are as a country in a world market, the more innovative and creative workforce we end up with.
This blog started off being about how dumb people can be about how money and credit work, and from what I can see, that is only part of the problem. Education matters, and our population is becoming increasingly dumbed down.
Not sure if any of you have seen the show Cash Cab, but I’ve watched it quite a bit. A lot of the questions they ask are pretty basic, like “who wrote the Gettysburg Address”? or “what are the 3 branches of the US government?”. When you see those kinds of questions, pay attention- People under 30 are dismal at basic civics, people over 40 pretty good, people over 55 or so excellent. I have a friend who has been a teacher for 30 years that swears that its technology in the classroom that destroyed education.. maybe she is onto something.
(
send private message
)
No Spin says...
Denise
I know a lot of teachers and I can tell you the teachers are not the problem, in MOST cases… it is the Administrators, re: The School Boards, who get infested with non educators whose interests consume the dialogue and we end up with our children reading books about gay penguins, how labor unions are a “good thing”, singing Obama Praise songs, and a slew of other “Ideologically driven” courses instead of History,etc…
ASK any teacher what the REAL problems are and they will tell you.. The Administrators, and the Parents…
(
send private message
)
138hwy says...
laantzi..
(AGAIN) you don’t know what you are talking about, or choose to flat out lie, as you usually do.
“Parents now have the ability to remove their children from failing schools.” Oh really?
In this valley their is only ONE tutoring concern in the program. All others on the “approval” list are in San Bernardino, northern California, etc. So, in essence, there is no tutoring program within the PSD.
The mis-information, or your outright lies posted here are apalling.
( send private message )
No Spin says...
Denise
As far as I know..transferring students to a school not assigned to them is impossible… I used to be able to file a waiver which would allow my kids to attend a different school then the one closest to us, but I believe that practice was eliminated..
Now the only option is Charter, INS or Private school… but I could be wrong..
(
send private message
)
PKShaw says...
Denise, the correlation between NCLB and the SCSC came about when you said something about committment for government programs. We spent millions on the SCSC only to suddenly abandon the project before it was finished. As far as unfunded mandates go, NCLB wasn’t the first and sadly won’t be the last. Just like when the fed tells hospitals they cannot turn anyone away for emergency services regardless of their ability, or willingness to pay for them. Or when they dictate that communities cannot enforce illegal immigration laws.
This particular part of the discussion most certainly ties into the theme of the initial blog because we are the government and the government is us. If irresponsible spending is ingrained in our personal lives it will also be standard procedure for government expenditures. Ask anyone who is out there protesting for government health care how it is to be paid for all you’ll get in response is shrugged shoulders and glazed eyes. They don’t know and frankly don’t care. As long as we make it a practice to live above our means we will allow government to do so as well.
N/S, of course teachers blame parents and administrators. Parents blame teachers and administrators. Administrators blame parents and teachers. Until we are willing to put everything on the table, with all sides willing to take responsibility, nothing will ever change.
(
send private message
)
Randy Hall says...
So teacher’s unions pour dollars into getting board members elected that will help the union’s interest. A teacher union president once said when children start paying union dues the union would then be concerned about the education the kids receive.
Is it any wonder public education is in freefall? Why doesn’t anyone ask why the bluer an area is the poor it is and the public services they offer are abysmal?
(
send private message
)
mattkeltner says...
Denise Latanzi: “Education matters, and our population is becoming increasingly dumbed down.”
That’s because educators today are forced to not only tolerate — but actually promote — ghetto culture in the name of “diversity”. The ghetto culture doesn’t value education in the slightest, but makes a mockery of educational institutions themselves.
Ghetto culture is like a cancer of the mind. It is malignant and spreads rapidly.
(
send private message
)
Just a mom says...
Come Jan. We are Home schooling our kids. Caliva K-12 It’s awesome and all their school materials are incredible ! Arts supplies,music,science from beakers to dirt. The books are not Houghton Mifflin or Pearson publications which are chalk full of indctrination tactics and liberal notions. My kids were even given a brand new computer. We cannot wait to start this program. we will have a teacher who comes out 3 times a month.We will also be introduced to other local Caliva kids and arrange outings and field trips. I am so glad to get them out of the standard public school system. It’s truly failing to educate children and want all of them in the same box and like minded.
( send private message )
mattkeltner says...
Randy Hall: “Is it any wonder public education is in freefall? Why doesn’t anyone ask why the bluer an area is the poor it is and the public services they offer are abysmal?”
Not true, Randy. Marin County in Northern California is very blue and public education is exceptional there, as it is places like Vermont, Maine, Rhode Island. There are “red” places where education is terrible: Mississippi, Tennessee, parts of Texas. Yet, there are also “red” places like Idaho and Utah where it is good. This has little to do with politics and more to do with complex demographics.
(
send private message
)
No Spin says...
RH
The CTA poured over $2 million into defeating prop 8!!! Someone please tell me what Gay Marriage has to do with Educating our children?
Prove to me that the millions spent to defeat prop 8 could not have been spent better if focused on books, computers, etc..!!
(
send private message
)
mattkeltner says...
The money spent by the CTA to defeat Proposition 8 was money paid in by teachers themselves — not money directed to go to expenditures such as books, pencils, paper or other materials for students. So, the attempt to link Prop. 8 to school funds is irrelevant. The union was fighting on behalf of equal rights for its gay and lesbian members. That’s all.
You can discuss why the CTA joined the anti-Prop. 8 side, however. The CTA, like most left-leaning organisations, thought that if it linked up with HRC and other gay civil rights groups, that it would receive the same support in return come later in 2009 when education measures were put on the ballot. It was an alliance of convenience. Left-leaning organisations are notorious for trying to form alliances of convenience.
(
send private message
)
Randy Hall says...
So, MK, in LA and Detroit where public education is horrendous; and in California at least we have equal spending laws, why is public education such a failure?
Are successful rich parents the key to proper public education? My bet is Marin County has a very large private school contingent.
I’d love to try competition and let the cream rise to the top. It would make a better product all the way through.
Let’s take healthcare where they want to have a “public option.” The question arises would it be like Marin County public education which you say is exceptional or more like LA and Detroit? My guess even after bankrupting the country LA pubic education would seem grand in comparison to the health care we would be force to take.
Forced public education very expensive and dysfunctional, I don’t think socialized medicine would be any different.
(
send private message
)
mattkeltner says...
Randy,
I wasn’t talking about health care, but if you want to bring up the “public option”, that’s fine.
I would encourage you to check out Arizona’s public option .
The Arizona model is for small-businesses only and does not cover for wealthy, large and cheap corporations like Wal-Mart.
The national public option would have to be structured on Arizona’s model. I find it hypocritical that Sen. John McCain, a representative of Arizona, worked so hard to defeat the public option in the Senate, instead of re-making it on one used by his own state. That tells me everything I need to know about who contributes to his campaign chest!
This was akin to Sarah Palin making jabs about “socialism” when every citizen of her state receives a stipend from oil pumped out of state-owned oil fields by large companies.
All of this “liberalism” seems to work just grand for Republicans in their home states, but nowhere else? Am I missing something here?
(
send private message
)
annette tappa says...
Ok I have to chime in on this one: I got one of the math test back from my kids class and to my surprise when I read the questions for the 5th graders. Here’s one:
Marcel is putting party favors in bags. He has 12 noisemakers and 42 streamers. He wants to put an equal number of party favors into packages with none left over, but he doesn’t want to mix noisemakers and streamers together in the same bag. What is the greater number of party favor he can put into each package?
Did you know that the majority of students failed this test including my autistic son and one of my daughters? It’s because the questions are too complex for 5th graders, these questions should be posed for jr. high students! In fact, I never recall such questions when I was in 5th grade.
I figured out the the liberal government wants our children to fail. failure =’s more votes for them.
(
send private message
)
annette tappa says...
I should add that I know the answer! lol
Here is another question that was on the test:
Craig has $70 in $20 bills and $5 bills. He has three times as many $5 bills as $20 bills. How many $20 bill and $5 bills does Tyson have?
These kids don’t have the time to figure these out when taking the test and the test has 25 of these questions!
(
send private message
)
138hwy says...
AT..
I received a letter from the PSD. The letter stated that most schools in the system cannot even meet MINIMUM federal standards.
This is shocking! Probably one reason is due to the fact that the PSD is approx. 80% hispanic students, with many of them not knowing the English language. When parents pick up their kids, they always speak in Spanish. If the parents refuse to learn English, why should the children speak it?
( send private message )
annette tappa says...
Bill, ironically there are four spanish kids who are at the same level as my one daughter (she’s on the principal’s honor roll). I think it really depends on the parents and their willingness to help the children out in class. Remember my one daughter and son failed this test and I’m really involved in their education. I also think part of it has to do with shoving jr. high math too early and not giving elementary kids time to absorb the basics. These questions require the knowledge of both “prime and GCF”. I wasn’t learning that in 5th or 6th grade.
I did go over the questions with the other too, and they understand now.
(
send private message
)
ritcsilv says...
The NCLB act was designed to do away with Public Education in the way that we know it today by the year 2012. It was writen by a private school group that GW belonged to. It allows charter schools to take over public schools if test scores are not up by then. What are charter schools but private schools run by public tax money that are takeing away money from our public schools.
I will let you know that I am not a teacher.
( send private message )
Grumpy says...
Don’t know how this evolved from economics to education theory but…
From the perspective of a non-expert my opinion is our underlying problem with education is the nonsensical notion that we live in a Lake Wobegon world where every child is above average.
Trying to make everyone turn out ‘equal’ only devolves into a Kurt Vonnegut type of exercise. If the reference doesn’t ring a bell, Kurt wrote a story called “Harrison Bergeron” about a future where equality was enforced by the Office of the Handicapper General. Since you can’t make stupid people smart, the OHG placed various handicaps on those who would otherwise excel.
The simple fact is that people differ in their individual capabilities and, like it or not, some always will be “left behind”. The objective of education should not be to place everyone at the same spot on the bell curve but to insure every child gets the best preparation for life he or she is capable of.
(
send private message
)
Would you like to comment on this blog post? Login to talk back!
roxi says...
Sounds like Barter to me – no cash but all survive.
( send private message )