If we are learning anything from the Occupy Movement, it is this--we are failing miserably when it comes to our young people learning the basics of market capitalism. Our education system is broken; it is not broken, as in it does not have any money; it is broken because things like indoctrination, political correctness, moral subjectivity, loose standards, and pseudo-science have taken over the classrooms.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, all the rage and hysteria in the school system was the subject of overpopulation, which provided a convenient tool for the abortionists to peddle their murderous trade. We were told in high school then that by the year 2000, planet earth would cease to be, especially since the U.S.A. was guilty of hoarding the world's wealth. Now the new terror on the block is global warming. Kids know more about polar bears floating on blocks of ice than they do about personal finance.
Not all fault lies with the school down the street though. Many great teachers exist and do admirable work in spite of what they are up against in many cases. I remember fondly the teachers that made a big impact on my life. I have teachers all over in my family tree, so I do my best to esteem them, especially if I want to get anything around birthday and Christmas time.
It goes much deeper than the local school, and farther back than that. For one thing, we have parents who have abdicated their responsibilities, and we have allowed nameless, faceless high-paid bureaucrats at the federal and state levels to determine what is best for our children at the local level. But we do the same thing when we allow hours and hours of indiscriminate TV and movie watching to be the babysitter and surrogate parent for our children; high-paid producers and directors from far away places are determining what is best for our children.
Besides these Occupiers not knowing the first thing about capitalism and how it works (unlike these Occupiers who do not work; how many of us can take off two months from work to live in a tent?), they do not know the first thing it seems about personal hygiene, obedience to the law, and respect for others. Maybe the liberals are trying their best to corner the rapists' and druggies' vote. The Occupy crowd wants to compare itself to the Tea Party movement. I will concede to a small extent by allowing them to draft the name "The TeaPOT Party."
We were told in our own state that a lottery scheme would vastly improve the education in our state. Where's exactly the proof of that? Liberalism never wants to be judged by its results; it always wants to be evaluated on its good intentions. My parents told me that there was some road somewhere that was paved with good intentions.
If money can solve all our educational woes, then we should be producing the brightest and best the world has ever known. But America is nowhere near the top of the educational heap. We are falling behind with each passing year. Insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results. Our current educational model is insanity at warped speed.
The good news (sarcastically speaking) is that those at the federal level who have done a dismal job in education are now going to take over our health care system. Perhaps one rationale behind that move is that we can now fail in mind and body at the same time.
Sincerely yours,
Chris Humphreys
