America's Last Great Hope - Education

According to a recent AP article the US ranks ninth for 24 to 34 year olds with a high school education. We tied Belgium for seventh for college education in the same age group. Just twenty years ago, we were 1st in both categories. So much for no child left behind! Despite that much touted program it appears we have slipped. Part of that is due to the cuts to local aid that towns have had to absorb into their school budgets. This means that some teachers had to be let go. The smaller class sizes that was once the supreme target, were now doubling in size.
As if that wasn't bad enough, recent articles have stated that some Tea Party representatives are pushing to privatize schools. They say that the taxpayers should not have to foot the bill, it is up to the parents to educate their kids. Well, what happens to the middle class who are struggling to get by, or the poor who can barely afford to feed their kids?
Another noteworthy thing in that AP article was that the US is an information economy. For the time being, we are still number one when it comes to information, but do to our falling education level, we are slowly slipping on that slope. So the one thing we are good at outside of war and weapons, we are starting to slide on that too.
The Tea Party and some Republicans think that our education system is broken so rather than try to fix it, they say we should do away with it and let the parents take up the responsibility. How is that going to keep us number one and get us back into first for education? We need to stop flapping our lips and saying things like, "It takes a village" or "No child left behind", hollow words. We need to actually put education first in this country. Yes, get in there and find out what isn't working and why? Sometimes, we may find that the reason is that we aren't funding it right. Sometimes it might be because of text books that are just plain wrong. Pretty sad when a student points it out to a teacher and the teacher says, yeah, they know but they have to teach it that way or get fired. Maybe part of the problem is like with medicine, we have bureaucrats calling the shots and telling the professionals what to do. Maybe the first thing is to let the teachers teach. The other thing is that we need to double down on education not pull it apart. We need to make it more affordable for our students to progress beyond a high school education. It is just getting way too expensive.
My daughter is ready to go to college. She wanted to go to a state college out of state. In the end, she would graduate owing over $800 a month for fifteen years. That is no way for a young person to start their life. Deval Patrick, the Governor of Massachusetts, announced a program to help. If Massachusetts students go to their local community college and can maintain a 3.5 or better, then when they graduate, they can go to UMass Amherst tuition free and reduced room and board. Think about that for a moment. They still get the education. They graduate from University of Massachusetts, which is what appears on their resume. Yet the cost will end up being about half. Why can't there be more programs like that? At least here in Massachusetts, we still believe in education.
According to the Institute of Economics and Peace, Global Peace Index which measures how peaceful each country is, the US ranks below China. Yes, China. China is 80th, we are 85. Is this how we want our country to be known? Or do we want to raise the US from the ashes and become the leaders in innovation, education, knowledge, and the ability to solve problems. Solve them, not by blowing them up, but by finding real solutions to real problems. In that ranking the UK is 31, Canada is 14. I challenge the US to rise up and move up the list and ahead of at least the UK. Wouldn't you rather be known as a country of wise men and wizards than barbaric orcs?

I have a vision of the US becoming number one again. I would like us to start with education. Maybe one day, we will be number one at peace.

My heart to your heart, one heart, one spirit.

The Failing of isms - A New Paradigm Needed?

More and more we see the news coming out about the injustice in the American way. We hear how the cards are stacked against the average Joe as they struggle to pay their mortgage, rent, put food on the table, pay for healthcare and the gas to get to work. While they are working longer hours with less help, they are hearing about corporations skipping out on their taxes, or worse, getting subsidies while raking in billions. They are inundated with news about credit card companies jacking up rates and foreclosing on people's homes after the taxpayers bailed them out. As a further slap in the face, if they are lucky enough to get a vacation, it is a staycation, while the execs of the financial companies are reaping huge bonuses and vacationing in the Caribbean.
Yet, we are told that capitalism is the best system in the world. We are told how good we have it. We are told that we have the best health care, the top education, freedom of this, and freedom of that. When we tried to improve healthcare, the rants went up about socialism and how bad it is and how we are becoming communists. We are led to believe it is bad. And to the point, the example we had, the USSR, was bad. Yet, those who have combined the two systems, like England and France, and other European states, seem to have managed to get systems that work. According to the WHO, it is France that leads in health care, not the US. I think the US ranked about 37. Oh we will hear that we have the best doctors and hospitals and how others come here, but our own people can't afford the same. If you are in the upper income brackets, the US is a great place, but for most Americans it is a struggle.
One of the things I find interesting is how a segment of America goes on and on about how they want their country back. They go on and on about how America is being turned into a communist country. They go on and on about how we need to put God back in America. We even hear some complain about how we need to put the pledge back in schools. Though, I am curious on that one as I hadn't heard they stopped saying the pledge. Interesting point to note. The Pledge of Allegiance that they are pressing so hard for, was actually written by an American Socialist in 1892 named Francis Bellamy. Hmmm, pledging to a socialist pledge, do they even know that? Even worse than the pledge is the idea that they go on and on about how we need God in this country, how we need Jesus. Yet, they do everything that is the antithesis of what Jesus would do. Jesus cared for the people, all people, not just the ones who agreed with him. He opened his heart to all people. But let's leave that for now.
During the health care debate we heard about the system in France, England, and Canada. We were told these systems were evil. We were told horror stories about these systems. Yet, the wonder of the Internet allows us to connect to people around the world. Friends from these countries asked what the heck were they talking about. I even had an expatriot living in France tell me that he loves the French health care system and told me that the lies about the out of control taxes were a joke. Yes, they have higher taxes, but for the people, they have much more. They have free health care. If a student qualifies, higher education is also free. They even get 37 days of vacation time a year. Yet, that system, is evil. Evil for who?
The current paradigm in this country is to dismantle everything from health care to prisons, and even schools. There was an incidence down south I believe, the fire department was privatized. The people had to pay for the fire department. No pay, no protection. Well, a guys house caught fire. He called the fire department and they showed up, at his neighbors. It seems his neighbor had paid for the protection, but he hadn't, so they let his house burn down. Ah, capitalism, got to love it.
You see, that is the point, pure capitalism, just like pure socialism, can't work. The best systems are those that provide the core services from education and health care, to police, fire, and roads. However, companies are allowed to compete and make profits. Though, a smart government, puts checks and balances in. Our unbridled capitalism has allowed things to become so unbalanced. The average worker is lucky to get a 2% raise, while the average exec is reeling in a whopping 25% or more increase plus bonus. There have been some who say that if this continues, we could be up for a revolution. Personally, I think people are way too distracted these days and are more interested in their crops on Farmville, than standing up for their rights. Shame. I have often asked, where are the hippies? It just seems that back then, there were more people standing up for the rights of the people, standing up against the wars. Indeed, where are the hippies?
What we truly need is a new concept. A new paradigm. A more humane system of government that works for all the people and not just the elite few or corporations. Maybe a blend of the various isms working together, but with its core principal that all people are equal. Maybe the US has grown too big. Too big to fail, not hardly.

"If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered." -Thomas Jefferson

Capitalism has become an ugly beast that is devouring its children. We need to rethink this paradigm and maybe come up with better ideas that will work for most of the population instead of a select few.

My heart to your heart, one heart, one spirit.

Wisdom From a Fortune Cookie - Keep a Cool Head

Keep a cool head and bide your time. A chance is bound to come.

Hmmm, how many times have I gone off half cocked because I have let my emotions get the better of me? Quite a few. I can be very impulsive. I have long believed that the deck was stacked against me so I had to grab what I could when I could. Yet, sometimes, in hindsight, I have found that had I but waited a brief moment, either the funds would appear, or the help I might need. Of course, with age comes wisdom. Well, okay, it could be a stretch for the wisdom part, but at least the voice of experience plays into things. I have started to take a breath and be patient. Usually, somehow things will get done, or money will arrive. Of course, it is only just enough money to barely make the need. You would think, just once, it would be much more than I need so I could actually enjoy it. At least it meets the need.
I have learned over time to not let anger get the better of me. There were many times when I have exploded, mind you, I am usually alone as I try to keep that out of people's view. Usually I go for a long walk deep in the woods. Serves two purposes, gets me away from people so that, in my frame of mind, I am not exploding at the wrong people. It also allows me to vent and then the long walk back, allows me to think more rationally about the situation and how best to resolve it or at least accept that I cannot change it. The thing is that I give it time and a release so that a cooler head can prevail.
Even with buying things, I have tried to curb my impulses. Sometimes you see something really cool and you get that "just got to have it" feeling. You know that buying it would put you in a financial bind, but you do so anyway. Then a day or two later, you see the same thing marked down somewhere else. When I wanted to upgrade my bike, I started to look around. I really fell in love with the Fury. I liked the long rake that gave it that chopper look. I was going to find a way to get it. I stopped though and figured, I should shop around. I hit the motorcycle show in Boston and fell out of love with the Fury, and in love with the Stryker. The jet black coolness of the Stryker just seemed right. Okay, so we take a step back and compare the two. So I then head out to look at bikes around the area. The Fury still appeals to me, but now the Stryker caught my eye. What to do, what to do. Patience. I went to check out the Stryker at the local Yamaha dealer figuring that buying local and servicing local, I am giving to the local economy. I went in and was looking at the Stryker and a few others. Then the dealer pointed out the one in the window. He told me that a big guy like me might find that bike better. The Stryker being a 1300 and the one in the window, a Road Star 1700. I tell him, yeah, but I really didn't want to spend too much. I had just paid off the old one and was hoping to keep my payments low. He told me that the 1700 was a leftover and he could give it to me for $900 less than the Stryker. Wow. It was a sweet looking bike, in cherry red. Lots of chrome. It looked great. So I bought it. So by being patient, I got a bigger bike with more horsepower that will last me a long time and I got it for less money. A chance is bound to come.
Now, not every thing we wait on is going to give us the same result. Sometimes, we might even miss out on an opportunity. In the end though, we may find that in waiting and working things through, we may end up better. That goes for relations as well as purchases.
In relations, we may get upset and want to end a relationship, or not talk to the person. Yet, if we were patient, the truth might emerge and we might find that the reason they blew us off on the date, or didn't come home as expected, had a good reason. Sometimes, they don't share that reason because the other person that they might have been helping has asked that they not tell anyone. Yet, after a bit, we eventually find out. Someone may tell us that they saw our partner hugging someone else downtown. We get all worked up thinking the worst and are ready to explode, only to find that the other person may have lost a relation and our partner was consoling them. They may have lost a job. The thing is that we take the time and let cooler heads prevail.
So keep a cool head in all you do. Learn to count to three, take a breath, whatever tool you need to use, to give that moment to step away from emotion to allow you to think things through. Sometimes you may find that chance you were waiting for is bound to come.
My heart to your heart, one heart, one spirit.