RANT & CHAT - No Politics

[trkyhntr]

In this country, ergo, we do have human rights. We have a state educational system which gives every child the right to an opportunity for an education, and there are many ways to advance beyond that. In short, we all have an opportunity to learn how the system works, find a way to make a go of it, and do just that. Alternatively, we all have the right to fail at the above or not try. Unfortunately, the liberals have tried to make this a failure proof system. It ain't workin'.

Perhaps you are old enough to remember Lyndon Johnson's great war on poverty. I am. We were told that if we just spent enough money, we could eliminate poverty in our time. We spent gazillions, and our tax rates rose higher and higher. Tax the rich, we were told, and give it to the poor. Since the poor outnumber the rich even in boom times, we thought this was only fair, so we went along with it.
Now, here we are, nearly 40 years later. Poverty is not just as common, and poor people even more numerous, now we have a school system that fails to give even a hint of an opportunity to the poor to better their lots, and a second system in suburbia in which every student has tremendous opportunity. Why is this so? Having fought in the wars of public education for 30 years, let me hazard a guess. Its name is dumbing down and passing on age so that kids would not have to experience failure.

Today, we allocate huge sums of money to public education. It is mostly wasted on programs that don't work. We teach band, chorus, football, stamp collecting and macrame. We give students time off from english class for bible release. There is no real discipline in schools since the paddle went the way of the dodo. Teachers are frustrated. They know what has to be done, but bureaucrats and administrators stand in the way every step. Far from being taught responsible citizenship, our children are taught that it takes no effort to succeed. You can get an A in english if your parents gripe loud enough. You can't even flunk a student for cheating.

Sorry to rant so much and so long. We have tried the liberal, socialist way, and it doesn't work. It just might be time to let some people serve as bad examples again so that people would see the value of working for self improvement. I am just plain tired of pitying the poor. If that makes me an evil person, so be it.

trkyhntr