The mess we are in and how we got there

The mess we have is much deeper than the mortgage mess, or the war on terror, or the oil mess. America has become an institution of weaklings. Our political system is great but the people in it have corrupted it. Business is great but the people have corrupted it. To fix all of it we need to reboot the systems not revamp or overhaul them. Regulations don’t work and never will. Regulations are like locks they keep the honest people honest but the crooks will still be crooks. We need to strip away all regulations and laws and write new ones to incorporate the lessons learned along the way and get rid of the ones we know don’t work but because they are still laws we have to obey. When was the last time someone was arrested for the misuse of a buggy whip? The laws are still on the books.

 

Dump it all and start from scratch. The same with education. We waste so much money on things that don’t work that we don’t get to educate the children. If you can’t read you should not get promoted, if the children can’t read the teacher should be fired! If a congressman is corrupt the congressman should be arrested and jailed, we don’t need a new law we need to enforce the ones on the books.

 

Have you ever met with a kid that was home schooled? It is eye opening! They are easy to spot if you know what to look for, they are the kids that are in public, and act like human beings even when there is no adult around. Speak to a home schooled child and you will hear language you would not believe come out of their mouths. Things like, yes, sir, or yes, ma’am. They show maturity and judgment. Yes, they can act their age but they do so with respect and dignity. I don’t see that happening outside of private schools and home schools. The private school I went to cost $3,500 a year including room and board. 30 years later the price has not gone up much when you contrast that with public schools where in Washington DC they spend over 15k per student with free lunch, (not sure of the figure) and they can’t read past a third grade level. It is not that they don’t have enough money or the teachers are not paid enough it is because the teachers are not teaching. Public school teachers want the pay of a private school but in private school you are expected to get results. The children are expected to pass each and every grade with the knowledge of that grade level. That would mean the teachers would have to ensure that each and every student actually learned something. It is called work and most teachers don’t know or understand this word. You say work and they picture cashing their pay cheque.

 

The first part of the no child left behind was a competency test for the teachers. The teachers had to pass the same tests the students were required to pass for the grade level they taught. In the liberal cities you had a 40% failure rate. Teachers with degrees and tenure could not pass the tests they administered to their students. This requirement quickly got dumped. I am talking about the Boston public school system. If the teachers did not know how to pass the tests how do you expect them to teach the students.

 

This lack of knowledge has been passed down from teacher to student until all the kid knows is to vote democrat. Elect idiots that don’t know how the system works to make laws to run the system.

 

You want an informed electorate then we have to start with the basics. Elementary school, forget Mary has two mothers and concentrate on 2+2=4. Teach vocabulary words in English. The average baccalaureate has a 12th grade education, that’s right folks 16 years to get 12 years of schooling. Every child in school can be taught what they need to survive in this world in 12 years for 5k or less per student per year. In Japan for example the highest and most respected job is that of a teacher. This is because the nation understands that teachers create the future of their nation by teaching and molding the students. Students go to school five and a half to six days a week. They cover in one year what we cover in two. By age 15 the student is ready for college. In America by age 18 the student is ready for prep school. All children are the same it all depends on what and how they are taught. Children are like computers, garbage in, garbage out.

 

We need to go back to basics with the American work ethic as well. One of the reasons the bible used to be taught in schools was it had ethics in there. If you don’t work you don’t eat. Contribute to society or die. Don’t give me any crap about cripples there are jobs for everyone at every stage of development and ability.

 

On economics we bring the minimum wage to one dollar an hour. See how fast the prices fall in line because if the majority of people in the work force are making a dollar an hour and can’t afford a computer they will have to cut wages in order to make the things affordable. If no one can afford 4 dollar a gallon gas no one will drive. The price will drop to what is affordable to the masses. At a dollar an hour I can afford to hire seven employees instead of one. With seven I can expand my business with one I can barely keep the money coming in to pay the one and me. Everything will have to come down in price in order to make a profit. Deflate the economy rather than inflate it. The best way to do this is to get off the credit economy and back onto the gold standard. If a dollar is backed by gold then you have money no matter where you go. At 700 dollars an ounce for example the dollar will be worth one seven hundredth of an ounce of gold. This will bring our money supply back into the realm of reality. Multi billionaires will fade away because there will not be that much gold to back that much money. I heard somewhere that we only hold 68 billion dollars in gold that will mean that we can only have in our system 68 billion dollars and the rest will have to suck air. On the other hand a million dollars will be worth a million dollars.

 

None of what I suggest will be easy, or painless, but once a full alignment of our economy and our political systems are complete we will have the strongest nation in the world and no one can doubt that. It all depends on US to fix the U.S.

8,688 views 18 replies
Reply #1 Top

I know there are holes in this large enough to drive through but it is a start that has a chance of saving the country.

Reply #2 Top

Our political system is great but the people in it have corrupted it. Business is great but the people have corrupted it...The same with education.
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I'm going to agree with you that our political system is broken. In my opinion, these other systems are broken as a result of the broken political system.

Have you ever taught in a public school, Paladin77? If the answer is no, I would encourage you to consider getting into the profession and making a difference in those who will become a part of hopefully reparing those systems.

I spent 12 of my 15 years in high-poverty schools doing so myself. As a principal for eight of those years, I was a part of taking a low-income, "acceptable" [average-performing] campus, and turning it into an "exemplary" [high-performing] campus. How? I worked with phenomenal teachers who were dedicated to helping children grow both academically and socially. (Yes, both of those terms were in our vision statement.) The campus was recognized for its high-performance for three consecutive years the year I left to begin training teachers and administrators across the state.

While I will agree that there are problems in our education system, I know that I can do at least two things: 1) remain politically involved by communicating with my legislators (who have yet to come to a campus where I've taught or served as principal to see what is really happening at the campus level...although, I will say that George W. Bush did come to our campus when my fourth grade students wrote and asked him to come to our school when he was serving as governor); and 2) make a difference in those who are placed in front of me each day.

And that is how and where I am making a difference. So, I respectfully ask you, Paladin77, what are you doing?

Reply #3 Top

And that is how and where I am making a difference. So, I respectfully ask you, Paladin77, what are you doing?
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My aunt, my fathers brothers wife, taught in the NYC school system the last ten years of her career she was a principal of several inner city schools. My mother when she retired from law enforcement taught in the Miami school systems for a few years. my aunt, my mothers sister, taught for five years in the Miami school system after she reitred as a deputy warden in NYC. I taught in a private school 4th 5th and 6th grades in NY, then joined the Marines where I got to do international politics from the dirty side shooting terrorists in the face for 13 years. I currently work for the government part time in anti-terror, oh I almost forgot I am a disabled vet, one of the terrorists missed my face and got my chest. You are correct I don’t do enough but I still dabble a little.

Reply #4 Top

You are correct I don’t do enough but I still dabble a little.
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Paladin77, I never stated you didn't do enough. In fact, I appreciate what you've accomplished, and I respect your service to our country even more so.

...then joined the Marines where I got to do international politics from the dirty side shooting terrorists in the face for 13 years. I currently work for the government part time in anti-terror...
End of quote
 

Many would offer an uninformed take on our government's approach to the war of terror or make a blanket statement on that approach. However, I refrain from doing so because I have not walked in your shoes or [literaly] fought that battle.

Blanket statements and over-generalizations exasperate me to no end...especially when such statements attack the very profession to which I've devoted my life...and disparage the educators who are making a difference...and insult the children I serve who do not have the opportunity (or desire) to be home- or private-schooled.

 

Reply #5 Top

Things like, yes, sir, or yes, ma’am. They show maturity and judgment. Yes, they can act their age but they do so with respect and dignity.
End of quote

Manners, values, and morals are things that people learn from their parents and churches, usually at a fairly young age. I would suspect that a society in which the need for both parents(or single parents) to work is commonplace would have a lot to do with this. I have no problem with home schooling, what others do is none of my business, however I would not personally take that route because I believe the school system is better set up to provide a broader curricula. Manners and values are simply not enough to compete in a global economy.

 

Reply #6 Top

Manners, values, and morals are things that people learn from their parents and churches, usually at a fairly young age. I would suspect that a society in which the need for both parents(or single parents) to work is commonplace would have a lot to do with this. I have no problem with home schooling, what others do is none of my business, however I would not personally take that route because I believe the school system is better set up to provide a broader curricula. Manners and values are simply not enough to compete in a global economy.
End of quote

You say this because you don’t know what you are talking about. Those same home schooled children have to go to public school and take the same standardized tests as the public school children and they are rarely outside of the top 10% of the students that test. Those children are not taught the tests as they are in some public schools they have a curriculum the same as the public school children. The difference is that they are taught and held accountable by their teachers.

 

With respect to SH80, your example and mine are at different ends of the spectrum, the majority is somewhere in the middle. You wrote of your experiences as a principal and I wrote of my experiences watching my aunt’s and mother come home and discuss the day’s events. Having only taught in a boarding school I don’t’ have the experience from either end but as a student in a public school I know from the students view, as a parent that sent three kids to public schools I was not happy in the California school system or the Florida school system. I sent my oldest one to private school in India but could not afford it for my other two. The difference is that my oldest went to college in America and was student body president for two years. It also took him two years to get his bachelors degree, then three years to get his doctorate in economics and then two years to get his MBA. While my middle child is a nurse, and my youngest is more interested in smoking pot. Something my oldest was turned on to when he returned to the states for his last two years of public school. It took me putting a gun to his head and saying go to school or die to get him motivated enough for college. My oldest son knew that dad was still crazy enough to shoot him so he went to school.

 

I applaud your achievements and don’t mean to belittle them but your example is the norm in schools outside our nation while your achievement is the exception here.

Reply #7 Top

Those same home schooled children have to go to public school and take the same standardized tests as the public school children and they are rarely outside of the top 10% of the students that test.
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Does that prove that they are being better educated or that they are simply being better prepared to pass a specific test?

How about the SAT's....It looks like home schoolers are just a few points above the average on those tests. Hard for me to believe that is in the top 10%. You would have to look at individuals to see if they were outperforming the average of schools in their own area since we know that some school systems are better funded than others.

Reply #8 Top

 

Does that prove that they are being better educated or that they are simply being better prepared to pass a specific test?
End of quote

Well seeing as the parents don't have access to the tests, unlike the teachers in public schools, I would have to believe that the students are better educated.

How about the SAT's....It looks like home schoolers are just a few points above the average on those tests. Hard for me to believe that is in the top 10%. You would have to look at individuals to see if they were outperforming the average of schools in their own area since we know that some school systems are better funded than others.
End of quote
 

Good point, and well obfuscated by you. The SAT’s include public and private school children as well as home schooled children. Did you look to see where they place or are you just blowing smoke?

Reply #9 Top

Did you look to see where they place or are you just blowing smoke?
End of quote

They were about 10 to 20 points higher but like i said before you have to compare individuals who are being home schooled vs. the local schools in their area because there are huge differences between school districts, in particular between surburbia and inner city.

Reply #10 Top

We wont get out.  Not as long as Money=power, and Power = feds.  The solution as you indicate is a reboot, but that means the feds gving up power, and it is not going to work.

But I will leave smooth seas this thought.  Since we have seen there is a difference between schools, then that means something work and somethings do not.  Why is it then not allowed to try different things to see what works and what does not?

Reply #11 Top

Why is it then not allowed to try different things to see what works and what does not?
End of quote

If you scroll up you will see that I'm not against home schooling. That I am IN FACT for people making their own choice.

Reply #12 Top

The problem is not weakness, it's the instant gratification culture. Get now, pay later. This is building up to a lot of money, which hurts us everywhere.

That's right, the people are to blame. There are some legitimate foreclosures, but I'm willing to bet that a LOT of them are the instant gratification blowouts.

Reply #13 Top

That's right, the people are to blame. There are some legitimate foreclosures, but I'm willing to bet that a LOT of them are the instant gratification blowouts.
End of quote

From Rush Limbaugh April 2008,

"The mortgage crisis -- even though almost 96% of Americans are paying their mortgages, a lot of people think that nobody has been able to pay their mortgage, that we're on the cusp of a total meltdown and disaster.  The only way we'll have a meltdown and disaster is if the federal government is able to bail out all these losers in the private sector.  If they do that, they set a precedent. They set expectations of everybody else that when their business goes south, they will get bailed out -- and that's not going to be the case, but it'll establish that expectation.  I heard stories of people speculating in the housing market. You know, not everybody's who's got caught up in this mortgage crisis is poor, and not everybody was lent money that had no business being lent money.  A lot of these people were speculators.  They were buying houses and flipping them, never living in them, just buying them and flipping them.  When the whole crisis hit, bammo! "

It was the speculators that caused the prices to go up so fast and create the bubble, it was the federal government that allowed the speculators to buy homes with no money down so they could buy five to ten houses at a time in hopes of flipping them. When that started starter homes cost 140k when the speculators drove up the price to 320k the market died. Now we get to pay the speculators for their greed and errors. Remember that the mortgage crisis is about 4% of the mortgages failing.

Reply #14 Top

The problem is not weakness, it's the instant gratification culture. Get now, pay later. This is building up to a lot of money, which hurts us everywhere.

That's right, the people are to blame. There are some legitimate foreclosures, but I'm willing to bet that a LOT of them are the instant gratification blowouts.
End of quote

What you are forgetting is that it is not only the borrowers but also the lenders who are part of this culture. The haves wanted instant gratification as well as the have-nots. The mortgage companies wanted instant profits, the bondwriters wanted instant profits, the banks wanted instant profits, and the investors wanted instant profits.

Reply #15 Top

If you scroll up you will see that I'm not against home schooling. That I am IN FACT for people making their own choice.
End of quote

What about Vouchers? (That was what I was hinting at)

Reply #16 Top

What about Vouchers? (That was what I was hinting at)
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I think school funding needs to stay at the local or state level.  Why should people get vouchers? How about those who don't have kids. Should they get a total tax refund for the portion of their taxes that goes to the public school system? If people don't like their local school systems maybe they should get actively involved instead of just complaining and looking for another tax break.

Reply #17 Top

If people don't like their local school systems maybe they should get actively involved instead of just complaining and looking for another tax break.
End of quote

the ones that can get involved do get involved, they pack up and move out of the school district.

Reply #18 Top

if you are looking for freedom of the mind

if your are looking for the truth

if you see the very fault of our inner governmental circle

if you believe you are important and you matter

if you are unhappy at what is

if you believe we can make a better tomarrow

then now go to youtube.com

go to jdcriveau check out those videos

support him pass them on to others

join jd to make the united states the country it should be

remember the party system in congress brought us to this point

it is now our time to make it a free governmential body

it is now our time to give all congress a term limit

vote in indepentents  not party people

REMEMBER WE ARE FREE WILL PEOPLE AND WE DO NOT NEED A POLITICAL PARTY

TO TELL US HOW TO THINK AND WHAT WE ARE

 

SO GO TO YOUTUBE.COM  CHECKOUT jdcriveau

 

you deside where you stand and if you agree with jdcriveau then support jd

pass jd on to others

help jd free this nation and in turn we will be an example for the rest

 

thank you

jd