Lemmings that we are, we seem bent on following our "Leaders" off that cliff that WE ALL CAN SEE. And why? Because we can't seem to be able to think for ourselves unless it's Verizon or AT&T, or netflix, or premium cable, or Old navy or H&M. The big questions go unanswered.
Why, you ask? Well good, because I'm about to tell you.
Our education system is broken. We have at least one entire generation that has no concept of how our government works. Most don't even understand Judicial, Executive, and Legislative. Let alone how a bill becomes law and what if anything they can do to influence the outcome. And sadly most don't even care.
Now in their defense, most do agree that our education system needs to be fixed, but that's mostly out of their memory that history class was boring, not that we've become this nation that thinks that turning out automatons who know math and science is the answer.
How can we create an effective education system (which is what we need to do, start from scratch) when the parties involved don't understand that the whole person is what needs to be developed. There is more to the human experience than numbers and facts. Understanding the inner workings of people and how they think, why they think what they do, and if they think at all, is basic to an ability to comprehend how to reason one's way through any situation.
So, the Arts, Psychology, Humanities of all stripes are essential to a complete education and we will not ever be able to begin to repair the damage that's been done to the existing system until we understand that.
Unfortunately this takes one vital ingredient. Money.
The GOP isn't the least bit interested in becoming the party of the common man, it's goal is to make people think that's what it is, but in truth what it wants to do is convince people to be proud of their ignorance.
To be thrilled that insurance company flunkies get to decide whether they live or die based on how much it costs to keep them alive. Why? because "A healthy, educated populace is difficult to govern." And if we start asking hard questions and demanding cogent answers the Rick Perry's of this world won't be able to deliver the goods.
Perry, our latest candidate for the GOP nomination, gets all too well the notion that simple short sound bites like, "I mean, printing more money to play politics at this particular time in American history is almost treacherous—or treason, in my opinion.” do more to inflame the misunderstandings between the haves and have nots when it comes to education than any other political tool he could use. He wants people "riled up," he needs them to be "riled up" so he can exploit their weaknesses. And to do the bidding of his handlers.
That's why starving the government of capital at a time when it needs to be spending money to help its citizens is such a worthwhile goal if you want to privatize...well...everything.
This makes more rich people rich, and makes the division of the classes even wider.
But let's take a look at what Alan Sloan of Fortune magazine has to say on the subject of hijacking one issue to use it as support for another:
American idiots: How Washington is destroying the economy
By Allan Sloan, senior editor-at-large August 18, 2011: 5:00 AM ET
What's ailing us? It's not just unemployment. It's not just Europe's debt woes. And, no, it's not Wall Street this time. It's the takeover of the economic debate by fanatics who are up to no good. Fix that -- and maybe you fix the economy.
FORTUNE -- What the hell is going on?
Standard & Poor's, the bond-rating agency, downgrades the U.S., and the world trembles. The markets here go nuts on the first trading day after the downgrade, losing $1 trillion in value. European Union finance chiefs are playing Whac-a-Mole with members' debt problems. And England … England was literally burning.
Only three short years ago we were all terrified when our financial system was on the brink of disaster after Lehman Brothers went broke in September of 2008. Those scary times seemed to have disappeared in the spring of 2009. But now those fears are back -- and things are even scarier, the stock market's "green" days notwithstanding.
Our current mess is different from the Lehman-related horror because it stems primarily from politics, not economics. The previous fear-fest came about because Lehman's bankruptcy disrupted financial markets in unanticipated ways. Today's crisis was completely avoidable. You can blame it directly on the fools who brought our country to the brink of defaulting on its debts in the name of saving us from … I'm not sure what. Yes, the Tea Party types bear primary responsibility -- but they couldn't have done it without the cowardice and incompetence of the Obama administration, which let things get way out of hand. This whole fiasco just enrages me. And it ought to enrage anyone who wants the U.S. to act like a real country rather than some third-rate failed state run by fanatical factions that hate one another.
So why is today scarier than 2008-09? Because this time not only have we got troubled financial institutions to deal with, but we have serious, substantial countries facing possible default on their debts. Including, heaven help us, the U.S.
Things were already bad because of fear and financial fragility afflicting Europe. But the problems took a quantum leap because of fallout from Standard & Poor's totally justifiable Aug. 5 downgrade of U.S. long-term debt. The U.S. economy was already listless enough, with gross domestic product barely growing -- and maybe even shrinking -- plus record long-term unemployment. (One telling statistic: The percentage of U.S. adults with jobs is down to 58.1%, from 64.7% in 2000, according to the St. Louis Fed. That, my friends, isn't good -- see chart below.) The fear, loathing, and political divisiveness are going to make things worse, not better.
So what he's saying is that the inmates are running the asylum and we, meaning the ineffectual Obama Administration, has done nothing to call attention to that, nor to stop it.
If Barack Obama really wanted to lead us the manufactured crisis of the debt ceiling was a golden opportunity. Sometimes leading means that you have to make tough decisions about what's best and then take whatever steps are necessary to make those decisions come to fruition. If he'd had the courage to step up and do that, to invoke the 14th amendment and simply solve the debt ceiling crisis himself he'd be a hero because we likely wouldn't have had our credit rating downgraded (yes it's a very small difference from AAA to AA+ but it's perception that counts) and though the nutcases in the Tea Party would still be naysayers because "he hadn't allowed the democratic process to unfold." (and you know that's what they'd say) in the end he'd be proven right. But he didn't do that! He slunk around and played theater with them, and bad theater at that, and in the end all but caved in to their demands.
He's a huge disappointment, and seems not to understand at all what it means to be Presidential.
But why do bloggers such as myself keep saying these things over and over when it never seems to help? Because there has to be some voice of reason in the wilderness. Because it's our duty as citizens of the United States to stand up and challenge our elected officials. Because, hopefully, in the end they'll take some notice of what we're saying and what needs to be accomplished to move this country forward.
Unfortunately, we're so broken in so many ways that most of don't really understand how it is that our government functions...and given our poor leadership it's unlikely that most will ever have any interest in finding out.
And so it goes:
