Photo by youngsixtas
One of our readers, James Raider, left a significant commentary that haunted me all through work yesterday. The discussion centered around the Great Hoax, “Global Warming” and how the Obama Administration is repackaging the idea as Global Climate Disturbance to try and trick the public into falling for a new myth.
While we get bombarded by pleadings for money to send food to various corners of the globe, the challenge which should be addressed more effectively is how to get “Education” to these impoverished places. You never see any ads pleading for your cash to send education to a village in Africa. Yet, if anything, that is where the money should go. The pleading television commercials are the same one we watched 10 years ago, 20 years ago, and 30 years ago. The only thing that has changed is the amount of money requested. I’ve participated very directly, supporting research projects providing technology to kids who barely had electricity. The results were incontrovertible.
The new technologies and the Internet provide incredible opportunities to implement a quantum leap in the education of isolated kids, bypassing our 600 year old antiquated system. Skook, on a previous post, actually hit that nail on the head.
Most impoverished countries, if not all of them, are run by dictators who are supported by the likes of Gore, Clinton etc. While I don’t see Gore as insane, I do see him as not having been gifted with much intelligence, and being a self-serving charlatan getting too much energy in his sail from Hollywood. Distributing knowledge, and stimulating interaction between all sectors of the globe’s popoulations is the answer.
Building a theory out of manipulated and flawed data is ludicrous: crippling the economic might of the United States to support a Marxist concept of “Wealth Redistribution” among the dictators of Third World Countries approaches the sublime of absurdity; yet, Americans are in danger of falling for the idea to appease their own guilt ridden consciences- a guilt that has derived from living in comparative luxury when looking at most of the Third World. Buying weaponry and feeding an army for thug dictators often makes sense to the Socialist, it does nothing to ease the pain and suffering within a country.
Mr Raider is correct, the answer lies within education- an education is a long term investment in the environment and in fighting poverty; consequently, education will also reduce rampant overpopulation or raising more kids than you can feed. No, I am not referring to the covert Socialist indoctrination currently being taught in our public school curriculum: I am proposing a course in English, the international language of business, and would be strictly for those children who were motivated to improve their life. Courses would be apolitical and start in the primary grades and finish at grade 10 or 12 depending on whether a student chose a trade school or university curriculum. The program would only be available to highly motivated students and built upon the three R’s of an earlier age Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic with a generous dose of US Hstory thrown in.
To illustrate implementation of this program we should take a country mired in corruption and poverty, our nearest Third World Country, Mexico. A Spanish speaking teacher or administrator could be placed in a Mexican village, a building would be rented and classes would begin. Students that were motivated enough to keep up with the curriculum would be given an excellent opportunity; since, education in Mexico is no longer free after the primary grades and faced with feeding a family or educating his kids, the campesino will feed his family, education is expensive in Mexico if it is available. The instructor would basically oversee the education and the time spent on a battery of computers that would be linked directly to a main office. By the time the first students progressed through ten or twelve grades there could be a college course available and the trades could be offered, with technical information on the computer and volunteers teaching the practical applications of welding, mechanics, machining, plumbing, business, and carpentry at centers in the states.
Do I think such a program is practical? Yes, it is if we keep out the corrupting influences of unions and the Socialist indoctrination of Obama Progressives. Our own children will be able to break free of the Socialist indoctrination of public education through the use of the computer within the next few years, Despite the battle that will waged by the Teacher’s Unions to maintain the status quo and their power as chief washers of the brains. After our children can have access to a superior education by turning on their virtual school in the morning, motivated students will advance at their own rate without being held back by unmotivated students and sub-standard teachers. A designation, teachers’ unions refuse to acknowledge.
Thus the cost of an excellent education can be kept within reach of the average American family, a public eduction will also be possible for motivated children from Third World Nations. The education in the poor countries should be provided free, while the organization provides the laptops that never leave the school, pays the single teacher and rents the building. The only tuition should be the willingness to learn and prepare to be a leader in the future. The advantage is that there will be leaders in the future who will know how to lead a country without Marxist Thugs and intimidation. Progress will be measured in actually relieving some of the world’s problems rather than feeding the problems with US dollars and enabling Marxist Thugs with Cap and Trade Dollars, while they salivate at the prospect of becoming international millionaires off the corruption of American leaders and the gullibility of its citizenry.
Yes this is only the out line for a plan and it is expensive, but not nearly as expensive as the billions of dollars we have fed into these Third World Cess Pools and the Marxists that run them with negligible results if any and not nearly as expensive as the thousands of billions more we plan to feed once again to these Marxists Thugs so that they can unleash unknown horrors on their captive audiences of ignorant citizens.
Could this plan work? Hell yes! Much better than the previous programs with their dubious achievements; unfortunately, it will take at least a decade to see the benefits, but the benefits will be real.
A professional horseman for over 50 years, Skook continues to work with horses. Skook has finished an historical novel, Fifty Thousand Years, that traces a mitochondrial line of DNA from 50,000 years ago to the present. The story follows a line of courageous women, from the Ice Ages to the present, as they meet the challenges of survival with grit and creativity. These are not women who whimper of being victims, they meet the challenges of survival as women who use their abilities without excuses or remorse, these women are winners, they are our ancestors.
Fifty Thousand Years is available in paperback and e-book, it is getting great reviews. You can purchase a copy here; Visit me on Facebook.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Dylantheauthor
A very good idea, but if we fail to turn back the leftist self-hatred and restore sanity here in the west, the language to learn will be Mandarin, not English.
You probably missed hearing about the wonderful work done by Jewish Heart for Africa.
Everyone there is invested in raising awareness and funding projects.
Homepage.
All they do is bring sustainable technologies to Africa, electricity, clean water, medical clinics, etc.
But they also teach how to maintain all of their systems, too.
No one is left high a dry a few years later if something needs repair.
RSweeney: The Soothsayer (American Voter) will speak on that deal Nov. 2, 2010: if it goes bad, there are some fairly good Mandarin courses on line.
The Leftist hatred of all things US will never go away, it is up to us to marginalize them and their machine, including Hollywood, by portraying them as outstanding mediocrities at best. We must make it a predisposed concept that Leftists only succeed with other peoples’ money and that working people who unwittingly become their sycophants are nothing more than dupes for greedy Elites who want to live off other people’s ingenuity and sweat; in effect, the Elites are saying surrender all freedom and power to me, the Elite, and I will care for you and yours forever.
Nan G, that looks to be a commendable program that is accomplishing positive results, but without beginning an educational system, the results can be neutralized and/or controlled by Marxist Thugs at any time. To accomplish anything in these pathetic countries will take a multi-pronged effort by several different groups. Helping with the infra-structure will help immeasurably, but without education, the causes of poverty are never addressed or diminished.
Thanks for the Link, Skook.
For all of the good people who work for USAID, there are too many leftists. I have seen their work and they fail to understand that in a 3rd world country, there needs to be a change in the way things are done. USAID spends most of the time providing things. I had an Iraqi who had moved to the US more than 30 years ago ask me why I was trying to change the way the Iraqis performed agriculture. They have farming in the Tigris-Euphrates valley for more than 4,000 years.
My reply to this gentleman who by the way lived in the green zone and provided expert advice to the State Department and USAID was if you continue to do what you have always done, you will get what you have always gotten. There are still families in Iraq that cut and thrash grain with a knife and flail. They place the grain in a circular screened tray and toss the grain into the air to remove the chaff.
In Iraq, cattle go to market at about 18 months like here in the US. OT2 would sell a steer ready for the butcher at 800-1200lbs. In Iraq, the live weight is lucky to be 200lbs. The difference is education. Iraqis make their cattle walk miles every day to eat weeds along a canal or field instead of bringing the food to the anima. They also do not provide them clean water free of parasites.
Iraqis love Broccoli and other cold weather crops. They plant them in October and harvest in January. I asked them if they could sell these crops for more money in March and April. They all said they can get a lot of money for them then. Well, I suggested they plant the crops in December instead of October. Horror of horrors, they kept repeating they only plant the cole crops in October!
For awhile, I admired the women who daily cut all of the grass out of the tomato fields. Then I found out they planted the grass and fed it to their animals. They also planted cotton with the tomatoes. Cotton robs all of the nutrients needed to grow tomatoes. Hundreds of people in the US sent left over garden seeds to me in Iraq. I gave them to farmers all over Iraq. When I returned the second time, one of the farmers told me that he made more money on his okra from 3 seed packets than from his whole tomato field. His okra matured 4 weeks ahead of everyone else in the province. He got a premium for his.
Willhite Seed company sent me about 20 lbs of water melon seeds. I showed the farmers what the melons looked like. They all shook their heads and said Iraqis would not buy the round striped melons. I asked them to please just plant them so they could tell me how wrong I was. These farmers were so successful that people came out to the farm to buy the melons.
Our State department and USAID perpetuate poverty in third world countries because of their philosophy as well as the rules they must follow. These agencies are required to work through the governments of these poor countries. Millions of dollars (much of which end up in the pockets of government officials of the country) are spent providing things instead of knowledge.
There are many organizations that are successful in making significant changes. Most are associated with religious organizations. Many of those organizations are hampered by wanting to also sell their religion. The UN has many organizations that can be helpful, but by the time donations to the UN actually get to the people on the ground, it is lucky if 30% gets to where it is needed. Then, there is no comprehensive plan for coordinating all of these efforts.
Education is the key to solving much of the World problems. What if all of those people who voted for hope and change had knowledge instead a warm feeling in their gut?
Great Post Randy, you illustrated some great points. The United States has the greatest farmers in the world. Iowa produces more grain than Canada and Canada is the third largest grain exporter in the world. (Facts from the last century when I was involved in agriculture.) The things that could be accomplished with experts with calloused hands rather than Elite bureaucrats who have never worked. If you want to make friends with farmers give him okra and watermelon seeds and a small tractor with implements: in twenty years he will be able to buy new equipment with cash and farmers will be lining up to learn more efficient ways to farm.
Randy, you probably accomplished more with a few packets of seeds and a few suggestions than our bureaucrats did with a hundred million dollars. Well done, I hope your story gets a lot of exposure; we need to hammer away until the public demands an end to international welfare and a reliance on a more prudent and successful strategy to win over the public, a well trained police force can accomplish only so much if the farmers are still using stone age techniques.
Randy, please submit a detailed description of the agricultural situation and what needs to be done, I can’t promise anything, concerning acceptance by our editor, but the story needs to be told. If you want help with the project, I will help to the best of my abilities.
Thank you, for your service!
I agree, Skook. Randy’s story is a fascinating one.
But Randy, to give you a bit of “hope” and change… LOL… I did a post March of last year about how Obama was adopting the Bush template for Afghanistan. He implemented the suggested “civilian surge” of educators and builders, dedicated to stepping up local farming skills, infrastructure, and modernizing simple amenities for Afghans who have lost generations of farming knowledge to wars. Part of that post was an article on the Nebraska Guard, there to focus on agricultural education, and help farmers get their fields in shape. Heaven knows, Afghanistan could use more food and less poppies… unfortunately, poppies pay more.
You and I are apparently of almost identical vintage, and have been impacted on many levels by very similarly forces. I hope the “haunting” didn’t interrupt work too terribly yesterday, but thanks for the acknowledging that I stimulated your thinking.
Education has long been a focus of attention, and as I’ve noted here, Education – The Dynamic Of Sovereignty, . . . A wise American with a propensity for flying kites attached to keys, once wrote, “An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.”
That Sovereignty applies to all who grasp it and dreams of opportunity are realized through education and hard work. Unfortunately dictators whose countries are recipients of our “food money” suppress education.
Having implemented the distribution of computers into backward corners of the African continent, and observed the positive results, I wholeheartedly support your ideas above.
One suggestion for your curriculum: Basics of building a business to commercialize one’s capacities or newfound skills. Such skills apply whether you wish to work for someone else once you have received your education, or wish to be self-employed. This applies to all of us. We all “Sell” something, be that an idea, or piece of art we have created, or a loaf of bread, or an ability to build a kitchen cabinet. If we wish to be entrepreneurs there is some knowledge that we should acquire that will improve our chances of success.
BTW, you are absolutely right on students advancing at their own pace – they will if they are encouraged to do so. The new technologies provide outstanding possibilities on this front.
. . . Excellent work Sir.
Mata, I will need to check that one out, it was before my FA appearance.
Yes the drug trade seems to be very profitable, especially here in the US.
One of my jobs in Iraq was to work with the various military organizations in Agriculture. The difficulty was continuity. We (the military) could provide great interaction with the local Iraqis, but the State Department and USAID needed to provide continuity. There was also the old bureaucracy of the Iraqi government. Too many people in too many places that had jobs only for control.
If anyone thinks that Bush with either Powell or Rice had control of the State Department, they are very foolish. Many of these career officials actually sabotaged US efforts either through ignorance or because they had different thoughts. Petraeus in Iraq was 4 years too late. The current administration may say they are continuing the Bush template, but the view from on the ground in Iraq looks quite different.
James, don’t worry about me working and being self-absorbed: the horses seem to feel sorry for me when I am deep in thought and go out of their way to be helpful.
I published this essay to try and get the ball rolling in a constructive direction. I think the basic idea can evolve into the basis for a working plan that could actually do some good in the world, instead of perpetuating this ridiculous notion of Redistribution of Wealth.
Why not have these countries create their own wealth instead of draining away our wealth?
We have created our own nightmare of dependent classes of people existing forever on welfare: we don’t need to create an international welfare dependent people, they can learn to produce for themselves, as long as we keep the Progressive Socialists from getting to them and creating the notion that they are the, “White Man’s Burden”, and should be cared for generations until Armageddon. The criminal stupidity of Progressives with their Marxism has crippled whole generations of people and stripped away their pride and initiative. We must stop them before they corrupt the entire Third World. You must allow people to believe in themselves, rob them of their pride and they are useless to the world except as breeders and parasites that only perpetuate hopelessness and sloth to future generations.
For a very short time, I was a Civil Affairs advisor to CENTCOM. I watched so many power point presentations by people who had no idea what things were like on the ground, I could not hold my words. I suggested that we subsidize a pharmaceutical company to buy 10% of the opium produced in Afghanistan. After all, we are spending much more to destroy current crops. The farmers do not make much money from opium. If we required the farmers to reduce their product to 10% of current acreage but paid them as much or more than they are paid now, they would jump at the idea. We would also undercut the Taliban as their source of income. If we also helped them grow orchards, wheat and other crops in short supply on the rest of the acreage, they would maintain their or increase their income.
I wrote quite a few papers with good citations that circulated at CENTCOM. I guess I made someone look bad with simple solutions. I ended up back in Iraq working with my friends again. (Please don’t throw me back into that briar patch!)
Yup… you and Old Trooper definitely need a meet up, Randy. Excellent suggestion that, no doubt, would never pass Congressional funding muster.
So Troop, how about a Flopping Aces Montana campfire circle so we can solve the world’s problems? I can pretty much say, with surety, that as your guests, we’d all work and carry our own weight while we were there!
What a concept Skookum! Devise a government that would allow the common man to create his own wealth. We use to have one of thoses until recently.
A Montana campfire woulld be fun. Kind of our own Tea Party! No MREs! Had too many of those.
Obama’s got his “beer” summits, Randy. I like to think of OT’s as the “no bull summits, just prime beef”.
Can’t imagine beer and beef around a campfire in Montana without a little Bull!
LOL! Suspect there’d be plenty of that bull, Randy. But in lighthearted fun. Not policy!
The Noble Foundation in Ardmore, OK was established by Sam Noble (of oil fame) to assist farmers and ranchers with education and research.
I recently attended a workshop up there and there was a unit from the US Army learning what they could before they shipped out to Afganistan. They were going to help the people develop ponds and lakes and then stock them with fish.
@ Randy,
You point out a perfect example of a government buraucracy’s inevitable incompetence.
By nature, government is incapable of being helpful, and it cannot change – whether it is in the U.S. or in Afghanistan.
@ Skook,
Re: “we don’t need to create an international welfare dependent people, they can learn to produce for themselves,”
This is exactly the right objective IMHO. People like Bono and Geldorf have very effectively used impoverished Africa for their own PR purposes, but have otherwise no idea what they’re doing. They also don’t seem to have grasped the fact that welfare dependence creates hatred and jealousy.
For a perfect microcosm as proof, one which you are familiar with, is the dependence of Canadian First Nations bands have had on the government that pays for everything they require. Everything, even their houses. The resentment that exists, but remains hidden in the confines of the Smoke House, is deeply felt and is pervasive. Of course it is also old and has other reasons, but the new generations have no motivation to accomplish anything at all. The result is a disintegration of their societies from the inside.
Give Obama any more rope, and you have an America that will resemble these Reservations. The Bono and Geldorf view of Africa is feeding the same thing.
SKOOKUM: hi, what an interesting POST, you have created, and what follow up to it, is a
CHAIN link by link to add or and to continiue on the POST main IDEA,
SUPER with all the brains ensemble, what a POWER for and from AMERICA.
The military units are doing a good job, but they are working at a micro level. We helped some people, but the consistency needed to come from the State department and USAID. They had millions of $s that they hired controcters who hired contractors who hired contractors who hired Iraqis for 10% of the total amount allocated for the project. The military could get the work done with no overhead while promoting security. There is a private company started by a National Guard CPT who is accomplishing good things in Kurdish Iraq. Little is changing in the rest of Iraq because the basic foundations, education, is missing.
Randy, maybe instead of leaving Iraq, we should have stayed and made it safe enough and used retired farmers, ranchers, and tradesmen as advisers to help the people get started on the road to prosperity. Instead of hiring contractors who contract to other contractors, pay them for their time and set them loose with a budget. Farmers and ranchers know what it takes to make a piece of ground pay for itself and I’ll bet that they would be some highly motivated people.
Telling a career officer to learn all he can about farming before he goes to another country to teach farmers still using techniques from the stone age seems to be a forlorn hope, the officer may or may not have n agricultural background and they my be limited because of military service. A professional farmer who retired in the agricultural business will still be conversing with stone age farmers, but he will have 40 to 50 years of experience to draw upon.
Telling a group of subsistence farmers, you are free, now use your two thousand year old techniques with hand implements and compete against the best farmers in the world.
All societies are based upon their agricultural efficiency, like it or not, if you don’t have an agricultural base that can support a large society, that society will begin to disintegrate.
The FDA closed down the LDS food canning operatins some years ago. A retired gentleman from ID picked up much of the equipment. I tried to get the funds to transport a canning unit to Iraq, but couldn’t get the funds. Iraqis do not even know how to can fruits and vegetables like most farm families here can.
This gentleman I think has passed the effort to his son. They put a canning plant in Kenya to preserve mango jam that could be sold across Africa. Just having the ability to preserve available food can enhance life in most 3rd world countries. These plants were low tech that could be operated with about 15 minutes of training.
I am still working on a watertreatment plant that will provide 500 gal/min and that meets EPA standards. It is mounted in a small container that requires only a raw water source and a distribution system or collection tank. I developed the concept while in Iraq. I gave all of my ideas to anyone who would listen. Finally, a young E-6 from NY raised the funds and actually built several models. One is in Haiti now. If I can ever afford to retire, I may just help him with this project.
I watched trucks of bottled water go to NO, LA during Katrina. What a waste. For the costs of 2 trailers of water, this system can set up on the river and pump 500 gallons of water per minute 23 hours a day. It can also use existing distribution systems. The best thing about it is that I can train someone to use it in 30 minutes. Should be a natural for disaster relief or for 3rd world villages?
Randy, I thought I had a plan and some ideas, but you seem to be way ahead of me, thank goodness. It is obvious that government is not inclined to follow the simple most expedient path. Your ideas are worth developing and you should start developing them here with an outline similar to this post, then take that plan somewhere else, you may not need to retire if the right person rads your ideas- ideas that I think are more than worthy of being developed.
The water system sounds fantastic and has many applications to be considered, not to mention as a business plan for yourself. I can only offer encouragement Randy, but I think you have some potential that is waiting to be put to use. Iraq is an enigma, as far as the future is concerned, but the rest of the Third World is waiting for men of vision, not men with welfare checks.
Randy, perhaps the best place to start is a web page outlining your ideas and expertise.
Skook,
I sent an email to your gmail address. Please separate it from all of your female admirers!
Randy, I have received no mail. Check with Mata or Curt for address correction. Should be a possum or 2th type address to work.
I would like to point out one weakness in the “education is the key to solving poverty” theory. An education is useless unless there is a JOB to go to after graduation, otherwise why get an education. It’s pure economics at the most basic level.
At the end of the day, an education doesn’t put food on your table. Its a job that puts food on the table. If given a choice between feeding your family and pursuing some pie in the sky goal that doesn’t hold a promise of a job, then a rational person would forgo an education for whatever job they can find.
Jobs and business who create jobs are the real key to solving poverty. But this goes against most liberal marxist/socialist theory. If third world countries want to solve poverty, they would reduce the barriers to a free market, including corruption, taxes, regulations, etc. I would like to note that the corrupt bureaucracy and political leaders of most of these poverty stricken countries use regulation and taxes as blackmail in their countries. Bribery is a social norm. Corny capitalism is the structure of their economy (much like where obama is driving this country).
ThomasB: The problem is that these people have jobs. They just can not feed themselves or their families. Education is not all formal. Much of the education that is needed in the World is simple things we take for granted. Washing our hands, boiling water of questionable source, eating safe foods. Little changes in the way people marketed themselves or their goods can make the difference in living or not. That is the education we are talking about.
We have all seen how effective the Ivy League educations are when running a government. People who have experienced life are the people who need to provide the education that is needed to pull people out of poverty.
@ ThomasB.,
Your comment is confusing. You seem to suggest or promote an expectation of a job.
You also present a defeatist attitude under which no one would ever get educated, . . . the glass is half-empty?
You seem to be aware that it is individuals who form companies. Those companies can grow and hire people. Even if they don’t grow, they still create ONE job. Education enhances that path. If everyone followed your thinking as I understand it, everyone would remain in the ditch, remain uneducated, and wait for hand-outs.
The point is that education makes all the difference whether you plan on working for someone else, or you intend to work for yourself. The current downturn in the economy will stimulate creativity in those who will perceive the glass as half-full, and those with more education will have an edge. Most importantly, education energizes the possibilities, whether you’re in Texas or the Congo.
ThomasB: My plan for virtual schools in the Third World provided for the training of tradesmen. I am sure that there are tradesmen in the country, but these people would soon become the contractors and teachers that would elevate the over all skill level of an ever increasing pool of skilled workers.
There are jobs and the society functions at a primitive level. Having access to greater skills will serve to improve the quality of life. If a farmer is working with the same implements that have been used for 2,000 years, you can increase his yield by at least 2,000 with modern equipment and techniques. If a stockman is taking 200 pound calves to market, you can teach him to increase his yield by 3 to 4 times. This is a major improvement in the life of a family with less effort. Education does not necessarily mean a high paying job in a cubicle, it can mean the difference between healthy food and clean water enabling a healthier lifestyle and improved living conditions. Most of these people walk a thin line between subsistence and starvation.
It is a mistake to view the situation through the eyes of an American whose own government is trying to create more government workers while strangling the private sector. We are all victims of Obama’s efforts to control huge segments of the population through government payrolls, while neutralizing the hybrid vigor of Free Market Enterprise. Of course there are no jobs in Obama’s economy, how could you expect otherwise.
@ Skook,
Follow your lead with the computer based education. This is the one tool that will have the most pervasive impact on learning, on this continent and others.
Pursue you ideas on language. While all cultures have their own language, a bastardized version of English has long become the common denominator, and people the world over are quite open to its use to facilitate interaction.
Computers are a force that be be harnessed to bring learning to the most remote corners on all subjects of interest. As we have witnessed, young children, regardless of culture or background, take to the technology easily and without inhibitions demonstrated by their teachers toward the same technology.
As you’ve written, students can learn at their own pace. The computer enables discovery learning by the student, which leads to appropriation of ideas if there is no interruption from teachers. Teachers can encourage, and can act as guides in the process as student chase ideas and relationships to the constructs of the world around them, but teachers should not control the process. Artificial Control is what has brought us to the current state of affairs.
I hope you all understand that the NEA will oppose any attempt to “educate” anyone in a cyber
venue unless they get their piece of the action. In my humble opinion, the Federales should drop the Department of Education from the huge list of Agencies that suck tax dollars away from the Treasury. Education should rightfully be within control of each individual State as the States bear the burden of funding the schools, credentialing Teachers and do not need any help in establishing standards for performance.
The organizations that accredit post secondary educational institutions are not Federal Agencies nor should they be. There is great potential in on line schooling as many Colleges and Universities offer an on line curriculum for students.
Regarding jobs, if and when the Feds stop over regulating and over taxing Private Industry/Enterprise, there will be growth, investment and jobs. The current uncertainty with the Meddled with Economy has employers playing their cards held close to their chests right now.
We need less Fed interference and intrusion in the Private Sector and a smaller more sustainable Gummint or unemployment at double digit numbers will be the New Normal.
Am going to date myself. Igraduated high school in 1963. That was before teachers unions and when teachers themselves were determined that their students were going to receive an education before going out into the world and entering the workforce. With the advent of teachers unions ,their marxist influences and a everyone is equal and thus can’t be allowed to fail mentality; todays students are lucky if they receive the equivelent of a 7th grade education as equated to that of my generation. There of course exceptions, but in my opinion not many. This is one of the reasons for the decline in American productivity during the past 60 years. As for improving the living conditions and educating the populace of third world shit holes throughout the world; wasn’t that why the United Nations was supposedly formed. That august body turned out real well didn’t it. With all the corruption throghout the rest of the known world, we would be better off fixing our own problems and telling the rest of the world to go screw themselves. Foreign aid is money pissed down the drain when it comes to the third world. Exceptions would be Israel, Great Britain, Australia and Canada.
Excellent idea. Educating children as well as adults in the underdeveloped and poor countries across the globe will bring in the change and the world will be able to fight against various issues more effectively. Internet would be a great option to educate all these people as websites like Google can translate and transfer the knowledge in any language in the world.
I think it is high time we started taking nature and our planet earth seriously and do our bit about environment, sustainability, climate change, biodiversity, clean energy, green living and so on. One great place to start would be http://www.elpis.com. Elpis is an online community focused on responsible living and sustainable growth. You can measure, reduce and offset your carbon footprint; set up petitions, volunteering and fundraising projects for your favorite causes; help create action plans for sustainable communities; buy a range of eco friendly products and services; and network with other people who share a common interest in a low carbon, responsible lifestyle.
Minuteman, if you will read the post again, along with the previous post on the virtual classroom, you will notice that I never mentioned federal funding or input from our current education system. I also stressed that the current method of throwing money at Marxist dictators is a total waste and only serves to make the problem worse.
Most charitable donations are drained away at 95% for administration. That means when you send a hundred dollar bill to feed a starving child in Africa, only 5 dollars actually is used to feed the child. The rest is used to support the supporters in a lavish lifestyle.
I envision a very lean machine with relatively low operating costs, that is serviced by volunteers who represent the most successful individuals of the world, who cannot only donate dollars, but also their time to record their views in industry, business, science, electronics, mathematics, writing, and even art.
The children of the US who are not motivated to educate themselves, would be a drain on the system. This system is predicated upon an individual’s initiative and desire to succeed, it will not help the student who expects to be spoonfed and put in time to acquire a near worthless piece of paper.
This is an apolitical system that would only be taught in English with only proven scientific facts for material. Of course we expect teachers’ unions and petty dictators to argue the technique, but not the results.
There would be many groups that would want to hijack such a mission and use it to promote causes like Obama’s idea of World Socialism, there would need to be safeguards in place to insure that the format was similar to the education you and I had decades ago, an education devoid of political propaganda.
From The Lancet, 1917:
From The Lancet, 2017, of course.
Typos can’t be corrected. “You are posting comments too quickly. Slow down.”