More on Education

 MORE ON EDUCATION

I continue to monitor the tweets (now X's), the letters, and public pronouncements of our elected officials:  an activity in which we should all participate.  What is clear, and simply can not be disputed, is that our educational system in this State has succeeded beyond our elected representatives' wildest dreams.  We have a public that doesn't know anything.

Now, I have not taken a poll or sent out a questionnaire so I am always willing to analyze my own statements for accuracy, but it seems to me, as George Carlin would say, that the American public really doesn't know anything and doesn't care to know anything.  This, of course, resides in the premise that our governor, representatives, and senators are correct.  They publish statements that simply have no meaning with the intent of creating hostility toward one group and love toward another with the presumption that this will maintain their grip on power, i. e., be re-elected.

You may ask, what does this have to do with our schools?  Well - - everything!  We apparently have a public that will read some nonsense espoused by one of our elected officials and react to it in the manner that is intended by the person or group producing it without the slightest thought given.  For instance, our Senator Joni Ernst, might as well publicly announce that Biden is responsible for the cost of the dozen eggs you just purchased at Fareway or Hy-Vee or Walmart.  She as much as says this continually and with great fervor.  One can only conclude that she and her staff truly believe that the people reading these pronouncements believe them and therefore will not vote for Joe Biden next time around and instead, will vote for whomever is listed as a candidate on the same ticket as them, because, after all, Joe is responsible for the price of eggs that I eat for my breakfast.  This is such incredible nonsense that it is difficult to understand how people can subscribe to it.  But they do!

The underlying premise, of course, is that the people these statements are intended for  can barely read, will believe anything they are told if by the correct person, or are simply befuddled with doubt.  This premise is based on the additional assumption that the people, the public, for which these statements are intended are totally uneducated.  Which, in turn, means that our schools have successfully produced a public without any sense of reality nor the ability to give thought to anything other than where their next dollar is coming from and will their favorite sports team win their next game.

It is all very depressing; that we as a people can make decisions that affect us all without the least thought,  And, frankly, I see no solution.  If our schools succeed in continuing to produce what they are currently producing, I don't see much of a future for the people who come after us.  The world is changing, as always, and we are not prepared.

Richard E H Phelps II

Mingo