02-02-2021
A civilization does not crumble for just one reason. But the multiple fractures that travel like waves of water often point back to a smaller number of causes. Likewise, a band-aid will not heal a broken arm. Our problems are not superficial, rather they are fundamental.
The educational system we currently have in place has been an utter failure. That fracture permeates almost every other systemic breakdown we are witnessing. And why has it failed? I submit two reasons: centralization and powerful unions. Lo but could I follow my tax dollars to see which ones land to buy a book that a student reads. And how well is the book written? By whom?
Milton Friedman speculated that the further away the decision making became from the object, the worse the decisions would become; and obviously, the less control we the people would have. Who decides a curriculum and on what grounds? Why do we need the federal government’s help to educate our children? For that matter, why is the state involved? Kids live in communities, not states.
I did a thought experiment based on my property taxes. I assumed a benevolent community would chip in through free labor and donation to procure a building and build a modest sized school. The community would maintain it just as though it were a street, a part of the infrastructure. Then I did the math to pay the teachers. For every 500 homes I can fully educate 360 kids K-12 in classes of 30 kids each. The teachers get healthcare and retirement funds, but they work through the summer just like the rest of us. Their salaries range from 60-90K and there is room for improvements to this based on performance. I did it quickly and I understand there are many variables; but my point is that 500 homes is not very many, and within a small population there are plenty of people who are qualified to serve as supervisors. I also assume – because I have witnessed it – grass roots organizations attract local talent in the form of volunteers. I am certain that professionals – doctors, lawyers, business people (maybe allow 1 teacher) would apply to help decide curriculum and make hiring choices.
Now my thought experiment relies on teachers who are resourceful, dedicated, and self motivated. It depends upon initiative. The supervising board must fire lazy people quickly and promote thoughtful people to leadership positions that carry some authority. My hierarchy would take 5 years to establish, give or take; and I guarantee you that parents would be waiting in line to enroll their kids. But I believe there are a few examples of something similar already in existence. In fact, my experiment is basically how schools got started in the first place. The reason we don’t have more charter schools and private schools is because we the people pay exorbitant taxes to maintain “public” failures. But it is not public that has failed. It is government interference and union power plays.
The simple answer is less government and deregulation. Abolish the Department of Education. It is useless. Cut the tentacles that the State government has to schools. Allow the parents in the community to organize and develop their own youth. Return freedom of choice. Create competition. Teach people how to think, not what to think! In the final analysis, it is the parents who are responsible to educate their children. They should not be cornered into handing a young mind over to the care of a bureaucracy.
Today we are inundated by the same old thinking. There is power in numbers. Ah ha! One true statement and off we go. Build bigger. Have the government do it. But what about the law of diminishing returns? They don’t teach that, do they? Every organization has a natural limit of efficiency, from a tire shop to a space agency, including civilizations. And once that organization has grown beyond its natural limit, stricter authority is the only way to keep it together. Otherwise, it unravels.
Everywhere, we see private sector corporations puffed up, vying for monopoly, we see government departments overgrown, we see one hospital swallowing another, every known entity seeking more power, more size, more members. And all of this is collapsing as they panic to find the tyrannical control necessary to avoid the inevitable. Follow the money. Billionaires increased their wealth in 2020 a whopping 40%. Can you say the same? Does money equate to power?
Our second president, John Adams’ greatest fear was that “republican governments had always been threatened by elite domination and that America would be no different.”
Our leaders (oligarchy and bureaucracy) have abandoned the individual in favor of the group. That is why and how they are stripping you of your freedom. That is how they justify a double standard.
Collectivism is only one component to this whole idea of globalism. We are supposed to be one big happy planet. Nothing is less realistic. In every case throughout history, the size of the empire added to its failings. I coined a phrase years ago I call the “Law of Proximity”. It is merely a phrase to infer the need for boundaries and how true power is related to distance. Local authorities are more responsive to the people because they are closer to one other. They are in proximity to each other. A dictator is removed from his subjects – sometimes behind fences and soldiers.
The internet has changed our concept of “distance”. Centralization has destroyed efficiency. It does not matter how much money they print. What actually matters is what goods and services can be produced per individual and how those resources are distributed. We will soon be producing less and constricting the flow of goods more. Again – less freedom.
Remember, the government produces nothing.
If the government were to shrink, and those dollars paid out to productivity, then the increase in competition would lower prices and make availability greater. Free markets do this naturally. Of course we do need some government oversight. We need to avoid monopolies. We need a level field when trading with foreign countries. We need courts to enforce laws to insure honest advertising and punish fraud. If everyone was treated equally under the law, why would we need lobbyists at all?
These are principles that our constitution advocates as it outlines a limited federal government and the rights of individuals. We must return to a focus on individual rights lest we lose them all in the collective! We must return authority to local governments. You see, a focus on individual rights allows a government to shrink and remain smaller. But a focus on groups and collectives insures a growing, monstrous government. It’s baked in.
This universe is driven by (apparently) conflicting principles that are in many cases counter intuitive, in order to achieve balance within a given boundary. As we observe it, we find humanity in a constant state of irony.
Here’s a link to the 1776 report. Your government canceled it.
https://info.hillsdale.edu/1776-commission
And in the news: U-tube has demonetized The Epoch Times. Maybe the Times is over the target ?