Only two written stories today, both very important if you want to understand what is truly happening in this country, and more importantly why.
We reject conspiracy theories that sound stupid, and many citizens think our system of government, although flawed in parts, is fundamentally sound and tune out both of the subjects below, the concentration of wealth and our education system.
But the truth is we are past the tipping point - now some of us are waking up to what has really happened it's too late......the mass of people are [to put it nicely] unaware of anything except life is getting tougher, and their media feeds them distractions [abortion, gays, mexicans, welfare blacks] and skates over the unfairness of the system with endless distractions....
Where this is going to end up I don't know - noone does, but it's not healthy for our society....
The first story is from Vanity Fair about the wealthiest 1%, and the second from Truthdig on how our education system is being dismantled, and why. This one will shock you.
Joseph Stiglitz in Vanity Fair discusses how the power of the wealthy dominate our society.....this issue is only discussed in non-corporate media like NPR and intelligent magazines so when an article this good comes up you need to read it. It's well written, logical and opens your eyes.....
To tempt you to turn off the news for idiots and spend 10 minutes reading the full story, here are a few choice phrases.....
The more divided a society becomes in terms of wealth, the more reluctant the wealthy become to spend money on common needs.
........................
But one big part of the reason we have so much inequality is that the top 1 percent want it that way. The most obvious example involves tax policy.
.........................
Virtually all U.S. senators, and most of the representatives in the House, are members of the top 1 percent when they arrive, are kept in office by money from the top 1 percent, and know that if they serve the top 1 percent well they will be rewarded by the top 1 percent when they leave office.
..............................
There is, for one thing, a well-documented lifestyle effect—people outside the top 1 percent increasingly live beyond their means.
..............................
With the top 1 percent in charge, and paying no price, the notion of balance and restraint goes out the window. There is no limit to the adventures and wars we can undertake; corporations and contractors stand only to gain.
For our second story.......
Want to know the real reasons the oligarchs are going after the education system? They don't want workers that think - they want drones that obey. A challenging article, but I can't fault his logic - we see the consequences of his main points all around us...
My theory is this process stated in the 80's, when the oligarchs at that time were shocked by the civil disobedience of students protesting the Vietnam War, so the decision was taken at that exalted level to dumb down America.
It's worked, hasn't it. It's been a 30 year process, but the combination of endlessly evolving technology, media for idiots [Khardashians? Snooki?] and constantly hacking away at education has produced a generation of drones....
A nation that destroys its systems of education, degrades its public information, guts its public libraries and turns its airwaves into vehicles for cheap, mindless amusement becomes deaf, dumb and blind. It prizes test scores above critical thinking and literacy. It celebrates rote vocational training and the singular, amoral skill of making money. It churns out stunted human products, lacking the capacity and vocabulary to challenge the assumptions and structures of the corporate state. It funnels them into a caste system of drones and systems managers. It transforms a democratic state into a feudal system of corporate masters and serfs.
Teachers, their unions under attack, are becoming as replaceable as minimum-wage employees at Burger King. We spurn real teachers—those with the capacity to inspire children to think, those who help the young discover their gifts and potential—and replace them with instructors who teach to narrow, standardized tests. These instructors obey. They teach children to obey. And that is the point. The No Child Left Behind program, modeled on the “Texas Miracle,” is a fraud. It worked no better than our deregulated financial system. But when you shut out debate these dead ideas are self-perpetuating.
Tom Tomorrow on the campaign to make teachers villains....from an alien perspective.....very good.....
Talk about a surprise ending!!!!....1 minute video.....
The President speaks tonight on budget cuts going forward, and to prepare you for this you need some help from.....a comedian?
Rachael Maddow interviews Bill Maher, and a great conversation it is.....most interesting to have two intelligent people talking, with some funny lines but mostly serious....
She takes a break in the middle, just click on part #2 in the bar on the left....about 9 minutes......
Todays Floriduh Joke
After having dug to a depth of 10 feet last year, New York scientists found traces of copper wire dating back 100 years and came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network more than 100 years ago.
Not to be outdone by the New Yorkers, in the weeks that followed, a
California archaeologist dug to a depth of 20 feet and, shortly after, a
story in the LA Times read:
Not to be outdone by the New Yorkers, in the weeks that followed, a
California archaeologist dug to a depth of 20 feet and, shortly after, a
story in the LA Times read:
" California archaeologists, finding 200 year old copper wire, have concluded that their ancestors already had an advanced high-tech communications network a 100 years earlier than the New Yorkers'."
One week later a local newspaper in North Florida reported the following: "After digging as deep as 30 feet in his pasture near Alachua, Fl., Bubba, a self-taught archaeologist, reported that he found absolutely nothing. Bubba has therefore concluded that 300 years ago, Florida had already gone wireless."
Just makes a person proud to live in Florida.
One week later a local newspaper in North Florida reported the following: "After digging as deep as 30 feet in his pasture near Alachua, Fl., Bubba, a self-taught archaeologist, reported that he found absolutely nothing. Bubba has therefore concluded that 300 years ago, Florida had already gone wireless."
Just makes a person proud to live in Florida.
No comments:
Post a Comment