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I will not be convinced that the economy is in such terrible shape until I turn on an NFL/NBA/NHL game on TV and see the stands empty.
I believe that technology will eventually destroy us. Perhaps not by a world ending explosion or man made catastrophe but rather, by destroying our initiative, drive, and ability to think on our own.
I don't have much faith in the American public education system.
I believe we have not had a world class public education system in this country for a long time.
I believe the main cause of decline in America is the erosion of the family.
I feel that political correctness is helping to ruin our country.
I am angry that lobbyists are controlling our government and that many politicians are corrupt to some extent.
I feel like I'm participating in a country that is in decline and is willing to look the other way while it is happening.
I'm not happy with myself for being this negative but, it's hard not to be when you are paying attention.
I miss the days of blissful ignorance!
There are many beliefs that have come and gone in my life. Going back to my youth I can recall having an active imagination. You remember imagination, it existed before the so called, advancements in technology, before the internet, the laptop, the Netbook or the iPad. It was even before cell phones, laser surgery, or satellite TV. It was a time when you could take a large card board box and turn it into a fort, when you had to figure out ways to make your own fun, to keep yourself busy and actually "think," on your feet.
There was the myth of Santa Claus, the Tooth-Fairy, and The Easter Bunny. I can't tell you how many hours of my life were put into waiting for the Tooth-Fairy to put that quarter under my pillow or, heaven forbid, A DOLLAR. Or the Easter Bunny who would hide that basket of chocolate somewhere in the house and the time I would spend running around trying to find it. Best of all the myth of Santa Claus. Starting at the beginning of the month, counting down the days, hoping against hope to get than new toy I would so desperately want each year.
Eventually (though sadly), I came to realize that there was no Santa, or Tooth Fairy and that that basket of goodies I received every Easter Sunday, was strategically placed by my mother and not some overgrown Bunny.
Lately, in my later years I've come to the realization of the falseness of another long held myth. I am speaking of the myth that public schools are actually teaching and educating their students. More often than not the student is learning despite the idiocy of the system. Smart kids are going to learn regardless. The downgrading of education began decades ago when the liberals pushed their way into education and began to erode the morals of the nation, while simultaneously destroying the family. Today, the decline still continues. Real learning and teaching has been replaced by standardized testing and the resultant, "teaching to the test" which has become a debilitating side effect. As student are taught the test, they become good only at taking the test and not in actual learning. Add this to the decay at home and you have a recipe for failure.
One of the better articles I've read lately regarding the failure of inner city (or for that matter all) public education in this country by the great Walter Williams. This guy makes a ton of sense and it doesn't hurt his credibility that Sharpton and Jackson etc. don't like him. He is able to say what many of us know to be true but, for the risk of being called, "racists," can't say. Of course he is referred to by many other blacks as an Uncle Tom so, you know he is on to something. Too bad more folks in the black community don't take heed of what he says. He is one columnist I read at every opportunity. He has a lot more to say about a lot of things.
Over the past 25 years or so a great many changes have taken place in America's Public Schools and many of those changes are not for the better. U.S. students are falling further and further behind their counterparts around the world in almost every subject.
The sad thing in looking at this mess (beside the fact that it is happening) is how much time Americans spend in talking about why the problem is happening and in scratching their heads in trying to explain it. It's as if people expect there to be some sort of deep and profound reasons for the failures of the American Education System, when in reality, the reasons are rather simple and in fact obvious. Sometimes I think part of the denial process includes this desire to find some complicated and complex reasons for what is going on, instead of just opening one's eyes wide enough to see the truth before us. I have a few thoughts on what these obvious and commonsense reasons are and will discuss them below in no particular order.
First, the eroding of discipline in schools and in society in general. We have created a system where people are not responsible for their actions. Many times student misbehavior, instead of being punished, is treated by coddling the student or by trying to constantly rewarding them or in a worst case scenario like "time out." In many cases a constantly misbehaving student is given the designation of "special needs'" student. Once given this designation is nearly impossible to rescind and immediately covers the student with a blanket of protection, known as "The American with Disabilities Act," which makes them nearly impossible to discipline effectively. For example a Special Education student can only be suspended a total of ten days in any given school year, regardless of how many incidents the student may have. In some cases no behavior short of murder can be punished effectively, if it can be shown that the misbehavior is related to the students disability. They are in essence, "bullet proof."
Secondly, the general laziness and lack of caring by many students goes a long way in explaining why so many are failing and are content with being average, doing the minimum or just plain happy to be stupid. When you train kids that somebody will always bail them out of a jam or that the learning they are supposed to be doing is not important, or that the government will provide for them, you are sowing the seeds of failure. Somehow over the past 25 years it has become less important to study and learn. This is ingrained in students today in many ways in what they see and hear at home and on TV and out in society. Don't worry about failing the math class, or that science class, you'll never need that stuff anyway. All you have to do is have a couple of kids, and the government will send you the check then, maybe have a few more and get even more money. We have slowly and methodically ingrained this mentality into many of our youth and the results are devastating to our nation. We have a generation that only cares about having a good time and not worrying about being responsible.
Thirdly, the destruction of the family. This is really a big one as so many kids are living in single parent homes with no father figure or positive role models. Without the pressure to succeed that a strong family usually provides, so many students are just floating aimlessly about without any focus or direction. Many kids have lost that mentality that made us want to be better than our parents. The goal was to get a better education so you could achieve success beyond what your parents had. Now that is slowly going away
Fourth, drugs and all the problems they cause in terms of addiction, crime and the rise of gangs are having a most dramatic effect of the poor outcomes in many U.S. schools. The thug culture of life on the streets and the buying and selling of drugs is very destructive and makes our situation dire.
Another factor is the schools over reliance on test scores at the expense of actual education. Districts are forcing kids to learn how to take and pass specific state tests with less focus on getting an all encompassing education. Basic subjects are sacrificed in order to focus attention on subjects that are on the tests.
We need to face these and numerous other sad truths if we are to understand why America's schools are failing so miserably. This appears to be an un-fixable problem. Our society is sliding ever more rapidly down the rabbit hole with no end in sight.
