A very dear friend hails from Madison. Both her sister and brother-in-law still live in the Madison suburbs and work for the state. Both belong to the union and both have joined the protests.

One of her brothers also lives in suburban Madison. He was visiting her at her apartment in Brooklyn. “That Scott Walker [Governor of Wisconsin] is a scumbag,” he said to me with an expectation of agreement. Your editor stared blankly.

“He wants these people living at slave wages,” the brother continued. “To show you what kind of jerk he is: He also wants to cut a state insurance program for young mothers. Those people are just going to keep having babies anyway, so you got to help them.”

“I know how you probably feel about those protesters,” my dear friend admitted later. “But these state employees really are people who really ought to be paid well. They do important work.”

They would get paid properly according to their skill level and the market demand for their work, I thought. I began to say it, but then changed the topic.

“February is the worst month,” I said instead. “A few nice days that are like spring, alternated with days of vicious cold or absurd amounts of snow. And just when we’ve all had enough of winter.

“It’s like courting a beautiful but cruel woman…the kind who shows just enough favors to make it hurt when she hides them.”

Your editor had to hush up on the subject of Wisconsin, unions and markets for the sake of peace. He’s under no such restrictions here.

Robert Wenzel over at Economic Policy Journal says this about protest from Cairo to Madison:

When you hear talk that education and healthcare need to be returned to the free markets and that charity should be conducted by private sector charity organizations, you will know that the battle is for liberty. Right now, the battle is for who gets to control the shrinking, because of the recession, plunder.

There’s no way I can cheer for a bunch of government workers protesting against some of their perks being taken away. I’d like to see their jobs ended. But I can’t cheer on a Governor who doesn’t show the slightest clue that he understands that public education makes education a bureaucratic monstrosity that turns curious by nature children into bored stiffs (some of whom end up being treated for something called ADD, when the real disease that they have is GCE — government controlled education).

But, of course, current upheaval in the world is not now limited to Wisconsin.

The world is exploding with protests, riots and in some cases revolutions. Behind this disruption of the status quo is the reaction against government attempts to force people against the natural order. In Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, and the like, it is pure revolt against totalitarian control. In Greece, Ireland and Wisconsin it is protests against the fact that governments can’t do the impossible, i.e. pay out more plunder than they take in (in one form or another). In Greece, Ireland and Wisconsin, the protesters clearly want the impossible. They want the plunder that isn’t there.

But at the core, the fundamental problem with all these upheavals is there is no indication that the people in any of these situations understand what makes for a growing prosperous society. In Greece, Ireland and Wisconsin, the protesters are clearly self-centered, who have no clue that they would live in a much better society if the governments simply ended their positions and stopped taxing the people. This would result in the people hiring the government employees in the private sector, where the incentives would result in a growing society.

Linda Schrock Taylor is a retired special education teacher and outspoken constitutionalist. She pulls no punches when she writes:

Intelligence…I mean a lack of intelligence…plays a very large role in unions and demonstrations. How else can uneducated, ineffective, unread teachers remain employed in a nation of crashing standards? Unions fight accountability. Most individuals choosing “teaching” as a career in this modern era – of non-readers; poorly educated; non-thinking; illogical high school graduates – have SAT scores that rank third (3rd!) from the bottom of the list of professions. Public school administrators score second (2nd) from the bottom. Try to sleep at night with those figures – and the consequences of them – rushing around in your head.

What is to be done? The question is on the mind of every rational, thinking, want-the-best-for-children individual. As far as I am concerned, we need to close all departments of education; withdraw all public financing; and let the public school system collapse. We need not fear such a process anymore than we fear tearing down a dangerous building in order to replace it with a safer and more efficient one. Americans, functioning within their communites are very resourceful and will devise better and more affordable ways to educate the local children. Education only becomes so complex and problematic when it is turned over to bureaucracies and politicians. Cut them out of the picture. Ignore them if they take to the streets to tantrum. There are other choices we can make. Furthermore, we should make them as soon as possible.

Please keep in mind that we’re not making the state government the heroes here. But we can’t help but nod approvingly when Wisconsin’s governor admits that government can’t afford to keep things going the way they have been.

The burden is on the taxpayer. The public carries the cost of government employees. They’ve always been told that it’s worth it. But if it were worth it, then there would be no need for protests. There’d be no need for what Taylor describes as tantrum throwing.

But those controlling the purse strings still don’t want to turn that purse over to the market. They still want their near monopoly on market goods like education.

Meanwhile the taxpayer is held hostage. They’re getting goods of lower quality and paying top dollar for it. And they’re told that there is no other way. The same economic laws that brings computers and cell phones to science fiction heights of wonder for lower and lower prices are suspended when it comes to education…or so we are led to believe.

The governments may be fighting their unionized employees a lot more because subsidizing monopoly and questionable quality is becoming increasingly unaffordable. Only the federal government can monetize their debts and kick the can a little further down the road with inflation. State and local governments can only watch helplessly as expenses climb higher than revenues year after year.

The pay, benefits and promises to public employees are proving unsustainable. Should we be worried? Would it really be so bad to see the guarantees of government employment no longer guaranteed? Can we have the market take a crack at providing more of the things are tax dollars have come to pay for?

“People don’t want choice,” my good friend claimed. “They want certain things simply to be taken care of.” Some people may indeed feel this way, but some people also feel it’s a good idea to turn control of the money supply over to a central governing body. Some people feeling that way doesn’t make it so.

Regards,
Gary Gibson
Managing Editor, Whiskey & Gunpowder

February 23, 2011

Madison Protests Show State Monopolies Are Unaffordable was originally featured on Whiskey and Gunpowder. Visit Laissez Faire Books for the best selection of libertarian book titles.

In each of the books I’ve written, I’ve taken great care to acknowledge my beautiful and brilliant little girl, Dakota. I often noted that Dakota and her parents were aiming for her acceptance at either Harvard or Stanford and would accept nothing less. The easy part is aiming for gold. The hard part is achieving it. “Homeschool to Harvard” is a story about turning dreams into reality.

Dakota has been home-schooled since birth. While other kids spent their school days being indoctrinated to believe competition and winning are unimportant, and that others are to blame for their shortcomings and failures, Dakota was learning the value of work ethic, discipline, sacrifice and personal responsibility. While other kids were becoming experts at partying, Dakota and her dad debated current events at the dinner table. While other kids shopped and gossiped, Dakota was devouring books on science, math, history, literature, politics and business. I often traveled to business events and political speeches with my home-schooled daughter in tow. While other kids came home to empty homes, Dakota’s mom, dad, or both were there every day to share meals and a bedtime kiss and prayer. Despite a crazy schedule of business and politics, I’m proud to report that I’ve missed very few bedtime kisses with my four home-schooled kids.

While others were out learning to drive so they could attend more parties, or experimenting with alcohol and drugs, Dakota was practicing the sport she loves with dedication, intensity and passion- fencing. The result? She became one of the elite junior fencers in America- winning the Pacific Coast Championship and representing the United States at World Cup events in Germany and Austria.

Was all the discipline and sacrifice worth it? A few days ago, Dakota Root achieved her lifelong dream. She was accepted at both Harvard and Stanford. She was also accepted at Columbia, Penn, Brown, Duke, Chicago, Cal-Berkeley, USC and several more of the elite schools in America, an unheard of record for a home-school kid. She actually had the confidence to turn down an offer from the Yale fencing coach before she had gotten her other acceptances. The kid turned down Yale!

Here is the most amazing part of the story: The first classroom of Dakota’s life will be inside the hallowed halls of Harvard. This fall she will fence for the Harvard team- one of America’s best. Only an elite 1% (30,000) of the best of the best high school seniors dared apply to Harvard. Virtually every one was #1 in their class, or a world-class scholar/athlete, or had perfect S.A.T. scores. Out of 3 million high school seniors headed to college, and those 30,000 applicants, only 1500 or so will attend Harvard. That is the lowest acceptance rate in college history. To be accepted at one or two Ivy League colleges is rare- to all, an almost impossible feat!

At a time of educational free-fall, it is a remarkable story. With America’s public school system ranked at or near the bottom of the industrialized world (and Nevada near the bottom of that), with record dropout rates, grade inflation, violence, gangs, drugs, teen pregnancies, and the scandal of graduating high school seniors requiring remedial math and reading before starting at college, Dakota’s story offers hope. Dakota proves the American Dream is alive, if only we’d stop depending on government to save us.

There is no one answer for education. Our choice of homeschooling melded parental education with tutoring by hand-picked retired teachers and college professors, combined with a personally-chosen curriculum. It’s called parental freedom: the power to decide how to best educate children belongs with the parents, not teachers unions. School choice, encouraging competition for our failing public school system, and offering vouchers on the state level to give parents the power (and money) to choose among charter schools, private schools, parochial schools or home-schooling is the way to force public schools to improve. Competition works. If it’s good enough for Coke and Pepsi, why not public schools?

The sad reality is that teachers unions and government aren’t the solution – they are the problem. Our public schools get worse every year, yet teachers unions demand more and more money. They get their money, it gets worse yet, and they demand even MORE. That is the definition of insanity. This is “Groundhog Day.” It isn’t working- and hasn’t since the day that government took over education in this country.

Dakota Root proves it doesn’t take a state certified teacher, or a teachers union, or a village to raise a child- it only takes two loving parents who give a damn. One home-schooled girl has driven a stake through the heart of the public school education sham. “Homeschool to Harvard” is a powerful story that every parent should be allowed to offer their children.

Regards,
Wayne Allyn Root
Whiskey & Gunpowder

May 5, 2010

Homeschool to Harvard was originally featured on Whiskey and Gunpowder. Visit Laissez Faire Books for the best selection of libertarian book titles.

Someone wrote in arguing that countries like China, India and Japan ought not to be used for role models in reforming America’s education system. The point is that the styles used in those nations focus on rote learning, and there’s also a very high-average standard.

Someone else wrote in lamenting the lack of self-control most public students have when they’re in the classroom…and the parents who endorse such behavior. This readers point was that, if students would be quiet, sit still and listen to their teachers (and if parents would enforce discipline at home), our country wouldn’t be facing the education deficit it is now.

And yet, another reader chimed in with the belief that all of the above suggestions, plus mine from my article, should be combined together to solve the problem.

So Here’s Where We Start

As I mentioned in my previous article, the United States has a long way to go in order to catch up with the educational standards of countries such as China, India and Japan. These three nations and others consistently rank ahead of our in terms of student tests results and overall readiness for working in the “real world” upon graduating high school. One of the things most Asian countries such as these are well known for is what’s known as “rote learning.” For those who don’t know, rote learning makes students learn various facts, figures, etc. through rapid repetition. The idea is to get Johnny and Janey Q. American, Jr. to memorize and memorize more…as some critics would point out, at the expense of understanding.

If all rote learning involves is rapid, intense memorization, then why teach our children that way? Some of you might be asking, “Why do we even want to be like China anyway?” The answer is this: Frankly, we can’t get much worse than what we are now! It’s sad to think, whenever I flick on the ion bombardment tube at home (otherwise known as a television) and I see these so-called “reality” game shows, the lack of common knowledge so many of these contestants have. It shames me to think how many of my fellow countrymen don’t know that George Washington is the first president of the United States, or what the Pythagorean Theorem is, or that the human heart is a muscle, or that the sun is a star.

It’s time we get back to the basics, so to speak, and get our students to actually have some kind of working knowledge of these and other facts and figures. And it’s also time we get Little Johnny and Janey American, Jr. some kind of appreciation for their natural sense of creativity…the kind of creativity which has allowed American ingenuity to lead the world for so long.

Package the Lessons, Not the Students

So with all that said, I’d like to take a few moments to expand on the American Renaissance. Or, at least the points I made about it in the last article. I stand by my points that we need a greater appreciation of the fine arts in American public education. There’s certainly not enough of it taught, and certainly no attempt to correlate it to math, science, history, etc.

On top of limited instruction of the visual and performing arts, one of the biggest problems with our education system is how our students are just moved through grades 1-12 as if they were manufactured goods in a factory. Little Johnny and Janey go through inspections at the end of each grade and receive either a “pass” or “fail” grade. If they receive the latter, they’re usually sent back to repeat that grade…or, sometimes, they factory just ships them out to the department stores of life, just hoping someone will buy them and overlook the students’ defaults. Most of the time, these shortcomings are not the factory workers’ (i.e., teachers) faults, but rather a broken down factory process that simply wouldn’t allow for some personal attention to make the final product better.

If you want a good product, you have to give it some individual attention. It requires catering to that products individual needs…perhaps taking some extra time with it…and even changing the process in the factory if enough manufactured products keeps coming out unprepared for the marketplace. Likewise, our education system’s negligence (sparked by Uncle Sam’s ineptitude) has pushed through many, many fine students who are not ready to compete in the global marketplace. Johnny and Janey American need an education that’ll tailor not only to their specific needs, but also their personal interests. And that’s how we can make the Renaissance practical…

No Place Like Home

I’ll concede my plans for the Renaissance are best utilized in a system where the students accept responsibility — and the parents enforce it. In any society, the schooling is only as good as the parents and guardians who get involved in their children’s education. I say, shame on the parents who don’t care about their kids’ futures. And some people might make the argument that parents can provide extracurricular activities in the fine arts if they wish to do so. But then again, they could also just shove Johnny and Janey American Jr. into some math camp, too.

My point is this: A lot of parents out there really do try hard to teach their kids right and wrong. Some are more successful at it than others. There are some kids out there that just flat out don’t want to learn, no matter how tough their parents are about getting an education, and these kids will just act up. And let’s be brutally honest about our media… They only report on the bad things — the sensational stories, the ones that drive up ratings and get people talking. The stories about Little Johnny becoming an Eagle Scout and Little Janey winning first place in the local science fair contest aren’t gonna cut it. But I digress…

So the American Renaissance is all about improving education in more areas than just one. An awakening to the visual and performing arts will be the central theme of it all, no question. This revival can only come with reforming our education system so that students can see just how different lessons in the academic subjects relate to their own lives…and inspire them to grow. It requires discipline on both the childrens’ and parents’ parts—and for Uncle Sam to just stop overburdening teachers with having to teach to ridiculous standards. But the Renaissance can be achieved. And so can Johnny and Janey American Jr.’s success.

Sincerely,
Adam Hopkins

April 22, 2009

A New Kind of Rote Learning was originally featured on Whiskey and Gunpowder. Visit Laissez Faire Books for the best selection of libertarian book titles.