Education, the Economy, and the Role of Government - By, Bryan Hussein Johnson
I just spent about 6 hours over the last two days listening to an economist discuss US, European, and Asian economies. One thing she mentioned is how the US is venturing the same path as Greece but not in the way the GOP would like you to think. Anti-austerity sentiment is a problem BUT the larger problem is that Greeks haven't paid taxes! They have been very anti tax for a generation and that's been the country’s Achilles heel. Sound familiar? I’ve argued that the size, scope, and global economic power of the United States make it generally incomparable to Greece but it’s very disingenuous for Tea Party folks and other Conservative Republicans to feign concern over budgets without considering raising taxes in any way. So why do millions of people rally against raising taxes? The answer isn’t politics, it’s education.
Remember the old saying “knowledge is power”? We have long understood that a great way to control people is to deny them the rights to education. During American slavery, teaching slaves to read was illegal because state governments knew that educating slaves threatened the balance of power in the South. In my opinion, the biggest challenge to the US economy is that citizens don't understand how it works. The “dumbification” of the country often causes people to dismiss facts as conspiracies, abandon critical thought, and retreat to the political positions of their friends, family or people who look like them. Corporate funded media is no longer a reliable fact checker so the general US citizen believes political rhetoric no matter how inaccurate it is. Why do so many Republicans favor cutting funding to Education Programs? Is this issue more about control than value for fiscal responsibility?
If we are on the same path as Greece largely due to the ignorance of the masses, I wonder what role the government should play in educating its citizens. No one would argue that we disband the military, because the military helps to ensure the safety and future of US citizens. Yet we still have people who say the government should not be responsible for educating kids. I would argue that financial ruin of our country will threaten our safety and well being. Therefore, shouldn’t education be treated with the reverence of the military? We say that we have the greatest military on the face of the planet, why couldn’t we create the greatest public education system on Earth? I understand the State vs. Federal controlled education debate but given the fact that many Americans are tricked into voting against their best interests, the state run education system is obviously failing. Since one tactic will not solve every educational challenge, I think charter schools and voucher programs could all be employed in conjunction with traditional public schools. However, anyone who says the government shouldn’t be involved in education or that the whole system should be privatized are mistaken. If the ultimate role of government is to insure the long-term sustainability of the country, educating the population must be a top priority. Accepting an undereducated populous makes democracy ineffective and rests power in the hands of a select few.
When political leaders fail to fund education, I seriously questing their motives.