It's summer. It has been, at least according to the calendar, for about a month now. By this time, even here in Germany where the summer breaks in the various Bundesländer are staggered so as not to unduly clog the highways when everyone heads south to catch some rays, just about everyone is on holiday (as they say here); that is vacation to those of you across the pond. Yes, I have written quite a bit about education lately, and I know it's time to stop. All of us know: when you don't have to think about school, you don't. I suppose not many of us now in the summer break want to think about it at all.
The powers-that-be (TPTB), however, take this particular opportunity to think about it a lot. That's why they are so successful. They do so much when the rest of us aren't looking that we always act surprised when we find out how badly we've been outwitted again. I read recently that in the US, efforts have been redoubled to institute voucher; that is, privatization programs; into a number of states in which they haven't taken hold yet.
You should know that I'm one of those long-extinct dodos who believes that an educated citizenry is a necessary component of a democratic society. Since we've turned our backs on schools and education, though, we've left them to the devices of those who only have one obsession: namely, getting all our money. All we're going to do is transfer some public funds into private pockets, we're going to call it market-based progress, and we're all just going to grab our ankles in the end. I guess it isn't welfare if you don't call it welfare, even if that is all it is. TPTB define what words mean. Reality can take a backseat.
As the old saying goes, "money talks", and so those who have it will simply tell the rest of us what we are supposed to think, how we are supposed to act, and what we are supposed to do. School vouchers are one small, but significant, ploy in the movement to simply get it all. All of you out there who think you've secured your finances, have figured out how to finance your golden years, and who think they might even have something to leave to their heirs ... if you aren't part of TPTB -- and if you're reading this, it's pretty safe to say that you aren't -- all I can say is dream on. They chip away at it every day. A lowered interest rate here, a smaller dividend there, a bit of inflation to spice up the mix, and when they finally do get around to raising taxes, which they will have to do eventually, you can bet it won't be on those who could afford it.
I wish the new were better, but it isn't. TPTB are not going to stop until they have it all. And, by the way, don't think for a moment that I'm talking about duly elected governments when I speak of TPTB ... not at all. Duly elected governments are merely the "face to the public" that legitimizes what is going on behind the scenes. This isn't a whacked-out, paranoid, conspiracy, rant. I'm just calling them as I see them.
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