When values aren't valuable

When we look at the development of, say, the United States (though just about any Western liberal democracy ... as some like characterize them ... would do), we realize that, once again, we're going through a period of real turmoil: income disparity is reaching critical proportions, the middle-class is being seriously squeezed, debt is rampant, crime rates are decreasing while overall violence is increasing, a lot of young people (worldwide) are expressing their dissatisfaction in the streets. As Dylan noted, "Something is happening, and you don't know what it is./Do you, Mr. Jones?"

It would seem that, once again, history is repeating itself. This isn't the first time that there's been a lot of societal turmoil related to wealth inequity (to put it in more formal terms). In fact, Perkin (The Third Revolution) maintains that every great civilization in the history of the world has collapsed when the wealth disparity became unbearable. No Diamond's-Guns-Germs-and-Steel, just simple too few haves, too many have-nots. This isn't an argument we can simply slough off. We need to take this one seriously.

I have tried to make clear that education cannot be the solution to our current dilemma. It's probably the root cause. The collusion of industry and education is not a good thing, because industry is over-represented by wealth. Over 80% of all stocks are held by the wealthiest 10% of Americans, for example. The wealthy elite send their kids to elite schools so that they retain their elite status. The vast, vast majority of schools and colleges are there to merely prepare drones for work in the wealthy's hive. So we buy into the myth that a college education is necessary, but college educations have become mass produced, and more than anything else, they have become so expensive that without a huge amount of debt, you can't even get one anymore. The average American (and increasingly worldwide) student owes so much money when s/he gets his or her sheepskin that they can't afford (literally) to say "no" to any employment that comes along. The more this is the case, the more wages are depressed (this is simple economics), the more difficult it is to pay it all back. In other words, you may be out of college, you may have a degree, but the bank still owns you, and the banks, just like the companies you will most likely end up working for, are owned by the same people who aren't all that interested in you having very much to say about anything.

So, am I saying that we should boycott education, that we shouldn't educate our young? No, not at all. What I'm saying is that we can no longer allow the current system of education to continue. What I'm saying is that we just can't continue schooling our children as we always have, we actually need to educate them, and this might just have to happen outside the current system.

Hmmm, I'm guessing that's too much for some of you.