As a writer, I come across a lot of outrageous statements that are presented under the guise of fact. So yesterday, when I first saw this story, I refused to believe that anyone in this country could be so misinformed and misguided. But in light of the news today and a follow-up interview with Teri Adams, I have to admit she’s a dangerous person.
Most of the time I dismiss crackpots who are either far to the left or far to the right. I’m a middle of the road guy. But Teri takes the cake. You see, she want’s to do away with public education because it discriminates against wealthy children by subsidizing education for the inner city poor.
You read correctly. If you don’t believe me, read her position here. I wanted to see it in a real newspaper before I believed it myself. I have long thought that the goal of the wealthy in America was to dumb down the rest of the population so they would be mindless drones. I seem to be right.
After all, it worked beautifully in the Middle Ages, when the average peasant couldn’t read or write. As such, he had no access to information, except what the land holders and lords wanted him to know. Without knowledge, no one can better themselves and that seems to be the intent of the elite in this country.
We see it already on television. Endless reality shows that aren’t real in the least. Even the cooking shows where we watch anxiously as the clock counts down to one are rigged (they let everyone finish, then edit in the anxious clock moments). And don’t even get me started on FOX News or msnbc with their faux news that is dictated by the management.
I was one of those kids who went to a poor school. Our district was in a double levy failure. Where I come from that’s a huge part of funding. And the voters turned down funding requests back to back and the budget had been cut so far that we were in danger of losing our accreditation, which meant our diplomas would be worthless.
I wasn’t given an education. I earned one. I came from a family that was involved in my education and my mother wanted me to have a better life. That meant an education. I wasn’t even allowed to have a part-time after school job because my mom wanted me to focus on my education and not have distraction.
I am one of the very people Teri wants to get rid of. Here’s her twisted view. This is in her own words:
“Our ultimate goal is to shut down public schools and have private schools only, eventually returning responsibility for payment to parents and private charities. It’s going to happen piecemeal and not overnight. It took us years to get into this mess and it’s going to take years to get out of it.”
The last time I looked, the rich can go to private schools if they wish. They don’t have to go to public schools, so how in the hell is our education system holding them back?
I’m not saying that public schools are the be-all, do-all right now. But how many of your parents could have shouldered the entire cost of you going to school? The average cost today is between $12,000 and $14,000 per student. If you have one kid, it may be doable. But keep multiplying it out by the number of children you have and you’ll see how quickly it becomes unaffordable.
The very foundation of our society is equality. At least it used to be. But more and more we see that being lost. We have a very stratified populice right now, which I break down as follows: The Haves and the Have Nots.
As a Have Not, I don’t want to stick it to the Haves. I still aspire to be a Have. That’s what makes America great. It’s the belief that anyone in this country — even someone from an inner-city school — can become whatever they want to be. It is a basic freedom and more important, a basic right.
But you can’t expect a child to get to first base, let alone home, when he’s at bat and has two strikes on him before he even takes his first swing.
I understand that the Haves all want us Have Nots to just shut up and be happy with what they dole out to us. But that’s not what this country is about. And there’s a lot more Have Nots than there are Haves. Why we just sit back and let the Teri Adams of the world hang us out to dry is beyond me.
I don’t even think I’d have a problem if these whackos had some accountability. But if you go to their website, you’ll see that there is no contact information, no About Us section, nothing. They don’t want input, they just want to preach. And I know there are other groups on the left who do this too, so don’t bother writing me that I’m one sided. I am. I side with what is good in America, and to hell with these special interest groups who meet in darkened rooms and plot the ruin of our country.
I understand well the meaning of democracy. And more and more we seem to be moving away from it. Teri Adams is a symptom of a larger problem in our country. And that’s malaise. We just throw up our hands and think these people and their agendas will just go away. They won’t.
As we all know the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Right now, these whackos are the squeaky wheel. It’s the Terry Jones’ and his Koran burning neophytes and it’s the Teri Adams’ with their secret societies.
It’s time for the majority to be the squeaky ones. We need to be louder and more vocal about what we want for America. This is still a democracy and the majority still rules. Let’s not let any minority interest take our country away from us, and that goes for Tea Partiers, Glenn Beck, Teri Adams, and any other person or organization who wants to sell us their snake oil.
No, this wasn’t meant to be funny. There’s nothing funny about others usurping our freedoms and rights, is there?
Out on the Treasure Coast, figuring out which rascals I’m going to throw out next election time (hint: every single one of them),
– Robb