It is difficult for me to write a review of this book without stepping onto my soapbox about the public school system and identifying how it is indeed the vector for teen pregnancy, violence, ignorance, gang activity, social disorder, materialism, drug use, divorce rate and familial dissolution. Churches, schools, politicians, parents and corporations have tried/continue to try many different programs to intervene with the vertical, and epic, ascension of the above odious trends in society, but nothing seems to mitigate the infection. It does not take acuity to expose the fact that public school has been the one constant in society (for nearly two centuries) without the prescription for ablation. At this revelation I would move that we obviate the system altogether, whether that be private or public, and return the children to the best place for their moral, intellectual and familial integrity-HOME. Public school is a manufacturing plant that utilizes stamps and dies for the product of education, and homeschool is the handcrafted, intricate, personal and articulate design for a better product. While any form of education will have its set backs and defects the public school's defects are preponderant, ubiquitous, consistent, commensurable and malignant to society due to its "die and press" approach to education. The truth is that there are those who "need" the system so at least give it back to the people to control through a free-market enterprise. Can you imagine a society that has NO government owned and operated schools? What about the same society, but with "public" schools that are privately owned? Is that coin really a paradox? Sheldon Richman takes a sojourn upon a subject that I had never actually thought of, a FREE-MARKET SCHOOL SYSTEM. Interestingly enough, free-market and capitalism is the underlying principle of this nation and it is obvious that impediments and barriers prevent the emergence of more inexpensive private endeavors.
Richman gives the reader an opportunity to review the studious erection of the government controlled schools from another perspective of history. Within the realm of reality the truth only emerges from these Infowars(.com) that we have in society, and we find ourselves only receiving the arbitrary truth. With that in mind it is imperative that we have investigative reporters on our side for a change. Richman creates a vista of the colonies, with accredited sources, wherein the school systems were marveled by scholars, effective and available to a wide range of social disparities; but, the schools were privatized! He also elicits with validated sources a statistical review of the interest in reading during the colonial days compared to today`s society by per capita and book sales. This may not have much pertinence to some people, because he only referred to the sale of four different books, but the sales where exponential in comparison to today. But, for me it is explicitly obvious that an intelligent and informed society is a society that has the cerebral fortitude to interject where it is not considered affable for them to do so (i.e., politics).
Some other salutary points that stuck with me were:
Have you have ever read the harbinger named 1984? It said that the children will be raised by public institutions and will be trained to monitor their parents. This indeed could be severely debated, but I can see where this is being either studiously or inadvertently manifested now. Further elaboration is not necessary, for I need not convincing.
One topic that elicits an exponential level of exacerbation for me is the Therapeutic State. It seems to me that the pharmaceutical corporations and their sentinels, The "Experts" (i.e., physiologists, medical doctors, etc.), have a close viral affinity with the public school system. ADD and ADHD is promulgated and diagnosed by our public schools, with that diagnosis they refer you to a specialist that informs you that your child indeed needs to be pharmaceutically induced. Is there any wonder why the diagnosis of ADD or ADHD has increased severely over the past ten years? It is less tolerance, so the proclivity of ascension is inevitable. The avenues of opportunity is multifarious for pharmaceutical sales in the public school system with new, nearly annual, "disorders" that are identified, and thus marketing ensues the general population by the nefarious public schools. A perfect example is the novel manifestation of Oppositional Defiant Disorder, or ODD-do they have to be so blatant now?! This new disorder is obviously an avenue to stifle all political dissent and any unorthodox style of thought-so say au revoir to the free thinkers of our society. If a child fidgets in a desk, where they are expected to sit for 5 to 6 hours a day, or if they are just not interested in the subject at hand and makes poorly on a subsequent test the answer to that quandary is to place them in a trance. I have to laugh, but it is indeed simultaneously odious, because to hear the psychologist of today stating that they have figured out the "early" signs for ADD and ADHD so they can intervene before it becomes a problem. I personally do not believe that these disorders exist and it is obvious through research that there are psychologist that disagree with those diagnoses. I deride at those that say, "Well I have a child that is ADHD," or, "I am ADD," because they are a product of manipulation. This is not the primary reason why I disagree with ADD and ADHD, but nonetheless a perfect example: I home school my son, he is 4, and while we are learning he is jumping all over the couch and turning flips while I am teaching him. At first it frustrated me, because I had that general public school mentality that this was unacceptable (which there, I guess it would have to be to sustain order), the more I tried to obviate that behavior the less he learned. I realized that if I liberated him and allowed him do those things the more he learned. So I would just recommend trying homeschool (if you can) before you concede and enroll them in the pharmaceuticopia.
The existence of public school itself is a core of the socialist philosophy. What ultimately happens is the intelligent children are dumbed down and the ignorant children are brought up slightly to neutralize intellect and have average citizens of "equal" intellect-so much for Capitalism!
Society as a mass has become so tolerant and dependant upon what the Fed can do for them that they have indeed forgot their ability to be independent and do for themselves. Freedom's definition is an aberration, community is lost, state government and other municipal bodies are nearly emasculated, our Federal government has become a fusion between Fascism and Communism, family is dissolved, crime is a pandemic, ignorance is a pestilence and people like me are the ones that are labeled as intellectually destitute or completely inane because we have principles adhering to the true CONSERVATVE roots and we actually have the audacity to ask critical questions. Sometimes I lament, because I fear that one day I will forget to remember.
One of the only true disagreements I have with the book is that on page 24 he accuses the public schools of teaching "pagan style worship of Mother Nature." This irritates me, I am not a Christian, but I have a very ornate spirituality comprised of many different philosophies from a diversity of spiritual paths, one being Paganism. I personally agree with our children's awareness being calibrated back to understand that Gaia does exist and the Earth is a living breathing organism. Our relationship to her should be a form of deep respect and not of abuse by abundance of what has been bestowed to us. I by no means, genuflect knees and bow to her, but I understand that she is family. From a more universally applicable perspective, regardless of spiritual path, Earth is our home and we should respect that and not participate in behaviors that cause its denigration.
I will leave the reader of my review with one quote that is now engrained as my vanguard of attack against the public school system, and as well identifies the nefariousness behind public school's conception: Richman says on page 39, "After all, when proponents of government activism wanted to subsidize the purchase of food, they did not propose that government build a system of state grocery stores. They instead created food stamps. So the question is: Why are there public schools rather than "school stamps"?"
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- Carlos GonzálezReviewed in the United Kingdom on February 14, 2022
The problems of our Education System
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- Austin del RioReviewed in Canada on February 9, 2017
Thorough and engaging
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