Public Schools are not socialist.
I was going to wait to post this one until I could find the specific quote I was thinking of, but I’m having trouble tracking it down. However, just Google the words “Republican public schools socialist” and I think that’ll give you all the citations you need. But here’s a few to tide you over:
http://www.fff.org/freedom/0696a.asp
http://www.newswithviews.com/Eakman/beverly11.htm
The catalyst for this rant was a quote I saw from some wingnut Republi-tard Senator or Representative who said that public schools were socialist.
This gave me pause, since I am a HISTORY MAJOR.
See, public schools or rather the idea for them, aren’t socialist or even from the New Deal. Its Puritan. Public education was very important to early Protestants, particularly the strain of Protestant that colonized these shores. See, one reason for the Reformation is that (among many others) certain folks didn’t believe that the word of God should be diluted or come from anyone else. They believed you should read the Word of God (Bible for you heathens out there) and interpret it yourself, thereby establishing a personal relationship with and understanding of God. So, reading very important for you to be able to go to Heaven.
That is one of the big hard-ons early Protestants had for the Catholic Church: That the Pope, Cardinals, etc… all the way down to priests were the vehicles of the word of God, therefore were diluting it or changing it to suit their purposes.
(No, I will NOT be discussing the myriad of translations through scads of languages and how that changed stuff. Nor will I explore the fact that the Hebrew tradition was oral until fairly late in the game. NOR will we EVEN entertain debate on the King James version of the Bible. All of this goes without saying.)
So, public education is a Protestant ideal that you’d think the Republi-tards would be all gung ho about, right? I mean, it was a value of our founding fathers, not to mention the guys before them who actually colonized the place.
Not so, say I. Like I said, just Google it. I understand, yes, there are problems with the current system. However, much of the problem lies with parents who don’t care and kids who have no motivation to learn. As well as with underpaid teachers, underfunded schools and the mainstreaming of the developmentally disabled and behaviorally dysfuntional. Yes, I’m going out on my politically incorrect little limb and state that when a teacher has a class of thirty students, and one of them is a major behavioral problem that the problem child gets the majority of the teacher’s attention leaving the other 29 who may well be willing and able to learn, unsupervised and cut adrift.
And really, the alternatives are much scarier. Can you say an even smaller literacy rate? I fear for the day education becomes elective. Well, it already is to a point. As my friend Robbie says, “You can lead a Whore to culture, but you can’t make her think.” (Its funnier if you say it out loud, think horticulture… ah nevermind.) I mean, we can shove education at them, but we can’t make them learn. What really needs to be done is to quit demonizing intellectualism, to make it cool to be smart. With the Chimp in office, I’m not holding my breath.
So really, if W were such a good Protestant, he’d be falling all over himself to make sure education was adequately funded. And if any of you try to point at the No Child Left Behind Act, with its mandates and none of the money it promised, I will give you a purple nurple.
In summary, the next time some Repbuli-tard corners you about how Public education is socialist, hit them in the head with an American history text. A big one.
I’m seriously considering a guerilla campaign of sending books on American History with certain passages highlighted to government officials. Like the parts on public education, prohibition, the Vietnam war…
Polimicks 
What really needs to be done is to quit demonizing intellectualism, to make it cool to be smart.
Hear, hear, and fucking hear!
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The reason they’re eager to cut funding for public education and resources for college education for the lower and middle class is because they’ve figured out it’s easier to lie to people who haven’t learned how to think critically and get them to swallow it wholesale.
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I know. You know. If we could just convince everyone else…
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