There are places in the world where the majority of people are doomed to live no better than their parents and grandparents did, places like Burma, Kenya and the United States

another cry for a return to the concept of the common good...

from truthout...

According to data from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the United States has some of the lowest rates of entrepreneurship in the world. Even at the top of the boom in 2005-2007, only two countries (Belgium and Norway) had lower levels of new business formation than the United States. The other 22 countries studied by the OECD all had higher rates of new business formation than the United States.

In fact, over 50 percent of Americans work for large companies of 250 employees or more. Only two other countries in the world have economies that are so dominated by large firms: Slovakia and Luxembourg.

We are not a nation of entrepreneurs. We are a nation of workers. And over the past forty years the American worker has gone from riches to rags, not the other way around.

[...]

Government can and should promote greater social mobility. Inevitably, however, greater mobility for the poor and working classes comes at the cost of higher taxes and fewer privileges for the middle and upper classes. Economic opportunity is incompatible with an economy dominated by $8-an-hour service jobs.

We can return to an America of boundless upward mobility only if we return to an America of well-funded schools, good union jobs and top-quality government services supported by progressive taxes on those who can most afford to pay. Like all good things, mobility comes at a price. Those who have achieved the American dream have to be willing to share it with everybody else. Sadly, it seems they no longer are.

"...it seems they no longer are."

i take issue with that statement... i don't think "they" have EVER been willing to share their good fortune with everybody else... yes, there have been and still are exceptions... yes, there have been heart-warming examples of philanthropy and overwhelming generosity... but the general trend has consistently been one of "i've got mine cuz i'm smarter and more motivated and if you ain't rich it's probably because you're lazy and ignorant"...


i'm just like everyone else in my age group... from early childhood, i was steeped in the american exceptionalism mythology and like most of my peers, i bought it... it's been a hard road over the past decades to realize that the american dream is just that, a myth... perhaps at one time, there was at least a tad bit substance to it but the past 20 years have seen the leaching out of whatever substance might have been there...

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Learning Without Frontiers - Noam Chomsky on the Purpose of Education

chomsky contrasts education as inquiry, search, creativity, self-expression and a quest for understanding with the concept of education as a system to ensure social order and conformity...

Noam Chomsky discusses the purpose of education, impact of technology, whether education should be perceived as a cost or an investment and the value of standardised assessment. Presented at the Learning Without Frontiers Conference - Jan 25th 2012, London.

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It has become totally legal for rich people to run politicians the same way they might run horses or greyhounds

the above title is taken from a common dreams post by jennifer browdy de hernandez...

As in Germany before the Kristallnacht, none of us here in the U.S. wants to believe that anything could happen to destroy our cherished freedoms, our vaunted “American way of life.” We don’t want to admit, even to ourselves, the extent to which our freedoms are already being encroached upon, day by day.

Just last week, for example, there was an outrageous episode in Arizona, where the government declared a whole long list of books to be unsuitable for school use, and went so far as to direct the school librarians and teachers to pull them from the shelves, box them up and put them into deep storage.

Among the authors banned are some of my favorite writers—Gloria Anzaldua, Elizabeth Martinez, Paulo Freire.

Yes, that Paulo Freire, the famous Brazilian educator and free thinker who wrote Pedagogy of the Oppressed, a brilliant analysis of the way that traditional education indoctrinates students into conformity and submission to authority.

Freire proposed that instead of a banking style of education, where knowledge is deposited into students, who are then required to spit it back upon demand, education worth its salt should empower students to think for themselves.

Such a simple idea, but so powerful, too. Education should teach people to think for themselves, and to work with each other to come to consensus on issues of importance to the larger society.

Isn’t that just what the Occupy movements have been trying to do? If Freire were alive, he would be out there in the thick of the Occupy action, inspiring the young to shake off the false animation of Zombieland, and insist on dancing to their own authentic beat.

isn't it totally bizarre that education that empowers people to think for themselves should be so threatening...? of course, taken in the context of the super-rich elites who are so desperate to maintain their hold on money and power, i suppose it makes sense to keep people dumb, docile and locked in a fear-based mindset...

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Fuck you, Larry Summers

health, education and social protection need MORE capitalism...?

Lawrence Summers: We need smart reinvention not destruction

Lawrence Summers opens an FT series on the crisis in capitalism, its failings, challenges, weaknesses and the prospects for reform.

It is not so much the most capitalist parts of the contemporary economy but the least – those concerned with health, education and social protection – that are in most need of reinvention, he says.

why does this total disgrace to humanity keep getting a forum...?

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Hedges: Transforming a democratic state into a feudal system of corporate masters and serfs

which has been the plan all along...

chris hedges...

A nation that destroys its systems of education, degrades its public information, guts its public libraries and turns its airwaves into vehicles for cheap, mindless amusement becomes deaf, dumb and blind. It prizes test scores above critical thinking and literacy. It celebrates rote vocational training and the singular, amoral skill of making money. It churns out stunted human products, lacking the capacity and vocabulary to challenge the assumptions and structures of the corporate state. It funnels them into a caste system of drones and systems managers. It transforms a democratic state into a feudal system of corporate masters and serfs.

sigh... i hate posting on the truth but better that than sticking my head in the sand...

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did the Illuminati rig the schools, etc?

Are you aware that our Constitution is generally regarded as a dead letter except when it serves the politicos? Or are you confident that all that is needed is to point out where some errant naïve pol has simply gone astray and then, who in gratitude, will embrace you for setting him/her back upon the right path?

So, how's that coming?

Thanks to profmarcus posting Alex Jones' video, I have become more inclined to believe in secret societies and hidden hands that pull the strings and call the shots. My instincts tell me that big money, to the tune of billions of dollars, is controlling the media and our courts and the political process.

I remember watching congressional hearings when L. Paul Bremer was supposed to testify about the job he was doing in Iraq. I saw him make the excuse that he didn't have time to testify and he had a job to do, so his was just going to have to be going and get right back. It sounded just like the rogue DEA agent, Stansfield, (played deftly by Gary Oldman), in the movie Léon (1994), who bellows, "I haven't got time for this Mickey Mouse bullshit."

Wikipedia states: "Blackwater attained its first high-profile contract when it received a $21 million no-bid contract for guarding the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority, L. Paul Bremer."

TPM wrote:

During his time as head of the U.S. Coalition Provisional Authority, Bremer was stalked by the United States' top fraud-buster in Iraq, Stuart Bowen, Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction. The two were like the cartoon Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote: Bowen -- Mr. Coyote -- would come after Bremer with ever more devastating reports of fraud, mismanagement, abuse and utter chaos within Bremer's operations; yet Bremer had a road-runner-like ability to escape every time. Indeed, he walked away with a Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Department of Defense award for Distinguished Public Service, and even the Nixon Library's 'Victory of Freedom Award.'

Both men have testified before Congress, but never at the same hearing, a fact confirmed for me by Bowen's press aide, Christine Belisle. That could soon change: Waxman has "invited" the two men to testify at a Feb. 6 hearing on a lingering issue from Bremer's tenure: how nearly $9 billion in reconstruction funds went missing -- or in audit-speak, was "disbursed. . . without accountability."

DoD accounting failures could also hide untold billions. Outrageous tax breaks for the Rich imply an enormous quid pro quo. The betrayal of the public by allowing predator media conglomerates to devour smaller outlets smells of grease. Presidential libraries are huge cash cows. Sub Prime rackets abound and there is corporate welfare awash, galore.

The initial investment by hidden hands, in priming such systems to behave in such ways, didn't necessary have to cost huge sums. But they must have dumped a bundle at the start, in order to grab control of the schools, for instance, and of the kids, so that they could entirely marginalize them. Along with their new morals crusade, (I can tell you that the child nude model sites have all but disappeared). This long child porn and abstinence hysteria, simply points to that secret society's machinations yet at work. Those moves have robbed kids of their humanity. That particular political inculcation as well, as told in the video that follows, seems entirely consistent with such plans.

In the thread over at DU, "The Final Nail in America's Coffin", is a post that says, "The New World Order is upon us. Four things to investigate: Bilderberg Group - Gen. Smedley Butler - Project for the New American Century - Norman Dodd", and he points to this video. The first 16 minutes of the 50 minute video is spent establishing Norman Dodd's bona fides. To jump directly to his points, you can advance the video ahead to the 16 minute mark:

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Condignity?

The Register is running this warm and fuzzy, feel-good story about mercy, understanding and second chances:

Florida prosecutors have decided not to pursue Andrew "don't tase me, bro" Meyer through the courts if he keeps his nose clean during 18 months probation.

He'll soon be allowed to resume his studies. Campus cops had recommended he be sent to the big house for resisting arrest with violence."

The Register was even thoughtful enough to include this light and humorous music video montage, making light and frivolous his disruptive antics.

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The case against another Clinton presidency

we need another clinton in the white house like we needed another bush...

chris hedges writes in truthdig via alternet about bill clinton's new book, Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World...

Chris Hedges, a Pulitzer prize-winning reporter, was the Middle East bureau chief for The New York Times. He spent seven years in the Middle East and reported frequently from Iran. His latest book is American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America.

We face the prospect of having two families govern the country for 16 years. The system is rigged. Our democracy is a consumer fraud. The government has given up any pretence of serving the interests of citizens. The corporations rule. And for all Clinton’s charm and talent for self-promotion, he is largely to blame.

Half a century ago, corporations paid 45 percent to 50 percent of the income tax. Today they pay 6 or 7 percent. This is why our infrastructure is crumbling, there is no universal health care, our public education is in crisis, regulatory agencies are impotent and our poor and working class are desperate.

It is no longer possible to argue between the lesser of two evils. The corporate state, which is carrying out a coup d’etat in slow motion and has already shredded most of our constitutional rights, is an unmitigated evil. We do not need charity. We need justice. And all of Bill Clinton’s heart-warming stories about giving are not going to save us from the corporations who sucked out his soul and seek to imprison the rest of us.

when our country is barely treading water, what we DON'T need is a concrete life preserver...

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Missing context warning: the only permissible federal spending increases are for war, death and destruction

another context-challenged wapo story... instead of immediately putting the lie to what the white house is peddling with objective facts, they lead off with a statement from a democratic senator that makes it look like just another partisan ploy...

The White House threatened yesterday to use the president's veto to prevent Democrats from increasing spending on education, health care and other domestic programs.

[...]

"The administration does not believe that the first step on a path to a balanced budget should be a substantial increase in federal spending," [the president's budget director, Rob Portman] wrote, "yet that is precisely what is called for by the Democrats' budget plan."

they let senator conrad highlight the jaw-dropping hypocrisy...

"After racking up more than $3 trillion of new debt under its watch, the Bush administration now pretends to be fiscally disciplined by threatening to veto appropriations bills because they include investments in priorities like education and veterans' health care," Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) said in a statement.

the good senator then suggests something so far beyond disingenuous, it's ridiculous...

"It is time for the administration to work with Congress instead of stubbornly insisting on everything being done its way."

it may be time, senator... in fact, it's so far past time, it's criminal, but it ain't gonna happen as long as they remain in office...

finally, in paragraph ten, some facts appear...

In March, the House approved a budget plan that would add about $24 billion to the president's $2.9 trillion spending request for fiscal 2008. The Senate's version would add about $18 billion.

note, however, that nothing was mentioned about what such massive increases were FOR... tsk, tsk, wapo...

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MBA programs teach leadership? I think not.

this business college professor demonstrates a profound lack of insight into mba curricula...

Babson College business professor James Hoopes ... has landed a publisher for his book, Hail to the CEO: The Failure of George W. Bush and the Cult of Moral Leadership. “His premise: President Bush, a Harvard University M.B.A. grad, is proof that business schools focus more on leadership than on management.”

i have taught mba courses for 20 years... in a post the other day, i said i would postpone a rant on graduate biz school education for a later time... that time has arrived, but i'll be brief...

the major failures, imho, of graduate biz education in the u.s. are many... one of the biggest is that they DON'T teach LEADERSHIP, they teach MANAGEMENT... oh, sure, there are tons of courses labeled "leadership" (full disclosure: yes, i teach one myself), but, in my experience, few of them even attempt to teach authentic, principled leadership... they are most often taught in the context of learning from the Great Leaders Themselves, folks like iacocca, gates, jobs, packard, dell, bezos, merck, porras, welch, etc., etc...

the above folks are the very ones who have achieved their "success" (i put that in quotes precisely because i seriously question our national definition of "success") by obsessively focusing on shareholders and the bottom line, precisely what they have been taught to do, and precisely what they are rewarded for, often in obscenely excessive ways... what we have posing as business "leaders" in this country are passionately, obsessively driven, profit-at-all-costs MANAGERS, who, yes, have leadership qualities that, imho, are devoid of the one value that i believe makes a leader a leader - a devotion to the common good - the same value, interestingly enough, that's missing in many of our elected officials... coincidence...? i don't think so...

in concluding, i will unequivocally state that george w. bush wouldn't recognize authentic leadership if it bit him in his made-firm-and-fit-by-cycling white ass...

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Sitting still for long periods while appearing to be awake

barbara ehrenreich's take on higher education...

My theory is that employers prefer college grads because they see a college degree chiefly as mark of one's ability to obey and conform. Whatever else you learn in college, you learn to sit still for long periods while appearing to be awake. And whatever else you do in a white collar job, most of the time you'll be sitting and feigning attention. Sitting still for hours on end -- whether in library carrels or office cubicles -- does not come naturally to humans. It must be learned -- although no college has yet been honest enough to offer a degree in seat-warming.

Or maybe what attracts employers to college grads is the scent of desperation. Unless your parents are rich and doting, you will walk away from commencement with a debt averaging $20,000 and no health insurance. Employers can safely bet that you will not be a trouble-maker, a whistle-blower or any other form of non-"team-player." You will do anything. You will grovel.

having taught in mba programs for 20 years, i can vouch for the "ticket to ride" factor of higher education degrees, and could easily start foaming at the mouth over what i consider to be the massive failings of graduate business education, but i'll save that rant for another time...

the single most important missing ingredient, imho, in ALL education, from kindergarten on up, except in rare instances, is that people are not empowered, encouraged or taught to think for themselves... we are surrounded every minute of every day by people, whether it be in the form of news media, advertisers, friends, colleagues, teachers, bosses, or authority figures of every imaginable stripe, all working feverishly to get us to agree that THEIR way of thinking and seeing the world is the RIGHT way... it's extraordinarily difficult to shut off the incessant racket, to learn to be still, and to hear that small voice inside, the voice that is OUR voice, OUR truth...

i often think that the ceaseless racket is purposely designed to MAKE that inner voice virtually impossible to hear, so much so that we begin to believe it isn't there, that the only REAL voices are the ones that come to us from the outside... if education were more focused on finding your OWN truth, it would be a wonderful day indeed...

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