Some Background

My photo
National and Global, United States

Thursday, August 11, 2011

How'd Education Get to Where it is Today?

As a former high school teacher, early own in my career, I understand some of the present-day challenges faced by families within the current US educational system. Charter schools per se, won't fix the problems that have been inherent in the very structure of the system itself. The problems and challenges just get a 'new face'. You can blame the 'industrial revolution' for current ailments within the system.

As worked shifted out of the agricultural fields and the home, children had to be prepared for factory life. It was at that time, a 'step up' from agrarian work in the fields. The early mine,mill, and factory owners recognized that you could not bring a 'farmer' into an industrialized factory. Young people had to be pre-fitted to the industrial system. The result: mass education. And it worked.

Built on the factory model, mass education taught basic reading,writing,and math skills; some history and english. That was about it. However, beneath this curriculum lay a secondary objective: It consisted, and still does, of three basic 'courses':obedience,punctuality; and rote,repetitive work. Everything the factory owner demanded of his workers. The minor league of the factory environment. It demanded workers who would take orders from a management hierarchy without questioning those orders.

So, from the mid-nineteenth century on, one found a relentless educational progression. Mass education at the time, was a wonderful step forward. Nevertheless, this type of education, machined generations of young people into a pliable, regimented work force as required by the mechanical age and the assembly line work. And all of this worked well for the creation, existence, and success of the Corporation.

In all, these three institutions: Family,education,corporation, created a social fabric that lasts even to this day. Thus, in order to make significant, major changes in education, you would also have to re-define the family and the corporation itself, which is actually occurring within the social fabric of many countries.

Thus, I do not believe that you can simply change the educational system by moving to either private or charter education facilities, if the 'base line' philosophy doesn't change as well. And that's probably not likely to occur in the near term.

For concurring opinion you can read, Alvin Toffler's Future Shock

Saturday, April 30, 2011

That is Amore

I met Marie, my wife, when she was 18. A blond, blue-eyed and vibrant Italian lady, who spoke Italian fluently and was Italian before she was "americano". How things change.
40 years later, the Italian is gone. The pasta is not the same. The old Italians from the family are long gone. My wife speaks only English.
And here we are. Between a rock and that hard place. Our grandparents wanted so badly to be American. They wanted acceptance. Therefore, we could not speak "italian". Only English, my grandmother would say.
We became "americano" hoping and anticipating that acceptance of that life would raise us from the bedrock of Italian peasantry to the heights of American ingenuity. Some of us succeeded. Others made pizza or fixed roads. Or did nothing. My grandfather made wine,which he drank more then sold.Whatever.
The journey has been long and hard for all. I just hope, that after giving up our heritage and our cultural and our music and our wine...that there is actually something there in becoming 'americano'. I still sleep on it. For me, my wife, my children and their children. "The moon has hit my eye, and it is a big pizza-pie"...

Monday, February 28, 2011

A Very Bad Year for Your Wallet: This Year!



Bad weather and global instability are spurring price hikes for everything from cotton to oil.

The worrisome economic news just keeps on coming. Inflation is creeping higher, as prices rise for everything from corn to coffee. The government's Consumer Price Index — a standard measure of how much household goods and services cost — rose 0.4 percent in each of the last two months, the first back-to-back increases that big since the summer of 2008. Now, forecasters say global weather problems and instability in the Middle East could make crude oil, cotton, and other important commodities even more expensive. Here are four ways you may be affected:

Clothing
Clothing prices, after falling for a decade, are expected to rise about 10 percent this spring, according to the Associated Press. The price of cotton has already more than doubled over the past year. Your cotton underwear will definitely get tighter!

Fuel
Crude oil prices recently hit a two-year high, as unrest in the Middle East, particularly Libya, fed investor worry about oil production. Gas prices have risen 20 percent over the last year, and could go even higher. Even a Preus won't help the ache on this one. Try a walking-stick.

Food
The cost of staples such as wheat, corn, and sugar has jumped dramatically in recent months, largely because of droughts, floods, and rising demand. Now's the time to plant that Kale and Collards!

Household essentials
Rising fuel and ingredient costs will also translate to higher prices for items such as toothpaste, soap, and batteries. Shower once each week, don't brush your teeth everyday, and don't use anything with a battery.

And that's all the good news fit to print!

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Scared Penniless


If you are a 'boomer' you should be 'scared penniless' when you retire. The fact is the recent economic situation has destroyed whatever future you have economically. And the government doesn't care, nor does your stock broker or your banker. You are on your own buddy.

65
Age the oldest baby boomers are turning this year

More than 8.5 million
Projected number of Americans who will be over age 85 in 20 years

Less than 25 percent
Amount the median household headed by someone aged 60 to 62 has of the retirement savings needed to maintain his or her standard of living, according to data from the Federal Reserve. "Inevitably, we find that, for the average person, there is not enough there," says financial adviser Paul Merritt. "The discussion turns out to be: What kind of part-time work do you want to do after you retire?"

About 50 percent
Amount of wealth lost by baby boomer households between 2004 and 2009, due to shrinking 401(k) accounts and the real estate collapse

Only 50 percent
Share of working Americans that have tax-sheltered retirement accounts

75 percent
Number of Americans over 65 whose annual income (including Social Security) is less than $34,000, according to a report from the Congressional Research Service. "Furthermore, household income drops precipitously with every decade, and most of the poor in their 80s and 90s are women, who — unless their husbands possessed vast wealth — are very likely to become poorer when they are widowed."

85 percent
Assumed share of a household's pre-retirement income needed to maintain the same standard of living in retirement

$87,700
Median income, in 2009, for households nearing retirements (with heads aged 60 to 62) that have 401(k)-type accounts

$74,545
The 85 percent of that salary needed for retirement.

As much as $35,080 a year
Amount Social Security will provide for such a household

$36,465
Amount needed from other sources to maintain pre-retirement standard of living. "Most 401(k) accounts don't come close to making up that gap,"says E.S. Browning in The Wall Street Journal.

$149,400
Amount the median 401(k) plan holds, according to the Center for Retirement Research

$9,073
Amount per year such an account would provide a household, less than 25 percent of the $36,465 needed

9 percent
The current median amount that people contribute to 401(k) plans, including employer contributions, according to Vanguard Group, a leading provider of the plans. "In general, people facing problems today got too little advice, or bad advice," says Browning. "They didn't realize that a 6 percent annual contribution, with a 3 percent company match, might not be enough."

12 to 15 percent
Amount, including employer contribution, that Vanguard recommends people contribute to their 401(k) plan

Sources: Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal

Some Thinkers

Powered By Blogger