We are supposed to LEARN from our MISTAKES, aren't we? Is that not EDUCATION? Someone once wrote that: "Repeating the same mistakes, over and over, is the definition of Insanity!"

Will "We the People" ever LEARN to stop believing the lies of ALL government officials and politicians?

Will we ever realize that "they" do not necessarily know what's "good for us" -- but WE DO? When will we finally LEARN to EDUCATE 'them'?

This past November 2006, we, the voters, took the FIRST step. DON'T STOP NOW!

WHAT PRICE EDUCATION? Ask all the DEFEATED candidates! REMIND ALL THE SUCCESSFUL ONES -- OVER, AND OVER, AND OVER!

WHAT PRICE EDUCATION?

Copyright: January 20, 2007

Tom Hyland


It is no great secret that the United States of America falls way behind several other countries, when it comes to both Science and Engineering. Part of this problem is because of the rising exorbitant costs of obtaining a college education. These facts are becoming more and more prominent, and are being broadcast more frequently on TV News, and Specials, as well as periodic documentaries. Why? How did we allow this mess to happen? I’d like to take a few moments of your time, to express my opinions on this rather serious matter.

First of all, let’s take a quick look into the past. About fifty years ago, when I was a junior in High School, only a small percentage of teenage students had any desire to attend college. All you have to do is go back and read what kids said then, in their Yearbook essays. In my case, I was pursuing the Academic Curriculum. And, guess what? Back then, students needed to chose between a limited course of specific study: Academic (those who wanted to continue on to college), Commercial (those who wanted to enter the Business world – mostly girls who wanted to be Secretaries), General/Technical -those who didn’t really know what they wanted to do yet, and included courses where use of the hands was investigated, i.e. “SHOPS” – Electrical, Carpentry, Automotive, Sheet Metal.

In those “good ole days” computers weren’t even on the market yet! In fact, at age eighteen, in 1958, my very first full-time job was working the 4-12 nightshift for the Social Security Administration. As a ‘File Clerk’ I removed and/or refiled thousands upon thousands of IBM ‘punch-cards.’ One of the largest Federal Agencies was being operated by using the old precursor to the computer, the “Hollerith Code” – holes punched in cards! Sound like a DINOSAUR? The DARK AGES?

Not every home even had a Television yet! They had only been available for about four or five years. There were NO: micro-wave ovens, frost-free refrigerators, self-cleaning ovens, handheld video cameras, automobile Cruise controls, cordless power tools – NO video movies, video games, iPods, Xboxes, mp3’s – HECK – PACMAN and PONG weren’t even invented yet!

So, what has all this have to do with Education? EVERYTHING! The Second World War had only been over about ten years! The immense consumer market for new products and inventions was in its infancy! There was no great “Global Economy” yet! Mass Marketing was about to grow and EXPLODE! Opportunity abounded everywhere, in every field imaginable! GNP – Gross National Product was not yet a term which tripped easily over every American’s tongue! GROWTH! EXPANSION! RESEARCH and DEVELOPMENT! TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS! INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES! INVENTIONS! FOREIGN IMPORTS! INCREASED PRODUCTION THROUGH IMPROVED AUTOMATION! ALL of these and more were looming on the horizon. And yes, my friends, even EDUCATION!

Back then; Education was just a general Public convenience, not unlike streets and roads (Note: the term BELTWAY had yet to be coined!). It was a “Not for Profit” institution. When college professors published a new book, it was because NEW or IMPORTANT chapters or information NEEDED to be added. But - today, Education has been pushed to the limits as an ABSOLUTE NECESSITY!

It has become a Profit oriented business, where TUITION, BOOKS and the COSTS thereof have skyrocketed. Instead of a student being able to purchase the OLD used book, along with maybe a cheap paperback edition of the updated information, the college and curriculum REQUIRE the new edition! I challenge you – get in your car and just drive through ANY college or university campus today! NEW CONSTRUCTION, NEW BUILDINGS, EXPANSION – MILLIONS UPON MILLIONS, UPON MILLIONS OF DOLLARS – are being spent everywhere! WHY? To accommodate the ever increasing NUMBER of prospective student bodies! Instead of the smaller percentage of teenagers who really have the desire for furthering their education, along with the promise and talent to do so – EVERY PARENT BELIEVES THEIR KID MUST ATTEND COLLEGE NOW – JUST TO BE ABLE TO COMPETE IN THIS FAST-PACED WORLD!

The basic PREMISE now, is that if you DON’T GRADUATE from college, you must be either, STUPID – POOR – OR BOTH!

The competition and necessary stress associated with this premise is HORRENDOUS! No one wants to be relegated to being JUST a Secretary, or JUST a Retail Clerk, or JUST an Auto Mechanic, or JUST a “Walmart Greeter”, or JUST a Blue-Collar worker! We have allowed the people “up top” who are “pulling the puppet strings” to create a generation of STRESSED-OUT UNDER-ACHIEVERS, who are trying their best to ‘scratch and scramble’ up the corporate ‘ladder of success’ – not unlike rats trying to escape from a sinking ship! SHRINKS are having a ‘HEYDAY’ trying to help individuals to diagnose and treat their various and sundry ‘psychoses.’ Ever pay attention to the corresponding increase in SUICIDE rates?

WHAT PRICE EDUCATION? Not much – just thousands of our CHILDREN!

Competition – keep up with the ‘JONES’s.’ How many times have you been stopped at a red light, and noticed all the ‘bumper stickers’ and/or ‘decals’ which PROUDLY state: “My son/daughter is an A student at X-Y-Z school?” Just like the over-zealous ‘Soccer Mom’ or ‘T-Ball Dad’ who INFLICTS STRESS on children trying to simply PLAY A GAME, by hollering and screaming about some stupid, insignificant, superfluous ‘call’ or other minor infraction, WE, THE PARENTS, need to take a hard look at OURSELVES!

Yes, Education is important, but not to the level of IDOLIZATION! Today, Education has been pushed, shoved, lifted, elevated – way up high on a PEDESTAL – IT has become BABAL! But, guess what, Pilgrims, check your Bible History on this one – WHAT DID GOD DO BACK THEN? REMEMBER? HE made them all speak in different ‘tongues’ to cause CONFUSION, so nobody understood any commands, and the work of building the tower CEASED! Do you get the point? Consider the old adage:

“Too many Chiefs, and not enough Indians!” IS EVERY PERSON BORN SUPPOSED TO ATTEND COLLEGE?

Let’s consider another analogy. Think for a moment about The OLYMPICS. While other countries, like say Russia, would not only allow, but promote and support (clothing, food, shelter, training – ALL FREE!) their athletes to improve, grow, and achieve, for YEARS – not US! Not the good ole U.S. of A. – if any of our promising athletes had to resort to doing any form of anything to EARN money to pursue their avocation – BAM! We said they were no longer Amateurs, but Professionals, and they were summarily DISQUALIFIED and DISPATCHED FORTHWITH!

What has this got to do with Education? SIMPLE! Our ‘esteemed leaders’ at every level of government need to learn and understand the RULES of the game! There has never ever been a ‘level playing field!’ Many other countries operate a system of learning and higher education, which SUPPORTS, PROMOTES, ENCOURAGES, AND PROMOTES PROMISING TALENT – FOR FREE! Those students who show ability, talent, and hard work are GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY without COST to themselves, or their parents! The Elite, the Gifted, the “Cream of the Crop” are practically GUARANTEED SUCCESS! They don’t have to BEG for limited scholarships, work two, three, or four part-time jobs to SUPPORT themselves. Nor do they worry about keeping a ‘roof over their heads!’

Yes, my Friends – “A Mind IS a terrible thing to WASTE!” But, here in the greatest, richest, most technologically advanced nation on the face of the earth – we have managed to MASTER how to WASTE IT! Actually - THEM, plural!

The sheer stress alone, which is placed on our children, is in itself, despicable – but then add to it the sometimes-DUAL BURDEN of both parents and students. The FINANCIAL burden of thousands upon thousands of parents who have taken out MORTGAGES against their family HOMES, just to pay exorbitant tuition, housing, and textbook costs, so their little ‘Susie or Johnnie’ doesn’t get left behind in the dust – should be regarded as a NATIONAL SIN! Likewise, the thousands upon thousands of STUDENT LOANS, which may or may not ever be able to be RE-PAID – hang upon our children’s necks like the proverbial ‘ALBATROSS’ – perhaps following and haunting then to the GRAVE!

WHAT PRICE EDUCATION? STRESS! FINANCIAL BURDENS! STRESS! BANKRUPTCIES! STRESS! SUICIDES! STRESS! COMMITMENTS TO MENTAL INSTITUTIONS! STRESS! BEING OUT-PACED BY OTHER COUNTRIES!

AND PRAYTELL WHY???

So corporations can get richer! So textbook publishers can get richer! So universities and colleges can get BIGGER, richer, and build more buildings! So Professors Emeritus can publish more books, and put more money in their IRA’s, as well as the university’s or college’s COFFERS! Ever wonder what kind of ‘Royalties Deals’ are made between them? Wonder, Ponder! So some politician can coin another fruitless, empty, unfulfilled promise, like: “No child left behind!” POPPYCOCK!

CAUTION: this next part, dealing with lower Mathematics, is highly SUSPECT, and totally off the top of my quickly graying head, i.e. – NOT RESEARCHED OR PROVEN – ERGO. NO Q.E.D.! OKAY?

FIRST – consider about Three Hundred Billion Dollars - $300,000,000,000 / PER YEAR! – That’s ELEVEN ZEROES – of OUR TAX DOLLARS being POURED into a hopeless, BULLSHIT WAR IN IRAQ, OKAY?

Next, how many true American Citizens are there? About 300,000,000. That’s EIGHT ZEROES!

Next some simple math --- 1st, subtract 60,000,000 Children between AGES 1-14 … Leaves 240,000,000.

Then subtract another --- 78,000,000 of “BABY BOOMERS” (LARGEST SEGMENT OF POP.)… Leaves only 162,000,000.

Now, also deduct another roughly 75,000,000 WHO ALREADY HAVE BACHELOR’S DEGREES OR HIGHER…

THIS LEAVES APPROXIMATELY ONLY 87,000,000 - minus another 47,000,000 “Fudge Factor” Miscellaneous Other Categories who either WON’T APPLY OR DON’T WANT COLLEGE…

Leaves a Balance of only 40,000,000 COLLEGE-AGE PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS!

Finally, if we divide $300 BILLION by those 40 Million PROSPECTS – GIVES ABOUT $7,500. PER YEAR PER STUDENT!

This substantial amount of OUR TAX MONEY DIVERTED FROM IRAQI WAR COULD FINANCE EDUCATION INSTEAD! MAKE SENSE?


WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE? IT IS A “PIPE DREAM” that would never be ALLOWED by our so-called elected representatives! WHY? Because it is LOGICAL, MAKES SENSE, AND IS ACHIEVABLE! “SHIT-FOR-BRAINS” GUVMINT REVENUERS CAN’T COMPREHEND IT!

Another reason is more mundane, and yet the public at large doesn’t even think about it. If you believed all the arithmetic above, then I GOTCHA!

It was all an exercise in the thought process. While the plan sounds plausible, there is one great fallacy, which goes undetected. Can you figure it out? Have you already ‘reckoned’ it? Do you need or want a hint? I’ll give you a sec or two to think… tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock… TIME’S UP!

IS THE REAL COST OF THE IRAQI WAR 300 BILLION DOLLARS PER YEAR? What if the entire cadre of Military Personnel were to be magically ‘whisked’ back here to U.S. SOIL in a flash? They would still be in the Military, still have to be PAID, still need Food (chow), Clothing (uniforms), Shelter (barracks, beds, blankets), Weapons, Medical Supplies and Services, et cetera! Would not these costs be constant, no matter where they were stationed on this earth?

Certainly, all of the costs of EXPENDED ammunition, bombs, fuels for vehicles, ships, and planes, first aid and medical surgeries and procedures would be ELIMINATED. Could only these factors be considered the real NET COST?

Honestly, I don’t know! No one seems to ever bother to break down such figures, and publish them prominently, so the public can understand. On the other hand, maybe I’m ALL WET? Maybe that $300,000,000,000 --- IS, IN FACT, OVER AND ABOVE THE STATIC COSTS OF SUPPORTING THE MILITARY? Who knows? Who cares? Who gives a fat rat’s rectum?


WHAT PRICE EDUCATION? If this topic caused you to think a bit, then I succeeded. If you have a better idea, suggestion, comment, or just want to BITCH at me --- LEM’ME HAVE IT!

MAKE LOVE – NOT WAR!

MAKE PEACE – NOT DIS-HARMONY!

“MAKE IT SO!” TOM.