The Dumbing of America Did Not Take Long.

Here's the thing.  When I was growing up, a long, long time ago, we Americans were very proud of the fact that we led the world in just about everything.  We had the brightest and best of just about everything creative.  Writers, Poets, Movie Makers, Inventors, Manufacturers, Scientists, Researchers, Athletes, Political Leaders, Educators, and on and on.  We were clearly the most powerful nation on the face of this planet.  We were looked up to, we were the example, we were liked and admired.

If you accept all of that, then think about this.  We did all of that, plus we had saved the world's ass in two world wars.  And, we did it with an education system that was not all that complicated.  We held the belief that all children were entitled to receive a certain level of education, equally, and we admired college graduates, and educated people in general.  Does anyone disagree with that?

Oh, and we went to the moon.

So, please, someone tell me this:  If we did indeed achieve all of the above, and more, who decided, and when did they decide, and (most important of all) why did they decide that our system of education needed to be changed in any way?

What changed?  Why did the changes that were instituted cause us to lose respect for education and for educated people?  When, and how did we create so many people who lack common sense, and the ability to think for themselves?  And, why has the cost of a college education risen so high, while wages have stayed so low?

Because, you see, for me it sure looks like we no longer lead the world in much of anything except stupid. We lack respect for intelligence and education.  We elected (with a little help from his friends) the world's absolute worst human being.  We have allowed him and his ilk to turn events and developments which seriously threaten the future of the entire planet into political issues.  And, now, our education system, which at present is not really being used, has totally failed us.  Or, would it be more accurate to say that we have failed our education system?

If I Were King Redux

I first made a list like this in June of 2018.  This is pretty much the same, with a very few changes.  Do you have more ideas?  [These are] My ideas of some things we need to change:

1.      Dump the Patriot Act

2.      Dump Citizens United

3.      Restore the Fairness Doctrine

4.      Make it illegal once again for attorneys to advertise direct to the public.

5.      Make it illegal once again for pharmaceutical companies to advertise prescription medications direct to the public.

6.      Strictly and stringently regulate the health care industry, beginning with making it illegal for health care entities to profit from the delivery of health care.

7.      Institute term limits on members of Congress.

8.      End the war on drugs, and free all those presently incarcerated for non-violent drug related crimes, expunging their records.

9.      Restore the educational system to something designed to actually educate our children.

10.   Find a way to redistrict all states so as to allow for equal representation in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

11.   Get the money out of politics completely, while outlawing all political lobbying, beyond that of a single constituent lobbying his/her elected representative for something specific to his/her district.

12.   Ban all Gunz!

13.   Cut the Defense Department's budget by at least 75%.

14.   End foreign aid other than in times of natural disaster.

15.   Stop the sale of all arms and other weapons of war to all foreign entities.

16.   Provide health care to all citizens.

17.   Encourage participation in unions at all levels.

18.   Establish a fair minimum wage, above a bare subsistence level

19.   Set a cap on CEO salaries, based on a small percentage higher than the average worker wage.

20.   End all corporate welfare, while ensuring that corporations pay their fair share of taxes.