Out of the blue a truth about Neo Liberals came to me- they're losers, total failures. At the top are a few greedy tax dodgers like the Koch Brothers funding their movement. Then the arguers, apologists, and debate club pains-in-the-asses who are the "intellectuals". And there are a handful of true color Libertarians, as much as 1% of the electorate. The vast majority of knuckledraggers, almost to a man an "independent contractor", have failed so horribly in the world of paid employment that they had to become the sainted small businessman yeomanry because they totally failed at working with others. Don't give me any laid off bullshit- you got the sack solely because you are an asshole.
Why do they blame the gubmint for every evil? Because they won't take responsibility for their own failures. They know, although few have read Ayn Rand (Ayn Rand, Ein Reich, Ein Volk), that they would be just miserable in a Randian/Libertarian/Neo Liberal fantasy land. Why do they hate people like me, even worse off than they are? The pecking order.
Someone above them pecks their head and instead of taking it and moving on, they peck the next man down. They want nothing less than the return of slavery. They want someone to grovel at their feet for every crumb so they can feel power in a world in which they can't function. Pathetic.
There are 300 million of us. Government is the way we manage competing interests. The magic of the market is just that- sleight of hands, mirrors, and pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. One fine day in 2008 nobody bought or sold bonds. NO ONE. Market failure- who bailed out the market? Did The Market bail out the market? You did, asshole. Grow up.
Showing posts with label United States. Show all posts
Showing posts with label United States. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Teacher Seniority
There is a story in today's Globe about teachers' unions disagreements about ending teacher seniority. Since I cannot leave a comment on their website I'll put it here.
The three worst high school teachers I had, had the most seniority. One was a not past-it, but never there former football coach. I was his favorite because all we did was play trivia quizzes and I aced them. His colleagues dipped into department funds to buy out his contract, just to get rid of him. "Cut my budget and raise my teaching load? Where do I sign?"
Then we had a French teacher who was a great years before, but lapsed into indifference. He lived in Manchester and taped Hollywood movies dubbed into French from CKSH. We watched "Shining: L'enfant lumière" complete with ads for the Sherbrooke Pontiac dealer on numerous occasions.
Then we had an English teacher who would pick out a few un-favorites and give them grief, always threatening to fail us (I was one victim) because 4 years of English is a requirement in New Hampshire. One friend transferred out because there was another class in his period. One day she sent me to the principal to have me kicked out. I said no because I was goddamned if I was going to spend another year in school. The principal called my father with the line "we've never had a complaint about this teacher" which I knew from older students was bullshit. The principal, known for stern discipline, slowly slumped in his chair and turned ashen as my father reamed him out over the phone. Result- I stayed, my grade went from 50 to 96; she stayed and pulled the same theatrics the next year.
And don't forget the calculus teacher who was more concerned that we copy down what she wrote than understand it. The guy with the best grade ignored her and read the textbook instead. I never thought of a textbook as a cohesive text before.
All 30 year veterans.
On the other hand, we had a great English teacher who actually cared that we do well. She got the sack after her first and only year because it was "last in, first out" for the pension patriots. That was in 1991. Who knows if this dedicated, caring woman ever taught again, public or private? How many thousands more teaching graduates will never get the chance to shine, toiling in the drudgery of temping and waitressing while the hacks pack their pension.
Keeping seniority will doom whatever sprigs of hope pop up in public education, and forever engrave "Those who can, do, Those who can't, teach" into America's future.
The three worst high school teachers I had, had the most seniority. One was a not past-it, but never there former football coach. I was his favorite because all we did was play trivia quizzes and I aced them. His colleagues dipped into department funds to buy out his contract, just to get rid of him. "Cut my budget and raise my teaching load? Where do I sign?"
Then we had a French teacher who was a great years before, but lapsed into indifference. He lived in Manchester and taped Hollywood movies dubbed into French from CKSH. We watched "Shining: L'enfant lumière" complete with ads for the Sherbrooke Pontiac dealer on numerous occasions.
Then we had an English teacher who would pick out a few un-favorites and give them grief, always threatening to fail us (I was one victim) because 4 years of English is a requirement in New Hampshire. One friend transferred out because there was another class in his period. One day she sent me to the principal to have me kicked out. I said no because I was goddamned if I was going to spend another year in school. The principal called my father with the line "we've never had a complaint about this teacher" which I knew from older students was bullshit. The principal, known for stern discipline, slowly slumped in his chair and turned ashen as my father reamed him out over the phone. Result- I stayed, my grade went from 50 to 96; she stayed and pulled the same theatrics the next year.
And don't forget the calculus teacher who was more concerned that we copy down what she wrote than understand it. The guy with the best grade ignored her and read the textbook instead. I never thought of a textbook as a cohesive text before.
All 30 year veterans.
On the other hand, we had a great English teacher who actually cared that we do well. She got the sack after her first and only year because it was "last in, first out" for the pension patriots. That was in 1991. Who knows if this dedicated, caring woman ever taught again, public or private? How many thousands more teaching graduates will never get the chance to shine, toiling in the drudgery of temping and waitressing while the hacks pack their pension.
Keeping seniority will doom whatever sprigs of hope pop up in public education, and forever engrave "Those who can, do, Those who can't, teach" into America's future.
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