Education Has Missed Windows Of Opportunity
Editorial by Pete Ketcham
We are all familiar with the term “Window of Opportunity”, and we can no doubt look back in our personal lives and see missed Windows of Opportunity.
The following are two definitions of “Window of Opportunity”:
“A favorable opportunity for doing something that must be seized immediately if it is not to be missed”
“A window of opportunity is a period of time during which some action can be taken that will achieve a desired outcome. Once this period is over, or the “window has closed”, the specified outcome is no longer possible.”
History is replete with numerous world changing missed Windows of Opportunity. As a student of WW2 history I always think of the missed opportunity to have stopped Hitler when he violated the “Treaty of Versailles” by crossing the Rhine River. At that time France alone had enough divisions to “roll up” the small German army and discredit Hitler as a leader, but instead did nothing. Four years later Hitler “rolled up” France as the Germans went around and over the fortified French Maginot line with their Panzer tanks, and Stuka dive bombers.
In like kind, I see to day where the conservatives had a window of opportunity in the early 60’s to stop the progressive liberals from taking control of the US education system, but like France, did nothing. I have lamented and complained for the last ten years that the conservatives should have retaken control (we had it once) of the school system, but now have had to accept the fact that the “window has closed, and the specified outcome is no longer possible.”
This is not to say that conservative control of the school system can never happen, but like the long and bloody war against Germany, it is going to get much worse, before it gets better, as the present education system churns out young Socialists by the millions every year.
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We do have opportunities now, for those with
enough education and knowledge of our constitution and the real history of America can and should ( by all means ) spread the truth and knowledge of what’s Real and Truthful.
Not all if our future is lost due to the fact not all schools fell into or grabbed into the common core communistic teachings of the last 30-40 years. Hand out some pocket Constitution’s,Bill of Rights, Our Declaration of Independence along with a small flag.
Learn, Teach, Speak Up.
Let The Truth Prevail. It isn’t going to happen overnight so have patience and keep moving the ball forward. Keep The Faith.
God Bless America.
There are some simple truths to start off with:
* If something is important enough to someone they will seek info and learn about it themselves.
* Making a person learn is only training.
* Real learning means a person can then, to a satisfactory level, justify what they are doing or the position they take…from the ground up.
Take Nathaniel Greene who on his lunch breaks from his Father’s foundry would read anything he could get his hands on; and even though his leg was gimped became one of George Washington’s most trusted and able Generals.
Or, later, Nathaniel Green and Thomas Paine observed struggling to figure out physics problems on a drum head during the cold winter at Valley Forge.
I understand the emotion behind this article; I have missed plenty of opportunities; I should be a whole lot smarter than I am; because for everything that I do know all that has exposed is the amount that I don’t know.
Which brings us to an observation about the quality of the information we expose ourselves to and our methods of conversation.
When the telegraph came online people started abbreviating and contracting their messages to save money; leading to that aspect of life becoming entrenched in everyday life. Likewise, the abridgment of literary works, which culls a lot of meat off their bones. For instance, “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court” by Mark Twain is a sharp biting political criticism but all most people know about the story is the cartoon version. Also, “Democracy in America” by Alexis de Tocqueville is six large volumes but most people who have delved into that work take up the abridged paperback version.
There is a saving grace in our technological world whose aspect is noted poignantly by an unlikely source, Pamela Anderson, who said, “I feel asleep by the pool listening to an audio book of ‘Moby Dick’ and when I awoke knew how to cut and store whale blubber.” How kewl is that?
Audio Books have greatly expanded my political education, my preferred method of self-education is to listen to the audio book while I work (as a software programmer) while having a .txt or .pdf version of the work open to harvest paragraphs, quotes, my own thoughts, or note other lines of inquiry.
I have not read these works, but thanks to people who have made these works available as audio books ( http://librivox.org ) I can share the ideas from these books and use them as a point of reference in my conversations:
“The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” by Edward Gibbons
“The Wealth of Nations” by Adam Smith
“The Social Contract” by Jean Jacque Rousseau
“Narrative of a Revolutionary Soldier” by Joseph Plumb Martin
…and much more.