The public dish.
Looking at old literature, the role of government is to provide security in exchange for taxes. Society became accustomed to this arrangement since the evolution from the agricultural revolution to the feared information revolution. People started farming and having settlements, thus needing to ensure their property entered the contract with chiefs or kings to pay tax in return for security. In modern days, the menu of what these so-called security entail has expanded substantially. From the provision of property and personal security to water, roads, schools and just about anything the society does not need to be responsible for. Self-determination has reduced to the government’s determination.
The challenge comes when the interests of the chef are not in line with those who intend to have the meal. Think about just anything government officials do, try find what policies do politician introduce for the masses or laws enacted of which they themselves subscribes to. They pass financial laws to govern how the public should do their financial dealings… just not themselves. They budget free education for the masses… but not their own children. They run campaigns during election with promises to address all public goods issues, then after winning move to cities with no such public infrastructure shortages and come back in 5 years with bravado and such to request votes.
They even sign contracts which affect generations after they are gone, so long as it does not affect them. Often to look like they are doing their job, they sign, say trade contracts, without due diligence and when questioned, they assure us with rather lame statements that trade is not a non-zero-sum game. One wonders whether they truly understand the game theory of non-zero-sum or have they merely borrowed such a word to mute the questions being asked and provide an assurance that all is well. Maybe that the public does suffer such fools lightly and this is its cultural trait? I wonder. Is all really well?
Don’t get me wrong, I understand the role of Eton, or St. (put your favorite saint) is to produce well-read people, men of letter if you must, to manage these low-class citizens who are ill-trained in all these other institutions such as “Saint Precarious”. My fear is that the message is not well communicated to them. These policy prescriptions are not only in education, but they are also just about everywhere in our society — just look a little bit harder. The teacher’s child is not in the same class as your child, or the ward councilors child nor the MP’s child or even the ministers! Look around!
Quality education is expensive true, and the difference between you and them is evident in the school fees in place to distance you and them. It is not going down any time soon, the graph is upward sloping. l leaves you to be the judge of whether you got a raw deal in this very thing called education or not.
My ending quote for today: “College doesn’t make fools, it develops them, it doesn’t make bright men, it develops them. A fool will turn out a fool, whether he goes to college or not, though he’ll probably turn out a different sort of a fool. And a good strong boy will turn out bright, strong man whether he’s worn smooth in the grab what you want and eat standing with one eye skinned for the dog school of the streets and stores or polished up and slicked down in the give your order to the waiter and get a sixteen course dinner school of the professors. But while the lack of college can’t keep №1 down, having it boosts №2 up’’. –Letters of a self-made Merchant to his son. Letter 1.
