Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Get in Front of the Inevitable

I have now rationed my TV time. The political cable shows just regurgitate the same fodder hour by hour, show by show. It is of no value. The reason to support a candidate is reduced to the smallest and ugliest of sound bites.

Who would vote for the "most conservative" candidate? I mean, really? Isn't the conservative mission to preserve what was and resist change? How can that be of any value in a world of change? The conservatives are using the digital media and that was not here to which the world conservatives want to return.

I have long ago given up resistance as a plan of attack. I believe that one must get "in front of the inevitable". If something is going to take place, why fight it? Shouldn't we just try to shape it?

I saw that online education was inevitable in 1994. I jumped on board and started developing online courses for my own teaching and to offer quality courses to others. It was a success.

As much as the powerful interests in government and the corporate world want to ignore the inevitable move to alternative energy, it cannot be stopped. Eventually, we will be "forced" to face the issue.

Also, inevitable is the need to educate those who have no resources. I would love to spend more money on the uneducated and less on the privileged. Why should be offer educational monies to those who have the financial ability to go to private school?

The government should fund only what it needs. If we need engineers and scientists then we should fund "public" institutions to provide the best of the best. Let the rich go to the private schools with no funding from the government.

As a musician I am willing to say that the government should not fund musicians, historians, psychologists, visual artists, etc. They will find their education in the private sector. Let the government fund what we need. (My fellow artists will be sending me hate mail.) If the private sector runs out of artists, they will start a training program focused on their needs just like the government should do now.

So let's "get in front of the inevitable". Let's stop messing around. In 1958 the government was behind when Sputnik was launched by the Soviets. The educational changes limited the arts to the degree we had the 60's. This was one of those pendulum swings in the extreme. We need an education think tank to help make the moves less radical.

Do you want to be part of this think tank?

Don Megill

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