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PAGE 4, DECEMBER 1, 2008, THE ISLANDER
D
C IrORJJIM
Letters to the Editor and Opinions
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Established 1972
Matthew J. Permar - Publisher
Elise J. Permar - Publisher 1972-2003
Gertrude Bradshaw - Co-Editor 1972-1991
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912-265-9654
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2008
Letter to the Editor
Dear Editor,
Your "Back Talk" of November 24th
was as usual dead-on. I'm sorry you
lost some subscribers but you can count
on me re-upping each year.
Now let's take a look at one of the big
three automotive CEO's of which I have
some knowledge ie. Robert Nardelli.
I retired from GE after 32 years and
the current CEO of Chrysler had spent
about the same amount of time at GE
during the same time frame.
Bob Nardelli was one of three on the
short list to compete for the CEO post
in which Jack Welch was retiring. He
came in third but landed the CEO job
at Home Depot.
When the first downturn in profits
occurred, the Home Depot Board asked
Nardelli to take a salary cut from his
prior year of $38 Million but he flatly
refused even a symbolic cut! His depar
ture came when the Board asked him
to tie his salary and stock options to
that of the falling Home Depot stock
prices. Again he refused.
For these reasons, along with his
management style, the Board was in
agreement to get him out of there,
it seems at any cost. He was given a
severance package amounting to $210
million in cash and stock.
Isn't it a bit ironic that he is one of
the three "fat cats" begging for tax pay
ers' bail-out money? The sad thing is,
I will bet that the Big Three and the
UAW will get the package regardless
of such a rip-off! If anyone wishes to
check into the validity of this simply go
to "Google" and search: Nardelli Home
Depot.
Truly,
Dave Melvin
St. Simons Island □
The Socialism of Public Schooling
By Jacob G. Hornberger
While the nation is on the subject
of socialism, we really ought to talk
about public schooling. With the pos
sible exception of the military, it's the
best example of a socialist institution
one could ever find. It's not a coin
cidence that public schooling is one
of Fidel Castro's favorite government
programs.
Actually, "public schooling" is a mis
nomer. It would be more accurate to call
it "government schooling" because it's
a government operation from start to
finish. That's different from, say, public
movie theaters or public restaurants.
Those are private businesses that are
open to the public.
Like the military, public schooling
operates in a top-down, command-and-
control manner. It's a perfect model of
socialistic central planning, a system
in which government officials plan and
direct the activities of the citizenry rath
er than simply leaving the citizenry free
to plan and direct their own affairs.
Whether the control comes from the
state government, through the state
department of education, or the local
government, through a school board,
the principle is the same — a group of
appointed or elected government offi
cials is directing the educational deci
sions of multitudes of students. That's
different from the private sector, where
consumers, through their spending
decisions, determine the direction of
entrepreneurial and business activity.
Government officials decide the text
books and the curricula in government
schools. Thus, they decide the substance
of what is to be taught to the students.
In socialist countries like Cuba, we usu
ally call that process indoctrination.
An American teacher might deviate
from time to time from official doctrine,
but if the deviation is major and per
sistent, the teacher will ultimately be
forced into conformity. For example,
suppose a schoolteacher begins teaching
students that the drug war is immoral
and destructive and, therefore, that
drugs should be legalized. Outraged
parents would bring their wrath down
upon the school board, which would
pressure the principal, who would send
an appropriate message to the teacher.
How are public schools financed?
Through coercion. Everyone, even peo
ple who do not have children, is taxed
to fund this government enterprise. It's
called taking money from everyone to
subsidize those who have children. Or
as Karl Marx would have described this
process of spreading the wealth, "From
each according to his ability, to each
according to his needs."
The private sector gets its money
differently. Private businesses must
produce goods and services that people
find sufficiently valuable to pay for vol
untarily.
How do government schools get their
customers? Through force. That's where
compulsory-attendance laws come into
play. If a parent fails to send his chil
dren into the public school system or
fails to subject them to some alternative
form of government-approved educa
tion (e.g., charter schools, government-
licensed private schools, or homeschool
ing), the parent is subjected to extreme
sanctions, including imprisonment. Of
course, that's not the way that busi
nesses in the private sector get their
customers.
What's the alternative to govern
ment schooling? No, not charter schools
or a voucher system or even a system
of government-licensed private schools
or government-supervised homeschool
ing. Those reforms leave government
Medicare Part D Training
and open enrollment
• 12/10 2 p.m. - 5 p.m. - College
of Coastal Georgia - Jericho
Computer Lab at Continuing Ed
Congressman Jack Kingston (R-
GA/01) is sponsoring a series of work
shops during the open enrollment sea
son for the Medicare Part D prescription
drug program. Those who are enrolled
or wish to enroll in the program must
sign up or make changes during the
open enrollment period which began
November 15 and ends December 31.
The following workshops are sched
uled:
Anyone eligible for this plan is
encouraged to attend. Staff from Geor
gia Cares, a program of the Georgia
Department of Human Resources and
Division of Aging Services and Area
Agencies on Aging, will also be on hand
to answer questions.
For information call Medicare at 1-
800-MEDICARE or visit http://www.
MEDICARE.gov or contact Georgia
Cares at 1-800-669-8387 to find a plan
that best suits their needs. For work
shop schedule questions call 912-367-
7403. □
in charge of education and continue to
rely on coercion.
Instead, the genuine alternative to
government schooling is a free market
in education — that is, an educational
system that is entirely free of govern
mental involvement — a total separa
tion of school and state. A free-market
educational system would operate the
same way that restaurants and movie
theaters operate. Consumers, not the
government, would decide the appro
priate educational vehicles for their
children, and businesses and entre
preneurs would supply those demands
by providing people with educational
products and services.
Advocates of government schooling
claim that parents are not competent
to make educational decisions for their
children. That raises an obvious ques
tion: Why not? Aren't most parents
products of public schooling? If public
schooling has produced a nation of
adults who lack the competence to
guide their children's education, why
do we want to continue a system that is
likely to produce the same result?
Jacob Hornberger is founder and
president of The Future of Freedom
Foundation (www.fff.org). □
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