Amusing Absurdities: Falling thru Failing.

October 14th, 2008 9:30 am
Today, here in Northern Mexico (aka Canada) we head to the polls. Like our equally dysfunctional southern neighbour, our federal campaign was largely devoid of any serious discussion surrounding the country's general apathy towards our withering school system. All recent debates surrounding the current 'state of education' were framed around the same old ideological positions of our right and left wing parties. More funding vs. less taxes. No one was willing to engage in seriously engage the real problem. Illiteracy. No one was willing to highlight how continuing our presently flawed pedagogical policies was going to adversely effect our ability to graduate students able to innovate and compete on a global scale. In short, nobody was willing to state the obvious: that we are rearing yet another generation of marginal thinkers doomed to become marginal workers.

A hard message to for sure, no candidate had the fortitude to tell us parents/voters that our precious children are in danger of being raised stupid, illiterate, and ignorant. As such, Canada is seemingly doomed to join the US, hand in hand, as this entire continent slides into economic and social turmoil... and ultimately into insignificance. Pity.

Honesty and vision from our politicians may have been able to reverse this situation. But, of course, that would require those who aspire to power to actually challenge voters to demand more of their children, their schools, and most of all of themselves. Unfortunately, that is not a vote getter! Thus, we will continue to counter scholastic mediocrity until, one day, it will simply be too late.

One can only hope in their third debate that either Obama or McCain will take it upon themselves to address this issue; otherwise, by avoiding the failing's of the present - you, like we Canadians- will continue to undercut the promise of your future.

You know, there's a reason the 'fall of Rome' was so poorly chronicled by its citizenry. In the end, they were so utterly uneducated that it fell to others to write their history.

— BeerBellyBuddah, Winnipeg, Canada