Republic Rules - The U.S.A. is a great representative republic.

I’ve often spoke of the need for our education system to be reformed.  It has become too institutionalized, supports primarily the needs and wants of the teachers and teachers’ union (which has become one of the single largest political entities) rather than the requirements of the students, our children, the next generation of leaders of our country.

One of the best essays I have read on this topic is a math teacher’s description of how the subject is taught now and why this method fails.  I should note there that the author defines mathematics as being all about patterns, and that is what should be taught.

The Standard School Mathematics Curriculum

LOWER SCHOOL MATH. The indoctrination begins. Students learn that mathematics is not something you do, but something that is done to you. Emphasis is placed on sitting still, filling out worksheets, and following directions. Children are expected to master a complex set of algorithms for manipulating Hindi symbols, unrelated to any real desire or curiosity on their part, and regarded only a few centuries ago as too difficult for the average adult. Multiplication tables are stressed, as are parents, teachers, and the kids themselves.

MIDDLE SCHOOL MATH. Students are taught to view mathematics as a set of procedures, akin to religious rites, which are eternal and set in stone. The holy tablets, or “Math Books,” are handed out, and the students learn to address the church elders as “they” (as in “What do they want here? Do they want me to divide?”) Contrived and artificial “word problems” will be introduced in order to make the mindless drudgery of arithmetic seem enjoyable by comparison. Students will be tested on a wide array of unnecessary technical terms, such as ‘whole number’ and ‘proper fraction,’ without the slightest rationale for making such distinctions. Excellent preparation for Algebra I.

ALGEBRA I. So as not to waste valuable time thinking about numbers and their patterns, this course instead focuses on symbols and rules for their manipulation. The smooth narrative thread that leads from ancient Mesopotamian tablet problems to the high art of the Renaissance algebraists is discarded in favor of a disturbingly fractured, post-modern retelling with no characters, plot, or theme. The insistence that all numbers and expressions be put into various standard forms will provide additional confusion as to the meaning of identity and equality. Students must also memorize the quadratic formula for some reason.

GEOMETRY. Isolated from the rest of the curriculum, this course will raise the hopes of students who wish to engage in meaningful mathematical activity, and then dash them. Clumsy and distracting notation will be introduced, and no pains will be spared to make the simple seem complicated. This goal of this course is to eradicate any last remaining vestiges of natural mathematical intuition, in preparation for Algebra II.

ALGEBRA II. The subject of this course is the unmotivated and inappropriate use of coordinate geometry. Conic sections are introduced in a coordinate framework so as to avoid the aesthetic simplicity of cones and their sections. Students will learn to rewrite quadratic forms in a variety of standard formats for no reason whatsoever. Exponential and logarithmic functions are also introduced in Algebra II, despite not being algebraic objects, simply because they have to be stuck in somewhere, apparently. The name of the course is chosen to reinforce the ladder mythology. Why Geometry occurs in between Algebra I and its sequel remains a mystery.

TRIGONOMETRY. Two weeks of content are stretched to semester length by masturbatory definitional runarounds. Truly interesting and beautiful phenomena, such as the way the sides of a triangle depend on its angles, will be given the same emphasis as irrelevant abbreviations and obsolete notational conventions, in order to prevent students from forming any clear idea as to what the subject is about. Students will learn such mnemonic devices as “SohCahToa” and “All Students Take Calculus” in lieu of developing a natural intuitive feeling for orientation and symmetry. The measurement of triangles will be discussed without mention of the transcendental nature of the trigonometric functions, or the consequent linguistic and philosophical problems inherent in making such measurements. Calculator required, so as to further blur these issues.

PRE-CALCULUS. A senseless bouillabaisse of disconnected topics. Mostly a half-baked attempt to introduce late nineteenth-century analytic methods into settings where they are neither necessary nor helpful. Technical definitions of ‘limits’ and ‘continuity’ are presented in order to obscure the intuitively clear notion of smooth change. As the name suggests, this course prepares the student for Calculus, where the final phase in the systematic obfuscation of any natural ideas related to shape and motion will be completed.

CALCULUS. This course will explore the mathematics of motion, and the best ways to bury it under a mountain of unnecessary formalism. Despite being an introduction to both the differential and integral calculus, the simple and profound ideas of Newton and Leibniz will be discarded in favor of the more sophisticated function-based approach developed as a response to various analytic crises which do not really apply in this setting, and which will of course not be mentioned. To be taken again in college, verbatim.

And there you have it. A complete prescription for permanently disabling young minds — a proven cure for curiosity. What have they done to mathematics!

There is such breathtaking depth and heartbreaking beauty in this ancient art form. How ironic that people dismiss mathematics as the antithesis of creativity. They are missing out on an art form older than any book, more profound than any poem, and more abstract than any abstract. And it is school that has done this! What a sad endless cycle of innocent teachers inflicting damage upon innocent students. We could all be having so much more fun.

I encourage you to read Paul Lockhart’s entire essay here (25 pages).

The truly sad thing is… I am confident the same could be said about most other topics being “taught” in our schools.  Our education system is broken.  The existing “management” has failed… and will continue to fail… until we demand a radical change.

If our education system were a “regular business”, its poor reputation would push customers to other alternatives.  That’s already happening to a certain extent, but few can afford to pay twice for education (once in the mandated taxes we all pay and again as the tuition for the private school).  Today, those who can least afford to pay for a private school are locked in, the leaders of the eduation institution know i, and they take full advantage of the situation.

If our education system were a “regular business”, it very likely would have reached a point of failure where it would be acquired by a stronger, more customer-centric competitor.  Or it would have gone out of business.

Since our education system is a function of government, it will not go out of business… and has a built-in momentum to absorb more and more money without regard to the results (or lack thereof) that it achieves.

This is the way it will continue… until we DEMAND MORE. A change must occur soon or are doomed to mediocrity within a few more generations.

Before making my main point, let me acknowledge that the economy is not going great guns.  There are certainly some problems, the most significant (in my opinion) is all the fallout from the subprime housing market fiasco.

An aside:  The subprime mess could have been avoided and was fueled by both greed and politics from the beginning… this was a self-inflicted problem… but that’s another discussion.

On top of that, add the sudden spike in oil prices.  This would not have been so serious had the change been gradual, but the pace at which prices increased (which I believe was accelerated by speculation) added a huge emotional factor to the situation.

In my mind, it is remarkable that the economy is doing as well as it is DESPITE these two big factors!  It just shows that it is in better shape than many would have you believe.  That “many” would be most of the news media (AND certain politicians who will take advantage of any situation to further their own personal goals).   Unlike years past, objective reporting has gone out the window… it is a rarity today.  Instead, we get very biased “reporting” of most any event.

I’m getting very tired of the “glass half empty” perspective.  I’m not one for ignoring the facts or trying to delude myself that something bad is really good… but, all things being equal, I’d rather look on the positive side.

Recently, information was released that U.S. GDP grew 1.9% in the second quarter.  Not bad, since it was not a decline, but not as good as “experts” hoped after the stimulus package was released, so markets were down on the news and the media focused on all the bad aspects of our economy… which adds further fuel to a negative perception of the general public.  But, bad news “sells” more than good news.

I’ve spoken with a large number of business people in various industries and parts of our country… while all say “things could be better”, very few are really crying in their beer.  I’ve weathered some actual recessions and can clearly remember how customers and vendors .. not to mention family and friends… talked during those times.  It does not compare to today.  Not even close.

I’m willing to make a bet.

If the presidential candidate supported by most of the mass media wins, the reporting on the economy will take a sharp turn in a positive direction… our economy will become significantly better within minutes of the swearing in ceremony.

Any takers?

Occasionally, you hear people complain about our government suppressing the discussion of some controversial topic.  It is doubtful that actually occurs and it seems people like conspiracy ideas.   Most often, it is simply the government not releasing certain information for a specified reason, usually national security.

In this age of the internet and world commerce, it’s hard for governments to keep secrets from its citizen… but some still try.  With the world spotlight on the 2008 Olympics, China is making true efforts to restrict access to certain topics.  This is an example of pure censorship… and is not even close to anything claimed in our country.  Sometimes, it’s good to have an example to compare with.

We enjoy many freedoms in the U.S.A. and each one of us should work hard to keep them.  When the government interferes with our legitimate activities, it is a loss of freedom for us.  If we want to eat certain foods, that should be OUR decision.  If we want to do business, so long as others are not hurt, we should be allowed to do it.

When governments get between people and their freedom, it creates a conflict… because those who run government are people, too… and that means some people control other people.  They are, therefore, not equal.  To one extent or another, some people become slaves.

And slavery cannot be allowed to exist.