Protesting God's Chosen People: What's Happening on America's College Campuses?

Originally I had intended to write about the protests taking place on several college and university campuses in America, however, I realized that there was much more going on here. The protests appear to be about  a number of issues such as college investments in the defense industry, at least partly, by disinvesting  of anything which supports Israel. 

They want  their school to disinvest of anything which supports Israel. They are also protesting Israel ending its so-called "genocide" of Gaza and occupation of Palestine. What's more is that the protesters have started shouting down Jewish students on campus and blocking them from class. In short, these are anti-Israeli protests, which is a rarity here in America. They have become anti-Semitic protests. 

In addition, the protestors would like to see a change in U.S. foreign policy towards Israel. Specifically cutting back or eliminating all military support and ending what some call America's "blanket approval" of supporting nearly everything Israel does, especially towards the Palestine.  

There's big money in war and no doubt the various institutions are making good money on their investments in the defense industry. Keeping the U.S. a war footing  is a great way to stimulate an otherwise lackluster economy. Also many of these colleges have 6+ figure contracts with the DoD and defense contractors to conduct research for them and don't forget, college campuses are stocked with potential recruits like fish in a pay lake!

While the students would like to see a change in U.S. foreign policy toward Israel, the exchange of goods aren't the primary concern of the students. Their focus is on what the U.S. provides Israel in terms of military aid. That figure is around $15 billion dollars. 

Of that, the majority of the money---$5 billion---goes towards Israel's "Iron Dome" which is used to protect Israel from missile attacks, primarily launched by Hezbollah and Hamas (and more recently, ISIS and Al Qaeda operating in Syria). In addition, the U.S. military, with President Biden's authorization, has agreed to replenish all of Israel's ammunition used in their war with Hamas.

The protestors are also calling for Israel to end its reprisal against Hamas because of all the deaths and injuries of civilians in Gaza. In listening to some of these protestors (many of whom are wearing a Palestinian "keffiyeh" or headscarf made famous by the terrorist group "Black September" when they murdered the Israel Olympic team in 1976), they seem to think that the war is Israel's fault.

The truth is that Hamas, a terrorist organization which hijacked the government in Gaza, attacked Israelis at a open concert on October 7th, murdering 1,139 individuals (695 civilians, 373 members of the security force, and 71 foreign nationals), not including the dozens who were beaten and raped, nor does it include the hostages taken by Hamas.

Israel, which had been enduring dozens of missile attacks by Hamas on a regular basis, made the decision to put an end to Hamas, and who could blame them? How many times do you have to keep getting hit by rocks before you decide to fight back? No other nation (the U.S., China, and Russia included) would have tolerated this, and Israel won't either.

As an aside, Russia has repeatedly responded to terrorist attacks by Georgian separatists and groups like ISIS-K with at least equal ferocity. Meanwhile, while not facing large scale terror attack, China has had a number of smaller scale terror, but nevertheless responded with equal zeal and intensity.

It should also be pointed out that while Hamas is "officially" the government of Gaza following the overthrow of the previous government, it is a terrorist organization first and foremost. It has regularly used civilians as shields. It routinely fires missile batteries hidden in schools or next to hospitals and mosques. Homeowners are forced at gunpoint to allow Hamas to store weapons and ammo in their homes. It intercepts humanitarian aid and sells it on the global black market to buy more weapons.

The people of Gaza see only a fraction of the aid sent to them. Recently, there was a report of dozens of UN and other trucks packed with food, fresh water, medical supplies, and clothes, however, they were hung up on the Israeli side of the border. Do you think that's out of spite by Israel?

No. It's because Israel was await for a safe opportunity to release the vehicles out of concern that Hamas will hijack the shipment and either sell it or store it for its own use. The other problem was that if Israel escorted the convoy in, there would be a strong chance the convoy could be ambushed, killing Israeli soldiers, aid workers, and Gaza residents. 

Other issues being promoted by the protestors is their claims that Israel is engaged in genocide and/or is an apartheid nation along the lines of South Africa (if you want to accuse anyone of genocide, look no further than here and our treatment of Native Americans). Israel is home to Christians, Jews, and Arabs. In fact, ethnic Jews comprise about 73.6% of the population while 21% are Arabs. While the majority of these a Muslim, there is a sizable population of Druze and Arab Christians. 

Roughly 45% of Jews living in Israel are "Mizrahi" or Oriental Jews, meaning they come from North Africa or Asia. 31.8% are Ashkenazi or European Jews. Many descend from survivors of the Holocaust (originally, most of the founders and settlers of Israel were Ashkenazi). 12.4% came from Soviet Russia or one of the Soviet Bloc nations. 3% are "Beta" Jews from Ethiopia (meaning they're also racially black Africans). Finally, about 7.9% are a mix.

About 21% of Israel's population is Arab. Most are Sunni Muslim, although there are some affiliated with the Shiite "Alawites". 18% are either Druze or Christian Arabs. Palestinians account for about 20% of Israel's population. It should be pointed out that the Palestinians in the West Bank also operate their own government (the same government had been ousted by Hamas in Gaza).

As an aside, while the overall population of Jews are shrinking in Israel, the population of Muslims are growing and will likely outnumber Jews within the next few generations. In addition, Israel is home to Christian Copts, Assyrian Christians, nomadic Bedouins, Samaritans, Armenians, and Circassians.

So, in looking at the demographics as noted above, it would appear these college protesters would have a hard time trying to justify their claim that Israel is actually a apartheid state in the sense that there are many diverse populations living in this small nation. 

I would be amiss in pointing out that Israel has repeatedly given up land in exchange for peace, ranging from the Sinai to the West Bank to parts of southern Lebanon and Western Syria.  In practically every occasion, the peace has been broken (and not by Israel), leaving the region in much the same position as it had been.

However, I don't want to make it appear that Israel has entirely clean hands and everything is the fault of the Palestinians, which is hardly the case. Israel's greatest flaw in dealing with the Palestinians has to do with the small but extremely influential Jewish hardliners. One such group is the "Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement". 

Their notoriety stems from their occupation of the Temple Mount in East Jerusalem and demands to allow Jews to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque (the third holiest mosque in Islam). Of course, behind their "demands" is a deep seated belief that the Temple Mount is historically theirs and the mosque needs to be removed so that a Third Temple can be built there. 

It's worth noting that there are many fundamentalist Christians who believe the same thing, albeit for slightly different reasons. They believe that the Third Temple was be built on the Temple Mount in order to facilitate the Second Coming of Jesus. 

Obviously, that doesn't set well with either Palestinians, moderate Jews., or with Muslims everywhere. Nevertheless, while it seems that all sides are aware of what would likely happen should anything happened to the mosque, the hard core extremists don't seem to care since, from their perspective, God will intervene on their behalf.

Groups like the "Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful" believe in the old boundaries of the Jewish Kingdom which allegedly stretched from Egypt's border to the Euphrates River in Iran and encompassing parts of Syria and Lebanon. They also believe that only Jews should live in Israel. That means forcing out anyone who doesn't belong there, especially the Palestinians.

As a result, these ultra conservative groups regularly establish illegal settlements (some seem to rise literally overnight). Often they force Palestinians out of their homes overnight, barely giving them time to pack. They routinely defy police and even the military sent in to stop them. While these Palestinians can and do file complaints with the Israeli government or try to resist, the government is typically reluctant to do anything. and the settlers usually prevail.

Currently there are over 279 illegal settlements, comprised of  around 3500 housing units in the West Bank which include approximately 700,000 settlers living there. There are around 200,000 illegal settlers living in East Jerusalem.  

But while these extreme Orthodox settlers are responsible for much of the land grab of Palestinian land, they aren't the only ones. The Israeli government is known to show up occasionally (complete with bulldozers) and just announce they are taking possession of the land.

In March of 2024, the government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, announced they were seizing some 2000 acres in the Palestinian West Bank, which is suppose to belong solely to the Palestinian people and the Palestinian government. 

The ultra conservative finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, who lives in an illegal settlement, said there was "no room for half measures" and added that Israel has a historical right to Judea and Samaria (modern West Bank). U.N Human Rights Chief, Volker Turk called the move a "international war crime".  

So, what does all this tell us about the college protesters and their demands? Colleges aren't going to disinvest their interests in defense industry stocks any more than they're going to turn down multimillion dollar research contracts from the DoD or military contractors. It just ain't going to happen. Israel was the one who was brutally attacked on October 7th, but then too, they had been under regular missile attacks by Hamas. The October 7th attack (massacre would be a more accurate term) begged for a quick and severe response, which Israel delivered.

It's true that the situation in Gaza is beyond critical. It is quickly approaching a human catastrophe on an epic scale, yet Israel is prepared to render immediate aid. Nevertheless, Hamas continues to see the people of Gaza only as pawns and human shields. What happens to them matters less than making Israel look bad in the world's eyes, which it has done.

Hamas has the added advantage of winning the propaganda war with American college students who have swallowed Hama's "BS" hook, line, and sinker. As an aside, it also shows how little American college students know about the Middle East and how lazy they've become in doing their due diligence when it comes to proper research before staging protests.  

Lastly, Israel is not technically an apartheid state. It has a wide and diverse population with the largest minority---the Arabs---likely to dominate the nation within the next 100 years if not sooner. However, where the students are correct is the treatment of Palestinians.

Despite the Israeli government's rhetoric about equality, it's clear that the Palestinians are treated no better than second class citizens...at best. They remind me of Native Americans during the "Great Westward Migration". Any lie and by any means will do as long as they're gone. Somehow, the people of Israel must do what the government is to afraid to do, and that's to say "no" to the extremist.

One more thing about the protestors. Something has been happening on these college and university campuses which I didn't think was possible in America. It's not the brazen defying of administration (that's pretty cool actually) although there will be consequences. No, what we've started seeing is the rise of anti-Semitism among some of the students and its tolerance by others. Anti-Semitism is an evil as vile as any. It should be snuffed out wherever it's found.

The Israeli people must link arms with the Palestinians. They must see and accept them as neighbors. Israelis need to remember Rabbi Hillel's famous quote "what is hateful to you do not do to your neighbor". Until this happens, the situation will continue to worsen until something unforgivable happens. When that occurs there will be no more Palestinians and no more Israel. Only tears.

 

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Israel Policy Forum: West Bank Settlements

Who are the Israeli settlers and why do they live onPalestinian lands?

The hardline Israelis stoking violence in East Jerusalem

Demographics of Israel

Uyghur Genocide: Why Most Muslim Countries Remain Silent

 

How to End Student Debt in a Sensible Way

Well, old  "Doddering Joe" Biden has been out on the campaign trail again peddling one of his few big issues---paying off everybody's school debt. It seems a shame that after nearly four years in office, and he has virtually nothing to show for except a disaster with Afghanistan and a rocky economy. Even the school debt matter is little more than pie in the sky, but at least it sounds good to college students and hopefully, at least for Biden, that will translate into votes this November.

I guess you can't blame the students. Most of these young adults have racked up thousands of dollars in debt without thinking much about the long term consequences. The average tuition cost for 2021-2022 academic year was $10,740 for resident students at four year colleges. For out of state students it's double that at $27,560 dollars. Room and board for the academic years runs an additional $11,950.

Is any wonder that the average college student carries a debt of $38,290 according to Experian (this is usually in the form of federal student loans). Private student loan debts amount to $54,921. The total academic debt exceeds $1.74 trillion dollars, and that's the amount Biden is wanting us to pick up the tab for, which begs the question, just where does Biden think that money will come from?

Maybe he thinks we can just take it out of our savings account, but oh wait, nearly a quarter of Americans don't have a savings account. 23% of Americans can't come up with $1000 for an emergency. Of those who do have a savings account, 49% have less than $500 while 36% have $100 or less available!

In fact, according to a 2023 survey by Payroll.org, 78% or over 3/4 of all Americans live paycheck to paycheck, which is a 6% increase over 2022. The average American's  household debt runs about $104,250. In 2023, the total mortgage debt of all Americans was $12,252 trillion dollars! 

So how do most Americans live? They borrow it! The average credit card for household in 2023 was $6,501. Nationally credit card debt amounted to $1,129 trillion dollars. In married households, it common that both adults work. Some often hold down two or sometimes three jobs to make ends meet. 

Is it any wonder that 11.6% of Americans live at or below the national poverty line? That's roughly 37.9 million of us. Again, I ask where President Biden thinks we're going to find the money to take on someone else's debt when we can't pay our own? Obviously the student debt---all $1.74 trillion dollars of it---isn't simply going to vanish into the blue.

One way would be for Biden to ask the Federal Reserve to print money to pay the student debt. The problem with that is printing off more money isn't magic. "Someone" still has to pick up the tab, that "someone" is usually the U.S. taxpayer in the form of inflation.

 With inflation, the costs of pretty much everything goes up, from food, medical care, and mortgage to the costs of utilities and interests rates on damn near everything, but usually not wages. Thus you have to pay more with the same amount of money.   

The U.S. sells its debt in the form of Treasury bonds. This, however, is nothing more than kicking the "honey pot" down the road a short piece while paying interest on top of it. Bear in mind too that countries like China, a potential nemesis, owns about 10.17% of our debt (Japan owns the most at 14.52%. The UK is third with 9.16% of our debt). U.S. investors (mostly corporate) owns the most at 32.5% followed by foreign corporate investors which own 29.3%.

When looking at college debt, 53% of federal student loan debt is $20,000 or less. 47% of college debt is actually owed by just 10% of college students who have debt in access of $80,000. 51% of those with a bachelor's degree owe under $30,000. 10% of students have private student loans (which also tend to have higher interest rates ) also had almost double the student debt.

So, with all that debt, how many graduates found work in their chosen field? Most studies show that just 47% are using the their degree in the field  of their choice (the majority of those are in fields like computer science, accounting, actuary science, medicine, or law).

What's of note is that 52% of college graduates are underemployed a year after graduation or not working in their academic field.  33% are unemployed one year after graduating. Meanwhile, 47% have jobs which don't require a four year college degree! To put it another way, it means a substantial number of college graduates have degrees in which there is little or no demand for regardless of their GPA and they're stuck with a big ole debt.

Unfortunately, the majority of those going to college are doing so because they've been conditioned to think a college education is the only way to get a decent job. In fact, there's almost an entire industry that's trying to convince high school students to go to college!

They hear it from their teachers, from guidance counselors to college enrollment professionals (many of whom earn a commission for every student enrolled) and companies peddling loans. Many HR people have changed their job requirements to require a four year degree when in the past a simply high school diploma was all that was needed (if that!) without changing the salary or benefit levels very much. 

In Europe (and most notably Germany which ranks first in the world with a 99% literacy rate and a academic performance ranking of .94%  out of 1.00%), they have a much more advanced approach when it comes to education. Children, beginning in pre-school, are evaluated at regular intervals to measure their interests, aptitudes, and academic performance to determine whether a child should be steered toward the trades or higher education.

It needs pointing that in Europe, unlike America, there is no stigma among children going one track or the other, and no child is locked into a given path. They may opt to change direction at their discretion (along with the parent's approval). In addition, as in America, the trades often pay well, they're in high demand, and often offer good benefits. Finding a unemployed plumber, carpenter, or electrician in Europe (or anywhere else) is damn near impossible!

America needed to revamp its academic system and adopt something similar. Not every individual needs to go to college and not every job requires a four year degree...or its crippling debt. Secondly, the requirements to graduate from high school has been repeatedly "dumbed down" since the late 1960's (at the same time schools started throwing out the need for discipline in classrooms). Want proof? Compare a math, English, or science book from the 1950's with one from now. How many students today could successfully get through one? Not many.

We've developed the bad habit of "flunking" students forward out of fear of upsetting their fragile little egos or angering their parents and getting sued. Teachers spend more time babysitting or worrying about getting jumped than teaching. The result is an academic system which has failed everyone.

It's time to return to stronger academic requirements...and performance in order to graduate.  For students who don't want to learn or disrupt others, get them out of the classroom since it's doubtful the "board of education" will ever be reintroduced. Nevertheless, there's no reason these individuals should be allowed to interfere with the education of those there to learn.

As an aside, during the 2021/22 school year, Homeland Defense reported 327 school related shootings resulting in 188 deaths or injuries. During the same period, 43% of  educators know of a teacher, principal, or someone affiliated with the public school system who've been assaulted by at least one student (often they're jumped by groups). Of this, 20% have been principals. Attacks on school bus drivers have risen 121% between 2001 and 2022. This is completely unacceptable. 

Suspending them does no good. That's what they want---to be out of school. Put them to work doing something they don't want to do like janitorial work at the local jail or prison. Maybe assign them to picking up trash along the roads. Send them to a "juvi" bootcamp. Let them find out what life without a solid education is really like.

As an aside, high school teachers and academic advisors need to change their mindset. Not every student needs to be guided toward college or the military.  The military is a good option for some people, but not all. Not everyone has the right temperament or physical ability for the military. For those who do, they can get good job training if they pick the right rating or MOS (always think about whether your selected MOS or rating is easily transferable to the civilian world after you get out). The military also offers decent benefits, and you'll sure grow up fast!

For those not going to college or lack the urge to "be all they can be", there's the trades. Often overlooked or ignored, the trades are a great way to make a living and provide for a family. First, the pay can be great. So can the benefits. You can work for yourself or someone else (a terrific option to gain experience). You can go union or not. Basic training is generally short and often there is little or no debt. Lastly, there's a huge and growing demand for most all trades. It is a seriously great way to go.

America has a failing  (or failed) school system. Academically, the United States ranks 36th in world for mathematics and 24th in science. By comparison, the top five highest scores in math all go to Asian countries. The Scandinavian countries rank in the top tier across the board.

Overall, the U.S. in 33rd out of 44 advanced industrial countries academically, placing us in the middle of the bottom tier. It's common in the U.S. nowadays for employers (including the military) to provide remedial classes in reading comprehension and basic math for so .   How do we expect to compete globally with results like that?

Next, employers need to reevaluate their job requirements. Does every position actually require a four year degree? If so, then you need to also reevaluate your pay scale and be prepared to pay out a lot more for your potential new employees. Otherwise, employers need to bring their job requirements more in line with what the job actually calls for.

The world doesn't need another art major any more than it needs another gender or race centered major. If we're to reduce college debt, either colleges are going to need to cut their tuition rates (which won't ever happen) or a new approach is going to have to happen to help graduates quickly gain employment to they can start paying off their debt.

That means they need to reassess their choice of majors. All new admissions or undecided majors, along with school councilors, need to review each student's proposed major/minor. Part of the review needs to include a look as the job demand for that particular degree. If there is little or no demand for that job, the applicant must either choose a new major or include a second major (or expanded minor) in a field where there is a demand that's complementary to their major.

For instance, if an applicant choose history as a major, then they need to back that up with courses in something like law, biology, or financial analysis; something where there's an actual demand in the job market. If they choose an art major, then they need to support it with a expanded advertising or marketing minor. The same goes with gender or African-American studies, anthropology, humanities, and so forth. If they combine their desired degree with something employable to fall back on then maybe they can stay out of their parent's basement!

Another opinion is to offer lower interest rates to students pursuing degrees that are in demand, thus making them less of a risk to the lender.  The average interest rate among all student borrowers is 6.87% for federal loans (just over 94% of all student loans. For undergraduate loans, it's a little less at 5.50%.  For those seeking graduate or professional degrees, the interest rates on loans range from around 7.05% to 8.5%. Interest rates from private lenders varies wildly, typically from 3.99% to 13.99 for fixed rates and 5.24% to 13.99% on variable rates.

Much of this is determined by the borrower's credit history and employment status. Other factors include their current debt load or whether they have a co-signer or not and their credit worthiness.  If someone is majoring in a degree where there is a demand, and thus the likelihood of  them getting hired quicker, they would obviously be a better credit risk and thus should be rewarded with better credit terms.

But none of this is what President Biden is peddling. His solution is to wave his magic ink pen and make all student debt suddenly disappear---poof! Just like they never promised to pay it back. Maybe this would be their final lesson --- you don't have to take responsibly for the decisions you make. "Someone" (meaning the government) will bail you out, which means everyone else will have to pay for your bad choices and broken promises.

If you think about it, it kinda makes sense in a twisted sort of way. The United States is the worse debtor nation in the world. The federal debt tops $34 trillion dollars and yet it routinely spends money it doesn't have. Washington can barely make payment on just the interest, which was $725 billion dollars as of July 2023. That's 14% of entire federal budget. But no worries. They can always raise the debt ceiling and go on their merry way!

At the same time, unlike nearly household in America, Washington has consistently refused to adopt a balanced budget amendment which would prohibit them from spending more than they take in.  Is it any wonder then that college graduates and others should expect someone else to pay their bills?

 

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What is the average student loan debt in 2024--- and whatare the impacts?

Average debt in America: 2023 statistics

Nearly Half Have Less Than $500 in Savings: How To Build UpYour Balance in 2024

Average Cost of College Tuition

 

37.9 million Americans are living in poverty, according tothe U.S. Census. But the problem could be far worse

Living Paycheck to Paycheck Statistics 2024

58 Trade school vs. college statistics for 2022

New college grads are more likely to be unemployed in today's job market

Average Student Loan Interest Rate

The State of America's Education System: How Low Can You Go?

I've always been a strong proponent of education. Education, as far as I'm concerned, is the linchpin to society. An educated populace is a productive populace; capable of doing a vast variety of work. This attracts businesses which generates taxes (both direct and indirect), as well as attracts other peripheral businesses, and so it continues. The result is often a community which offer a wide range of amenities, such as parks, museums, restaurants, as well as a strong social and structural infrastructure, from up-to-date sewer systems, electrical grids, clean water to adequate and well trained police, EMS, and firefighters. It should also include not just well paid teachers, but teachers who are as well respected and appreciated as some sports coach.

Without a strong educational foundation, nothing in society works (or at least very well). If you have a well educated population, you should have a society of individuals capable of critical thinking skills, an understanding of history, geography, political science and Civics; who have a general appreciation of world literature as well as the ability to perform basic mathematical computations, the sciences, and diagram sentences in order to write and speak properly. 

I would add that a well rounded graduate of high school should have completed an art or art appreciation, music class, or theater class. Kids that take what they want, without being intellectually challenged leave school underserved by not just the teachers, but the entire school system as well. Many are simply "flunked through" because of pressure by parents and the school system not to hold students back out of concern that it will "damage their self-esteem", not to mention how it makes the school system look to voters.

As a result, both the student and society often end up paying the price. The student-now-adult often finds that their nonchalant attitude in school now makes them virtually unemployable. Many take low paying and unrewarding jobs. Some end up in criminal gangs, which eventually leads to prison and/or the cemetery. 

 For the girls, they often end up pregnant and more often than not, on their own since their boyfriends end up being more immature and irresponsible "boys" than men. Either way, an significant portion end up on public assistance (tax supported charity in truth). The same goes with those who just want to concentrate on sports. Fewer than 1 in a 1000 every actually make it into professional sports and make the obscenely big money. That's some pretty poor odds.

Those who do succeed need more than athletic ability. They need the intellectual ability to think critically, to hold a reasonably intelligent (and intelligible) conversation. Most of all, they need to be able to properly interact with others; non-jocks like lawyers, financial advisors, team agents, owners, managers, the media, and other players. Far too often we see student-jocks coming out of high school (or even college) who aren't smart enough to do basic manual labor.

One of America's big failures in terms of education, has been "dumbing down" the academic expectations of students (this is a big problem in some communities where academic success is seen as a "betrayal" of one's race or cultural identity). 

The idea has been that create some misplace notion of "parity", as if all students are somehow intellectually equal, or that one group may fail disproportionately to another group. As a result, everyone gets punished. 

 Instead, students should be allowed to advance based on their own ability. Meanwhile, slower students should be allowed to progress at their own pace. Perhaps more advanced students could serve as teaching aides and help individual students in exchange for extra credit.

Another big problem in many school systems are those who cause discipline problems. Typically these are academic failing students, many of whom are insecure emotionally, who are determined to cover up their shortcomings by trying to keep other students from learning. I guess that somehow makes them feel better about themselves. 

In recent years, we've seen an increase in students attacking teachers. Hand-in-glove with this, we've seen an attempt by public schools to engage in a form of appeasement by allowing students to take what classes they want, lowering standards and grading requirements, providing "cooling off" rooms, etc.

Meanwhile, teachers aren't suppose to strike back or defend themselves. At best, the student might be suspended for a brief period. In a few cases, the student might be arrested, but there is usually a lot of pressure brought to bear not to press charges out of concern that it may have a negative impact on the student. 

We certainly don't want to see them forced to take responsibility for their bad behavior now would we? As for suspended students, they end up getting what they want---out of school and free to go do whatever they want, which eventually turns out bad for them and occasionally for society too. Students with a repeating pattern of this type of behavior need to be dealt with in specific manner.

Instead of suspending these students, they need to be placed in special schools designed to modify their behavior. Here the rules have to be different. Emphasis has to be on engaging the student directly, and if necessary, responding to violent outbreaks with appropriate responses.

 Bullies (and these often tend to be bullies who haven't been taken down a pig or two previously), need to be confronted. In addition, these individuals need to be assigned to these type of schools for a minimum of a month---24/7. Their personal behavior and academic performance dictates the length of their stay. 

Parents and selected friends can visit, but they can't leave. It can be a tough punishment, but their behavior brought it on themselves and it's better that they learn to take responsibility for their action now than down the road and end up in prison or dead (as an aside, America leads the world by far in terms of percentage of imprisoned population).

Speaking of school, I also want to stress that while there is a strong emphasis on going to college, college is not only not for everyone, it's really not necessary for most jobs (especially if high school had properly prepared the individual for life after school). Not every manager or supervisor needs a four or six year degree. Trade and vocational schools are often a much better option than college. 

First off, they prepare individuals for entry into the workplace much faster than college. They are also far cheaper so you don't rack up the massive school debt, and you often can start working in the field of your choice while still in school. They pay is generally excellent, as are the benefits. For experienced individuals, it's usually a short step to go into business for yourself.

For those who do decided to go to college, it's important to think realistically about what you want to major in. It's nice (or idealistic) to think about getting a degree in gender or racial culture studies, or in some other obscure topic, but will it give you a job when you graduate? Will taking a course in "Star Wars vs Star Trek" actually help you land a job? Is the degree you end up with enough to pay off a $100,000+ school debt? You have to think in practical terms.

College is about learning to think more critically. It's about learning to appreciate different opinions without not necessarily having to agree with or feel threatened by those opinions. It's about being able to express your ideas in a well thought out and reasoned manner. It's about using reason and logic to analysis an argument or situation. 

College is not about shouting down those you disagree with. It's not about forcing them off the stage or destroying property when you don't get your way. It's not about having a "safe space", nor is it about getting coddled or trying to make everyone happy. It about making an informed and well reasoned argument in a respectful manner using critical thinking skills. If you can't do that, then you need to consider what you need to do grow up emotionally. Perhaps you should consider a stint in the military. I guarantee you'll grow up there in a hurry.

So, with that said, how does America stack up academically compared with the rest of the world? According to the site "Ranking America", their latest study from 2015 ranks American public schools 14th overall academically in the world. South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Finland, in that order, make up the top five. 

The best performing school systems in America, Vermont and Massachusetts, can't compete with students in countries like Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, or Singapore in subjects like math and science.

Speaking of science, the school systems in Alabama and Mississippi are closer in academic performance to countries like Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, while the school system in the District of Columbia is the academic equivalent of Bahrain. Overall, America's academic performance among its public school resemble those of third world countries. 

Countries like China, India, Pakistan, and Japan far out produce the US in graduates with medicine, engineering, robotics, and computer science degrees, especially at the masters and PhD levels. Ironically, the US spends more on education than most countries--6% of its gross domestic product---which is on par with countries like Ghana, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, and Morocco. Interestingly, it's also far more than countries like Korea, Taiwan, and Japan, who outperform us, spend.

Finally, in terms of teacher pay, apparently US teachers are about average in terms of pay with an average of $43,600 per year for a primary school years with 15 years of experience compared to an average of around $39,000 for other teachers in economically developed nations with the same experience. 

Thus, American school teachers are paid roughly equivalent to teachers in the UK, Australia, and Holland. As an aside, the highest paid teachers are those in countries like Luxembourg, South Korea, Switzerland, and Germany.

However, American school teachers spend a lot more time teaching compared to other teachers around the world. US teachers spend, on average, 1089 hours teaching compared to 794 hours in primary education, 709 hours in lower secondary education, and 653 hours in upper secondary education. 

Thus, it appears that while US teachers spend more time actually teaching, they aren't equally compensated for the time they spend in the classroom. Of course, I should point that it's not uncommon for teachers to pay for school supplies out of their own pockets to make up for shortfalls in schools budgets (which often ends up in the salaries of administrators, who tend to be to numerous for most school systems).

So, there you have it. This is the state of American schools, where bright students often find themselves held back in underperforming schools; where even average students find the academic process disruptive and their academic opportunities short changed. In college, students aren't properly taught critical thinking skills and instead of being taught the true meaning of liberal arts, they become narrow minded and provincial. 

 Our teachers aren't paid bad, but neither are they paid for the work they actually do. We are continuing with our downward trend academically compared to the rest of the world, which may soon render us just another second tier nation with large swath with more in common with third world nations than not; a faded world power like so many who came before us. Meanwhile, America's military budget, at the direction of the ruling Oligarchy, continues to expand at the expense of our infrastructure, and ultimately, our children. The only real question is what are we going to do about it?

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