This is a good first step. BUT

 ...you still have to petition for dismissals of school boards, because outrage is nothing without mobilization.  Nevertheless, this is a good first step:

A generational cause - school vouchers

Let's start with the disconnect. Though many liberal progressives would have you believe otherwise, the American education system is in decline.

Though spending per pupil has more than doubled since 1970 after allowing for inflation, students continue to rank low in international comparisons; dropout rates are high; scores on SATs and the like have fallen and remain flat. Simple literacy, let alone functional literacy, in the United States is almost surely lower at the beginning of the 21st century than it was a century earlier. And all this is despite a major increase in real spending per student since "A Nation at Risk" was published.

Yet America despite this issue, America has generally prospered over the same period of time. Science has continued to drive innovation but education is failing our society. How is that possible?  There is the disconnect that allows liberals to claim that public education must clearly be doing something right.  But the education system is the problem. The (temporary) solution has come from somewhere else, as Dr. Michio Kaku explains:

The fix Dr.Kaku describes, has clearly started to outlive it's maximum efficiency. Those who learn no longer stay in America - they return home.  America is diffusing it's technological advantages because they've tried to replace domestic educational greatness with the 'magnet effect'.  It worked, but it will not continue to work. Another solution must be constructed. So if the problem is that education system in America is not enough to create a sufficient American pipeline of genius and thus innovation, what then is the solution? The answer isn't anything new. Milton Friedman had the answer decades ago (for a terrific, more detailed explanation, see here).

The principal argument comes between 0:33 and 1:08.  It's simple.  The alternative to his solution is perhaps not a catastrophic decline but a slow painful death of American prosperity that is already underway.  The migration of higher education will continue towards a greater and greater percentage of higher education going to foreign nationals, aided by their growing prosperity.  As that happens the American ability to compete will decline as these learnings are brought  back to other nations and used to improve everything from education, to manufacturing to innovation.  America is effectively exporting its competitive advantage.  What that means over time, is an economic decline, followed by a financial decline and a military decline and any other type of decline that you can imagine.  

I've argued in the past that politically, conservatives have to make whatever inroads they can, be they  small or large.  Some RINOs may be a necessary evil for example.  The reason that I believe this is that when it comes to America's accelerating slip into the abyss, it is being aided and abetted by an unwitting populace, placated by the never-fulfilled promise of an easy path to "hope".  As a result, anything that can be done to halt the decline of America, must be done - even if it means slowing the decline in some ways rather than being a purist and sticking to an all or nothing mentality.  With all or nothing, you can end up with nothing.  The world cannot afford a void in place of America.  With conservative impurities, you can build towards fixing the problem in a better way later, you are just buying yourself more time to make the right fixes.

A solution to America's problem, one as simply and eloquently stated by Milton Friedman decades ago, does not happen overnight even if you need it to be overnight.  A redefining of H1Bs may be a temporary fix., but the real fix is fixing what happens here in America.  School vouchers would do that.  That is a major paradigm shift that requires a growing understanding among the electorate which in turn requires a more balanced media, outreach programs to explain the idea to the disenfranchised and not least of all, an opportunity to move in that direction, which requires more Republicans in power.

Obama, Schools and the 50 Experiments Theorem

Dynamism. The goal of a nation and the goal of an individual (at least a driven one) is to be moving forward at all times. Complacency begets second place. And then third place, along with acceptance of the new standing. President Obama sees American education as crucial to keeping America strong. Score one for the idea of not trying to deliberately wreck the country. So far so good. Along with his notion that socialism or government run anything is better for the country than the free market (not good), he's got some other ideas. One of his ideas is about making schools better so that American students can continue to develop and compete dynamically with an emerging educated class in China and India, as well as the coming generations in other developed countries (like those in Europe). Again, so far, so good. In contrast with what I call the 50 Experiments Theorem though, the President, in classic 'liberal elite' fashion, believes he has THE answer to the problem. 

Chavez book for Obama: course material

Fox News is reporting that the book Hugo Chavez gave President Obama as a gift is course material at 20 colleges (at least) and has been course material at some colleges for decades.

[Link - http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,517784,00.html]

The book, entitled "Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent" give an account of European and American oppression and exploitation of the South and Central American regions and people.

Wonderful. How about an opposing view point being presented to the impressionable minds at these schools? Maybe a mention of what contributions Europeans and Americans have made to the region and to the world. Would that be too much to ask? Likely.

Then again, the typical student response to the gift from Hugo Chavez to the President - who's Hugo Chavez?

At least those exposed to the book might be too busy enjoying college life to absorb any of it's garbage.

Battling liberal mind control

Everyone knows what the problem is. Hot Air did a story on educational institutions and how liberals are controlling the message right out of the gate. Read the comments section for some personal insights from people frustrated with teachers indoctrinating our children with liberal dogma. From Kindergarten through university, it's one long liberal chain.


Beyond the schools there's the mainstream media. Beyond that there's trade unions. They control the message. It's no wonder conservatives have to play so much defense; liberals have all the offensive weapons. Really offensive ones too. That's the problem. What's the solution.

Whether it's schools, media or unions, there's really only a couple of options available.

1) Take back the institutions that give these unfair advantages to liberals. At least to the point where we have an equal say, an equal footing. The advantage to this approach is that it would foster a true educational environment where opposing viewpoints were discussed and debated. The obvious negative is that it is a massive undertaking, requiring co-ordination, perseverance and time. Decades of time. Further, the liberals who own these channels will fight tooth and nail to prevent this from happening. So add an extra five years to the strategic plan for victory.

2) The other option is to find alternatives. I've harped on this in the past. Use community outreach efforts. Use community events. Develop our own educational alternatives. Devise alternatives to education and the mainstream media. The down side is that it is polarizing to have dueling institutions. The upside is that while it will still take co-ordination and a lot of effort, the undertaking would be quicker and easier than re-taking the schools and TV.

What's a conservative party in the wilderness to do? Honestly, choose both options. This is a long war of ideas. We tend to focus on winning the battles, while liberals seem to have a better focus on winning the war. Or at least, they've put themselves in a better position to do so than conservatives. But while we cannot stop focusing on 2010 and 2012, we also need to take the steps towards making the battle easier for ourselves and the next generation of conservatives to come. We must earn people's trust and take our ideas to them. They may not react well initially, but overall they will be less hostile and more receptive than you might think.