Change

Something is going on.  I am seeing change.  Not the superficial empty sloganeering type change that was present before, during and after the 2008 presidential election run-up, but actual change.

It's difficult for me to brand this change with one word.  "Waking up" is too broad, and too kind.  The sheeple, the 'masses' that Albert Jay Nock mentioned in his great essay, or the masses that Murray Rothbard recognized as a negative force (but not more dangerous than the elite) can probably never be 'woken up'.  Fewer people can rhetorically rip apart the average American better than I can, but I have to give credit where credit is due.  Regular people are recognizing something is afoot however, and they don't like it.  Certain shibboleths that have been seen previously as fait accompli are finally getting scrutiny.  This is good.  The most obvious change is the death of the mainstream media.  Actually, both of the two established "religions", The Mainstream Media and Organized Big Public Education, are, at minimum, getting scrutinized, and at maximum, collapsing.  This is good.

The Death of the Mainstream Media
The opinion makers of old are fighting for their lives, and even with their connections to the organized wealthy and the powers that be, they are still collapsing.  The world wide web is the cause of this.  The evidence is seen repeatedly - the cratering bottom lines of Big Media, and the comments after articles and youtube videos.  The best place for comments, bar none, is zerohedge.com.  The Ron Paul phenomenon should be studied by media analysts and communications majors worldwide.  Whether you believe with Rep. Paul or not, you have to wonder if pundits have discovered the internet.  Jon Stewart exposes the inanity of the Messianic Media Anointed better than anyone:





It is videos like this one and the comments that follow that make one wonder why anyone listens to the MSM anymore.  Eclectic sites like Taki's also point out this media bias.  The days of the NY Times presenting the views of the "left" and the Wall St. Journal presenting the views of the "right" are over.  Many seem to understand that the molecule width difference in those 'opinions' have contributed to the collapse of these United States.

My own experience with this was at the Richmond Airport, where I was unceremoniously groped by a member of the TSA.  I was one of those pains in the asses who "opts out" of the radiation scan (courtesy of W Bush crony Michael Chertoff) and asks for good old fashioned (circa 2009) sexual assault.  I told the TSA nitwit that I'd been hearing and seeing some negative stuff about them on Youtube.  He told me, without irony "don't believe what you see on Youtube".  This bafflingly idiotic comment somewhat proves the exception to the tone of the article, but it shows it take a special kind of ignorance to believe the bought and paid for corporate MSM is more reliable than citizens with cellphone cameras.

The End of Big Education
I work in a bad school.  It's in the bad part of town, populated, literally, by the kids from the 'wrong' side of the tracks.  The district has been run, during my ten years, by a list of preternaturally gifted con artists and wealth siphoners.  The walking used car salesman (who just got unceremoniously bounced) from running the show was ripping down more than $250K per year - before benefits and perks.  The walking talking empty suit who 'lead' my school for two years was making a smooth $157K per year.  Total academic advancement  by the students - zero.  The difference lately is that people are actually noticing.  I know that this is a little late in the game.  The battle over the control over the tax dollars that fund the public schools has been  a long one - but I guess some people have reached their breaking point. when $15K per year per child is used to produce an empty vessel, even the sleepiest citizen will take notice.  Our district  has actually fired people, for the first time in over a decade, and parents are taking their children out of the school to be home schooled, or taking them into another district.

The State is oblivious to this.  We are getting a round of more centralized control, because Big Government apparently doesn't have enough clout in the school realm.  We're getting prepped for something at the state level called "core standards".  It is a prelude toward a national curriculum and national standards.  This time I think they'll fail.  The homeschooling movement is getting bigger, and the track record of government schools has become so bad, that even the parents that are too busy to watch closely are wondering why the prescription for the Failing Public School is - more of the same.  I'll buy into the State as an educational authority as soon as someone can convince me that a faceless, nameless empty suit who has never met me or my children knows more about educating my child than I do.  The level of faith in The State is dropping.  Let's hope it drops even faster.

Recommended reading: "Education, Free and Compulsory", by Murray Rothbard

Recommended Video - one guy from my old neighborhood who was 20 years ahead of his time: