Yesterday, I blogged about the indoctrination that is an inherent part of any government school system, whether in Cuba, the U.S., England, North Korea, or any other country. Government officials have a vested interest in ensuring a citizenry that accepts the official version of things and a citizenry that is compliant, obedient, and supportive of the government. Over a period of many years, people’s mindsets are molded to encourage them as adults to let off steam by carping about the foibles and inefficiencies of politicians and bureaucrats but never to challenge, in a fundamental sense, the role that government plays in people’s lives.

Let’s compare the public school systems in Cuba and the United States. They are similar in the fact that governments in both countries own and operate the systems. Children who attend the schools are there because the law has mandated their attendance. The schoolteachers and administrators are government personnel. Whether at a national, state, or local level, the textbooks must be approved by the government and the curriculum is set by the government. In both countries, attendance is “free.”

Of course, that doesn’t mean that the indoctrination is the same in both countries. In Cuba, for example, it is ingrained in schoolchildren that the CIA, with its program of assassination, torture, and regime change, is a force for evil in the world. In the United States, Americans schoolchildren are taught that the CIA is a force for good in the world and that it is essential to the national security of the country.

It would be difficult to find a better example of a purely socialist program than public (i.e., government) schooling, especially given its central-planning features. Thus, it’s not a coincidence that Cuba’s public-school system is the pride and joy of Fidel Castro, one of the world’s most ardent devotees of socialism.

Interestingly, while public schooling is also the pride and joy of Americans, most of them have no idea that America’s public school systems are socialist in nature, which itself is a testament to the success of the indoctrination that takes place in the institution. From the first grade to the twelfth, Americans are taught that public schooling is one of the core features of America’s “free enterprise system.”

An even better testament to the power of indoctrination in public schooling, however, is the conviction that it instills in students that socialist programs are essential to society. A good example of this phenomenon occurs in the health-care debate. Whenever libertarians suggest that the solution to the health-care crisis is simply to repeal Medicare and Medicaid, health-care regulations, and medical-licensure laws, most Americans go ballistic.

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http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2009-09-09.asp

All of this is correct of course, and this ignorance stretches to the money supply also. Very few people, even bankers, do not know what money really is, or where it comes from. That is why the react with, “but who would stop the booms and busts of the economy?” if you suggest that the Federal Reserve should be abolished (and that is if they know a little about the subject). Others who know absolutely nothing about money, think that the dollar comes from the government, and that the Federal Reserve is a part of the Federal Government, and that the dollars in their pockets are ‘theirs’. None of those things are true of course.

The worst offenders are the TV financial anchors who do not understand the definitions of the terms they are using; the most misused term being ‘inflation’. Inflation is the increase in the supply of money; i.e. when the printing presses are running and paper money is released into circulation without any backing.

Take a look at the man with the glasses who does not understand what inflation is:

These people have been told over and over again, by Schiff and other real economists that an incraese in the money supply IS inflation. That means that there is one of two things going on.

1 These people are THICK AS TWO SHORT PLANKS and simply cannot understand what money is.
2 They are DELIBERATELY misstating what the facts surrounding inflation are as a disinformation tactic.

Personally I cant see it being number two; they are just not that smart. That means that they are as thick as two short planks, which explains both how they keep getting it wrong and why number two cannot be true.

Who knows?

What we DO know is that the number of dollars in circulation has been increased by a factor of 15; that means that when these dollars hit the economy, your dollar will be worth one fifteenth of what it is now.

Anyone with any sense is now in Gold. Not only is gold a sensible way to store your earned value, but it makes sense as a way to get your stored value away from the predators who control the value of your earned value while it is sitting still.

When someone can print more of the money you have without you knowing, the value of your money goes down without you realizing; those three hours you spent working at $100/ph will suddenly be worth less in the future… and there is nothing you can do about it while you keep your stored value in a currency whose supply is controlled by someone else.

Some people use the preparative term ‘Gold Bug’ for people who understand what money is; they are mistaken. People who understand that gold is money are simply using common sense.

Now THAT is a scarce commodity!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 9th, 2009 at 4:12 pm and is filed under Home Schooling, Money, Someone Clever Said.