Edward Berger, retired in Arizona, says that the people are waking up to the economic and social pilfering that is happening all around them. And they are fighting back to reclaim their society.
He writes:
For many years, I have blogged about the damage the so-called reform/Libertarian movement has done to America and to America as One Nation. A nation that prospered as WE developed strong communities, one public education system, common values, and true representative government.
Our Nation is endangered by the starvation and planned destruction of neighborhood community schools – public comprehensive schools – and the privatization of public services for profit.
We are now well aware that there are forces that wish to destroy the basic elements that keep America strong: The representative processes, the public schools, community governments, community health systems, public services, and programs for the greater good. Because of greed and crooked ideologies, our public services have been privatized, pirated, and raided by profiteers. This has been done to access, and personally profit from the tax dollars we pay for the things best done when we put our resources together through government. Think roads, water systems, schools, public utilities, libraries, social services, aid to those in need, and safety nets for children and those who cannot help themselves…
Every social program is being attacked and is in danger of being starved out of existence as tax dollars are redirected and profiteers steal from us – the US….
Americans were so unprepared for this attack from those who bought our politicians, circumvented our representative governments, and made their own laws, that they wilted before the onslaught of greed. In every American community, and in the communities within the greater communities, there is little resistance to the reformers. In state after state radical right-wing ‘libertarians’ have taken control of government. Groups of people hiding behind corporate veils so they are exempt from accountability for their amoral behavior, invented groups like the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) who use their power and wealth to by-pass elected representatives by providing the bills and laws they, not The People, want enacted. Along with the darkness created by these nation killers, came the Dark Money to finance the destruction of America and to create a new type of human bondage.
But of course you know all of this. What you need to know is that within the hearts of our communities people are organizing against the forces that have proved to be so evil. In almost every community, the majority of citizens are demanding a stop to the rape and pillage and the constant quest for access and control of our tax dollars. People are becoming aware that our public schools and other institutions have lost access to the funds necessary to do the jobs that must be done if we are to stay free and flourish. We are aware that legislatures and other political organs have intentionally forced school choice and other catchy “experiments” on communities, even though these programs cause a massive waste of our tax money for duplication of services. At the same time, “reformers” discredit education and educated members of the community. They weaken, breed contempt for, and undermine proven and successful social programs.
Community leaders are focusing on electing true representatives who will oppose those who starve community programs in order to profit from their demise. They are demanding accountability from their elected leaders and legislators who have intentionally blocked the public’s access to data that exposes their misuse of tax dollars and the corruption on which they thrive. In some instances, the local Press has broken from the Corporate Press and is fighting to educate their communities.
If democracy lives, we will resist, we will organize, and we will reclaim the public good for the benefit of the public, not the enrichment of a few.

Excellent! This theme is explored in depth by Mercedes Schneider in her terrific new (2016) book, School Choice: The End of Public Education? (Teachers College Press).
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Berger has a free download of his book (2nd ed), Vital Lies: Analysis and Solutions to Critical Issues Facing the American Education System, coming soon according to his web site. What drew you to him, Diane?
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Thanks for the reading suggestion 2o2t!
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HRC is a real freedom fighter. She is just incorruptible, and I like that she doesn’t take any money from foreign governments and corporations. I love that about her! She is so above board!
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As educators, we need to reckon with the fact that 45% of Americans will vote for a guy who traduces democracy, reason and decency. What are we doing wrong? Perhaps years of math and LA drills, larded with large doses of TV and social media, does not create the cement needed to hold this country together. Perhaps, as E.D. Hirsch argues in The Making of Americans, we need a systematic and prolonged effort to inculcate an understanding and respect for our shared traditions. Germany makes such a systematic and prolonged effort to instill a deep understanding of the horror of the Holocaust, understanding that imparting important values demands hard, sustained effort. We don’t make such an effort vis a vis American democracy and unity.
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At both conventions, Republican and Democrat, the Secret Service was used to silence dissent. The GOP and DNC are quick to point out that they are private entities when it is convenient, but they are also quick to exercise their quasi governmental privileges when it is convenient. The use of government power to silence speech is ILLEGAL.
These 2 entities are a threat to democracy.
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Denying the Aspen Institute and the Gates and Walton Foundations access to the U.S. Dept. of Education and its personnel, would be one indicator of democracy. The replacement of the Secretary of Ed. with someone who has had no association with plutocrats, would be a second.
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“Progressives” like Sherrod Brown, who advocate for expansion of charter schools would not, if they listened to constituents and America was a democracy.
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