Phi Delta Kappa released its annual poll today. Nothing new except that Gallup is no longer the polling company. No headlines. The only obvious conclusion: the American public is confused about why we have schools and what they should be doing and whether they are doing it well.
The public doesn’t agree on what the purpose of public schools is. 45% says it is to teach academics. About a quarter think they should teach career readiness. Another quarter think they should prepare students for citizenship.
Just to be clear, the reason that public schools were first established and treated as a community responsibility was to prepare good citizens to sustain our society into the future. There are many subdivisions under the goal of preparing to be good citizens, which would include the academic skills needed to read, write, think critically, be informed about issues in science and history, and be in good health. Somehow, the central purpose has been lowered in status. When people lose sight of the central purpose of education, then they fall prey to bogus claims about choice, charters, and vouchers, about which sector can do a better job of teaching academic skills or career skills. We have public schools as a public responsibility to teach young people to become active and informed citizens. All the rest follows.
In reading through the inconclusive public opinion on almost every subject, one question caught my attention because of its wording:
Q. Charter schools are public schools that are run without many of the state regulations placed on other public schools. Do you think it’s better for charter schools to meet the same educational standards as other public schools or to set their own educational standards?
The answer was a split decision. 48% said meet the same standards, 46% said no.
The question assumes that charter schools are public schools.
But charter schools are NOT public schools. Whenever charter operators are sued, their defense is that they are not public schools. They are privately managed schools that receive public funding. As the NLRB ruled last week, and as federal courts have ruled, charter schools are not held to the same standards as public schools because they are NOT “state actors.” Public schools are state actors. Charters themselves plead that they are not public schools. In 2010, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a charter operator in Arizona ran a private nonprofit corporation, not an agency of the state, in response to a lawsuit by a former teacher. In 2011, the staff at the New Media Technology Charter School wanted to form a union. They appealed to state law. The charter owner, however, said the school was not public and was not governed by state law; he said it was a private school subject to the NLRB. In the same year, teachers at the Chicago Math & Science Academy also wanted to form a union. There, too, the charter operator rebuffed them by saying the school was a “private” entity, not a public school, and was not subject to state law. (See pp. 163-164 of Reign of Error). Charter schools are run by private entities that receive government contracts. The receipt of public funds does not make an entity public. If it did, then every major defense contractor would be public, not private.
The answer is troubling as well as the question. If nearly half of the respondents think that charter schools do not have to meet the same standards as public schools, what is it they believe? Do they believe that charter schools should not be held accountable for student test scores? Do they think that charter schools should be judged by some other metric?
I have been reading PDK polls for years. I learned nothing new from this one, other than that the public has lost sight of why we have public schools. That may be the consequence of propaganda from the privatizers. If there is no agreement on why we pay taxes to support public schools, then any alternative will do, including schools run by churches and schools run by foreign nationals.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
It is the result of propaganda, decades of repeated lies and misleading claims. The corporate charter school industry is doing the same thing Donald Trump does, lie repeatedly and seldom if ever admit that they lied. Instead, they always double down to achieve their goals of greed and attack anyone and everything that stands in their way.
The Trumps of the world, mostly autocrats and billionaires, learned well from their teachers in Hitler’s Nazi Party, Mao’s CCP, Stalin’s USSR and every other tinpot tyrant in history. You set your goals no matter how wrongheaded they are and no matter how much destruction and suffering they will cause and you move forward crushing anything that gets in your way. Before they pay for their crimes, they get old and die and pass the baton to their children.
History is a great teacher that far too many people ignore.
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“You set your goals no matter how wrongheaded they are and no matter how much destruction and suffering they will cause and you move forward crushing anything that gets in your way. ”
Have you been talking to Illinois governor Bruce Rauner?
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No. I think it would be a waste of time to talk to any of the supporters of the corporate charter school movement/industry. There is only one thing they respect and that is power.
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Exactly my feeling about Rauner. He is the living embodiment of this Mark Twain quote: “By trying we can easily endure adversity. Another man’s I mean.” (Thank you, KTA!)
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The questions you ask frame the answers you get.
The poll should ask:
• Should the public’s tax dollars provide support to privately governed charter schools?
• Do you support diverting public funds away from public schools in order to support privately governed charter schools?
• Would you support supporting public schools with funds from increased income taxes on the wealthy instead of inequitable local property taxes?
http://www.arthurcamins.com
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Yes. The poll is rigged. PDK has been infected with the idea that it is OK to be uncritical of any current PR.
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I’d substitute “privately owned and run” instead of “privately governed” as the term governed probably implies a government function to most.
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We should all be relieved (sarcasm) as Trump will be directing his attention to education this week. His big “idea” is to eliminate the department of education. How this is supposed to help urban students is unknown? https://thinkprogress.org/trumps-pitch-to-improve-inner-city-schools-makes-no-sense-5894e8a39a79#.3er53raah
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Rt, I would also ask how this is supposed to help special education students and English Language Learners.
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Great point. I think Trump is clueless and could care less about these groups. BTW, I am a retired ESL teacher so his casual dismissal and lack of understanding of these groups hit home.
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This is an old and well worn canard of the Republicans. Frankly, the has been so dreadfully mismanaged under Bush and Obama (and still is, with King at the helm) — and has done so much harm — , that I struggle NOT to support the idea of abolishing it!
But then I remember that the great tactic of the oligarchic right — to take over and misuse government positions to destroy public assets and degrade the public good (all while enriching rich private interests) is a gift that (they hope) gives twice — once when they initially abuse the power of public service to destroy and plunder — and then again, when the public gets so disgusted that they become willing to dismantle their own public structures (like the Department of Ed — or the public schools of New Orleans) — leaving themselves with no ability to fight the oligarchs (if you don’t have billions — what you DO have are laws, your vote, and the ability to create and fund (through taxation and fees) entities that will work for the public good — yours and everyone else’s — on an even playing field). Otherwise, it is just all a private “pay to play” oasis for those who would, if they could, buy up all public assets (they are already well into prisons, schools, security services, for profit hospitals, parks that used to be public, etc.) and charge us whatever they think they can get away with.
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“Just to be clear, the reason that public schools were first established and treated as a community responsibility was to prepare good citizens to sustain our society into the future. . . We have public schools as a public responsibility to teach young people to become active and informed citizens.”
That is partially true, Diane. I explore the purpose of public education in Ch 1 of my book (finally figured out what I was missing) “The Purpose of Public Education”. I examined the 50 state constitution’s wording in the authorization of public education. Here is what I found:
“All together then, there are 25 states with no stated fundamental purpose, five with a purpose that extol the benefits of public education to the state, fifteen commending the benefits to the individual and five a combination of benefit to both state and individual, resulting in that 80% of those with a stated purpose having the benefits for the individual as primary. Is it possible, then, to discern a fundamental purpose of public education? t is the fundamental purpose of the state? In examining the constitutions one finds that there many and varied exhortations.
For example Alabama’s constitution states: “Objective of government. That the sole object and only legitimate end of government is to protect the citizen in the enjoyment of life, liberty, and property, and when the government assumes other functions it is usurpation and oppression.” (Section 35)
And this from Nebraska “All persons are by nature free and independent, and have certain inherent and inalienable rights; among these are life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and the right to keep and bear arms for security or defense of self, family, home, and others, and for lawful common defense, hunting, recreational use, and all other lawful purposes, and such rights shall not be denied or infringed by the state or any subdivision thereof. To secure these rights, and the protection of property, governments are instituted among people, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” (Art. I, sec. 1)
All well and good, eh! Quite compelling is Missouri constitution’s wording on the purpose of government: “That all constitutional government is intended to promote the general welfare of the people; that all persons have a natural right to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and the enjoyment of the gains of their own industry; that all persons are created equal and are entitled to equal rights and opportunity under the law; that to give security to these things is the principal office of government, and that when government does not confer this security, it fails in its chief design.” (Article. II, Sec. 4. § 3.)
Tying together the aims of our constitutional government with the purpose of public education as stated in some of the state’s constitution allows us to propose a common fundamental statement of purpose. Since 20 of the 25 state constitutions give a reason attending to the rights and liberties of the individual through public education combined with the mandate of state constitutional government as reflected in Missouri’s constitutional language of “That all constitutional government is intended to promote the general welfare of the people; that all persons have a natural right to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and the enjoyment of the gains of their own industry. . .” it follows that the rights and liberties of the individual in being educated as each sees fit supersede those of supporting and maintaining the government. One can logically conclude that if the educational wants and needs of the citizens obtain then those of the state will follow. But without an educated citizenry who can promote their own interests and understand and tolerate others thoughts, opinions and desires the state would surely be subject to tyranny by those whose knowledge and wants exceeds most.
I propose, then, the following concise statement of the purpose of public education with which, hopefully, most in the United States could agree:
“The purpose of public education is to promote the welfare of the individual so that each person may savor the right to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and the fruits of their own industry.”
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“…it follows that the rights and liberties of the individual in being educated as each sees fit supersede those of supporting and maintaining the government.’
Wait a minute. The democratic government of each state is educating their citizens in a manner of their own choosing for the benefit of each one to do whatever they damn well please? Not only does it sound like (to me) that you have provided a legitimate argument for the existence of government supported charter schools, but you have also legitimized the individual’s right to thumb their nose at government regulation if it interferes with their pursuit of life, liberty, or the pursuit of happiness. I think there has to be more emphasis on “general welfare” and an assumed democratic process that is outlined in the rest of state constitutions. There is an inherent tension/balancing act between public and individual rights. I have not done the research that you have, Duane, but you are making me very nervous.
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This is where people gets confused.
“if it interferes with their pursuit of life, liberty, or the pursuit of happiness.”
The “pursuit of life, liberty and happiness” was mentioned in the U.S. Declaration of Independence, a letter to King George.
In the U.S. Constitution the 5th and 14th amendments declare that governments cannot deprive any person of “life, liberty, or property” without due process of law.
No mention of happiness and no mention that corporations can’t deprive us of life, liberty, happiness or property. And corporations do that all the time often without due process of law in public courts.
That explains why autocratic, dictatorial, powerful billionaires (like Gates, Koch, Broad and Walton) and corporations are working so hard to subvert the government’s ability to uphold the U.S. Constitution, specifically the 5th and 14th amendments, by getting rid of due process of law.
This started with tort reform, and if you sign up for a corporate service today, to get that service, you have to agree to surrender your Constitutional due process rights and hand them over to corporate arbitration outside of a public courtroom, an arbitration that the corporations select and control. Just to log on to the internet, we surrender our due process rights in the public courts to corporate arbitration.
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2o2t,
Indeed talking of these aspects of government vs the individual are quite “tricky” and may cause uneasiness for some. It is not an easy subject.
Yes, your thoughts about “support for charter and other private schools” occurred to me as I was going through the constitutions. And I think that might be argued to be the case, except that for religious schools which would kick in other clauses of “no support for sectarian purposes”. The fact that the constitutions authorizes the state to provide for an education for all allows for private charter and other schools to exist. See Pierce vs Society of Sisters.
However, that does not authorize the states to pay for that private education though. Yes, the providing of education must be determined by the states. And more and more courts (and the NLRB recently) have determined that charters are not public schools. My feeling is that eventually (at least hopefully although I’m not betting on it) the courts will rule that paying for charter school education the way we do through tax credits, vouchers and supposed scholarships will be determined to be unconstitutional due to a “taxation without representation” type argument.
The concepts of state vs individual are very complex. I can only use the language that I see in our state’s constitutions to try to determine where the “boundaries” may lie and what is ultimately considered to be the purpose of public education. In doing so I have tried to explain what the general purpose of government is and then how the purpose of public education fits into that broader purpose.
Now how each state handles public education, yes indeed should be up to the states. Has that set up been perfect? Absolutely not! But that is what the courts are for, to determine if a statute, law or regulation runs afoul of a person’s rights as delineated not only in the national constitution but a state’s also.
Notice that it is the rights of the individual that the constitutional guarantees applies. I come down on the side of the individual and his/her rights vs the “rights” (if I may call it that) of the government. In my readings our form of government came about as a protection of/for the individual (notwithstanding the historical anomalies of slavery and gender discriminations) and not for the enhancement of the government itself. Which is what it seems like what is happening these days-even though it isn’t-just some who use the government for their own enhancement and not for the welfare of other individuals, that “general welfare” to which you refer.
Again it’s all quite complicated, eh!
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There is a lot of room for interpretation and potential lawsuits within the context of the hybrid entity known as charter schools. The Constitution, federal and state laws and civil rights all collide with this hybrid arrangement in various ways. As time goes on, we will see more litigation as the the whole idea of charters is a very complex in a social, political and economic sense as well as individual rights.
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Fair warning. Except huge media marketing effort:
http://thefounders.the74million.org/
Arne Duncan! Joel Klein! They’re like Lincoln and Jefferson, really.
This is bigger than Michelle Rhee Inc. and I didn’t think anything could top that 5 year hagiography.
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Chiara,
Whitmire bio of Rhee sank like a stone. Is there a market for hagiography of privatization leaders?
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You would think someone would ask why they don’t want schools closed.
No one in ed reform is even curious about what they value in those schools besides test scores?
How can you serve them if you don’t know what they value?
We closed a public school here- it was “retired” because it was built in 1906. It was a big deal. The whole neighborhood came out- elderly people who went there, all sorts of attachments. I don’t know if it was “high performing” or not but they valued something about it. Duncan keeps saying people “don’t care” about these places- that school services are interchangeable, like cell phone providers, but they sure seem to care.
We had a Kentucky Fried Chicken close and no one was asking for memorial bricks to take home.
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Chiara.
Intangibles count, and because they cannot be counted.
I appreciate your observations.
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In my city, I look at how loyal kids (and their parents and grandparents) are to their long surviving high schools (Garfield Golden Grads — and similar groups all over town, at schools that have been their for decades) — and I feel so badly for the kids of Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, New Orleans in places where callous, indifferent ed reformers have closed and demolished schools without a single backward glance. Bad enough for the alums who always saw those schools as part of their heritage and the fabric of their communities. Far worse for the current students, who will have the educational equivalent of a McDonald’s or Subway shop (or maybe three or four of them, as they flee or are chased out of one failing / closing school after another through their high school years.
I realize that in some communities, there may be more pressing issues than this — but it is still thoughtless, inconsiderate, wanton destruction of community assets in a mad dash to privatize public schools.
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JEM, Agreed!
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I heard the groans of all my retired English teachers. I meant “have been there” — not “have been their” — sorry.
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“We had a Kentucky Fried Chicken close and no one was asking for memorial bricks to take home.”
🙂
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How sad that one of the accomplishments of the slick PR campaign of the privatizers has been to confuse the public about the very purpose of public education.
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I’d guess that the majority of teachers and administrators and superintendents don’t know what the central purpose of public education is.
Worse, many simply don’t care.
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democracy,
if you don’t know why it is a public responsibility to support public schools, then anyone can say they can provide that service, for-profit, churches, private tutors, etc
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democracy,
From Ch 1 of my forthcoming book:
“Ask any teacher or administrator “What is the purpose of public education?” and more likely than not they will recite their district’s mission statement , perhaps one as succinct as the Nebo School District’s in Utah “We engage, empower, and collaborate to ensure student success.” Or perhaps it more typically reads like this one from a rural Missouri district “The mission of the Warren County R-III School District is to empower each child to fully reach his or her potential as a life-long learner, a responsible adult and a contributing member of a diverse society.” Or it may even come with a disclaimer as this long mission statement from a Pennsylvania district:
Mission Statement
The Mission Statement, Beliefs, and Goals presented below are the result of work completed by Cumberland Valley School District’s Strategic Planning Steering Committee. These philosophy statements are not an attempt to state how things are, but rather are intended to give impetus and direction toward meeting the needs of all children who attend the schools of this district now and in the future.
Our Mission
The Cumberland Valley School District, in collaboration with students, educators, parents and the community, is committed to developing 21st century learning and thinking skills through a rigorous, relevant, and comprehensive curriculum, while preparing students to be innovative, productive citizens in an interconnected world. (italics in original)
Does each mission statement, being used as a proxy for the fundamental purpose of public education, help fulfill the fundamental purpose of public education? What is that fundamental purpose and where can it usually be found? Is there even a fundamental purpose? To answer the last question first, it depends! Well, what does it depend on then? In answering that question we also answer the where question—the constitution of each state.”
See above post for the rationale for what I believe should be the fundamental purpose of public education:
“The purpose of public education is to promote the welfare of the individual so that each person may savor the right to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and the fruits of their own industry.”
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So why are people not filing lawsuits because public funds are being used to fund private enterprises or corporations. In California, Prop. 98 indicates that a certain percentage of the budget must be used for public K-14 schools. Is the Charter schools budget coming out of the same public school funding? If so, is that a legal use of Prop. 98 funds?
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As Diane notes, the main purpose of public education was to prepare a citizenry for democratic citizenship. Today, that ought to be the theme of genuine education reform, reform that restores to pubic education its original mission, that of cultivating democratic citizenship.
Democratic governance is supposed to be “of the people, by the people, for the people. It’s supposed to promote the general welfare of “the People” Indeed, the Constitution specifies that as one of its core purposes.
A democratic society is predicated and contingent on a citizenry that understands and is committed to democratic values. Pericles defined them more than two millennia ago: openness, popular sovereignty and majority rule, equality, justice, tolerance, and promoting the general welfare. In any democratic society, the people ARE the government. Aristotle noted that democracy (demos) is the populace, the common people. Thus if all citizens are part of self-rule, then they are “a part of the state, and the care of each part is inseparable from the care of the whole.” That is the essence of the social contract.
In Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, the first power provided to Congress is the power to tax for the “general Welfare of the United States.” And yet, there are those who claim that taxation is “evil.” That it destroys “freedom.” It seems that many of these same people are the ones seeking to rob the public treasuries, diverting taxpayer money from promoting the general welfare to pumping up private bank accounts. Many of these very same people are engaged in a type of education “reform” that blames public schools for the travesties and problems that they caused while simultaneously trying to cash in on public school funding.
Public education holds a unique place in democracies. It’s important — and not simply for “elevating the spirit” or for “the pursuit of fine arts and literature”. It’s why Thomas Jefferson wrote in his Notes on the State of Virginia (1794) that “The influence over government must be shared among all…” It’s why many early advocates for public schools –– Jefferson, George Washington, Horace Mann, for instance –– agreed that democratic citizenship was THE primary function of education. Aristotle called it “the character of democracy,” later described by University of Chicago social scientist Earl Johnson as “the supreme end of education in a democracy.” Horace Mann viewed public education as “the balance-wheel of the social machinery” in a democratic society. Gordon Hullfish and Philip Smith considered the development of critical intelligence –– “reflective reconstruction of knowledge, insights and values” –– essential to the maintenance of a democratic society. John Dewey put it this way: ““the democracy which proclaims equality of opportunity as its ideal requires an education in which learning and social application, ideas and practice…are united from the beginning and for all.”
But look at the Mission Statement form the Common Core Standards Initiative:, the basis for our current “reform:” “The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers. With American students fully prepared for the future, our communities will be best positioned to compete successfully in the global economy.”
The global economy, indeed. Not a whiff of democratic citizenship. Nada.
Many of the big-money foundations –– Gates, Walton, Robertson, Bradley and Koret Foundations –– push “market-driven” corporate-style “reforms.” They are supported by the likes of Pearson (the testing behemoth), ETS (think College Board and PSAT, SAT, AP, and AccuPlacer), ACT, Achieve (funded by big business), McGraw-Hill, Houghton-Mifflin and Microsoft. And by big bankers (Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan) and hedge-funders. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable are two of the most ardent supporters of Common Core.
These groups have pushed incessantly for corporate and upper-bracket tax cuts and laissez-faire regulatory policies, which caused a huge pile-up of deficits and debt, and led to a shattered economy. The supply-side policies these organizations pushed to have enacted led to increases in poverty, millions of lost jobs and houses, a corporate culture that fosters off-shore tax evasion and funds oligarchic ideology, and gross income inequality. They broke the economy. But the perpetrators point the finger of blame at public education. The Chamber says the Common Core standards “are essential to helping the United States remain competitive” in the global economy. The Business Roundtable says that increasing student achievement via the Common Core is vitally important to increasing U.S. competitiveness, and even resurrects the “rising tide of mediocrity” myth.
The big lie is the American “competitiveness” is tied to student test scores. It’s not. The U.S. already is internationally competitive. When it loses its competitive edge, it’s precisely BECAUSE of the policies the “reformers” (the US Chamber, the Roundtable) have championed, and want even more of.
Democracy matters. A lot.
I continue to worry that it doesn’t matter enough.
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Is there any point in “cultivating democratic citizenship” in a plutocracy?
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Yes, Rage, there is.
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Why is this purpose excluded from just about every mission statement I have ever read?
Imagine if dentists, doctors, lawyers, and engineers could not agree on the main goal of their respective professions. Imagine if they could not agree on their best practices either.
This is the essential problem faced by educators and I think the main reason that we are often viewed as quasi-professionals.
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Democracy doesn’t matter to the likes of Donald Trump and the Bill Gates, Koch brothers billionaire cabals. They don’t need democracy because they use money to buy whatever freedom they want even it if is illegal.
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Rage, it’s a sad thing that it’s missing from so many public school mission statements. It ought not to be.
It’s missing from things like Common Core on purpose. Does the Walton Foundation or the US Chamber of Commerce or the Business Roundtable want democratic citizenship to be the focus of public schooling? Absolutely not.
The Republican party has made every effort to suppress voting across the country. Are conservative Republicans in favor of democratic citizenship. Of course not. For them, and their allies, it’s all about the “free market,” The truth is, it’s all about socialized corporate profit and upper bracket subsidies.
But, Bernie Sanders struck a chord. Elizabeth Warren and Sanders can – and should – turn their eyes toward public schooling, and its central purpose.
But that also means we – parents, teachers, administrators, students, politicians – have to wean ourselves from hard belief in test scores, whether they they’re of the state curriculum brand or the ACT and SAT (and all their attendant subtests).
It’s possible.
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Thank you, democracy. I am saving your comments. I am even printing them out!
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democracy @ 7:07 am,
Excellent discussion of the purpose of public education. Thanks!!
I would add that by ensuring that an individual can “savor the right to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and the fruits of their own industry” as delineated more or less in 20 of the 25 state constitution’s rationale for public education what will obtain is that the student/citizen will realize, as you state “in any democratic society, the people ARE the government. Aristotle noted that democracy (demos) is the populace, the common people. Thus if all citizens are part of self-rule, then they are ‘a part of the state, and the care of each part is inseparable from the care of the whole.’ That is the essence of the social contract.”
Through one’s public schooling, in learning and understanding that being a “part of self rule” which is “inseparable from the care of the whole”, a citizen/student should realize that their self interests are intricately entwined with the whole of society and therefore be able to see the wisdom of tending to/continuing to enhancing action the general welfare of society.
Now what is and how to obtain that general welfare is where the political process comes into play. And for me, Rawls’ concept of the “veil of ignorance”* would be the best starting point for anyone involved in the political process. Unfortunately, most, whether citizens or politicians, don’t have a clue as to that starting point. I would like to see Rawls’ concept be a part of any civics/government class that all should take.
*From wiki: “The “veil of ignorance”, along with the original position, is a method of determining the morality of a certain issue. . . based upon the following thought experiment: parties to the original position know nothing about the particular abilities, tastes, and positions individuals will have within a social order. When such parties are selecting the principles for distribution of rights, positions, and resources in the society in which they will live, the veil of ignorance prevents them from knowing who will receive a given distribution of rights, positions, and resources in that society. . . The idea is that parties subject to the veil of ignorance will make choices based upon moral considerations, since they will not be able to make choices based on self- or class-interest.
As John Rawls put it, “no one knows his place in society, his class position or social status; nor does he know his fortune in the distribution of natural assets and abilities, his intelligence and strength, and the like.” The idea of the thought experiment is to render obsolete those personal considerations that are morally irrelevant to the justice or injustice of principles meant to allocate the benefits of social cooperation. The veil of ignorance is part of a long tradition of thinking in terms of a social contract. The writings of Immanuel Kant, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau, and Thomas Jefferson offer examples of this tradition.”
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Here, here!
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Hi señor Swacker:
It is funny that my mother taught her children that our current lives are the mirror image of what we did in our past, and that our current actions will form our future lives.
In other words, we are our own creator of what life will be just or unjust. This is also Buddha’s teaching of the universal law of Karma.
The best way to understand this law of Karma is to practice Buddha’s teaching. It is the real science to practice being compassionate (= the detachment of trivialities like emotion, desire and being selfish), NOT being GULLIBLE (=emotional belief in con artists).
We do good deeds for the sake of alleviating the pain and misery of others through sympathetic words or sincere donation without an expectation for a return or profit from donation.
If we are able to forgive our ignorance and others’ ignorance, we will live in contentment = this is a feeling of living in Heaven on Earth = the true democracy without the need of economic and political fairness. It is easy said than done, hahaha.
Respectfully yours,
May
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^like^
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