WASTED: The betrayal of white working class and black Caribbean boys. READ IT and weep.

http://www.cps.org.uk/cps_catalog/WASTED.pdf

Great article Susan, and should be sent to Wente post haste, instead of using the culture of blame that is standard operation procedure to protect the government and its policies. To defend the status-quo, completely ignoring the final outcomes of policies that entraps their citizens into a continued spiral downward into the social decay,  policies practiced by our government.

And yes, a firm foundation in reading, writing and numeracy are essential, but it is not what are governments want, no matter what political stripe it is. After all, the governments have to fill their prisons, creating busy work for government employees, and so forth to contribute to the well-being of the economy. Not much to do, if the majority of the population had a firm foundation in the 3 Rs, nor can much economic activities be created with their citizens who do have a firm foundation in the 3 Rs. As Susan’s article has suggested, the government will never let that happen, no matter how bad the social breakdown of society becomes.

Here is a rap video, along with the lyrics that shows it in living colour, in the same way as Susan’s article has done in words.

The rap video is from a poster from the Wente article.

“As you have noted, it’s not clear how to re-engage the dispossessed into a functioning society, but perhaps it’s a malfunctioning society that’s been creating the dispossessed?

I direct your attention to “Grand Master Flash” and his rap from the early ‘80s: “The Message”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjLHrhLVwzs

Lyrics -  http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/the-message-lyrics-grandmaster-flash/de263fe1d96567e148256aa10003af9b

The poster states: “The Message? Once trapped, you are doomed.”

Apt, and to the point,when the State controls the access and opportunities to education, via through the levels of reading, writing and numeracy.

Good posts!  This is OT, but does reflect what’s going on today:
I think that most of us are beginning to realize that politicians are interested in getting elected; not what’s best for society.  They therefore genuflect to whichever group has got them into power.  I think the lobbyists—and in Ontario these are mainly the psu’s—and politicians alike figure that this will work just fine, and they’ll get all that they can for themselves till they retire and never mind the terrible damage done to our society.