The Campaign to Privatize the World

[marmar]

Published on Friday, April 13, 2012 by Common Dreams
The Campaign to Privatize the World

by David Macaray


One of the biggest con games going on at the moment is the sustained attack on the U.S. public school system. It’s being perpetrated by predatory entrepreneurs (disguised as “concerned citizens” and “education reformers”) hoping to persuade the parents of school-age children that the only way their kids are going to get a decent education is by paying for something that they can already get for free. You might say it’s the same marketing campaign that launched bottled water.

The profit impulse fueling this drive is understandable. All it takes is a cursory look at the economic landscape to see why these speculators are drooling at the prospect of privatizing education. Millions of students pulling up stakes, bailing out of the public school system, and enrolling in private or charter schools? Are you kidding? Just think of the money that would generate.

Mind you, these “education reformers” are the same people who want to privatize the world—the same people who want more toll roads, who want hikers to pay trail fees, who want city parks and public beaches to charge admission. Indeed, they’re the same tribe who convinced a thirsty nation to voluntarily pay for drinking water that it could otherwise get for free.

Before comparing private and public schools, let’s revisit that bottled water craze, the stunning marketing phenomenon that made beverage companies wealthy and added a billion plastic bottles to our landfills and oceans. For the record, since passage of the Safe Drinking Water Act (1974), municipal water, unlike bottled, has been stringently regulated by the EPA, which is why bottled water contains more impurities and bacteria. In truth, city water is safer, cheaper and better for the environment. ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/04/13-1

[RKP5637]

1. I always got a sad chuckle that CA led the way with trendy environmentally

unfriendly bottled water, at least where I was. They would scream about using too much paper while drinking their bottled water.

[JDPriestly]

4. Good point about California.

And our tap water is excellent. Don't need the stuff that is contaminated by the plastic it is sold in.

[JDPriestly]

2. Feudalism redux.

Privatize just means putting everything in the hands of the richest of the rich.

And when they have everything, what will they do?

Just what they did in the days of feudal kingdoms. Fight amongst themselves about who owns what. And guess who will be forced to do their fighting for them? Us and the children we bear.

Stop privatization. We should have a mix of private and public ownership of our resources and production capacities.

[LoisB]

3. This should be read and passed on by everyone.

[AdHocSolver]

5. Privatization is the authoritarian personality's rebellion against authority.

Even when the facts are on the side of the government or the teachers or the scientists, the authoritarian personality will deny the facts in order to snub the government or teachers or "know-it-all" scientists.

This is because the authoritarian personality does not see the irony that the groups such as corporations that refer to themselves as being of the "private sector", are in reality quasi-governmental bureaucracies.

The "right wing" sees themselves as independent "rebels" when, in fact, they are lemming-like sheep easily manipulated by self-serving propaganda.

Therefore, this mentality allows them to be hypocritical and take what appears to be insane positions contrary to reality without any self-doubt about their own beliefs or actions..