On Hope... And Education

Poverty is a great motivator. Poor children strive harder than rich kids. What they really need is HOPE - to try and try again, knowing that someday their "ship will come in." What our The State is doing today is killing their hopes with a 12-year jail sentence - compulsory schooling.

Let us understand the serious flaws in this "misuse of force" by our unjust, corrupt and ignorant The State. In a market economy, we all specialize in the "division of labour": there are butchers, bakers, brewers, barbers, electricians, plumbers and so on. What must be noted is that this specialization is marked by the "fragmentation of knowledge": each specialist operates with his own little fragment. When we trade in goods and services, we also trade in the knowledge these contain. What does this mean for poor kids?

First, the HOPE. My message to all poor kids is this: You do not need to spend many years in a "generalized education system" in order to succeed. All you need is a little fragment of specialized knowledge in one chosen area of your own. You can easily acquire this by (paid) apprenticeship. You can therefore enter The Market early in life and continue learning as you work and progress. There is never an end to learning. So choose your specialized field and may luck be with you. "Find your calling," as they used to say.

Compulsory schooling for all poor kids is a harebrained idea. It makes poor kids feel that success in the struggle of life means struggling long years with incomprehensible and irrelevant books. This is nonsense.

To all poor kids, in order to give them HOPE, I therefore recommend Peter Tosh's reggae version of "Johnny B Goode," in which the line goes:

Never learnt to read or write so well,
But he could play his guitar like ringin' the bell...

You can watch the video here.

They never teach you music in any government school, do they?

Do they teach you dance?

And the repressive regulations of our The State ban live performances.

Pure Evil.

Let Freedom Ring!

And have HOPE. Your ship will surely come in someday.