Too Dumb for the Army; Smart Enough to Vote
OK, dumb isn’t the right word. They’re just uneducated — even though they’ve graduated from high school.
Twenty-three percent of all high school graduates who try to enlist are NOT qualified. They don’t meet the minimum requirements for science, math and reading skills.
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said:
“Too many of our high school students are not graduating ready to begin college or a career — and many are not eligible to serve in our armed forces. I am deeply troubled by the national security burden created by America's underperforming education system.”
Retired Rear Admiral Jamie Barnett said:
“If you can't get the people that you need, there's a potential for a decline in your readiness.”
But on the bright side — most of these unqualified people vote Republican. Republican politicians knew exactly what they were doing when they started gutting the education system thirty years ago. Now they’re reaping the fruits of their labors. Rightwing demagogues have millions of loyal unquestioning followers, all of whom are ready to snap to attention and go “Ugh!!!” when they hear the right buzzword.
But conservatives probably didn’t anticipate what a double edged sword this would be. Sure, they have millions of reliable drones who vote as they’re told, and faithfully show up for those orchestrated teabagger “demonstrations” at the proper time and place.
But these drones can’t serve in the military. Uh oh. How can we keep invading other countries if the Pentagon can’t find enough soldiers?
Labels: Arne Duncan, Jamie Barnett, twenty-three percent high school graduates enlist
posted by Tom Harper @ 2:38 PM
13 Comments:
The Poor Quality of the enlistees was one of the main drives to end the draft and go volunteer - It worked very well in the late 70's on as many qualified people (especially black) choose the armed forces over a racist corporate world in the middle of a recession.
You are right though, this is a right wing plot if Bush had still been president they would used this as a deciding point to contract the armed forces over to Halliburton.
After all the Government IS the problem.
Erik
Erik's last two paragraphs make a telling point.
But Tom, you've got this thing all wrong. It's not the conservatives' fault. It's all the teachers unions' fault.
See, teachers who aren't dumber than a box of rocks are just plain lazy underperformers. But because of the evil unions, whether stupid, lazy or both, you couldn't fire one if he or she streaked the aisles during Friday assembly and showed up drunk at a board of education meeting.
I know all this because I heard it a few times back when I ventured an occasional look at Fox and CNN's Crossfire, plus some reading on the Net.
So, while farming the military out to a no-bid contractor might solve that problem, the answer for public schools is to turn them over to corporate America. I'm sure Home Depot's Education Division will get some brilliant teachers from the far side of the world via H1b visas at a fraction of the price of our current crop of losers.
Thank God for the Reich Wing's war on education. I learned from Limbaugh and Beck all those union people are thugs. I'm pretty sure they're all Marxists who hate Amerika too.
Jeez, just lower the required ASVAB scores. They already let Nazi crackers and gangbangers in, what's a few awshucks rubes.
I'm with Erik on the thinking here, that this is a way to get more money to the MIC. You know, those poor bastards don't have enough already, we have to give them more.
What did John Stuart Mill write?:
"While it is not true that all conservatives are stupid, it is true that most stupid people are conservative."
You have to be from the bottom of a shallow gene pool to regularly vote against your own best interests and the interests of your country, all because millionaires pay on-air Faux News personalities to tell you which lever to pull.
The teachers unions aren't the problem, in and of themselves. They simply enable problems to hide behind tenure. The real "problem" with our education system is multi-faceted, beginning with shitty parental involvement, penny-pinching facilities and equipment, sorry salaries that fail to attract the best and brightest to the education system, and a complete failure by our administrators to let teachers teach the material and NOT TEACH TO THE DAMN TEST.
"Leave No CEO Behind" is a huge part of the problem, but we knew that when Curious George promoted it in the first place.
You can trust this fact: the last thing the GOP wants is an informed, intellectual populace. There's no future for their party in that environment.
Our military does a remarkable job of bringing a lot of our young people "up to speed", and the fact that they're having trouble meeting quotas of eligible enlistees is more of an indictment on our system of financial disparity than of our educational system. Rich, well educated kids aren't flocking to the recruiting station... unemployed kids from poor families are the ones in line.
@Squatlo, some of our best and brightest are still going into teaching. I am one of the best and brightest people I know and should be finished in a couple months with the program to credential me. Oh yes, I am all about tooting my own horn, in this regard, so others don't have to :)The one thing that is troubling me is the parental involvement, like you say. How do you get that parent that may be working 2/3 jobs to be able to give up some time to talk to the teacher.
Well, Tom, this is a GREAT post! 8-)
S.W. is correct, although I learned that same information from reading the cartoon strip "Mallard Fillmore"!
Squatlo said: "The real "problem" with our education system is multi-faceted, beginning with shitty parental involvement, penny-pinching facilities and equipment, sorry salaries that fail to attract the best and brightest to the education system, and a complete failure by our administrators to let teachers teach the material and NOT TEACH TO THE DAMN TEST."
This is correct! They sure have been trying to gut the educational system since around the time of Reagan. And No Child Left Behind certainly doesn't leave as much room for teaching critical thinking skills. Talkers like Rush, Sean, Bill, etc. want people to BYPASS those critical thinking skills in order to reach agreement with their talking points.
Erik: Good point. The all volunteer military worked better in the '70s and '80s, before public education started deteriorating. We may just have to let Halliburton and Blackwater (or whatever they're calling themselves this week) handle those pesky wars.
SW: You're right, it's them damn teachers' unions and their shiftless lazy employees. I too try to check in regularly with Fox News and talk radio, so I won't get all confused by that there liberal media.
Dave: Yup, I learned the same thing at Beck U.
Randal: That's pretty scary, that skinheads and gangbangers are the cream of the crop.
Jess: Congrats on your future teaching career. You've got your work cut out for you.
Squatlo: Excellent points and description of our predicament.
I especially liked:
"You have to be from the bottom of a shallow gene pool to regularly vote against your own best interests and the interests of your country,"
and
"the last thing the GOP wants is an informed, intellectual populace."
Sad but true.
Snave: I think it's an example of teamwork. The schools are indoctrinating millions of unquestioning worker bees, and these worker bees are getting their "lessons" and marching orders from talk radio.
Jess
I come from a family of Teachers, you are to be commended and I wish you all the luck
Give em hell
PS May I ask what grade, what subject you plan on teaching?
Best
Erik
Jess, I meant no disrespect, and certainly understand that a lot of our best and brightest still enter teaching as a calling. My daughter is one of them, working her way through college as we speak to become a history or lit teacher. Trust me, if she sticks with her plan, she'll be the kind of person who makes a difference in a young person's life.
What I was bitching about was the pay offered to teachers, which in my opinion is pathetic given their responsibilities and required educations.
When our parks and recreation workers make twice what our teachers are paid, something's wrong.
Wish you the best, man, and hope you see your dreams come true in that profession. If I had my way, you'd see your dreams AND be better compensated for the work you hope to do.
Ho, Ho, Ho!
Merry Christmas to all you cool cats and kute kittens!
Ho, Ho, Ho!
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