Posted on 03/12/2016 5:36:05 PM PST by BruceDeitrickPrice
Quora, a discussion forum, posed the question: what are the biggest scams/cons in modern history?
Dozens of smart, entertaining answers have been left: sale of the Eiffel Tower, bottled water, Scientology, military deceptions, Madoff, the diamond engagement ring, etc.
One respondent says the central banking system is a huge con, which may be true. Trouble is, financial matters are very difficult so the con may not be obvious even after the matter is explained.
So that leaves one clear winner. The biggest con is making 50 million Americans totally or partially illiterate by using a method known not to work.
Rudolf Flesch wrote a famous book entitled 'Why Johnny Can't Read' explaining this matter in 1955. Furthermore, all systematic testing, going back a century, has shown the superiority of phonics. Anybody who studies the matter for 10 minutes will see the con.
And yet, and yet, this countrys Education Establishment has kept the scam in play since 1931. Crime-wise this is a remarkable achievement. Battered kids, unable to read, have poured out of the schools by the millions. The phony methods are under constant attack from many directions (for example, one of the main reasons people homeschool their kids is to save them from this con). I've written 25 articles myself, all intended to stop the public schools from continuing this abuse. You're now reading another one of those articles. But the scammers are somehow able to stay one step ahead of the law.
To fully appreciate the grandeur of the scam, consider the typical six-year-old. He shows up at school able to articulate thoughts and sentences like this: 'Some people think the Denver Broncos have a great defense but I think Cam Newton and the Panthers will pull it off.'
This kid is a fully formed 'native speaker.' He is in command of the language to the extent that he could tell a person from a foreign country how to speak the language. Research shows that this kid has a recognition vocabulary way over 15,000 words.
In a 1996 article, Phyllis Schlafly explained the beautiful significance of this foundation: 'The typical first-grader already knows the meaning of thousands of big words, such as hamburger, basketball, birthday, toothbrush, and even hippopotamus and Philadelphia. But the child will not be able to read those words unless he is taught the skills of sounding out the syllables. That's what we call phonics.'
Here is where the con comes in. The Education Establishment figured out a way to stop reading in its tracks. Children are made to memorize so-called sight-words. That is, you memorize a word not as representing sounds, but as a graphic design. This sort of visual memorization is very difficult and tedious. Many children cannot master even 100 sight-words in their first year of school.
Think about the dreadful significance of this factoid. The child knows many thousands of words but cannot read even1% of them, although they are in front of his eyes. If you don't have the key, you can't open the lock.
Sight-word instruction (also known as look-say, Whole Word, Dolch words, etc.) consumes a huge amount of energy and emotional involvement, but rewards the child with almost no progress. It is quite common for children to be declared failures by the second grade and to be placed in remediation classes. If their failure and frustration are more pronounced, the children are put on Ritalin. Note that drug companies are making money. The remediation industry is making money. Tutors are making money. This con is very lucrative for many people.
Think about this especially evil aspect. The average victim of the average con is an adult who can go to the police and complain. But here we have young children who have no idea what has been done to them. The children are miserable. All the fun of going to school has been destroyed. But even grown-ups can be slowly poisoned by a spouse and never know. That's the predicament of these children: damaged without recognition, recourse, or hope of rescue. And this damage, once inflicted, is usually lifelong, reducing career options and salaries.
Should you want to stop this crime and help the children, there are two options:
If you have children of your own, teach them to read at home when they are roughly five years old. This is quite doable and you will prevent the school from hurting them. [See article below.]
If you are worried about the community's children, you should ask the local schools what methods are being used. If lists of sight-words are being sent home with children in the first grade, you know a school is lost and corrupted. The way to stop this con is quite simple: no more sight-words.
Fight back, citizens.
There's a lovely little video on YouTube called "Reading is Easy." This shows you what should be normal, and will be again if we can stop this con.
VIDEO: Reading Is Easy, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JV0tPGn-Ws
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ARTICLE: Teach your child to read early: http://www.improve-education.org/id81.html
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(Quora link: https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-of-the-biggest-scams-cons-in-modern-history
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Thank you.
That is very cool! :-)
Actually, I've never seen shape notes used for anythng but a partcular genre of music, namely what's known to some as "white spirituals" -- 18th and 19th century Christian congregational hymnody.
For your Bach, you probably need them ol' round notes after all... :o)
It infuriates me that children aren't taught to read. It's just not that difficult.
Three of my sons could instantly read, with little or know instruction, when they were three years old. It seems to be just a brain function that some children have.
You’re both absolutely correct on this.
I was taught to read phonetically before going to School, this was a huge advantage. However even if you could read you where forced to go through all of the books in order from the beginning, in an attempt to de-educate you.
I learned what little punctuation I can utilise from a book about ten years ago. Eleven years of school and no real idea on how to use a comma. (They Won).
They also succeeded in wiping out any latent mathematical ability that was available using similar techniques.
School assistants/ Volunteers are prohibited from teaching the Children Phonetics to this day.
It is ,as you say, a Massive drive to render the population educationally dysfunctional.
Yes, you are right about Whole Word reading methods but the evil will not go away until the government's monopoly and price-fixed ( at tuition-free) schools are abolished. As you pointed out, too many white collar employees are gaming a living from the evil.
What good advice? Parents and concerned taxpayers have been protesting insane teaching methods at local school boards for decades. Things do change. They are continually changing for the worse!
Too many white collar government employees benefit from the evil system that exists. In my county the government schools are the biggest single employer in the county. They have the biggest and most lavishly appointed facilities. The largest payroll. No other business comes close.
The solution: Begin the process of privatizing all education.
If you are worried about the community's children, you should ask the local schools what methods are being used. If lists of sight-words are being sent home with children in the first grade, you know a school is lost and corrupted. The way to stop this con is quite simple: no more sight-words.
But specifically: teach your children to read
When I learned to read in the first grade, it seemed to come to me in an instant. I read all of my books and took my older sister’s books and read them as well. I then read everything that was available. My mother went to every library sale that she could find and I read all of those, including encyclopedias and dictionaries.
bflr
The oldest of the three has a masters in accounting and works as a C.P.A. He earned this at a normal age because he attended college part-time. He was a nationally and internationally ranked athlete and traveled the world representing the United States.
My oldest child received the typical American institutional government schooling. He received **tons** of pre schooling and after-schooling. The only thing the government school did was send home a curriculum for me, his father, and my son to follow in the **home**. He had the opportunity to leave school at the age of 16 and attend community college but it was his wish to finish his high school institutional government schooling. Even though he attended government institutional schools, he is fundamentally homeschooled.
If we wish to save this nation and our children's freedom under the Constitution and rule of law, abolishing the government's system of socialist, monopoly, and price-fixed schooling is one of the major steps that must be taken.
Solution: Begin the process of privatizing education in this nation.
Great job you did with your kids. My grandfather was an educator and my father graduated at 13 as well and went to college. He hated it though because he was too young to meet girls since they were not interested in a 13 year old. But he did become a Dr. Then he joined the military to be in Europe with his father during WWII. But his father was in Germany and my dad was sent to Italy.
As you drive by your local high school, think of the top 5 to 10% of the teens stuck in those centers of ignorance. They, too, could be doing what your dad and my children did.
As for college and socialization, it was a drop them off, wait in the library, and pick up after class situation. It wasn't until they were in their later teens that they began to join in socially with the other students. For socialization they did the usual teen things with their church, dance group, scouting, and homeschooling friends. The oldest was an accomplished athlete and have many good friends with his team.
LOL, you would lose that bet. I'm of average intelligence, though I have learned more since I got out of school then I ever learned in school, that's for sure.
After high school I really wanted nothing more of school. I went to a college in Texas but dropped out before the 1st semester even ended. I traveled around the country trying to decide what I did want to do, and finally decided I wanted to get into computers where I didn't really have to interact with people. Got training at a technical school where I graduated first in the class. So that's what I have been doing for close to 40 years now. No desire to retire, just keep slaving away until the day I die, if I can.
I do have it nice right now, work from home in the country. So my driving by anything is seldom. Pretty much a homebody.
I graduated first in the class.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
See. I knew you were smart. You were smart to forego college, too.
Well thank you for the kind words. The path I finally chose has been good to me, even without a college degree. I have a comfortable house on 5 acres with a pool, and my wife and I both drive corvettes. Of course she has the better one, LOL.
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