Yes I see, my son came home with the same cr*p in his social studies course. "Communism does not work, capitalism does not work, what works is the Third way--tax the capitalists to pay for the programs that the communists want". I was floored but I quickly reminded my son that if he liked that, he should remember that he will be one of those who are taxed to pay for other's wellfare.
You realize that monopoly's have been beaten about the head with the Sherman Anti Trust Act, an act that Ayn Rand (Never mentioned in High School) says is the worst act ever passed in America. We got to see it being used by Microsoft's competitors to get them more market share, but do we need government to split up a company that has led the world in new technology?
What the kids should have, is a fair and balanced presentation of these issues, and if that happens, they will learn that whatever its shortcomings, America is the place where everyone else wishes they were born. (OK not everyone, but you get the point.)
MYASS!
Actually that's exactly what we have now. Tax the capitalists to pay for social spending (wellfare, social security, medicare, medicaid, unemployment insurance, etc). It's not as extensive and insidious as it is in canada and europe but that's basically the system. It's also excrutiatingly unpleasant to be on any of the above.
As for the welfare, it is nearly impossible for a person who is capable of working to get on the system. It's primary use is to support women with children. And yes this includes all those ditzy teen age mothers everyone frets about, but we've actually made great strides in reducing teen pregnancies over the years. So when you're talking to your son, in the interest of this balance you speak of you might mention that without that safety net those mothers and children would be out on the streets homeless and starving.
You realize that monopoly's have been beaten about the head with the Sherman Anti Trust Act, an act that Ayn Rand (Never mentioned in High School) says is the worst act ever passed in America. We got to see it being used by Microsoft's competitors to get them more market share, but do we need government to split up a company that has led the world in new technology?
Actually microsoft is a prime example of why there need to be monopoly protections. Rememebr a little company called netscape? It was started by a few guys, made into a successful business, then microsoft gave away their product for free until netscape basically vanished from the scene. Now free of competition MS is removing their product from apple and you'll only be able to get new versions of the browser by buying a new copy of the operating system.
Monopoly regulation exists to make sure you don't pay $20.00 for a 5 minute phone call to the next county because there's only one phone company, and to make sure your electric rates are as reasonable as they can possibly be (see california deregulation debacle).
Remember that all of these rules and regulations came about because of past abuses where people were hurt, the economy was hurt, and the country was hurt. We don't have snakeoil salesmen today because the feds will bust anyone who tries to sell a cure for cancer without a lot of studies that show that it actually cures cancer. When a mining company blasts away the countryside to mine the metals underneath it has to put the countryside back when it's done, we are still paying BILLIONS of dollars to repair and properly close old mines left by defunct mining companies before the new regulation, mines which leach hazerdous materials into our watershed every time it rains.
What the kids should have, is a fair and balanced presentation of these issues, and if that happens, they will learn that whatever its shortcomings, America is the place where everyone else wishes they were born. (OK not everyone, but you get the point.)
And on this I think we all agree. Fair and balanced is exactly what we need. The problem is all the people (on this thread included) who believe that only upbeat patriotic propaganda needs to be dispensed. To me, the best way to educate our children is not to hide all the bad stuff but say, "hey, we made a success of it anyway.". Capitalism has problems yet, but in the larger scheme of things no other system generates as much wealth for EVERYONE and uplifts the human condition and if capitalism causes problems then it also generates the resources necessary to solve those problems as well.
A fair and balanced approach, as fox would say, is by far the best service we can provide for our kids. I still believe that extreemely biased and anti-american instruction is very rare in the US, we're big enough of course so that there are all kinds, but on the whole I believe you'll find as many teachers had flags flying the day after 9/11 as anybody else.
And while there is an extreme fringe to leftist politics that well and truly hates America it's also true that there is a same extreme fringe to the right that feels the exact same. Timothy McVeigh was not a liberal, and neither was Eric Rudoph. The overwhelming vast majority of people both left and right have no desire at all to denegrate this country.