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Some Thoughts – Our Computer Glitches, Living and Dying, “Partner” Insurance Benefits and Football and U of L, and Education

By Theresa Fritz Camoriano

1.   Glitches -        First, I would like to apologize for this past week’s Jefferson Review being posted late and not in the best order.  Apparently, someone had hacked into our server, and our hosts increased their security without telling us.  It took Kevin until Wednesday to figure out what had happened and to post the issue for the week, and, in the process, he apparently had difficulty, lost formatting, links, etc.  I hope this week will go better, but, in any case, will appreciate your patience as we try to adjust to the change.

2.  Living and Dying - Many people in our society have become so concerned about not dying that they have forgotten to live.  All the worries about secondhand smoke, global warming, bird flu, obesity, and others, combined with the desire for the government to control everyone’s lives to require them to wear helmets, eat the “right” foods, etc. are focused on postponing dying.  Why isn’t there at least as much concern about the purpose of our lives, about how we define success and fulfillment, and about what brings us real meaning and pleasure?  If we were really concerned about living, we would respect people’s right to do choose their own paths and would stop trying to control them.

3.  U of L “Partner” Insurance Benefits and Football - The University of Louisville has just approved providing health insurance benefits to unmarried partners.  This is raising a big ruckus, mainly because it is part of the homosexual agenda.  This is just another example of why health insurance should not be tied to employment.  If the tax laws had not created this situation, we would buy our own health insurance just as we buy our own auto insurance and homeowners’ insurance, and it would be none of an employer’s business whose insurance we bought.  There has also been a complaint that U of L has signed its football coach to a big contract instead of using that money for education.  The complainers neglect to mention that the taxpayers are already subsidizing education at Kentucky universities to the tune of about $15,000 per student.  Apparently that’s not enough.

4.  Education - The fact is that education is far too important to be in the hands of the government.  Students deserve far better than the stale, politically biased, bureaucratic product provided at most government institutions.  It should be noted that the literacy rate in Massachusetts under the current government monopoly is lower now than it was before the government took over the schools back in the 1800’s! 

          We live in a fast-moving information age, and education should be tailored to each student’s talents and interests, challenging each student to go as far as his potential will allow.  We need schools and other educational opportunities that compete to meet the students’ needs, which will never happen under a government monopoly system.  Instead of constantly throwing more money at a failed education model and making the school day and school year longer, we ought to be paring down the amount of time and resources spent in government schools, limit the government schools to teaching the basics of reading, writing, math, and science, freeing students  to obtain better educational opportunities elsewhere.   If we followed that approach, all kinds of private offerings would arise, from free programs offered by churches and other charities to very expensive programs that included world travel, to everything in between.  We need to do it for the children!

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