The Problems of Hawaii Seem Endless

But really they are only one -- the will and desire to think clearly. The culture is one of endless distraction, diversions and entertainment -- beginning with the usual sources of “information,” which serve largely to propagate misinformation, rumor and innuendo. With the wrong information, people invariably have to make the wrong choices -- that they wouldn’t make if they simply had the right information. So the whole battle is getting the right information in the first place -- which information and communications officers’ job is to insure that we don’t.

The simple,unvarnished truth seems to be the one thing information officers cannot allow -- or they think they wouldn’t be doing their jobs, which is to spin it so that it is no longer comprehensible to the average person. And then, where would that leave them -- if information was easily intelligible and accessible to everyone? Certainly there would be no need for information specialists. So this function of the middle man, moves closer to the source -- before they are reverse-spun by the larger mainstream media editors. What comes out is the familiar garble that is unintelligible to anyone -- which they hope creates an even greater need for information and their own job security.

There is the insistence by bureaucrats and technocrats that the “public” has to learn their jargon, rather than that they should have to learn to communicate effectively with everyone else -- and in fact, they are encouraged in their specialties, to be as incomprehensible as possible, as proof of their intelligence and great intellect. Many are intimidated and coerced in this way -- not having the confidence to think for themselves and trust in their own judgment that what is unclear, is deliberately made so -- and not that they are incapable of grasping it.

I guess that is what people like most about my writing -- that it is so simple and clear that even a fool can understand it, and if that is the case, what is the need for teachers and other intermediaries of learning? Undoubtedly, a lot of functions that might have been helpful in the past become hindrances when there is an insistence that the aid now becomes the objective -- and meaning and purpose for that activity.

So in education, the problem is job security for teachers, rather than what is learned by the student. In fact, they are now appalled and offended that that should have to be a consideration. Don’t we realize that “teachers” have more important things to do?