When the PARADE, a section in the Miami Herald’s Sunday Edition, about three weeks ago, asked him what he would do to make a better America, Norman Mailer wrote that “television commercials have got to go.” Instead, he argued, Americans should “pay directly for what we enjoy on television rather than pass the spiritual cost on to our children.”
Very noble we are, when we speak of doing our best for the children, because, no one can deny that the children are the future of not only America, but the entire world, and so it stands to unarguable logic that the better our children are, the better the world and America will be. So, I agree with Norman Mailer that changing America for the better is embedded in the future of our children, however, that is where my agreement stops, for I absolutely do not believe that an economic upheaval, such as, the removal of the advertising industry largest medium, television, is the answer or, rather, the only answer.
When it comes to the future of any nation it is my belief that that future is most successful when it is fueled by Complete Education. Complete Education is education, which begins at home, from the time of birth until the time of departure at adolescence. Complete education is affordable primary, secondary and higher education for everyone. Complete education is supported by funding that facilitates the production of educational and informational programs though popular mediums of entertainment, such as books, newspapers, television, film, Magazines and radio, as well as extra curricular activities and programs that teaches our children about life, living and living together. However, since we do not have a functional Complete Education plan, Complete Education will have to be a two generation project, for first we will have to educate the parents, to get them to believe in complete education so that they support it. This two generation plan would require our leaders to stop looking at any educational solution through the eyes of political or life terms. The inescapable truth is that a huge part of a politician’s job is spent keeping her/his job, which, naturally, inevitably leads to political myopia. A disease that has caused the development of the severe condition I call STS (short term solutions). These are any humanitarian based solutions that are expected to have favorable consequences within a period that is less than a generation’s time. Well, in the case of Complete Education, there is no short term solution, because Complete Education is, essentially, complete.
To achieve Complete Education it will require a major investment on our behalf, for a very long time, though not much more than there we invest at the moment. All we would have to do is not give unreasonably large tax breaks to the wealthy, divert those sums to education and, voila. After all if we are going to make America better, it seems only just that the ones who have benefited the most should be the ones most willing to insure that all Americans will have the same opportunities that they were so fortunate to have. Complete Education will require a solid management and inexhaustible tenacity. However, no matter the obstacles, one thing is for certain, if we want to do it, we can. We need only to apply the same determination and commitment that we exhibited when we made up our minds to rid the world of the tyranny of Saddam Hussein. In that historical moment, we did not stop to think of eventual financial problems, nor did we allow the United Nations or disagreeing allies to stay our hand. We were resolute, because our duty was to provide a better future for Americans. This is absolute proof that if America really wants to have a better future, and if that future is undeniably linked to our children being better people, and if we can make all of them better through Complete Education then the America I am so proud of can easily do this, as well as stopping excessive mind destroying commercials during the children television’s prime time. Don’t you agree, Mr. Mailer?
By Gary Thoulouis