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A Note To DeVos 041:
By Willie Gaffer:
May 22, 2006:
I am writing this for and about Devos and Michigan, but most of it could be for anyone running for governor in any state.
You need someone to tell you what you are dong wrong and what you should be doing. It is clear you don't know. You have become a one issue candidate. The single business tax is important, but it's not enough to swing an election. You need to stop advertising the same theme over and over a gain. You need to stop long enough to listen to people. Stop being arrogant. Stop thinking you don't need help. Didn't you learn anything from Fieger?
The big issues for Michigan are jobs, public safety (law enforcement), and education. There are many other issues, but we can have little influence on them from the state level. It is important when running for state office to keep our focus and not try to deal with national issues. So far, you have not gone over that line and that is good, but you do need to broaden you campaign.
You talk a great deal about being a job maker, but you have not said how you plan to do that. Repealing the single business tax is not enough. That will help a few small businessmen, but, by itself, it will not help to create new business and generate new jobs. Neither will sucking up to the automakers or other big business help. They are all in a replacement market business now. They don't have any new jobs to give. All they can do is move jobs around in response to government bribes. It has already been proven that tax breaks given to these giant bottom feeders will never be recovered.
There is another approach to building a basis for employment. I outlined that approach in my "Gaffers Philosophy" essay "Part 120 The entrepreneur Initiative." It's a long term approach as is anything that will work for the long haul. We have had enough patches over patches to know the quick fix approach is counterproductive. Even if you are elected, any patches you put on will fall off before the term is over.
When I wrote that essay it was designed as a statewide program with federal involvement, but it could work without the feds. The basis of the idea is to give small government loans to entrepreneurs for startup businesses. This wold be handled through a state board who would examine applicants for the viability of their ideas. For those which were viable, the state would provide low interest loans and an ombudsman would make sure they got through the red tape to get their business started. For complete information on this idea, read the essay.
This lack of jobs has created a major ripple effect. For example, my wife went into Marshal Fields in Flint. This was a huge store that had been remodeled as though it were new. Everything was first rate including the merchandise. There was only one thing missing — customers. This store should have been jammed with customers. Besides herself, my wife saw only about 12 customers in the entire store. The clerks outnumbered them by two to one. Retail businesses are getting desperate. Everything is discounted, but it does not matter. Especially in Flint, there are no jobs and there is no money.
Public safety is an issue you need only mention to get a blizzard of terrified responses. The truth is too many people are afraid for good reason. Thugs rule our streets and it is not safe for people to go out of their homes. Drive by shootings, which used to be rare occurrences are now common daily events. Again, any real approach to this will be long term. My approach is two pronged with one prong being better education and the other being better police.
Politicians are fond of saying we must have more money for more police. Have you ever heard anyone say we need more money for better police. To often, especially in our larger cites, the police are not part of the solution. They are part of the problem. We have too many rogue cops running around with badges and guns. Just a few weeks ago a Flint, MI cop was caught committing aggravated assault against a helpless child. They called that a misdemeanor and he only got 90 days in a local jail. That's wrong.
In another case, two Flint police in a chase drove so recklessly that they collided and one of the cops was killed. In yet another incident, two rooky Detroit police officers were patrolling with no senior officers present to advise them. Sure enough, in what they thought was a routine stop, they did not follow proper procedure and both were shot. These are just three recent incidents. It is clear we need better, not necessarily more police.
What we really need in Michigan is a four year police academy where officers can be properly trained and applicants can be properly screened. I outlined just such an institution in my "Gaffers Philosophy" essay "Part 108 The Academy." This program would be modeled on the very successful program of West Point Academy. The discipline and schedule would be rigorous.
I currently visualize this school as having a two part educational program. The first two years of training would be dedicated to producing very competent cops. Any person who successfully completed this first two year program would be certified by the State of Michigan as a police officer. He or she would be much in demand. The second two years would be focused on leadership and investigative skills including forensic science. These four year graduated would be certified by the State of Michigan as criminologists. Once we have such a program, other states will either follow suit or begin raiding Michigan for good cops. Wouldn't it be nice if Michigan could export excellence?
Now I can get to the second prong of my public safety plan. That is to properly educate our kids. Again that is a long term thing. Here is a fact we cannot ignore. About half of our kids never graduated from highschool. The result of that is poverty, ignorance, and crime. Almost all of the people who are in poverty or prison are there because of ignorance. Most of our social problems , except the ones caused by government, are the result of ignorance. The way to solve those problems is to really educate our children. That should be obvious even to a bureaucrat. We ought to ask ourselves why our kids hate school? We should ask ourselves why so many of them quit before they finish?
A local, Ortonville, Michigan, school teacher has the answers. He was honored as the teacher of the year. His students loved him. When he was questioned about that, he had a three word answer. "Make it fun!" Why should the obvious be so difficult for teachers and administrators? There is no reason at all why learning should not be fun. No subject by itself is boring or difficult. If the students finds it boring and difficult, it is not the student's fault. It's the teacher's fault. It's the systems fault.
In my book, "Will-Yam in the Land of Giants," I advocated getting rid of curriculum altogether. I don't expect that to happen anytime soon. So, if we can't get rid of curriculum altogether, we ought at least to have one class for creativity without a format, just purely creative. We need to let the kids expand their horizons. We need to let them open up to their own potential.
We cannot do that with curriculum or with standard tests. I believe we should stop bribing and blackmailing schools and teacher. Then we should get rid of those stupid tests altogether. All those tests measure is the teacher's ability to teach kids how to pass the test. Instead, we should give the kids an incentive to learn by making it fun.
Think about it Devos. What we are doing does not work. It's
time to try something new. It's time for Michigan to take the
lead again.
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