Glenn Beck is the most mean-spirited man in America today.

He is the kind of person who would snatch an ice cream from a kid’s hand – and, kick the kid in the mouth, too.

That’s the kind of man Glenn Beck is.

And, that, sadly, is what the American Right is like, also.  The Conservatives, the neo-Cons, the Republicans, the Evangelicals, the Tea Party-ers, and the Fox News crowd.  About 1/3rd of Americans.

Glenn Beck, who makes nearly $88,000 a day [see Glenn Beck Inc by Lacey Rose in Forbes at http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2010/0426/entertainment-fox-news-simon-schuster-Glenn-beck-inc.html ] wants to deny $41.85 a day – the average unemployment check — to the 15 million+ Americans who are currently unemployed.

He thinks they are a bunch of losers.  For collecting unemployment.

“Go out and get a job,” he advised on his show Glenn Beck Monday August 16.

But, there are no jobs to be had.

Beck’s super-rich Capitalist fat-cat Corporate CEOs have seen to that.

Either, they are automating.  In which, no jobs are created.

Or, they’re outsourcing.  In which case, a job is created.  In China.

What Beck did not say – but, which underlines his rant, and that of the Right, against the poor unemployed – is that these 15 million unemployed are lazy.

Too unwilling to work.  Too willing to carry on getting unemployment checks.

Question for Glenn Beck – Before condemning the unfortunate unemployed, have you tried living on $41.85 per day?  [Which works out to $293 per week.]

Rent.  Food.  Utilities.  Healthcare.

Will you, Glenn Beck, be able to sustain yourself on $41.85 per day?  For 1 week?  For 10 weeks?  For 80 weeks?  For 99 weeks?

After which the $293 weekly unemployment checks run out.

Then, what will you do, Glenn Beck?

It’s easy to sit back with an income of $88,000 a day.  And, belittle the little people.  Who have to make it on $41.85 per day.

Where is your Christianity?

Oops!  You’re no longer a Christian.

You’re now a Mormon?

Or, is it moron?

 
Egbert F “Burt” Bhatty has worked 30 years as an Analyst at the American Embassy, New Delhi, and at British [Dunlop] and American [Chase Manhattan] multinationals.  He is a Certified Catechist.  Holds a 3-year [part time] Certificate in Foundations For Christian Ministry.

Material published in washingtonhotwire.com, unless specifically noted, may be used freely for non-commercial purposes.  Attribution, though not required, will be greatly appreciated.  “…..freely ye have received, freely give.”  [Matthew 10:8 KJV -- King James Version]

Christian leadership and Christian management are very different from the Secular.

Open any Management text and you will find a plethora of leadership and management styles listed.

Autocratic.  Bureaucratic.  Paternalistic.  Democratic.  Laissez-faire.  Directive.  Permissive.  Blah.  Blah.  Blah.

Participatory.  Directing.  Teamwork.  Obsessive [Bill Gates].  Entrepreneurial [Warren Buffet].  Blah.  Blah.  Blah.

Unlike the Secular, Christianity admits of only 1 Leadership style – that of Jesus, Our Lord.

And, only 1 Management style – that of his Disciples.

In a Christian enterprise there is only one Leader – Our Lord.  And, a host of Followers – the Disciples.

In the Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John – Our Lord, our Leader, laid out the Vision.

His Vision — to establish the Kingdom of God on earth.  “…..as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” [John 13:34]

He explained His Vision and trained His Apostles for 4 years.  Then, He was Crucified.  Died.  Was Buried.  And, Rose again.

It was now left up to His followers, His Apostles, to implement His Vision.

The First Christians, the 120 who were part of the Jesus Community the day He died, and the Early Christians, the 3000 who received Jesus at Pentecost, lived very differently from their Secular neighbors.

“And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.”  [Acts 2:44-45 KJV – King James Version]

In other words, the Early Christians lived in Community.  Unlike their neighbors who lived Individually.  Neighbors who cared only for themselves, not others.

Caring for each other, and sharing all they had, was the hallmark of the Early Church.

But, as with all organizations as they grow – and the Church was growing – there were divergent views as to direction.

Which way to go?  And, how quickly?

The Early Church did not, as modern Corporations do, let one person, typically the CEO, decide the course.

The failure of Rolls Royce, Pan Am, Barings, Fokker, Bethlehem Steel, Enron, TWA, Swissair, WorldCom, Lehman Brothers, Wachovia, Washington Mutual, Woolworths, Reader’s Digest, Waterford, Japan Airlines, and thousands and thousands of other Companies, is the direct result of CEO-type decision-making.  The result of one person deciding the course of action for the organization.

The Early Church could have fallen into the same trap.  Let James, the cousin-brother of Jesus, who was the leader/CEO of the Church in Jerusalem, decide which way the Church should go.

But it did not.

The Early Church rejected the system of CEO-leadership; and, instead, adopted the style of Consensus-management.

Should Gentiles be admitted into the Church?  And, should they be circumcised?  These were the big issues facing the Early Church.

Judaizers.  Paul and Barnabas.  The Pharisees’ party.  Peter.  James.  And, others.  All had their own views.

The Apostles and Elders assembled for the Council at Jerusalem [AD 50].

The King James Version says there was “much disputing” [Acts 15:7].  The New International Version – “much discussion”.  The New American Standard Bible – “much debate”.

The use of the word “much” tells us a lot.  That the interchange must have been spirited.  But, everyone present was allowed to speak.  To express his opinion.

Then, James brought the discussion to a close [Acts 15:13-21].  The Gentiles would be admitted to the Church.  And, would be admitted as they are – that is, uncircumcised.

It’s possible – nay, probable – that not everyone at the Council agreed fully with the Council’s decision.  But, and this is important to Christian decision making, they all supported the decision, once the decision was made, fully and wholeheartedly.

Had it been left to James alone, in a CEO-type decision making process, it’s almost certain that Gentiles would have been excluded from the Church.  And, Christianity would have been no more than a minor sect of Judaism.

But, the divers views from diverse personalities brought the wind of change to the Church.

And, the Church grew.

It’s a model of growth applicable to any Christian organization.

Let the Lord set the course.  Let men realize it through consensus.

 
Egbert F “Burt” Bhatty has worked 30 years as an Analyst at the American Embassy, New Delhi, and at British [Dunlop] and American [Chase Manhattan] multinationals.  He is a Certified Catechist.  Holds a 3-year [part time] Certificate in Foundations For Christian Ministry.

Material published in washingtonhotwire.com, unless specifically noted, may be used freely for non-commercial purposes.  Attribution, though not required, will be greatly appreciated.  “…..freely ye have received, freely give.”  [Matthew 10:8 KJV -- King James Version]

The answer is quite simple.

Not more than one’s neighbor.

Whaaaat?

Yes!  Not more than one’s neighbor.

And, just where did you get that crazy idea from?

From the Gospels.

And, Acts.  Which is only an extension of the Gospel of Luke.

The Gospels record Jesus living in Community with His Apostles and Disciples.

He ate with them.  Prayed with them.  Slept with them.

The Jesus Community shared everything.

In other words, no one had more than one’s neighbor.

That is how these First Christians, some 120 of them [Acts 1:15] lived.  A simple and pure life.  During Our Lord’s lifetime.

The Early Christians, the 3000 or so who came to Jesus, became Christians, at Pentecost [Acts 2:41], followed in Our Lord’s
footsteps.  Followed His example, the example of His Community, to the full.

Sharing fully and completely, as He had.

This is how Acts records it — “And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need” [Acts 2:44-45 KJV].

Community.  Caring.  Sharing.

Equally.

No one having more than one’s neighbor.

This is how Christians lived in AD 29.

Today, some 2000 years later, Jesus wants Christians to live exactly the same way.

In Community.

Caring for everyone.

Sharing all.

Equally.

So that no one has more than anyone else.  No one has more than one’s neighbor.

This, more than anything else in Christianity, reflects our acceptance of Jesus’ Commandment of Love.

Or, rejection of it.

And, our choice determines the kind of person we are.

A Christian.

Or, a Loveless man; merely sounding brass.

 
Egbert F “Burt” Bhatty has worked 30 years as an Analyst at the American Embassy, New Delhi, and at British [Dunlop] and American [Chase Manhattan] multinationals.  He is a Certified Catechist.  Holds a 3-year [part time] Certificate in Foundations For Christian Ministry.

Material published in washingtonhotwire.com, unless specifically noted, may be used freely for non-commercial purposes.  Attribution, though not required, will be greatly appreciated.  “…..freely ye have received, freely give.”  [Matthew 10:8 KJV -- King James Version]

Soldiers come back every day from the war fronts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

With arms missing.  Or, legs.  With brain injury.  With PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder].  With chronic pain.  With nerve damage.  And, “a laundry list of things”, as one Disabled Veteran put it.

But, these young men are going to live another 50 – 60 years.

Doing what?

Nursing their disabilities?  Going from job to job?  Eventually, unemployed.  Then, long-term unemployed.  Then what?  Sinking into oblivion?

Not on your life!

Some 300 of them, to date, have chosen to grab life by the throat.  Battle the scourge of unemployment so endemic to our Disabled Veterans.  And, win!

By choosing to work for themselves.  By choosing Self-Employment!

Most Veterans, endowed with a free-ranging spirit, find it difficult to work within the confines of a regular job.  But, Self-Employment offers the flexibility of Endeavor that matches the courage of their nature, the boldness of their character, the spirit of their soul.

Today, Disabled Veterans are developing real estate, handcrafting furniture, providing helicopter services, making documentary films.

And, making a good living off their Endeavors.

John Raftery, a Marine, who left Iraq in 2003 with “a laundry list of things”, today, runs Patriot Contractors, Inc out of Red Oak, Texas.  Has 10 employees.  And, expects to rack up sales of $3 million this year.

Brian P Iglesias left Iraq in 2008, a Captain.  With a spine injury.  And, film making skills.  And, no idea how to make money.

Today, Iglesias, is President and CEO of Veterans, Inc, a film and media company – and headed for Hollywood.

To serve as an Executive Producer for the 3-D feature film called “17 Days Of Winter.”  Based on a documentary called “Chosin”, chronicling the Battle Of Chosin Reservoir in Korea, that he produced after attending the EBV program at Syracuse.

The EBV?  What’s that?

The EBV is the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities.

Which was launched by Mike Haynie, a former Air Force officer and an Air Force Academy instructor, at Syracuse in 2007.  To help Disabled Veterans who wanted to set up in business for themselves.

The training and mentoring in the EBV program is completely free.  The entire program is funded by private donations.

Today, in addition to Syracuse, the EBV is, also, available at UCLA, Florida State, Texas A&M, Purdue, and UConn.

The class of 2007 at Syracuse had 20 students / Disabled Veterans, including Raftery of Patriot Contractors Inc out of Read Oak, Texas.

Of the 20 students / Disabled Veterans, 4 did more than $1 million in business in 2009.

Proving that Disabled Veterans can win – on the battlefield.  And, off it.

 
Egbert F “Burt” Bhatty has worked 30 years as an Analyst at the American Embassy, New Delhi, and at British [Dunlop] and American [Chase Manhattan] multinationals.  He is a Certified Catechist.  Holds a 3-year [part time] Certificate in Foundations For Christian Ministry.

Material published in washingtonhotwire.com, unless specifically noted, may be used freely for non-commercial purposes.  Attribution, though not required, will be greatly appreciated.  “…..freely ye have received, freely give.”  [Matthew 10:8 KJV -- King James Version]

It should come as no surprise that the Church has played a role in creating and sustaining America’s Unemployment crisis.

There are some 15 million Unemployed in America today, according to BLS [Bureau of Labor Statistics].  And, an equal number Underemployed, according to independent labor market analysts.

Making a total of some 30 million Unproductive workers in the US.

The role of the American Capitalist Corporations is evident.

They have let these people go.

The why and the wherefores of this Corporate behavior are well known.

Profit.  Maximum Profit.

But, does the Church have any culpability in this matter?

Yes, sure.

The Church has only 2 functions.  To preach Doctrine.  To correct Error.

And, in this matter, the Church has done neither.

It has not preached Doctrine to the Corporations.  Or, to the Corporate Executives.

Nor, has it corrected their Error.

The Doctrine in relation to the Corporation is clear enough.

People must come before Profits.

His Holiness the late Pope John Paul II laid it out quite clearly.

Legitimate Profit.

Profit that balances the needs of the Workers and the needs of the Shareholders.

When did you last hear your Pastor preach about Legitimate Profit from the pulpit?

Have you ever heard your Pastor preach about it at all?

If the answer is No! and No! – you know one thing, for sure.

Your Church has not corrected the Corporations’ Error.

In a Christian society a Christian business cannot put Profit ahead of People.

Cannot Maximize Profit.

And, the Church needs to tell that to the Corporations.

To the Christian CEOs and Executives who run these Christian Corporations in a Christian society.

If the Church did its God-given duty we would not have 30 million Unproductive in America today.

It’s time for the Church to wake up!

 
Egbert F “Burt” Bhatty has worked 30 years as an Analyst at the American Embassy, New Delhi, and at British [Dunlop] and American [Chase Manhattan] multinationals.  He is a Certified Catechist.  Holds a 3-year [part time] Certificate in Foundations For Christian Ministry.

Material published in washingtonhotwire.com, unless specifically noted, may be used freely for non-commercial purposes.  Attribution, though not required, will be greatly appreciated.  “…..freely ye have received, freely give.”  [Matthew 10:8 KJV -- King James Version]

washingtonhotwire.com has, since its inception 18 months ago, explored the many facets of Christianity and Business.

The ways in which our Christian Faith can impact business decisions.  How Christians should run a Christian business.  How a Christian business is different from a Capitalist business.  How a Fair Market Christian Economic System is different from the Free Market Capitalist Economic System.

This emphasis on Christianity and Business, and how Christianity should impact Business, will remain.

But, going forward, an equal emphasis will be placed within these pages on the predominant problem facing American society today – Unemployment, Underemployment, Joblessness.

No matter what this, and future, Democratic and Republican, Administrations might say or promise on the Jobs front – the grim fact is this.  There will never be enough American jobs for the current, and future, American labor force.

Not as far as the eye can see.

Automation and Outsourcing will see to that.

The Bureau Of Labor Statistics [BLS] puts the current Unemployment rate at 9.5%.

Independent labor market analysts like Raghavan Mayur and John Williams put the real unemployment rate at over 22% [see http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/careers/what-is-the-real-unemployment-rate/19556146/ ].

Where’s the discrepancy?

BLS counts only those people who say they are currently Unemployed – some 14.6 million in May 2010.

BLS excludes workers who can’t find a full-time job – some 8.6 million.  And, then, there are workers who have given up looking for work – some 2.6 million, according to the BLS.  That makes 11.2 million American who are Underemployed.

In fact, some analysts believe that the number of Underemployed is greater than the number of Unemployed.  Making a total of some 30 million Unproductive workers in the United States.

What a waste of American talent!

Who is responsible for this situation?  These 30 million Unproductive in America?

On the face of it it would appear that American business is directly responsible for this calamitous situation – where 1 in 5 workers is Unproductive.

The Administration, and its monetary and fiscal policies could, also, be held directly responsible for this devastating situation.

And, what about those who indirectly contribute to this misery?  The Church?  The Universities?  The Military?  The Trade Unions?  The Workers, themselves?

But, bigger than the question of who is directly or indirectly responsible for this heartbreaking situation is the question – why?

Why have American Corporations made 30 million [and growing] Unproductive?  And, why have the Administration, the Church, the Universities, the Military, the Trade Union, even the Workers, themselves, let it happen?

Is it because the Corporations, the Administration, the Church, the Elites, are so warm and well-fed and so remote from the single mother — who has to choose between getting a painful, aching tooth fixed or milk for her child?

Has their wealth made them so UnChristian?  So uncaring?

And, what about the Workers’ role in causing their own suffering?  What is their contribution to this continuing calamity?  And, that of the Trade Unions?

washingtonhotwire.com will explore, without fear or favor, the causes of this persistent, and painful, American tragedy.

And, suggest innovative solutions to put the American workforce back to work.  To restore the American Dream.

 
Egbert F “Burt” Bhatty has worked 30 years as an Analyst at the American Embassy, New Delhi, and at British [Dunlop] and American [Chase Manhattan] multinationals.  He is a Certified Catechist.  Holds a 3-year [part time] Certificate in Foundations For Christian Ministry.

Material published in washingtonhotwire.com, unless specifically noted, may be used freely for non-commercial purposes.  Attribution, though not required, will be greatly appreciated.  “…..freely ye have received, freely give.”  [Matthew 10:8 KJV -- King James Version]

What would you do if an undocumented immigrant crashed into your car?

Go Krakatoa, I presume.  Blow your top.

Christianity provides a different answer.

This morning, as I always do, I read, or, rather, re-read, the daily Devotion from a month ago.  July 4th.

I read from Living Faith, which is a book of Daily Catholic Devotions.

July 4th in the Liturgical Calendar is the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

It is, also, of course, our Independence Day.

The Devotional was written by Sister Joyce Rupp, OSM.  The OSM designating her a member of the Servites community [Order Of The Servants Of Mary].

She writes –

“What are the works of God?

“Do we recognize them?

“These works seem huge when written about in the Scriptures, but in our own lives they are often passed over and unrecognized.

“Once in a while these works startle us into attention.

“Such was the time when I learned of a woman whose car was damaged in a supermarket parking lot, crashed into by an undocumented immigrant.

“Upon learning he had no insurance, she decided not to press the issue, but someone else nearby called the police.

“The man was ticketed with a hefty fine.

“Instead of feeling self-righteous satisfaction, the woman went home and spoke with her husband.  They decided to send what money they could to help pay the fine for the man.

“Such a small deed in the eyes of a large world, but how significant.

“When I heard of it, I felt I had experienced “the works of God.”

“It inspired me to live more kindly.”

Thank you, Sister Joyce!

Such a beautiful story of Christ in action.  On our own Independence Day.

It freed me from my prejudices.

Made me realize that we are all children of the same God.

Why can’t all of us, as Christians, recognize that?

Editor’s Note – The Copyright for this story is held by Living Faith published by Creative Communications for the Parish, Fenton, Missouri.

 
Egbert F “Burt” Bhatty has worked 30 years as an Analyst at the American Embassy, New Delhi, and at British [Dunlop] and American [Chase Manhattan] multinationals.  He is a Certified Catechist.  Holds a 3-year [part time] Certificate in Foundations For Christian Ministry.

What do MetLife, Prudential, Genworth Financial Inc, Guardian Life of America, AXA SA’s MONY Life Insurance Co, New York Life Insurance Co, Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co and Unum Group have in common?

They are all cheats.

This, according to New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who, in a lawsuit, says these, and other, Life Insurance companies defrauded families of soldiers killed in action.

How?

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs says Life Insurance companies, first, put Veterans’ death benefits into risky investments.  Then, kept most of the investment income [profits] for themselves, instead of paying out the profits to the families of the Veterans killed in action.

For example — according to a class action lawsuit filed in Massachusetts, Department of Veterans Affairs reports show that Prudential Insurance, the 2nd largest insurance company, after MetLife, as the administrator of the Veterans’ policies, collected $982.8 million in Veterans’ policy premiums in 2009, earned $144.1 million in investment income, and held reserves of more than $2.5 billion — “indicating earnings exceeding 5.69 percent per year.”

According to the Massachusetts lawsuit, while Prudential Insurance Co. of America earned interest of more than 5.69% on Veterans’ Life-Insurance policies – it paid out only 1% to the beneficiaries, the families of the deceased soldiers.

As Cuomo said – it’s shocking that these multinational Life Insurance companies have pocketed hundreds of millions of Dollars in profits that really belong to those who have lost family members – to the military families whose loved ones have made the ultimate sacrifice.

washingtonhotwire.com is not surprised by the Greed of these CEOs and Executives.

But, is saddened, that they are Christians.

The challenge before every Christian life is — to choose between God and Mammon.

The choice is made clear by Jesus, Himself.

“No man can serve two masters:…..Ye cannot serve God and Mammon.”  [Matthew 6:24, and Luke 16:13].

Where did these Christian CEOs and Executives go so wrong?

Why did they not choose God?

 
Egbert F “Burt” Bhatty has worked 30 years as an Analyst at the American Embassy, New Delhi, and at British [Dunlop] and American [Chase Manhattan] multinationals.  He is a Certified Catechist.  Holds a 3-year [part time] Certificate in Foundations For Christian Ministry.

Material published in washingtonhotwire.com, unless specifically noted, may be used freely for non-commercial purposes.  Attribution, though not required, will be greatly appreciated.  “…..freely ye have received, freely give.”  [Matthew 10:8 KJV -- King James Version]

Editor’s Note – washingtonhotwire.com reproduces below an article entitled A Sin And A Shame by Bob Herbert, published in The New York Times, in which he explains why Unemployment continues to be so high in the US.  And how and why American Capitalist Corporations are implicated in this disaster.  washingtonhotwire.com hopes that Herbert’s insights will provide its readers a better perspective into this growing, but avoidable, and unnecessary, national tragedy.

A Sin And A Shame by Bob Herbert July 30, 2010 at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/31/opinion/31herbert.html

The treatment of workers by American corporations has been worse — far more treacherous — than most of the population realizes. There was no need for so many men and women to be forced out of their jobs in the downturn known as the great recession.

Many of those workers were cashiered for no reason other than outright greed by corporate managers. And that cruel, irresponsible, shortsighted policy has resulted in widespread human suffering and is doing great harm to the economy.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Andrew Sum, an economics professor and director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston. “Not only did they throw all these people off the payrolls, they also cut back on the hours of the people who stayed on the job.”

As Professor Sum studied the data coming in from the recession, he realized that the carnage that occurred in the workplace was out of proportion to the economic hit that corporations were taking. While no one questions the severity of the downturn — the worst of the entire post-World War II period — the economic data show that workers to a great extent were shamefully exploited.

The recession officially started in December 2007. From the fourth quarter of 2007 to the fourth quarter of 2009, real aggregate output in the U.S., as measured by the gross domestic product, fell by about 2.5 percent. But employers cut their payrolls by 6 percent.

In many cases, bosses told panicked workers who were still on the job that they had to take pay cuts or cuts in hours, or both. And raises were out of the question. The staggering job losses and stagnant wages are central reasons why any real recovery has been so difficult.

“They threw out far more workers and hours than they lost output,” said Professor Sum. “Here’s what happened: At the end of the fourth quarter in 2008, you see corporate profits begin to really take off, and they grow by the time you get to the first quarter of 2010 by $572 billion. And over that same time period, wage and salary payments go down by $122 billion.”

That kind of disconnect, said Mr. Sum, had never been seen before in all the decades since World War II.

In short, the corporations are making out like bandits. Now they’re sitting on mountains of cash and they still are not interested in hiring to any significant degree, or strengthening workers’ paychecks.

Productivity tells the story. Increases in the productivity of American workers are supposed to go hand in hand with improvements in their standard of living. That’s how capitalism is supposed to work. That’s how the economic pie expands, and we’re all supposed to have a fair share of that expansion.

Corporations have now said the hell with that. Economists believe the nation may have emerged, technically, from the recession early in the summer of 2009. As Professor Sum writes in a new study for the labor market center, this period of economic recovery “has seen the most lopsided gains in corporate profits relative to real wages and salaries in our history.”

Worker productivity has increased dramatically, but the workers themselves have seen no gains from their increased production. It has all gone to corporate profits. This is unprecedented in the postwar years, and it is wrong.

Having taken everything for themselves, the corporations are so awash in cash they don’t know what to do with it all. Citing a recent article from Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Professor Sum noted that in July cash at the nation’s nonfinancial corporations stood at $1.84 trillion, a 27 percent increase over early 2007. Moody’s has pointed out that as a percent of total company assets, cash has reached a level not seen in the past half-century.

Executives are delighted with this ill-gotten bonanza. Charles D. McLane Jr. is the chief financial officer of Alcoa, which recently experienced a turnaround in profits and a 22 percent increase in revenue. As The Times reported this week, Mr. McLane assured investors that his company was in no hurry to bring back 37,000 workers who were let go since 2008. The plan is to minimize rehires wherever possible, he said, adding, “We’re not only holding head-count levels, but are also driving restructuring this quarter that will result in further reductions.”

There can be no robust recovery as long as corporations are intent on keeping idle workers sidelined and squeezing the pay of those on the job.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Germany and Japan, because of a combination of government and corporate policies, suffered far less worker dislocation in the recession than the U.S. Until we begin to value our workers, and understand the critical importance of employment to a thriving economy, we will continue to see our standards of living decline.

Editor’s Note – The Copyright for this story is held by The New York Times.

 
Egbert F “Burt” Bhatty has worked 30 years as an Analyst at the American Embassy, New Delhi, and at British [Dunlop] and American [Chase Manhattan] multinationals.  He is a Certified Catechist.  Holds a 3-year [part time] Certificate in Foundations For Christian Ministry.

The word education is derived from its Latin root educare – which means, to draw out; to bring forth that which is within.

It is not – repeat NOT! – a Teacher thrusting facts, knowledge, information, into a child’s head.

Education is the process by which a Teacher draws out that which is already within the child.  That which is put there within the child by the child’s Mom.  Or, the child’s Parents, preferably.

That is how Asians out-educate Americans.

Their secret weapon is Mom.

It is Mom – a stay-at-home Mom – who educates.

A Teacher simply elaborates.

It is the stay-at-home Mom who inculcates love of learning, incubates curiosity, intubates Values, into her child.

It is the Teacher who leads the child down more and more complex avenues of knowledge.  Inspiring, awakening, stimulating.

Eventually, an Asian Mother and an Asian Teacher work together, to impel the child to seek on his / her own.

This is what we Americans have forgotten.

That education, learning, by a child is achieved through a partnership between Mom and Teacher.

Where Mom gives up every ambition of her own for a short time and invests herself completely in the life of her child.  And, where, symmetrically, a Teacher, also, invests himself / herself fully, for the year that s/he is in her class, in the life of her pupil.

With so much unconditional Love surrounding him / her, why would an Asian child not excel at learning?

Children thrive in the Love of their Parents; not in the bleak rooms of a Day Care Center.

Children sense the Love of Teacher, for whom education is a Calling; not a job done merely for a Paycheck.

There is a simple way for America to become #1 in college graduation rates globally, again.

Put Mom back into the education picture.

So that she prepares her children for school.  In terms of discipline, and eagerness to learn.  In terms of ensuring a calm, congenial atmosphere in class.

So that all that the Teacher has to do is to dedicate all her time to growing her children’s world.

As long as we continue to believe, as Obama does, that “Teachers are the single most important factor in a child’s education…..”  — we don’t have a hope of becoming # 1 again.

No, they’re not.  They’re the 2nd most important factor in a child’s education.  The single most important factor in a child’s education is – Mom [or, Dad.  Whoever stays at home.]

Mom’s role is crucial in helping Americans out-educate the Asians.  Be smarter than them.  Beat them at Math and Science.

How crucial?

We have the example of Jesus.

Mary was a stay-at-home Mom.  And, I’m sure She had a hand in Her Son’s education.  Which is why He was dazzling the Rabbis at 12.

 
Egbert F “Burt” Bhatty has worked 30 years as an Analyst at the American Embassy, New Delhi, and at British [Dunlop] and American [Chase Manhattan] multinationals.  He is a Certified Catechist.  Holds a 3-year [part time] Certificate in Foundations For Christian Ministry.

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