The Merits of Capitalism and its Relation to our Education System

          Author's note: I'm honestly not implying that i'm part of the "1%. Also, part of this post talks about a touchy subject, and I agree that yes, school stress is unhealthy and there should be efforts to ease it for most students.

        The economic system of capitalism is simple; Capitalism is the federal policy in which the rights of the individual are stressed as much as possible. In short, a complete divorce of state and economics. It sounds like a good thing right? The most intelligent and hardworking members of society are rewarded and given exactly what they deserve while those who do not contribute are taking our orders for a big mac and fries. However perfect as this system sounds, there is a large group of people who declare themselves the "99 percent" and who publicly condemn the "1 percent".

       The basis of their argument is simple. The 99 percent think that because the 1 percent have more money and live more comfortably than they do, the entire economic system in America is unjust and discriminatory. In a way, yes it is discriminatory. However, it is still for the greater good. The 1 percent of society that are at the top of the capitalist pyramid deserve all the they have. They are the engineers of tomorrow and they are the ones who pay for public projects such as roads and bridges. Ironically, the 1 percent also pay for the federal handout services (social welfare / unemployment benefits) that a substantial amount of the 99 percent can't live without. The 1 percent also take up a majority of the tax burden that the federal government requires. If the 1 percent goes down to the shit storms of the 99 percent, the 99 percent is gonna get screwed over by higher taxes and less government handouts. Like I said before, the basis of their argument is simple... and stupid.

         The benefits of capitalism far exceed bailing out the millions of people that make up the 99 percent. With the capitalist system that keeps the tax burden relatively low for the rich, it sends them the message to keep being rich. It is the equivalent of our friendly neighborhood Uncle Sam telling everyone " Go out! Invent! Do something good for the country!". Likewise, a more socialist economic system is similar to Uncle Sam telling us "It's ok, I got your back even if you don't work". In short, capitalism is beneficial to both the 1 percent and the 99 percent, even though the latter group may not be able to see it.

         Our current education system is strikingly similar to capitalism. The top 5 percent of students enjoy scholarship money, special internships, and acceptance into the most prestigious schools in the country. The other 95 percent of students talk about how stressful and unfair the school system is; which I completely agree with as well. Think about this is in relation to capitalism, albeit on a much smaller scale. Within a typical American high school, the top 5 percent will be running student government, doing science projects, and going to public speaking competitions that will all bring prestige and grant money to the school. The top 5 percent create the study guides, explain the most difficult concepts, and carry the other 95 percent on projects.

         The topic of how grades are a terrible system of judging students could not be more simple. The grading system is fine the way it is and should not be changed. Schools are not training students to be the best people they can be, that training comes from friends and the home. Rather, the schools' job is to prepare the students for the world after school. In the real world, most companies are gonna judge a person on their worth to the company, not how much of a good person they are. Corporations are not going award grants to scientists based on how sociable they are, they are going to give it to the scientists that have the best work and present it in the most understandable way. Colleges do not have time to personally know how good or bad of a person each applicant is. They don't accept people, they accept applications.

          However, that is not to say that being a good person is completely unimportant. Being a good person is good for one's conscience and the happiness of those around him/her. Also, because colleges accept applications and not people, rejection from a college or not getting a job is actually not indicative of how good of a person you are. The admissions officers and judges are not judging based on how you are, but rather just your application. Whether we like it or not, we live in a starkly capitalist society and there's nothing we can do to change that. Luckily, it seems to benefit both the 99 percent and the 1 percent.

Your saying of Jarrod-ism for the day - " I do not say good game because I never face defeat"

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Peace out,
    J-rod