The numbing down of the dumbing down

https://www.nbc4i.com/news/u-s-world/teacher-fired-for-refusing-to-give-students-credit-for-homework-not-turned-in/1473439237

So, some teacher in Florida was shit-canned because she refused to give students who hadn't turned in their assignment a 50 per cent grade.  Suppressing the 5th-grader in me from screaming battleaxe!, Bokolis is not going to discuss the merits of grading or not grading homework, as this is not the issue here.

Over-devotion to (lying) statistics is ruining many other aspects of society; this is just another instance of what happens when anyone has incentive and ability to goose the numbers to show 'effectiveness' in the hopes of procuring funding.  On the heels of the Great Orange Sultan bragging about 'record' military funding and that the U.S. military is the most powerful that it's ever been to a- on the face of it- peacekeeping organization, we might consider that so much money that could go to education is going towards weapons of war- that is, when the money manages to make it that far without going into someone's pocket- so we can remain 'free'- free to lurch further towards feudalism as we are exploited by the political donor class.

But, the idea of spending money so that we are not a nation of dipshits and capable of critical thought is branded 'socialist.'  Bokolis is sure I have explained that the inefficient/improper taxation and budgeting puts increased pressure on states and municipalities to scramble to find revenue.  I may have explained that, while we have been duped to perceive 'high' federal income taxes as 'socialism' run amok, the awful truth is that, when you add in FICA, state, local, property, sales and all the other use taxes, we are taxed like a socialist nation without social benefits.

Real estate property taxes are the biggest sham of all.  For this example, Bokolis assumes that this house was purchased to live in (at least) until the kids are grown and out of the house.  I am not talking house flippers here.  The family house is assessed (and re-assessed) as if it has been made available for sale, even though most have no intention of selling it- while a corporation can park assets on its books at historical/carrying/holding value until it is good and ready to dispose of them- and taxed accordingly.

That the value of the property has increased through no action of the owner- in other words, he didn't tear down and rebuild a McMansion; he (maybe) gutted a few rooms and redecorated, but nothing noticeable from the outside or without a listing- but he is being made to pay taxes on that increased value.  He will then be made to pay capital gains (on gains beyond a certain threshold) when he sells that property.

This is double taxation at its ugliest, as the 'book' value of the house is essentially the same when he sold as when he moved in, and the increase is largely due to the combination of the increased desirability of the location and inflation.

Of course, this issue is involved, and fixing all these things is even more involved.  Your opposition, in shouting you down, will portray you as someone who is looking to 'overcomplicate things,' which falls right into the wheelhouse of the dipshits, gulling them to side against their own interest.

Teaching kids finance and critical thought would not only make them hip to the chicanery, but equipped to battle back.  The jowl-set say, now, we can't have that, can we?