An Open Letter to Public Education. But first, let's see what's in the Secret Compartment today. Oh, it's a graduation hat. Thanks, Meredith the intern, for letting me borrow your graduation hat.
Dear Public Education,
When you were introduced in Japan, you were very unpopular, because you were funded by a new property tax. In fact, you were so unpopular that at least two thousand schools were destroyed by rioters, primarily through arson.
Stan, it doesn't look good when you bring it in close like that. I look like a 90-year-old swimmer.
And even though public education has proved extremely successful, lots of people still complain about having to pay taxes for it, so let me explain something.
Public education does not exist for the benefit of students or for the benefit of their parents. It exists for the benefit of the social order. We have discovered as a species that it is useful to have an educated population.
You do not need to be a student or have a child who is a student to benefit from public education. Every second of every day of your life, you benefit from public education!
So let me explain why I like to pay taxes for schools, even though I don't personally have a kid in school. It's because I don't like living in a country with a bunch of stupid people.