Three items of late in the Valley News have marked a notable trend in our overall civic posture. In New Hampshire, we have a state head of education in cahoots with an anti-government fringe group seeking to privatize education, lawmakers seeking to literally capitalize the societal failure of youth detention and, finally, a health care institution rebranding to better compete in some kind of “market.”
In all the above, we the people are choosing to sublimate our responsibilities as citizens — to educate our children, to care for the sick and to carry out justice and rehabilitation — to the profit motive, a motive that by its very nature transforms human beings into human “resources” or “markets” for exploitation. Thereby, we are setting the table for the dispossession of our common humanity. Let alone the general repugnance of striving to profit from human frailty, misfortune or misery.
“But the private sector can do this better than the government!” they will cry. Yes, perhaps, for a time, but eventually private for-profits reveal themselves for what they are: ruthless engines of capital creation. And the people that constitute the fuel for those engines will inexorably become just that — fuel — something less than human beings.
When health care providers talk of markets, what are they talking about exactly? Are there not enough sick people to go around? Or enough dollars? When dollars become the reason, people become a means to an end. Not something we want from our hospitals, our places for at-risk youth or our schools. These institutions constitute our social contract with each other as a people. We jettison the responsibility and governance of them to profit-seeking entities, and their shareholders, at our peril.
We live in a nation where wealthy, determined and audacious conservatives peddle disdain for the kind of social contract between human beings that is a necessary condition for human security, dignity and prosperity, and a hallmark of civilization. And those who suffer the most from the failures of said contract become just one more market for these same conservatives to exploit. With that, we race toward a dystopian, unsurprising and inevitable future.
David W. Ricker
Orford
Don’t miss the extraordinary performance by David Bonanno in An Iliad, currently at the Shaker Bridge Theatre in Enfield. From the moment Mr. Bonanno appears, you remain riveted and at the edge of your seat. I don’t think I have ever seen a performance as amazing. At its conclusion the audience remained standing and applauding until he reappeared to take his second bow. To miss this is to miss one of the most unique and exciting evenings of theater the Upper Valley has ever seen.
Aline Ordman
White River Junction
Public education is essential for a healthy democracy. I am a true believer that talent and intelligence are equally dispersed. However opportunity and financial stability are not. That is why it is of utmost importance that all children have the opportunity for a free and adequate education. We as a society benefit from this. We want our citizens to be critical thinkers, to understand our history, to be compassionate, etc. These are all things that a publicly funded education provides.
The current and abysmal situation in Croydon is extremely concerning. Townsfolk are in a scramble to do everything legally possible to reinstate the $1.7 million budget. There will be a special town meeting on May 7 at Camp Coniston where we will need 50% of the town’s registered voters to show up and vote. That means we need 283 people to attend.
At this time the school board is working on a plan to utilize the $800,000 budget. Unfortunately, our only financially feasible option is online “pod” classes that are operated by a for-profit company. In this model, when my daughter enters school in the fall, she will be placed in front of a laptop with a “guide” for kindergarten. These guides are not required to have their teaching certificate; the only requirements are that they must be at least 18 years old, pass a background check and be CPR certified.
Luckily for my family, my son, who will be starting 6th grade, is currently enrolled in Newport Montessori School via the school choice option that up until now Croydon has provided. We are not sure if we will have to pay out of pocket at least a portion of my son’s tuition next year. Many other families in Croydon will have to make up the difference in tuition if they want to keep their children enrolled in the districts where they have laid their proverbial roots.
I urge all readers to pay attention to local elections, and most importantly, show up to vote! Our town did not, and now our children’s education is hanging in the balance.
Meghan J. Pike
Croydon