Dumbed Down America

that my sister is also in education. And you know, we were talking about the crisis right that is happening right now with America's education system and the fact that you know, you if you're if you've been watching the news and we've talked about it on this show. Ohio teachers are on strike. You have Governor death Santis in Florida wanting to bring anyone, any body, literally any physical

body into the classroom. Don't need to have teacher certification, don't need to have a background in education, don't need to do anything other than I guess, stand in front of a classroom of children because of the shortages. You've heard me talk about Alabama and Arkansas and other places around the country, and you know, my mother in conversation said, this is just you know, the dumbing down of America.

This is the dumbing down of these states. We're going to have states that are like dumb down states and then states that are dedicating, you know, their resources into a robust public education system. And you know what we can see right throughout the last several years, right under the Trump administration and Betsy Devas's desire to defund the Department of Education and their desire to defund the EPA, and their desire to defund anything that is about right

providing for American citizens. And it isn't just the least among us. It's the fact that our tax dollars, right in this capitalistic system and in this democracy, go towards government. Then having agencies that support the needs of people, public education being one of them that in this country K

through twelve is free right. And what is troubling me and what my mother is completely right about, is this desire to under educate the people of America, under educate our children and so they won't be able to be competitive or completely privatize education so that you have Microsoft High School over here, in Google High School over there, that train people just enough to be able to want work in their factories, to be able to stay at low level jobs but don't have the necessary skills set

right in order to be able to move into white collar positions, to be able to move into the C suites and executive suites. And you know, this to me coincides right now with Joe Biden and the Biden administration

making another announcement about canceling student loan debt. And you know, in Joe Biden's speech, when he was talking about how much money it costs right in order to go to school, and the fact that, again my mother was talking to my sister and I about the fact that when she was young, she used pell grants completely in order to

be able to cover her education. Joe Biden and his speech talked about the fact that, you know, three decades ago, pell grants used to cover eighty percent, eighty percent of the cost of your tuition. Now it covers thirty percent if you're lucky. And this is for state, right state universities. And the amount of debt that young people and families are being forced to take on an order to be able to get an education that then supposedly is going to move them up the economic ladder just doesn't even

make any sense. My family comes hails from Jamaica, right, They came to the United States in the nineteen seventies. And you know, in Jamaica, as in many developing areas, it looks like this that only elementary school is free, right, and then beginning in high school, you have to pay

in order to get a high school diploma. And you know, my family is talking about the fact that America always loves to pat itself on the back for being, you know, one of the richest countries in the world, the richest

nations in the world. And if we were really as wealthy as we say that we are, wouldn't we be making investments into lower income and middle income communities, making college free, right, so that people are then when they're getting these jobs that are supposed to be moving them up the economic ladder, that they're able to pour into

our economy. They're able to buy homes and buy cars, right, they're able to do to work in positions and jobs that are about advancing them, not just good enough so that they can keep paying back repaying these student loans. And I said, well, if we lived in a country that actually right, didn't penalize the poor and the middle class and tax the wealthy in the way that they were supposed to be taxed. Then we would be able to do those things, because this isn't about not having enough,

it's about where you decide to allocate your resources. We know that in this country, we would much rather give all of our resources to the fucking Pentagon, right, give billions of dollars to law enforcement, right, then we would to give billions of dollars into our public education system.

We still talk about private companies gifting schools the school supplies that they need, and I think to myself, why the fuck don't schools have the kind of budgets that have them thinking ahead about all of the things that they're going to be purchasing. Again, not needing to look at private companies for charity because the federal government and the state government frankly do not resource schools in the way that they should. So in Joe Biden's conversation, so

this is what is going to be happening. Here are some of the highlights. Biden announced that he will forgive ten thousand dollars in federal student loan debt for most borrowers, delivering financial relief to millions of Americans. This is According to CNBC, Biden will cancel up to twenty thousand for recipients of PELL grants. At least nine million borrowers could have their balances entirely wiped out with Biden's plan the

relief and this is how it will work. The relief will be limited two Americans earning under one hundred and twenty five thousand dollars per year or two hundred and fifty thousand dollars for married couples or heads of household. The relief is also capped at the amount of a borrower's outstanding eligible debt per the Education Department. The President will also be extending the payment pause on most federal student loans one final time. They are saying through December

thirty first, twenty twenty two. At least nine million borrowers, as I said, could have their balances completely wiped out. You know, this is an amazing step that this administration, historic step that this administration is taking to recognize the that we are not going to have a nation of educate, highly educated, right highly educated people who are able to

compete and continue to compete globally. If people are sattled with debt, if going to college now is a choice between settling themselves with six figures worth of debt or just getting out of high school and start working right, or how people fall prey to places like Trump fucking University which was shut down, which prays on low income people who want to again be able to get a degree and are doing so and thinking that they're going

to these certified right universities online universities that are not. They're just taking advantage of people and then not giving them a degree that is actually like qualified to work anywhere. My point being is that education, to me, has always been the bridge builder. It is what sets generations apart

from each other. But as I continue to look at what has happened to Gen Z, to millennials, to Gen X, it is only the Baby boomers right who are currently at retirement or post retirement age, that benefited from this country's initial investment into education in the form of the GI Bill, in the form of pell grants and all of these things that were able to create the robust

middle class that that generation benefited from. We have not since then made any type of significant investment into education, and yet we constantly talk about global competitiveness and how does that even make sense once again to Republicans in these Republican red states that are saying that they don't really give a shit about your child's education, they don't care about investing, or what they want to do is just lower standards or wipe them out altogether, or wipe

out public education altogether in favor of Catholic universities, Christian universities, or charter schools that don't have to again align right with the public education requirements. So I just think about the idea that the Republican Party wants to create a permanent underclass, wants to create a permanent underclass because capitalism in the way that it is set up in this country does not work if there isn't those that people believe to be expendable. We punish poor and middle income

people in this country. We do look at every single thing in terms of our tax codes, in terms again of the how good your school is is based upon the property tax of the area that you live in. So for those again that cannot afford to live in the quote unquote best school districts, and then those that are thrown in jail, which we have seen always it's always a person of color a black person or a person of color who falsifies documents in red states in order to be able to send their kids to school,

and then they're thrown in jail. We see these stories every year, and I'm just like, what would this country look like if we actually looked at education the way that we looked at our defense. What would it look

like if our public education systems were flush? Right, if at the very least, if you weren't able to get a free four year degree, that you could at least go from k right, from kindergarten through an associates degree right, and then maybe two years out of your own pocket or two years with loans again to be able to achieve a bachelor's degree, which there is not a place, in all honesty where you can work and make enough to survive in this country without a college education unless

you're some fucking genius. Right. So I'm just like, how do you look at where we are and think we don't need to do more. What also was frustrating me as I was watching the President speak is that he is talking about all of the historic measures that his administration has been taking. He is talking about, you know, the inflation reduction Act. He's talking about investments into those that have student loan debt, he's talking about the investments

into climate change and all of these things. And I'm just like, but you are not outlining to the American people that it's Democrats working alone to get these things done, that Biden's investment in relieving student loan debt is going to actually cut the deficit which ballooned under the Trump administration. But he does not call them out. And I'm saying, we aren't coming up in one of the most constant, the most consequential midterm elections that we have ever seen

in this country. And if you are not full fledged, full throatedly identifying who the enemy is, then you are not clarifying for the American people who is actually working for them and who is actively actively working against you.

Because here's the thing. If you are a parent right now, and you're in any of the states that I mentioned at the top, Florida, Arkansas, or Alabama, if you're in Texas, you are pretty much gambling with your child's future because if you think that it doesn't matter what is happened, what happens, and what education that they are getting in elementary school, and in middle school, like doesn't matter that

you're just thinking about school is glorified daycare. Then you are setting your children up for failure because they are not going to be getting the robust education that they need. And frankly, what is also really frustrating is the fact that those that are wealthy, right, that a high middle income or you know rich, right, are going to be able to pull their kids out of the public education system and put them in private schools, put them in

independent schools. They're going to be able to pay for the supplemental instruction that their child needs in order to be successful and compete. So again, the wealthy will never be troubled by this, but they're also not paying their fair share, and we're not identifying who is making it so that your kids don't receive the robust education that they need, because frankly, this shouldn't be a partisan issue,

but it all ways is. We know that Republicans don't want black and brown children to learn so much in the way that we talk to Jonathan every week about dying of whiteness. They would rather, as they did in the nineteen fifties, drain the fucking swimming pool than integrating them.

They would rather destroy the public education system than setting up a robust one that also benefits black and indigenous people of color, right, because their racism, their prejudice, and their discrimination and their desire to create a permanent underclass is so like, what is the word that I'm even looking for? Fucking dumb because it's not just going to disadvantage the people that they don't like, it's going to

disadvantage everyone. But as Jonathan's book lays out, that people are just they're willing to die of whiteness, right, They're willing to sacrifice those people so that they the ones that they don't want, that they don't see as human, that they don't see as deserving, also don't get. And it's wild to me because I'm like, the messaging is so fucking clear. Talk about what it is that you're

doing despite who is standing in your way. Talk about in contrast, in contrast to the Trump administration, we're doing X, Y and Z, in contrast to the bills that they pass in order to protect the one percent, this is what my administration is doing. And make it fucking clear. As I'm sitting there and I'm watching with my family Biden talk about this student loan debt relief. My mom is like, you know, God bless him. He's you know, he's old and you know he takes his time and

he's telling his stories. She's just like, but somebody needs to be able to package this and send it out everywhere so that folks know who is actually working for them. And that is what Democrats are just not doing well. But there are some, there are some. So here is some interesting news out of New York, right, because we had this past week a couple of very important primaries

right that are happening. And what we are looking at, and you know that I don't believe in polls or the posters or anything to that extent, but what we are looking at much is the way that we talked about Kansas and how Kansas, the people of Kansas decided no, you're not going to take away our access to abortion and this red state people turned out and said no

to the extremist Republican white evangelical cult. And what we have heard and what I've talked about on wik f often is the fact that Democrats really just want to focus on the quote unquote economy. And what I have said is that there is no more grave than economic issue than abortion. Right, because I told you earlier in

the week. Latest report says it costs three hundred thousand dollars to raise a child in the United States if you are already a parent, which many people who get abortions are already parents, and recognize that they do not have the means, the ability, the bandwidth to be able to parent any more children, make this decision well now, as we are forcing people across this nation to give birth to people that guess what their state and not

the federal government is going to help them fucking raise right, They're not providing any help. They're not providing universal PreK, they're not providing childcare tax credits, they're not providing maternal or paternal parental leave. Right, They're not doing any of these things. But they are making it harder and harder for people to be able to actually put food on

the table. So when you begin to connect the dots about student loan debt relief, when you be able to connect the dots about high inflation, right about forced parenting, all of it is weighing you down financially. And it's up to Democrats to be able to connect those dots and not run from this issue and say, well, Americans care about their kitchen table issues. These are all kitchen

table issues. I want to bring up the fact that Pat Ryan, who Democrat, who has won a special election in New York's nineteenth congressional district, which is up in Hudson.

This election, for many has been seen in the same way that Kansas was as a bellweather, a bellweather, as they say, according to Yahoo News, of the national mood, because Pat Ryan had focused on abortion right while his opponent, Republican Mark Mullinaro, had tried to run on issues embraced by the GOP nationwide, such as crime and inflation, because that's their big thing. Oh, these cities are filled with crime.

They're horrible. People are dying everywhere and just dropping dead in the middle of the streets, being shot and killed. And you know, an inflation is through the roof, which inflation is through the roof. But you know what else is problematic not having fucking bodily autonomy. And let's not pretend right that Democrats aren't actually for abortion. So Pat Ryan, instead of running from the issue, decided to make it the focus of his campaign. And guess what, he just

won the special election. So what does that say to Democrats As we make right the rest of the march, less than one hundred days, less than eighty days until midterm elections, we need to be out there telling the American people the truth, telling them exactly what Democrats are doing for them despite Republican cult obstructionism and their desire

for patriarchy and white supremacy. We need to be able to And yet another primary race shows us that in these conservative pockets that the New York's nineteenth Congressional district went for Donald Trump in twenty sixteen, right, it went from Obama to Trump and then to Biden by just one point five percentage points. He won that district by So what we are seeing is that people are fed up with Democrats. They are fed I mean, they are fed up with Republicans. They are fed up with this

overreach and the extremism. And instead of Democrats running from these glaring, glaring deficiencies inside of this cult party, they need to leave all the way into it and be able to walk and chew gum. At the same time, it's no secret that the news is horsepill hard to swallow. Thankfully, There's The Bituation Room podcast hosted by comedian and commentator Francesca Freer and Tiny for a lighter take on the

heavy stuff. Each week, The Bituation Room brings you progressive comedians, experts, and activists to break down the issues in a way that won't just leave you crying under a weighted blanket. Get The Bituation Room on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and streaming on YouTube and Twitch. Get a behind the scenes look at Comedy Central's The Daily Show on Beyond the Scenes, an original podcast from the Daily Show with Trevor Noah. Every week, host Roy Wood Junior goes deeper with the

notable guests and experts from the Emmy Award winning series. Together, they use comedy to tackle current topics from gentrification to gun laws and take a closer look at how and why these topics matter. Listen to Beyond the Scenes from The Daily Show with Trevor Noah on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. New episodes every Tuesday, Folks, I want to close out with this today.

Oftentimes I find that it is really difficult to find good news, and even when we do find good news, it is indeed a mixed bag. And that is the case of X Detective Kelly Gudlett, who has now pled guilty in the case of Brianna Taylor for misleading a judge lying right. We love to use euphemisms in these United States, particularly as it pertains to police officers and the reports that they put in their police reports, and you know, the covering that they do of each other,

because that's what gang members do. But I want to just read you this piece at the top from the New York Times, which is this former police detective admitted on Tuesday earlier this week that she had helped mislead a judge into wrongly authorizing a raid of Brianna Taylor's

apartment in Louisville, Kentucky. If you remember right, which I talk about often, Brianna Taylor was asleep in her bed and was killed because police went in guns ablaze with a bullshit warrant looking for her ex boyfriend who they had got caught up in some type of case. The police officers were all let off the fucking hook, and while her family received a little over twelve million dollars for her death, this young twenty something year old black woman is dead, and it's dead because of a group

of police officers that fucking lied. And in this country, we continue to believe that the police can do no wrong, that it's just a bunch, you know, it's just a handful of bad And I continue to say that how many bad apples consist of a ruinous, poisonous orchard? But here in this case she has decided. Kelly Goodlet to plead guilty in federal court to one count of conspiracy, admitting that she had worked with another officer to falsify a search warrant application and had later lied to cover

up their act. In pleading guilty, Miss Goodlett became the first police officer to be convicted over the March twenty twenty raid, during which the police were searching for evidence of drug dealing by Miss Taylor's former boyfriend inside a courtroom in downtown Louisville. Miss Goodlet, thirty five, admitted that she had known there was not enough evidence to support approving the warrant, but had nonetheless failed to object when a fellow detective falsely wrote that the police knew mister

Glover was receiving packages at Miss Taylor's home. Miss Taylor's mother to Mika Palmer, sat in the courtroom during the plea and wiped away tears while a woman beside her held her arm. As part of the plea deal, Miss Goodlett will remain free unbond until she is sentenced. The maximum prison term for the crime to which she pleaded guilty is five years. This is not a win for

Brianna Taylor's family. What it is is a reminder that police in this country are given carte blanche to do whatever the fuck they want, and that when they lie, when they cheat, when they steal, they have an entire mob behind them that helps them cover up their own goddamn crimes, and that there is no one right that is outside investigating those that are supposed to protect and serve. They didn't have enough goddamn evidence, and they gone to

the judge with what it is that they have. Brianna Taylor would still be alive because they would have never been able to enter her home without the warrant. This is a miscarriage of justice, and five years, which I'm sure she won't even get in her sentencing, wouldn't be

a fuck enough. Why do I say that it is a mixed bag of hope because I want these cases to be a warning shot two police officers who are on the crooked end of the spectrum that if they continue to do wrong, accountability and responsibility will fucking catch up to them. She should be getting more than five years. She should be getting all of the years that she took away from Brianna Taylor and her family. That is it for me today. Dear friends on Woke app as always,

Power to the people and to all the people. Power, get woke and stay woke as fuck. Get a behind the scenes look at Comedy Central's The Daily Show on Beyond the Scenes, an original podcast from The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. Every week, host Roy Wood Junior goes deeper with the notable guests and experts from the Emmy Award winning series. Together, they use comedy to tackle current topics from gentrification to gun laws and take a closer

look at how and why these topics matter. Listen to Beyond the Scenes from the Daily Show with Trevor Noah on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. New episodes every Tuesday,