What the world witnessed in
Egypt and what people have been seeing in Wisconsin are not the same. Granted,
protestors in the Middle East and the teachers in Wisconsin both used the word
democracy, but the word was used in two different ways.

In Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and
other Middle Eastern nations, people are calling for an end to tyranny and
oppressive governments that lord power over the average citizen and pad the
coffers of their political cronies. People are calling for freedom, for at
least the beginning of a condition of liberty.

Whether they succeed or not is
yet to be determined.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and
the teachers in that state have a different battle.

On the right, pundits and
politicians are saying the teachers want to have their cake and eat it, too.
They want the civil service security of a job for life, but with the benefits
and pay of the private sector to be paid for by fellow citizens who are making
less than the teachers.

On the left, the teachers and
others are saying they want nothing more than the right to continue their
collective bargaining with the state.

A debate over collective
bargaining would be legitimate if it weren’t for the fact that, at present at
least, it’s a moot point. It’s not a matter of what teachers do or do not
deserve or whether public employees have the right to bargain collectively.
It’s a matter of Wisconsin’s financial health.

That consideration is not
limited to Wisconsin. The country is broke, states are broke and taxpayers in
school districts are strapped for cash, too, even those in the
Unionville-Chadds Ford School District. Yet, everybody seems to have their
hands out for more largesse, claiming they deserve it. Maybe they are
deserving, but that’s irrelevant if there’s no money to pay for it.

The real debate—the one that
should be had in the cold light of financial reality—is over the legitimate
functions of government and where and how those governments get the money to
pay for those functions.

It’s a long and drawn out
debate with many questions that need to be asked, but won’t be asked by
politicians or teachers. One question is crucial: Should government, municipal,
state or federal be involved in education at all?

Why not separate the government
from education altogether? Private and parochial schools work well. So does
home schooling. Education is too important to be left to government. And,
looking at the financial affairs of the nation, most states and likely most
people, government schools do a rotten job in teaching economics.

Religion is better off without
government intrusion and education would be, too. Teachers would also be free
to negotiate without feeding at the public trough.

This won’t happen, though.
People are too addicted to rule from above and a pretense of something for
nothing, and politicians so addicted to power over others that nothing will
likely change anytime soon.

The people of Egypt called for
less intrusion into their lives by government. Libyans are dying for that end.
They are right in doing so. Maybe their actions, and the actions of those in
Tunisia and other countries will rekindle that same spirit here.