Joe Franklin on Inside New York with Stu Wechsler

Here I am interviewing Joe Franklin, the godfather of the talk show, on my TV show, "Inside New York" (Manhattan Public Access). January 22, 1992. 

The Recent Sex Scandals

The recent sex scandals, of which we’ve only seen the tip of iceberg, are a result of the crazed athletically oriented non-educational system we live in and nary a word, with all the writings about education, regarding the elimination of athletics as the first step in reconstructing our educational system. See my prior blogs. And be prepared to see things in a new and bright light.

SAT cheating scandal

How we rate our students is part of the educational mess that this country is in. It is obvious that the recent disclosures about cheating on SAT exams is widespread. Those who cheat on SATs and get athletic scholarships or grants have obviously corrupted our educational system. There’s one sure way to cure it: Close down high schools and colleges and make funds available for students to go to Europe to get their education. Enough said!

A Bizarre and Busted Educational System

No wonder we’re not producing students who can compete with an Oriental education. 

Are we educating our students in how to become athletes, how to make money without studying how to sell themselves to the highest bidder and how to compete with better educated Europeans and Asians?

It is inconceivable, for example, that the Sorbonne would be giving out athletic sponsorships and filling stadiums with rabid students celebrating ecstatically their latest football win. Is anyone really believe that the athletes being given scholarships for athletic prowess are really scholars? 

It’s painfully clear that college education in the United States is education in athletics with a sideline in learning as an extracurricular activity. We should not keep throwing money at a system which mostly supports athletes and rabid fans. 

For my money, the surest way to get an education and a true educational system is to eliminate all sports and stick to education the way European students are structured. That’s the only way we’ll ever compete appropriately. 

Some of the most important figures in our society have eschewed the college education for something clearly more useful and appropriate, i.e. Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, James Boice, and others. Throwing more money at a broken educational system won’t repair the basic damage already done. 

Perhaps the surest way to educate in this country is to eliminate colleges as they are now structured and treat them as the sports empires which they truly are, encourage would be students to use street learning rather than to waste their time and money on a dysfunctional system. 

If you want to be a doctor, lawyer, or any other professional … go to Europe or Asia. 

Think about how a Sorbonne football team would look. Enough said!

Marie Antoinette

I have long felt that Marie Antoinette's comment of "Let them eat cake" is applicable to the current situation in the United States as well as many other countries. The discrepancy in income between the top 1% and the rest of the people is scandalous. I wondered when people would take to the street. In a small way at this point it has started.

The recent disclosures regarding the disgraceful bonuses and basic pay for executives of Fannie and Freddie amounting to more than $100 million for a failed entity using bailout money for this obscenity.  The banks they bailed out were anxious to pay back the government because they could then resume their enormous salaries and bonuses. The present situation is not only outrageous but has been getting worse as the discrepancy in incomes has gotten larger and larger every passing year. The problem is so severe that the comment "Let them eat cake" is no longer apropos because there isn't any cake to eat. The younger generation is largely unemployed and the unemployment in the black community is outrageous. Some politicians with bizarre attempts to make this discrepancy even larger by cutting spending and not increasing taxes cannot really be educated or must be paid off by campaign contributions.  Keyensian economics has long recognize that you must spend your way out of a recession. Cutting jobs of teachers, policemen, and others do not obviously have the effect of creating jobs. How stupid or corrupt can the Tea Party be? Are they on the take? -- Yes. If you realize that they're beholden to the wealthy right wingers who get them elected in the first place.

This is a case where the rabid right could be "hoist by their own petard."