Revolution Brewing in Wisconsin New Anarchist Site Has An Easy Solution

I am cross-posting this mostly to give a heads up on a new website George Donnelly of Thoreau Media has set up. The site is Anarch.Me and I will be contributing to it. If you like what I have to say here on Gonzo Times I encourage you to subscribe to the Anarch.Me RSS feed and visit the site. Anarch Me is an anarchist blog that addresses current events in bite-sized posts from an undeniably anarchist perspective. He is also currently seeking other writers to contribute, see here for more information. To get an idea of what the site will be like, here is a post by George Donnelly:

Another revolution is brewing, but in an unlikely place: Wisconsin. Teachers are on strike, classes canceled, in protest of a state government plan to cut their benefits and weaken their unions. The governor says the cuts are necessary to balance the state budget. Given the bankrupt state of government finances across the country, I don’t doubt him. The teachers have a valid complaint as well. Teachers do important work. Given the falling value of the dollar and stagnant wages over the last 40 years, any cut can seriously impact their standard of living.

What’s the solution? Spin schools off. No, don’t privatize them to corporations looking to make a buck off of replacing teachers with TVs and videotapes. No, mutualize them. The teachers, the staff, the students and parents are the ones using the school. They own it. Whoever is using it should decide how to run it. How will teachers be paid? The students and/or their parents can pay them. Simultaneously, the local governments must reduce the sales, property and/or income tax burden so that parents actually have funds with which to cover the new school bills.

What happens when parents want to pay less or teachers want to earn more? They can negotiate. There will be a balance of power, unlike in the current situation where the government holds most of the cards. So negotiations are more likely to proceed in good faith. What if a deal is reached by majorities on each side that the minorities can’t live with? The minorities are free to go to other schools or start their own. That’s the beauty of direct action.

See any problems with this scenario? Let me know in the comments.

I will be contributing articles to Anarch Me. I have also started to post more short concise articles here on Gonzo Times which was influenced by the structure of Anarch Me. So, check it out.