To ensure that no one is out of the loop, here is a refresher on the basics: 

Access and mobility (the transportation function) is not just “related” to the pattern and density of land use.  The human settlement pattern determines what, if any, transportation system is capable of providing access and mobility. This is true for all scales of settlement from the dooryard to the New Urban Region to the entire Earth. The same controlling nexus exists for education and for almost every other human activity.  

The bottom line is that human settlement pattern determines the economic, social and physical parameters of contemporary civilization. [See End Note One.]

Individuals are impacted primarily, but not exclusively, by economic status, social circumstance and physical health. For citizens in groups–-families and organizations–-economic prosperity, social stability and physical sustainability at the community, subregional and regional scales are controlled by the human settlement pattern. In summary, almost all aspects of life are directly or indirectly controlled and/or impacted by human settlement patterns.

When human settlement patterns are dysfunctional, citizens cannot thrive in any of the three overarching spheres of human experience-–the economic, social or physical. This is especially true for those at the lower end of the economic food chain. The very rich get on splendidly in some areas. They get on well enough in other but not all aspects of their lives. The rest of us are not so fortunate. Over the past 25 years the top 5 percent of the economic ladder have gotten a lot richer, the bottom 40 percent have lost ground and those in the middle are running as fast as they can to keep their heads above water. For a democracy in a global economy driven by competition, this is not a formula for survival, much less sustainability.

The Default Setting of Contemporary Civilization

This brings us back to education, the topic of our last column and to a specific question:  

Why is it fundamentally important to be concerned with the nuts and bolts of educating the next generation?  One answer is “Global Competition.”

Check out the substandard level of achievement by students in the United States as compared to students in regions that are our primary economic competitors.  We do not recall seeing a summary of comparative educational achievement that puts the United States anywhere above "fair-to-middling” in measures of academic achievement. 

In a civilization for which the default setting is economic competition, many citizens of the United States are in a double bind. They lack the education necessary to move with confidence or be productive in the competition-driven market place and believe they should not have to work at, or live on the economic rewards of, the jobs that are traditionally held by those at the bottom of the food chain. After all, pandering politicians keep reminding them that they are Americans, and they deserve better than menial jobs. This encourages immigration of low-end labor, the outsourcing of technical tasks and the relocation of important economic sectors. These forces result in persistent balance-of-payments defects, economic stagnation, uncivil conflict and environmental degradation.

It does not take a Ph.D. in economics to understand that the United States has morphed over the past 50 years from bread-basket, mass producer and innovator to mass consumer and importer. The U.S. not only imports consumer goods and low-end labor to do the bottom rung jobs but also outsources work and imports individuals with the technical and professional training to take the jobs that the education system is not supporting. You wonder why the U.S. population is growing while that of other First World nation-states is stabilized or declining? It's not because the United States is a success story.

It's Not Just the Economy, Stupid

As important as economic competition is, there is a more fundamental reason to improve education. It is painful to read letter after letter (and blog after blog) by well meaning citizens and wannabe politicians begging governance practitioners to spend more money to solve contemporary societal problems. There is a similar coalition of well meaning citizens and wannabe politicians who are castigating governance practitioners for raising taxes to solve these same problems. The issues range from roadways for commuting to school capacity, economic development, safety and security not to mention environmental sustainability.  

It is even more painful to realize that over half the population lacks the information, ability or will to even address these issues in the most rudimentary ways: voting and civic participation.

Not even counting the conflict that taxes engender, raising money money is not the answer. In transportation more money without Fundamental Change in human settlement patterns makes matters worse.  The same is true with education. If budgets were not tight, many would be happy to throw more money at the failed education system. On the other hand withholding money (tax cuts) is not the answer either. As noted in the last column citizens will need much more money for education--it just needs to be spent in productive ways. 

The lack of effective education distorts the entire political system. When one carefully reviews of the attitudes of citizens of the “Red” counties vs. the citizens of “Blue” counties as determined by the November presidential election, it is clear that it is not abstract “values” that separate citizens. It is not that one or the other of these colors represents “bad people.” The root cause of conflict between Red and Blue is a collective inability to understand and to intelligently make decisions that are in citizens enlightened self interest. 

Those who speak up, as well as the silent majority who do not, are not bad people. They do not lack the intelligence or ability to form rational opinions about their self interest. Rather, they lack the training and the capacity to analyze facts so that they could intelligently address these issues. This is the crisis of education.  

Citizens have no clue what they need to understand in order to be prosperous, happy and safe.  A democracy cannot function with uninformed citizens.  [See End Note Two.]

The most profound reason to improve education is to preserve democracy. At the present, citizens fall for simplistic slogans and feel-good sound bites instead of meaningful agendas. There is plenty of room in this nation-state for those who crave simplicity and comfort in their lives and for those who crave complexity and challenge. There is, however, not enough room for this diversity–-or for diversity based on any other indicator of preference on the spectrum of human interests-–if an uneducated population is baited into thinking that the problem is “those other people,” especially the ones in the “other” party or the “other” race or religion.

Unfortunately, fostering these beliefs has proven to be the best way to get elected by either of the two currently dominate political parties. See “Rain Dance” by Joseph Freeman ( Jan. 4, 2005 ).  

“No child left behind” is a nice slogan but in reality, according to data on educational achievement, the current education system is leaving entire generations behind.  Moreover, the program is not getting the educational bureaucracy into position to do any better with future generations.

“No child left behind” is the current federal slogan but the problem is not generated by one political party or one administration. This is not a problem of politics or policy. The 55 percent +/- who are now being “left behind” are unable to effectively participate in governance and contribute to civil society. 

The core question is:  How does a society inform well intended, imaginative and concerned citizens to the point they can make intelligent choices in the market and in the voting booth. [See End Note Three.]

This is directly related to the issue of school size and location. As noted in the last Shaping the Future column, citizens are in the current educational quagmire because of education managers are trying to figure out ways to save money instead of ways to improve education. Buying cheap land for schools at the edge of nowhere, starting the busses running at 6 a.m. to get the most seat-miles per bus per school-day and other ramifications of bad scale and location decisions are part of this picture. The causes run even deeper.   

A colleague in the graduate planning program at the University of Virginia has determined to his satisfaction that elementary school students raised in a Planned New Community intuitively “get it.” Those same students by the time they are in high school are much less aware of or open to considering the importance and function of human settlement patterns. They have already been conditioned by advertising and consumption to believe “The Myths That Blind Us.”  (See column for Oct. 20, 2003 .) We can testify that this is clearly the case when students get to the graduate level in law or planning. The phenomenon is especially true for those holding jobs in the current governance structure and seeking a degree to advance their careers.

Building and maintaining a contemporary society is expensive. We must develop strategies to do it in the most efficient and effective way possible. That requires educated citizens. Everyone needs to understand that the stakes are high. Neither “tax and spend” on current programs nor “tax cuts for the rich” to foster “economic growth” will lead to economic prosperity, social stability and environmental sustainability. It requires Fundamental Change in human settlement patterns and Fundamental Change in governance structure including the provision of education, safety/security and health care.

-- February 14, 2005

End Notes

1. In 2000 S/PI published The Shape of the Future.  This 781-page book is divided into two volumes of about equal length. The first Volume (The Critical, Overarching Impact of Human Settlement Pattern on Citizens' Economic, Social and Environmental Well-Being) documents this statement concerning the importance of human settlement patterns.  The second Volume (Prospering in 21st Century New Urban Regions) outlines how citizens can intelligently change the pattern and density of land use to achieve economic prosperity, social stability and physical sustainability.

2. We deal with this issue in Chapters 8, 9, 10 and 31 of The Shape of the Future.

3. This is the goal of the Property Dynamics program outlined by Prof. Joseph Freeman in “Rain Dance” Jan. 4, 2005 .