Government Graduation Ceremonies

Have you noticed how many government institutions have graduation ceremonies? There are graduation ceremonies from 2 months of military basic training. Basic training is designed to turn one into good compliant members of the socialist state. The basic training graduates even gets a ribbon to wear on their chest. Ribbons used to be for bravery. Now they are for anything.

And the government police and fire employees have their ceremonies.

There are even graduation ceremonies for a child leaving day care to enter kindergarten.

Many years ago there were fewer government graduation ceremonies. Now the government has found ceremonies, where families are invited, validates the importance of the government mob. No matter that a child has just graduated from preschool, the government is praising themselves for doing what the private sector could do better and more efficiently. These ceremonies are designed to instill pride, a deadly sin, and respect for the government mob. The government leaders get to dress up at these ceremonies, and any other government ceremonies, and present themselves as someone who is important and should be respected.

When I graduated from basic training in 1953 there was no graduation ceremony. We received our next assignment; mine was for three months of radio school where I became a Morse code operator. After basic training they gave us a weekend pass. I went to town, rented a hotel room, and slept for 12 hours!

After graduation from radio school there was no graduation ceremony. They said, "Fall in! Here are your travel orders and a ten day leave. See ya!" That was in an era when all of my comrades were males, and most were drafted. There was no need to coddle them and give them false praise.

Today our society falsely praises every kid, even those below average. Our society tells them a lie by telling them they can be anything they want to be. Praise is a wonderful thing. False praise is a dangerous thing.

These government ceremonies inflate the value of the graduate. The graduate now thinks the ceremony entitles them to success. The ceremony creates an illusion and expectation of value. Destroy our illusions and you destroy our happiness. Still, the unhappy graduate will believe they are "entitled" to the same prizes as those who never attended the government schools and had no ceremony, but are successful through hard work, desire, and determination.

Here is an article about a young girl that never experienced a government graduation ceremony because she was home schooled. Yet, she was accepted to Harvard and other top colleges.

The private sector does not have these superfluous ceremonies. The free enterprise system will validate performance. A ceremony will not.

Charles Tolleson