New Moveon ad warns of bleak, dystopic corporate future if Republicans win in 2010(video)

Originally posted by NoHierarchy
reply to post by hawkiye

 

Prove me wrong then.

Ok..... How about Education for starters. Which is better a Public Grade School or a Private School?


Dang, that was easy.

reply to post by pavil


Well hold on there, that really depends on where you are. Of course a most private schools are going to be better than failing inner-city public schools, but wealthy suburbs in the US can have absolutely brilliant schools, as good or better than any private one.

When I was living in Wisconsin for college, the top two high schools in the state were both public, and both found in the wealthiest suburbs of Milwaukee. It was rather funny actually one was in the most liberal suburb and the other in the most conservative too, made for a great rivalry. On top of this, even with a Big-East university in the state, the top college was the University Of Wisconsin-Madison, which is also one of the top in all of America, and again is a public institution.

Your argument falls flat because of over-generalization. Your pre-determined notions of public versus private enterprise are completely coloring your judgment as well.

The end of entities such as the Department of Education and the privatizing of education in your nation will only serve to punish those already getting the worst of it, while the people going to great pubic schools will largely be able to afford going to private school instead.

I'm actually going to say that Olivia Wilde was right about this part of her MoveOn spot, Republican control, if it does indeed favor privatization and the gutting of the public system, will kill the education system in America.

Originally posted by pavil

Originally posted by NoHierarchy
reply to post by hawkiye

 

Prove me wrong then.

Ok..... How about Education for starters. Which is better a Public Grade School or a Private School?


Dang, that was easy.

ProjectJimmy made some really good points before I could.

However, to answer your question honestly? I'd say NEITHER. The best kind of schooling, from what I've researched, is unschooling/homeschooling. Children are able to study at their own pace (whether fast or slow) explore things naturally, they're happier, more diverse/deep in their learning, perform better on tests than compulsory school students, and can even be better adjusted to socializing openly with a wide range of people (rather than being stuck with a group of 30 kids your EXACT SAME AGE that you can't freely talk to for hours and hours). Not to mention, the social atmosphere of most schools is terrible and doesn't necessarily prepare kids for the real world so much as screws them up in its own special way.

Generally speaking though, there are some countries who have devoted the proper amount of funds, attention, wisdom and design to their social programs (and don't try to intentionally sabotage/starve them) as with universal health care, paid maternity leave, etc. We should try to emulate these countries so long as nation-states exist. Open Capitalist markets CANNOT solve our problems in the world we live in and have typically just created more problems or displaced old ones. Social Democracy is the most decent modern example of a nation-state I've learned of, other than that, I am ultimately an Anarchist.

Originally posted by ProjectJimmy
reply to post by pavil

 

Well hold on there, that really depends on where you are. Of course a most private schools are going to be better than failing inner-city public schools, but wealthy suburbs in the US can have absolutely brilliant schools, as good or better than any private one.

Are you using that as an argument of Socialized vs. Privatized? Shouldn't all public schools been equal?

Private charter schools in inner city areas on average outperform their public school counterparts. Wealthy suburbs have even better private schools than the public ones in their areas. Even in average suburban settings here in Michigan, private schools outperform the average public school in testing done by the State.


This is probably a topic for another thread though.

reply to post by pavil


First of all, you're right this should be best covered in another thread, so I'll get back to topic in a second and just leave with this on the schools issue:

You're absolutely right, all schools should be equal, all students should be given the same possibility for success, but they do have to take that potential and work hard to make it flourish. I think that's the crux of the problem, schools are not equal, and I for one do not know how to change that, it will take someone far smarter than me and with far more experience, but I think we do see the problem for what it really is.

Back to the topic however, I think we're seeing a point in American politics where comedy is really starting to be used in political campaigning, and I think this is good. People like a funny message, and if it has content to it that's a great way to get people to listen. We've seen just about every other major tactic be used, let's see if a good laugh can get people to turn out to vote.

Originally posted by ProjectJimmy

Back to the topic however, I think we're seeing a point in American politics where comedy is really starting to be used in political campaigning, and I think this is good. People like a funny message, and if it has content to it that's a great way to get people to listen. We've seen just about every other major tactic be used, let's see if a good laugh can get people to turn out to vote.

I don't know.. The Obama bit on the Daily show left me with a embarrassing feeling and I don't even support Obama. They made him look weak, foolish and out of touch. The Daily show crowd should be his support base, yet they were laughing AT him, not WITH him. I don't like people laughing at our President, even if I don't support his policies. The Move On bit was in the category of thinking it's funny, when it really wasn't. You'd think they would have been able to get real comedic talent doing it.