posted on Jan, 27 2013 @ 12:14 PM
Originally posted by TrueBrit
So you are saying, that it is absolutely fine, in your opinion, that people should squander thier intellectual resources? You think having a system in
place to ensure that a large number of people do just that, every single year is ok?
To the first question, yes. It is their resource to squander. They do not owe it to you, to me or to society to do anything with that resource. They
might owe it to themselves, but that is for them to decide. Who are we to demand that they live to serve us, which is the essence of your argument. I
think you should read a book called "Atlas Shrugged". Once you get past some of the painfully long monologues, it makes some excellent points.
To the second question... the answer depends on the context within which we look at the question.
In relation to univeristy expenses, we do not have that system in place. The person in the original article can receive an excellent education from
many places, not just Oxford. He wants Oxford not because of the quality of education (which can be equalled elsewhere) but for the benefit of the
"brand name". I can't say I blame him, of course. If he is genuinely brilliant enough that nowhere but Oxford is good enough (and again, Oxford is
good but not necessarily the best in all cases, it's mostly the name brand) there are scholarships to be had to help people like him. If he can't
get them then either (i) there were people with far greater academic ability who needed the chance, or (ii) he wasn't actually too poor to afford
going.
In relation to general education then yes, we do have that system in place. Not willingly, but it is there. The quality of the education you receive
will actually be determined by the parents of the children that attend your school. As a very general rule of thumb, if you live in an area where the
parents are more concerned with themselves than with being parents, or who consider school to be nothing more than state-sponsored childcare, then
their kids will be raised as little s**ts and this will come through at school, disrupting life for everyone and sucking the will to live (let alone
teach) from the staff. It only takes a few rough kids to stop a teacher from educating the majority who want to be there.