Let's just say that I find your viewpoint rather.... idealistic. Some people are able to rise above the odds, but most don't. There are plenty of mostly unachievable goals, which is why some goals are only achieved by certain people. Life is too complex to assume that your own actions completely determine your success in life.blisteringsilence wrote:
No, I do not. I believe that every school offers a good education. That being said, I also believe that you have to work harder to get a good education at some schools than others. I went to college with kids from the poorest, most backwards broke-ass schools in the country. Places that make inner city schools look like palaces.Turquoise wrote:
Blistering, do you believe that many people who are poor (regardless of race) are not able to fully operate at their potential because of lack of access to a decent education?
Personally, I think that's why some people born into poverty never leave it. While I support privatizing education, I also like the school vouchers idea, since a larger private education market could be developed partially with the help of a welfare-like system.
In other words, you could socialize education for the poor but still have private firms running the schools.
This is a kind of "spreading the wealth" that could end up as efficient (if not more so than) as a system where no socialization is implemented.
These kids came from poor, working class backgrounds. But, they rose above the bare minimum of what was expected of them. They worked harder than everyone else, studied at their part time jobs, and got full rides to college.
Perfect example. The guy that lived next door to me, his dad was a line worker at a weed-eater factory, and his mom was a waitress at a diner. They were broke assed poor, lived in a trailer, and the schools there were shitty. Patrick worked harder than anyone from his school, and then worked harder than anyone else at my college. He got one of two full rides given out to medical school.
And he was black.
And you know what? He didn't accept any scholarships that were limited to black students. He applied for, and won, scholarships that were competitions among all people. No income requirements. He wanted it, and he got it.
Beyond that, I do support vouchers. What I don't support is the government making it mandatory for a private school to accept a voucher in lieu of tuition.
Most of all, I believe in the power of people. If someone really wants something in this country, they can and will work hard enough to get it. There is no unacheiveable goal. And that's why I love living here.
If anything, who you know has more to do with where you get in life. The corporate world is far from being a meritocracy. Also, cunning doesn't hurt either.
Basically, capitalism in its most unrestricted forms is nothing short of ruthlessly Machiavellian. I think the level of corporate corruption we see in America is indicative of that.
Granted, the sad thing is that we're still far better than a lot of the world, which shows you how fucked up the Third World is.
Last edited by Turquoise (2007-05-12 20:00:04)
