I've often wondered if our failing education system is one way of maintaining control over our own people. I can see a political advantage to having an ignorant population to work with. Give "Al Bundy" a six pack and put him in front of the "game" on TV and he is a happy man. Life is good.
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5 days before the election- Jobs report
- Thread starter myminitrading
- Start date
I've often wondered if our failing education system is one way of maintaining control over our own people. I can see a political advantage to having an ignorant population to work with. Give "Al Bundy" a six pack and put him in front of the "game" on TV and he is a happy man. Life is good.
Quote from MaxLD:
I've often wondered if our failing education system is one way of maintaining control over our own people. I can see a political advantage to having an ignorant population to work with. Give "Al Bundy" a six pack and put him in front of the "game" on TV and he is a happy man. Life is good.
I definitely see the causality in that, just not sure if it is by design or randomness.
Sure, a poor populace is good for maintaining control over your people, but at the same time, you want your people to be gainfully employed so you can tax the f*uck out of them. See many of the tyrannical governments around the world, if they need money, they just take it from you. They don't need to tax their people. In this country, the government does have a vested interested in creating and expanding wealth so they can get their cut.
The education system is in shambles because in a competitive economy, they don't have to compete. There is no pressure except by concerned parents at PTA meetings to make the schools better. Obviously we need to overhaul this system. But that change will create volatility and as you you, most people don't react well to volatility.
Quote from Maverick74:
Here is what I think. I think we live in a world economy now. You can't simply just look at the US economy. I think from the perspective of a world economy, it is by far the best it's ever been. More and more countries are raising their standard of living. Prosperity is slowly spreading throughout the world (at the expense of the US). Job growth is strong worldwide. And more importantly, productivity is on fire.
What a lot of people are having a hard time wrapping their hands around is the fact that the days were the US produced, manufactured, marketed, sold and consumed everything in the world is over. The days when we enjoyed all the wealth while everyone else suffered in poverty is over. Wealth is finally seeping out of the US and spreading out. This is a good thing in my opinion. I'll never understand the greediness of some in this country that believe that the US should prosper at the expense of the rest of the planet.
The problem is, this transition is very hard for those that are most affected. It would appear to them that the economy sucks and no one is making money. But this simply is not true. People are making money, just now it's not all heavily concentrated in the US. What's wrong with China having prosperity? What's wrong with India having prosperity?
Americans are so myopic and only care about themselves. Joe Lunch bucket had it easy man for a long time. He could live on a high school education, join a union and make 60k a year with full benefits and a pension while foreigners in poor countries were eating grass for dinner. Yippee!!!!!! Now Joe Lunchbucket is pissed of that the family eating grass for dinner can suddenly have bread and water and maybe some beans and Joe is bitching that he can't afford season tickets to see the Cubs anymore. I mean seriously guys, wake up. The days where someone could make 75k a year for having a pulse are over. We are now in a very competitive world economy. If you want to make 75k a year, you are going to have to fight for it. Is that a bad thing? I don't think so.
Aren't you a Republican Mav? This ignorance pretty much explains them to a tee, "F em all as long as we prosper". What do you think NAFTA and CAFTA are about. Other nations are making more money because they are feeding our debt bloated economy. How is this good? Maybe time for a refresher in econ 101.
But this a tangential to the larger discussions on this board. Much of us are saying this economy isn't in the great shape you describe and the numbers today show this. Yet the administration will be out trumpeting these numbers ad nauseam.
Quote from Maverick74:
The education system is in shambles because in a competitive economy, they don't have to compete. There is no pressure except by concerned parents at PTA meetings to make the schools better. Obviously we need to overhaul this system. But that change will create volatility and as you you, most people don't react well to volatility.
Yes, you are correct. Another problem I see is that we are teaching to the lowest common denominator..."No child left behind". In her book, "The Case Against Lawyers", author Catherine Crier talks about the legal perversion of education. You might find the entire book very interesting.
I hope I haven't taken us too far up a side street...
Damn Clinton/Gore and those Republicans!!! Oh wait a second. Clinton/Gore. Democrats. Never mind.Quote from seasonedpro:
Aren't you a Republican Mav? This ignorance pretty much explains them to a tee, "F em all as long as we prosper". What do you think NAFTA and CAFTA are about. Other nations are making more money because they are feeding our debt bloated economy. How is this good? Maybe time for a refresher in econ 101.
Quote from ACM Trader:
Mav 74 is the voice of reason, as often. The problem is that people with a strong bias, ie being a bear, think that any good news are manipulated. I rarely hear people on the right side of the trade complain about manipulation. Eh I could not careless about the numbers. I am just looking at the reaction of the market. And, as of right now, the market does not seem to be able to maintain its early gains. Now if the market sells-off, are we going to hear those conspiracies theorists ?
Just before a major election I am very very very suspicious of government data throw in the fact that the ruling party is out of favor. And well you have the backdrop for manipulation.
Quote from seasonedpro:
Aren't you a Republican Mav? This ignorance pretty much explains them to a tee, "F em all as long as we prosper". What do you think NAFTA and CAFTA are about. Other nations are making more money because they are feeding our debt bloated economy. How is this good? Maybe time for a refresher in econ 101.
But this a tangential to the larger discussions on this board. Much of us are saying this economy isn't in the great shape you describe and the numbers today show this. Yet the administration will be out trumpeting these numbers ad nauseam.
There is not a word that would describe my political beliefs. Sorry, you can't put me in a neat little box. And the "f*uck them all as long as we prosper" is not a republican or democrat theme, but an American theme. While 800k people were being slaughtered in Rwanda we were busy watching Seinfeld and Friends, buying computers, getting wasted at the local watering hole, or trying to lose some weight at the gym. Take off the blinders and wake up.
What is happening now is a good thing, not a bad thing. If we continue to keep a monopoly of all the jobs, all the money, all the labor in the world, at some point, the world is going to come knocking, and when they do, they won't be alone and they won't be unarmed.
You can tell yourself the economy sucks all you want, but you obviously don't go out. You obviously don't see the packed restaurants, bars, theaters, malls, etc. Not only in this country, but all over the world. I know, I know, your puppet response is going to be we are nothing but debt creators and it's all going to come crashing down. But that is assuming that our economy exists in a vacuum. But it doesn't. Our economy is simply a sub-component of the world economy.
If you really want to see the world as doom and gloom, load up on the thorazine and have at it. The rest of us are going to enjoy our lives and for once in our lifetimes, actually see the rest of the world catch up, and heaven forbid, actually enjoy some prosperity on their own.
"If good don't cross borders, armies will." Frédéric BastiatQuote from Maverick74:
What is happening now is a good thing, not a bad thing. If we continue to keep a monopoly of all the jobs, all the money, all the labor in the world, at some point, the world is going to come knocking, and when they do, they won't be alone and they won't be unarmed.
You must be joking Mav. The objective of the economy is not to be "global" and is not to practice free trade, the objective of the economy of a country, the objective of the government of a country, the objective of financial institutions of a country is to raise the standard of living of the population of that country. If free trade, globalization or any other economic theory or idea helps to achieve this goal - great, if they don't as you seem to agree, they should be buried.Quote from Maverick74:
Prosperity is slowly spreading throughout the world (at the expense of the US).
...
Wealth is finally seeping out of the US and spreading out.
...
This is a good thing in my opinion.
Whether you're right or wrong that the globalization is inevitable do you seriously expect american middle class to celebrate its own demise? Get real, it is not going to happen and it is not necessary either, there are better ways to handle the US economy than letting the rest of the world destroy it.
With all that republican hoopla about patriotism your post is quite revealing, you are a republican first and american distant second.
Maverick74 wrote:
Do you really think Capitalism allows for this? Everyone catches up -- to what -- speaking of blinders on...
If you really want to see the world as doom and gloom, load up on the thorazine and have at it. The rest of us are going to enjoy our lives and for once in our lifetimes, actually see the rest of the world catch up, and heaven forbid, actually enjoy some prosperity on their own.
Do you really think Capitalism allows for this? Everyone catches up -- to what -- speaking of blinders on...