Originally posted by Aristotle
The problem with what you are saying is that you seem to think both parents SHOULD WORK, and you actually explicitly said the reason for public education is to "free up a parent to work."

That is just insane. That is NOT the purpose of public education.


I don't believe it is to free up a parent to work. I believe it is to deal with the fact that historically, it was more efficient to teach a lot of people utiizing one teacher, and the reason it was more efficient is that it freed up the parents to work. Sure, the parents in a rural society were working at home, but it's hard to teach your kid to read and milk the cows, draw the water, mix the flour, bake the break, sew the clothes... Well. You get the idea.

Originally posted by Aristotle
Both parents working is a serious rot in our culture. There are a bunch of reasons for it, but it is NOT a good thing for children at all. Sometimes it has to happen, which is a shame, but having to do something out of necessity does not magically transform that into a good thing. The sooner we start understanding that as a culture, the better off we will be.
Stipulating as I believe you mean to that both parents working outside the home is a serious rot, I might agree with you. Problematically, it is getting to be more and more the necessity in our modern culture.

Originally posted by Aristotle
Finally, there is no labor cost to home schooling. At least one parent should already be home with the kids, if this world wasn't totally fucked up. Understand?
But the world IS totally fucked up. So what do you want me to say, do, or believe about a figure which you now explain in minute detail that I understood the minute I saw it the first time your showed it to me. It does not, to my mind, apply to much of anything that is relevant to today's culture.

I wish things were just like you say you think they ought to be. The only tiny thing we disagree about is the interpretation of one statistic you tossed up in a hord of things to support the idea of trying vouchers. I agree we should try vouchers.

How much agreement do you require?

Originally posted by Aristotle
Lokrian, you are doing your thing where you take multiple elements of an issue and you mix them up back and forth. Stop doing that please.
I can't stop doing this and even come close to expressing what is on my mind. Possibly yours is simply the wrong forum for me to try to talk politics in. I tend to look at all issues from multiple angles. I have never had that be a real problem before for anyone. Some people fail to see the connections I want to draw, and when they do they just tell me so. Ultimately, those kinds of things can just be things to agree to disagree about. If my ideas are as insane as they seem to come across to you, surely everyone will see it? Right?

I am truly, truly sorry this is not working out to be tolerable for you to have me here. I am actually making a concerted effort, believe it or not! It's... dissapointing. To say the least.