Letters to the Editor
Godot...
Published Letters: 478 Editor's Choice: 1
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unschooler
[Read the article: How much will white racism hurt Obama?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]My own two offspring never went to any school (K-12) and are young adults doing well.
Naturally, the military will take recruits lacking a high school diploma, but soldiering isn't for everybody and you can't sustain a modern national economy on militarism.
White supremacists, paramilitary organizations, and religious bigots all prefer 'home-schooling' over public education.
Why do you suppose that is?
There was a time when 'home-schooling' was the norm in the US, but that was when the US was still primarily agricultural, and widespread illiteracy and ignorance seemed no great impediment to a nation of farmers, coal miners, and low-wage Dickensian factory drones.
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unschooler
[Read the article: How much will white racism hurt Obama?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The Amish and Mennonites who live around me are another example of this. They seem pretty darned successful and if things get bad with the environment you might be wishing you had some of their skills at being self-sufficient.
That rather depends on how you define 'success', now doesn't it? The literary, scientific, engineering, medical, and humanitarian achievements of the Amish and Mennonites appear to be rather few.
To be sure, an intentionally backwards and inbred agrarian society would have little motivation or use for foreign military adventurism or space-based weapons systems, but on the other hand, such a society could not have defeated Tojo or Hitler.
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unschooler
[Read the article: How much will white racism hurt Obama?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]He started working full-time at age 17 (would have been a senior in high school) at a small local tech business. He is still there and moving at almost age 21 into pretty much jointly running it with the primary owner. He never took the GED or got any kind of diploma. He just showed what he could do on the job. His boss loves him and has mentored him well.
Anecdotal, hardly credible, and almost certainly untrue.
Next.
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unschooler
[Read the article: How much will white racism hurt Obama?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]NPR had a story a week or so ago on how many young people are being misled by the claim that they need to get a college education to be successful.
And yet, we see that nearly all successful people do have a college education, and that nearly all the restaurant servers and trash haulers do not.
If you'd prefer your surgeon or your defense attorney to have little more than 'home-schooling', that is of course your choice.
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Jayman
[Read the article: How much will white racism hurt Obama?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If misogyny is the reason Senator Clinton is not winning the nomination, how can she claim it will not stop her in the general election?
The implication is that Democrats, even though they have championed civil rights, are somehow more bigoted than those who are not Democrats, mostly those who vote Republican. Politicians are sometimes hampered by their own illogic, but often their illogic helps them, particularly among voters lacking critical thinking skills.
Obama, as we have seen, has put substantial effort into successfully rising above the race issue. We have seen Mrs. Clinton avoid rising above the gender issue because that's what she's run on for months now, and her campaign would have self-destructed.
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unschooler
[Read the article: How much will white racism hurt Obama?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The literacy rate in Massachusetts was 98% prior to the introduction of compulsory education. After which time it dropped to 91% (cited in Dumbing Us Down, by JT Gatto).
Not a credible source. Got any official statistics?
White supremacists, paramilitary organizations, and religious bigots all prefer 'home-schooling' over public education.
Why do you suppose that is?
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unschooler
[Read the article: How much will white racism hurt Obama?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]the point that the Amish/Mennonite are not contributing to technological development is irrelevant to what I was saying
You held up the Amish/Mennonites as favored models of your notion of 'success', and yet, you turn your back on them as soon as somebody points out that they typically lack flush toilets and are unable to establish anything resembling a city.
I find it rather telling that you advocate doing away with public schools but in no way promote any action to improve them, and most of all avoid any mention of the merits of successful public schools, which most are.
There are plenty of third-world countries lacking any effective public school system, and you would perhaps do well to preach your theories in one of those. Good luck.
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unschooler
[Read the article: How much will white racism hurt Obama?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I have no idea what your point is when asking why intolerant people prefer homeschooling.
Of course not. Gaps in your own education are apparent. Let me help you with that one.
Intolerant people prefer to indoctrinate intolerance in their children and to avoid exposing them to ideas of tolerance and ideas requiring tolerance. The 'home-schoolers' I'm familiar with are religious, and do so to prevent their kids from learning anything about Darwin and evolution, among other things, like having to sit in class with blacks and Latinos. Perhaps you are one of those.
I believe people have a fundamental right to their beliefs, even if I disagree with them. And they have a fundamental right to raise their children and attempt to pass on their beliefs.
You have the right to be ignorant and intolerant if that is your choice, but the state will sometimes prevent you from indulging in religious religious rituals like human sacrifice, multiple child marriage, casual use of hallucinogens, and so forth. Your 'right' to ignorance and intolerance are not unlimited.
It is sound social policy to have a system of education conducive to reducing ignorance and intolerance. You could say that 'home-schooling' could do better at that than the public schools, but since the modern 'home-schooling' movement is motivated largely by religious and racial intolerance, that would not in fact be true.
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weeping for brunnhilde
[Read the article: How much will white racism hurt Obama?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Why is it so hard to have a grown-up conversation about controversial matters?
Good question. Perhaps it's because you were home-schooled.
I've pointed out just a few of the fallacies and other drawbacks in the 'home-schooling' movement. All you've done is whine about it. Try contributing something useful. If you're able.
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weeping for brunnhilde
[Read the article: How much will white racism hurt Obama?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]What I mean to say is, you seem to be arguing with some cardboard cutout of a homeschool advocate you've fabricated.
Hardly. It's well-established that the modern 'home-schooling' movement is cover and advocacy of religious and racial intolerance.
Your current posture insults our intelligence.
You give yourself too much credit.