Q: What makes food stamps different from schooling? A: The fact that we don't require the purchase of government supplied food - but do of 'education.' No wonder the latter is mediocre. (Which makes the NEA an enemy of the people." -Orson
Oy. Ya' know, Orson... ...another member got taken to task by another moderator not too long ago for making pretty much all his postings in the off-topic and/or political forums, and not really contributing much to actual distance education and/or accreditation topics. I don't see why your pattern of posts should not come under the same kind of scrutiny... do you?
How about a USDA Forum Pyramid? So these forums are like dessert -- you only get them if you eat your vegetables? Is there a posting quota to which we can refer so that we can post to these forums without fear of reprisal? I'm not saying this (solely) to be obnoxious, but instead to point out that without that, it seems inherently arbitrary. -=Steve=-
Re: How about a USDA Forum Pyramid? Not completely arbitrary but perhaps to some extent it is arbitrary. I do not keep track of the posting habits of all our members but there are some circumstances where a member's posting habits become plain to all. If a newbie arrives on the scene and creates a dozen consecutive threads on a topic completely unrelated to DL then they will probably hear from me. If a long-term members spends most of his time in the Politics forum then I might not care very much, that is, until problems start and then they will probably hear from me. This is primarily a Distance Learning bulletin board. The non-DL fora are adjuncts. If someone wants to talk about UFOs all day, every day then I will probably suggest that they might be happier elsewhere. As Gregg stated, I made a similar suggestion to a member not too long ago (I did not ban him or in any way restrict his privileges) and a major reason for my doing so was that people were beginning to make fun of him and this was going to lead to larger problems. In short, it's a judgement call and I am prepared to make that call when it is time to do so. As far as Orson is concerned, he doesn't seem to take up much space and he doesn't seem to create any nasty arguments. On the other hand, he doesn't seem to have any interest in DL and he's really just a provocateur (which I can either enjoy or find irritating, depending on my mood) so maybe I'll have to pay more attention to his posts. Maybe we'll just drag him into some dark cyber-alley and cuff him around a bit. Jack
There are definitely similarities. Both involve resource redistribution in order to advance socially valuable ends. One fundamental difference is that schooling is widely perceived as promoting unambiguously positive ends. Food stamps do serve to reduce hunger and to assist those in need. The positive benefits of food stamps are clear. But at the same time food stamps sometimes seem to subsidize disfunctionality. They allow individuals with behavioral problems to continue on in ways that are destructive both to self and to society. There's an ethical ambiguity in social welfare programs that one doesn't see in state sponsored education.
Answer: How many people are on the dole One difference is that food stamps only subsidize the poor, whereas free K-12 public schools subsidize people who have kids at the expense of people who do not. I've always thought that public schools should charge tuition and counties should give vouchers to parents of poor students. In that way K-12 education would benefit from market forces while retaining education for all. I suppose it would be political suicide for any politician to touch such a culturally entrenched middle class entitlement, and besides, neither major party is really in favor of reducing the size of government anyway. -=Steve=-
Re: How about a USDA Forum Pyramid? Well, Jack beat me to the meat of the answer so, first of all, what he said. Secondly, just for the record: Private forum owners get to be arbitrary. This isn't a free speech issue. Thirdly, Internet/web forums have been around long enough, now, that there's an impressive body of "how to" information floating around out there to guide forum owners. Such information tells us that the owners of most forums with a central theme, like this one, would prefer not to even have "off-topic" or "miscellaneous" or "political" or "anything goes" areas. Chip has opined about this in posts here in the past, so I'm not divulging a secret when I tell you that he, too, would prefer not to have off-topic and political discussion areas; and would rather that we'd all just stick with the topics for which this place was created: Distance learning, accreditation, etc. But he, like most forum owners, tolerate such as off-topic and political discussion areas in their forums for two main reasons: Because it's almost impossible to keep valued forum members from straying off into off-topic and political areas; and so having/tolerating such areas helps keep those kinds of discussions out of, and from cluttering-up, the main topic areas for which the forums were created in the first place; and, because off-topic and political discussion areas help keep certain valued members interested and around so that they'll be here to notice when someone asks a question in the main topic areas for which the forums were created in the first place, and will then answer/respond-to them.[/list=1]Or at least that's what the years of collective experience of running forums would appear to teach those who now try to do so, according to the vast "how to" materials floating around out there. Once one grasps that, then unless the main reason for the forum in the first place is miscellaneous-topic and/or political stuff and, therefore, such are only tolerated in forums like this one as a means of keeping certain of its members interested and around so that they can be helpful in the main topic areas when needed, it's easy to see why people who pretty much only post in the merely tolerated areas, but who pretty much never contribute to the main areas, might be a concern to the forum's owner. That said, it's true that Orson doesn't take-up much room around here; and that we can always just nerf-bat the bejeesus out of him if he wanders too far astray! I would like to see him contribute more to the distance learning and accredited/unaccredited forums, though... for obvious reasons. We're not here for the off-topic and political stuff. Members who are only here for that -- or whose pattern of posts indicate that that's nearly the case -- should probably go post elsewhere. Like dessert, or arbitrary? Maybe. So what? DegreeInfo, like most forums with an enforced TOS, is a benevolent dictatorship, not a democracy. Its members must accept that.
Steve F. said: The "poor" are already exempt from paying for their schooling. Unless of course you count their lottery ticket purchases. I thought that most of the tax money appropriated to the school systems were from property taxes. The only ones I see getting "stiffed" from this system are the childless middle class home owners. As far as being a "middle class" entitlement, I see it as business as usual. The middle class bears a disproportional burden as compared to the poor or wealthy.
