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[Leafsnail]

What, the one that involves enslaving the entire world and forcing them to lay off their workers?

[Urist is dead tome]

When did I say anything about slavery?

[Leafsnail]

Well, we never really established how you would lay off all the foreign workers.

[Urist is dead tome]

They work for American companies.

[Leafsnail]

So your plan involves nationalising all companies...?

[Urist is dead tome]

In America. If this is what is needed in America. Well some people in China are about to lose their jobs.

[Leafsnail]

Ok, so:

- Establish complete socialism
- Cut yourself off from the rest of the world, focusing on local production
- Introduce conscription

Wow.  Not sure if there's a historical precedent for this.

[Urist is dead tome]

I think America should be an exporter of high quality goods. And I do think that conscription should be put in place. And no. I'm not a socialist since that is a political party.

[Lord Shonus]

Not really. Socialism is an economic philosophy, just like democracy and republicanism are political ones. There are parties that name themselves after those philosophies, but they aren't the same thing.

[Tyg13]

Get rid of public education. Private education is the way to go. If we ran schools like businesses, things would go a lot smoother.

For example, our school was undergoing renovations so for whatever reason the shades got taken out of the windows. After the renovations were finished, they decided to install new window shades. Unfortunately, said shades don't actually work, and offer little to no protection from the sun. The school realized the problem and removed the shades, only to replace them with ones that provide only marginally better shading. All this just to save money, even though in the end they ended up spending a lot more money than they would have just buying good shades from the start. Any good business would have recognized that they should have done some research to figure out what they needed before buying anything. But no, the school, which has very minimal funding, decided to go straight for the path of least resistance and as a result the students paid for it.

Besides the lack of funding, government-run schools have the problem of trying to match up with schools on an international scale and pleasing everyone. State tests have been dumbed down in my area to ensure that minorities will be able to pass them, and so the stupid kids won't feel bad. A diploma system that would award different diploma levels based on test scores was shot down by nearly everyone on the school committee, claiming that "such a system would discourage less-achieving students" and was therefore flawed. I think that's just stupid. Apparently test scores shouldn't count for anything and ability shouldn't factor at all into acceptance into college. We don't want to hurt the less-intelligent people's feelings by not letting them into Harvard, would we?

I dunno, I think private schools operate a lot more efficiently and have a lot less problems. I've never been to one, so I don't have that kind of experience, so take from that what you will.

(I'm running a heavy fever, so if this comes off as delirious, it probably is)

[Urist is dead tome]

Get rid of public education. Private education is the way to go. If we ran schools like businesses, things would go a lot smoother.

For example, our school was undergoing renovations so for whatever reason the shades got taken out of the windows. After the renovations were finished, they decided to install new window shades. Unfortunately, said shades don't actually work, and offer little to no protection from the sun. The school realized the problem and removed the shades, only to replace them with ones that provide only marginally better shading. All this just to save money, even though in the end they ended up spending a lot more money than they would have just buying good shades from the start. Any good business would have recognized that they should have done some research to figure out what they needed before buying anything. But no, the school, which has very minimal funding, decided to go straight for the path of least resistance and as a result the students paid for it.

Besides the lack of funding, government-run schools have the problem of trying to match up with schools on an international scale and pleasing everyone. State tests have been dumbed down in my area to ensure that minorities will be able to pass them, and so the stupid kids won't feel bad. A diploma system that would award different diploma levels based on test scores was shot down by nearly everyone on the school committee, claiming that "such a system would discourage less-achieving students" and was therefore flawed. I think that's just stupid. Apparently test scores shouldn't count for anything and ability shouldn't factor at all into acceptance into college. We don't want to hurt the less-intelligent people's feelings by not letting them into Harvard, would we?

I dunno, I think private schools operate a lot more efficiently and have a lot less problems. I've never been to one, so I don't have that kind of experience, so take from that what you will.

(I'm running a heavy fever, so if this comes off as delirious, it probably is)

Oh I agree completely. The last coupla presidents didn't realize that government is a business.

[alway]

For the most part, I think studies have found private schools really aren't much different than public schools, in either costs or quality. Although admittedly I haven't looked into the topic in depth. A quick google turns this up:
http://education-portal.com/articles/Public_Schools_vs._Private_Schools:_New_Study_Says_There_is_No_Difference.html

As for globalization, becoming isolationist is not the answer. However, we most certainly should not be the world's policeman as we are today. And we definitely shouldn't get involved in wars as silly as our current predicament. China is a good example of what to do in terms of globalization: focus on growing your economy at home while making use of economies overseas to fuel your own growth.

This is more difficult for developed nations like the US, but not, I think, impossible. China and other developing nations like it have a big advantage: their populations relative to their wealth is large. This allows for cheap labor for a generation or even two. Thus they make for good industrial powers, creating what cannot be created without the aid of unskilled labor. The US and other developed nations can not compete in these areas, and quite frankly, they would be better off investing in other methods of growing the economy. To put it bluntly, if you are a company doing unskilled labor in a developed country which could be done in a developing country, you are doing it wrong. There are of course unskilled jobs which can not be done overseas for any variety of reasons, but even these can be done by robots in an increasing number of cases. In short, if you are an unskilled worker in a developing country, your life may become a little less miserable; if you are an unskilled worker in a developed country, expect to see your demand fall, and the compensation if you do find a job to fall as well.
So what should developed countries focus on? To be honest, I'm not entirely sure. The big question becomes: what can you produce which a developing nation can not, or can not do as easily or cheaply. Some say information economy, some say outproducing through mechanization. In any case, the unskilled worker is pretty much screwed as far as prospects for employment. Such is to be expected though; the trend of globalization is no more stoppable and no less important than the industrial revolution in terms of the way it will change society worldwide. Developed nations can no longer afford to sit on their metaphorical thrones, as if they are some sort of nobles looking down on the peasants scratching in the dirt. We are among the peasants now, and we must scratch out our own place, wherever that may be.

Now to bring an end to my post, since it's past 10 PM and my posts tends to get long, rambling, and strange at these hours...

[Lord Shonus]

To put it bluntly, if you are a company doing unskilled labor in a developed country which could be done in a developing country, you are doing it wrong. There are of course unskilled jobs which can not be done overseas for any variety of reasons, but even these can be done by robots in an increasing number of cases.

This is extremely simplistic. There are tons of items, (windows being an excellent example) that have such a poor bulk/value ratio that they would be unprofitable to ship, even if labor costs were zero. As for using robots, these are not only limited, but often more expensive to operate than a trained person. Also, the supply of raw materials can vastly increase the cost, which is one reason why Japanese and Korean automakers operate US plants.

[Mipe]

Get rid of public education.

Why do most european countries with public education rank higher than US in literacy? And now you want to take public education taken away... *THUD* Did you hear that? That's how hard US would fall in literacy ranks. All those "colored" children wouldn't be able to afford basic education, so you have Bronx all over the damn place.

[AntiAntiMatter]

Get rid of public education. Private education is the way to go. If we ran schools like businesses, things would go a lot smoother.

Businesses are focused on making money. Schools should be focused on providing education.

For example, our school was undergoing renovations so for whatever reason the shades got taken out of the windows. After the renovations were finished, they decided to install new window shades. Unfortunately, said shades don't actually work, and offer little to no protection from the sun. The school realized the problem and removed the shades, only to replace them with ones that provide only marginally better shading. All this just to save money, even though in the end they ended up spending a lot more money than they would have just buying good shades from the start. Any good business would have recognized that they should have done some research to figure out what they needed before buying anything. But no, the school, which has very minimal funding, decided to go straight for the path of least resistance and as a result the students paid for it.

This will happen with businesses as well. Privatizing would not help this and in all likelihood make it worse.

Besides the lack of funding, government-run schools have the problem of trying to match up with schools on an international scale and pleasing everyone. State tests have been dumbed down in my area to ensure that minorities will be able to pass them, and so the stupid kids won't feel bad. A diploma system that would award different diploma levels based on test scores was shot down by nearly everyone on the school committee, claiming that "such a system would discourage less-achieving students" and was therefore flawed. I think that's just stupid. Apparently test scores shouldn't count for anything and ability shouldn't factor at all into acceptance into college. We don't want to hurt the less-intelligent people's feelings by not letting them into Harvard, would we?

Your argument is valid, but a reform of public schools could fix that.

I dunno, I think private schools operate a lot more efficiently and have a lot less problems. I've never been to one, so I don't have that kind of experience, so take from that what you will.

(I'm running a heavy fever, so if this comes off as delirious, it probably is)

I don't see how they run better then public schools in any way.