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The Atlantic: Better Schools Won’t Fix America
1NJParent
2468 replies37 threads Senior Member
Which is the cause and which is the effect? Poor and uneven education or income inequality? The author explains why he changed his mind.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/07/education-isnt-enough/590611/
48 replies https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/07/education-isnt-enough/590611/
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Replies to: The Atlantic: Better Schools Won’t Fix America
Sometimes, it's as simple as parental ecouragement (absolutely possible to find in all levels of SES.) Other times, you see kids who have thrived without this. Maybe a few great mentors, maybe unique opps within even an overall low-performing hs.
He invested in google. Big deal. Easy to do when you’re born rich.
I am all for wage growth. Heck I want my wages to grow. It’s easy to be a socialist once you’ve got all your money tucked away.
The dialogue is good but the narrative is expected.
American companies are trying to do positive things. Bank of America is committed to every employee making a minimum of 20 per hour. Compare our wages to the vast majority of the world.
It’s not perfect but the American self hatred is maddening. We seemingly can’t ever think the country is doing anything right.
Terrible inequality. Low wages. Pervasive racism. Crumbling schools. Misogyny and a rape culture. Failing economy.
Why would anyone want to live In such a morass of terribleness and why are people desperately fighting to try and come here?
Yes we are not perfect and all of us should work for more for all of us.
I just don’t like to start with the premise that it’s all bad. How about a little optimism once in a while.
Is there anything good out there at all?
But it’s the height of elitism to be able to sit around all day and complain about the ills of the middle class while lolling in the sun in the terrace of your west coast mansion.
If it’s so awful, Nick should give all of his blood money from the family’s centuries old family factories and back to the employees or just give it all away.
Not very likely, he’s much more comfortable giving away everyone else’s while virtue signaling.
Yes there are excessive examples that should be addressed.
And his premise that schools in the 50s and 60s where so effective is a little misstated. There were huge drop out rates in rural and poor communities. And college was a tiny fraction of the population as opposed to the current reality for kids today. The poor, women and minorities all have much better access today than ever.
But we still have a long way to go to achieve utopian perfection that’s for sure. It’s a big complex problem.
I just naturally push back on the expert analysis of the American experiment from a trust-fund hippie pushing the Marxist economics approach that has repeatedly failed.
Humans need inspiration, competition and incentives to continue to create.
The Atlantic is at least consistent.
And there was dodgeball back then...
According to the internet, Nick Hanauer is a billionaire. Easy to tell other people they will have to take less when you’re already sitting on a billion dollars.
Bingo.
"The study found that a kindergarten student from the bottom 25% of socioeconomic status with test scores from the top 25% of students has a 31% chance of earning a college education and working a job that pays at least $35,000 by the time they are 25, and at least $45,000 by the time they are 35,"
@privatebanker --Truly, I'm not trying to judge your feelings, but this post has the same trend of personalizing what is objective observation. It doesn't matter who the writer is, but rather what the facts are. Ad hominems don't address the issue. It's not attacking America to point out where we can do better. As a proud citizen of the US, I want us to be and know that we CAN be better.
I'd say the problem isn't globalism in itself. The problem is the oligarchy profiting from it.
That study is flawed because it uses kindergarten test scores. A better study would look at ACT/SAT scores.
By the time someone takes ACT or SAT, the effects of SES have had much more time to be "baked in".
But for a decent place to live and transportation, you're right. A whole load of cheep, throw away, crap.
For a VC, he seems to be exceptionally ignorant of capitalism, innovation, and the forces of the free market. Maybe he should consider those turning those loose on the education system. And maybe he could reduce the supply of unskilled labor by reducing the number of unskilled immigrants, whose children overwhelm the existing educational system. Maybe make the children and parents the clients, instead of the unions. But that seems to be a real stretch for a 'VC'.
It's funny -- This is probably the only country in the world where people talk like that about education and health care, and it has gotten really mixed results. There are some very bright spots of quality -- some associated with "free market" systems, others really not so much -- and a lot of general failure, all at exceptionally high cost. The quality record of large-scale (i.e., not just an individual or two), for-profit providers in both fields is actually horrendous.
As if.
Here is an article adapted from one his chapters:
https://bigthink.com/big-think-books/steven-pinker-enlightenment-now-inequality-happiness
But he is not suggesting giving his money away. Just everyone else’s. If he actually had ever once put real risk capital on the table to create something, like mortgaging his house to fund an idea with no customers, then I’d listen a bit more.
The USA and capitalism as an economic model had been the single greatest experiment for raising people out of poverty, innovation in medicine, increased longevity and opportunities for all genders.
It’s got a lot room for improvement and tinkering, sure.
Aside from perhaps a few nordic countries with very few people, large geography, incredible cultural homogeneity and huge natural resources no one is even close.
Along with the USA, Canada is right there too. But certainly a free market capitalistic economic model there as well.
Even they are now starting to feel the pressure. Finland, often cited as an ideal for one is in big trouble.
“Finland's coalition government resigned on Friday a month ahead of a general election, saying it could not deliver on a healthcare reform package that is widely seen as crucial to securing long-term government finances.”