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When I think of all my teachers I had throughout K-12 public school, not one of them stands out as having meaningfully impacted my life.

In fact I would argue many of them were a net negative to my learning achievements (or lack thereof).

So yeah, defund public schools as much as possible. That will get my vote.


I was happily lurking until I saw this astounding response.

"Every relationship with {men|women} I've been in has been bad, so romance is obviously worthless."

"My neighbors dog always barks at me, I didn't get why anyone likes dogs."

"I've had a bad experience with ${race} so I really wish we could get rid of them."

"I caught the flu, and it didn't kill me. I don't get why people are always worried about it."

"I've never worn a seatbelt, and I'm still alive. They're a waste of time."

"School was a bad experience for me personally, so best to get rid of it"

Are you serious right now?


Yes, I'm serious.

You make the mistake of thinking I am one of few, when I am one of many.


That's unfortunate, I had at least 6 or 7 I could point to from that time that were outstanding teachers who instilled passion into their subject.


That is good to hear. In which subjects? Did that carry out throughout your entire life so far? Or did one particular subject end up taking more of your time, and if so, do you attribute that to specific characteristics of those who mentored you? Do you know if those mentors were elevated over time in their organizations?


I had a number of good teachers at the various public schools I attended, though the best ones were at a private school.

Instead of defunding, we should institute a voucher system where parents can choose between a local public school if it's good, charter schools, or towards a private school tuition and pay the difference.


What characteristics of the teachers and/or student body made the private school experience better?


The teachers were all highly motivated and skilled, with a great interest in each student on a personal level. This was the Dunn Middle School, located in the Santa Ynez Valley. The classrooms were repurposed bungalows on a large ranch. I remember my history class was taught by a recent Stanford graduate, and we took notes on couches in a living room. A few times she had brought her hippie dad to teach us how to make bagels from scratch, and shared various musings about how without bacteria / fungi all the dead organic matter would keep piling up forever. The student teacher ratio was about 10:1, and there were lots of character building activities like week long backpacking trips near Joshua Tree, mandatory triathlons, hobby classes on Fridays like woodworking / cycling / hiking. There were about 20 students per grade, and it skewed high income as you can imagine. None of the students were really toxic or a problem, I remember one kid was either autistic / severely introverted, but otherwise a nice dude.


I went to a private school and then a public school. All of my private school teachers were worse than the public school teachers, without exception.


I guess your teachers failed you, since that's a hasty generalization (your experience isn't universal) and a non sequitur (defunding public schools wouldn't address the problem of poor schooling).


It's hard to talk about public education on HN because so many people posting here live in exclusive and expensive Bay Area communities with some of the best public schools in the world.


It’s hard to argue a point when the people you are arguing with have lived experience that contradicts your point yeah


"America is bad and should be destroyed without regard to the people living there"

The worst leftists (handshake) the worst right wingers


How is America destroyed if people own their labor (money) and where they invest it?


lol Rob Bonta has morals now eh? that's rich.


Why do you want to control the lives of others?


Not sure which way this post is arguing, but in my anti-UBI opinion, providing UBI does control the lives of others primarily by stealing from productive members to give to unproductive ones.

I have no problem if people want to personally finance folks to not work via private charity, but when it becomes a government program, you are definitionally controlling everyone.


Because control over lives of others is what makes a well functioning society. This is something that every single anarchist/libertarian is incapable of understanding, despite living in the developed part of the world.

It's just not personal control but institutional control.


It is everyone in politics. Right left center up and down.


https://www.revolver.news/2023/04/supreme-court-unanimous-le...

9-0 Supreme Court letter supporting just Clarence. Thomas.


I can't comment on the parent anymore because it has been flagged.

Sure, it's not great the perks that Hunter Biden (or Chelsea Clinton) have received. But they are adults and their parents are no longer in control of them, or accountable for their actions.

And, in at least Hunter Biden's case, the Republican majority in the House is investigating him.

Whereas here, it's Clarence Thomas himself and his wife who are getting perks (along with his mother, who he doesn't control, and is thus more equivalent to Hunter Biden).

This is all crap, as you say, right, left, center, up, and down. That doesn't mean that some crap stinks worse than others. For giving to Thomas' mother, Harlan Crow is in the wrong. For accepting gifts himself, Clarence Thomas is in the wrong.


I keep reading all this "we" stuff...


Login to a service with Tor that will just kick you off if you hold views contra to corporate media.


That is a little unfair. There is a lot of nonsense on Twitter that doesnt get banned.


And keep in mind that Twitter would much rather not have to censor anything. Content moderation, legal compliance, etc are cost centers.

It's easy to get lost in the "evil corporate overlord" idea and forget that companies only ever commit evil because evil is sometimes profitable.


Why did you equate "contra to corporate media" with "nonsense"?


its the sense that gets you banned


I chuckled - but so very true.


I think my above question was just answered here. I think YouTube is more aligned with the cultural movement of "positive things only" and only with certain ideas, i.e. COVID vaccine. I think it is a smart business idea for them.


> I think YouTube is more aligned with the cultural movement of "positive things only" and only with certain ideas, i.e. COVID vaccine.

I don't think you can conclude that from the above. My point was that dislike ratios attacks basically abuse the feature that previously provided valuable signal to the user on whether the video was of good quality. Now, this removes the incentive for dislike ratio attacks to abuse this feature.

Disclaimer: My views are my own, and not of my employer.


It goes both ways - right? For Likes/Dislikes. Regardless, I think this is strictly a big business move - in response to perceived cultural movement.


Genuine question - why are you "sick of it" - what does a large amount of downvotes actually "do" and why would that make you "sick"


... taxation is theft.


To be fair, taxation is useful for everyone and the common good. What can be considered.... wrong is EXTRA taxation. Meaning the governments job should be to operate as leanly as possible by being most efficient. To me that means, highly systems efficiently, low personnel overhead, large reduction in programs supported.

Instead - the name is big and bloated. Expanding budget deficits mean expanded spending, which can never go down.


Couldn't agree more, I would be happy to pay taxes if the government represented me. However under the republic we have, it has fallen extremely short in representing my interest. I vote in every election, write letters to my representatives and attend town halls.


There is no theft in Somalia, just law of the jungle


You can move to a different country if you disagree with the voters of this one.


Democracy is tyranny. Voting is for children. Contractual representation is an acceptable solution.


I'm pretty sure minors are legally prevented from voting.


>"Democracy is tyranny"

War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.


No, it's payment for goods and services. If you want to live in a stateless utopia, you don't get any of the benefits of the state. That's the social contract.


"Social contract" is the cry of the authoritarian. You do not speak for me. No other person does, unless I hire them. An acceptable solution would be contractual representation.


eyeroll emoji


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