Post: #1

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/20...-homework/

Liberalism Gone wrong ! But then again ... when was it ever right ?

Post: #2

Might be a good idea.

Post: #3

Interesting idea, but to implement this on a national scale without experimenting on selected schools first is a bit crazy I think.

I read something about the schools in US for poor kids that have no holidays and long days being supper successful.

Post: #4

I don't see the problem with this in the sense that there will be a strong focus on getting work covered while children are IN school. They have a pretty long school day, so they should be able to make it work by managing the time more efficiently. Just because it's being proposed to help certain students (those from poorer homes) excel the way kids from wealthier homes do isn't evil, or "liberal" in a negative way. It's the job of the government and school administrators to address these issues and help all of their students get the best education possible. Instead of banning homework, perhaps they could give kids a more reasonable amount, so that even troubled students can manage the load. Many schools here in the US over the years have loaded kids down with so many textbooks and homework at such a young age that kids are burning out and stressing. If kids are getting out of school at 4, and say they're getting home by 5, they have to have dinner and then be up how late with homework? If the school week is extended, and more teachers are going to be hired, it makes sense that homework could be less necessary because kids will be getting that much more work and attention IN school.

Post: #5

(12-03-2012 12:39 PM)LibertarianfoeReal Wrote:  http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/20...-homework/

Liberalism Gone wrong ! But then again ... when was it ever right ?

You think the government shouldn't interfere with state-run schools? How would that work?

I don't see what this has got to do with political ideology at all, I think you're just searching for opportunities to get on your soap box.

Post: #6

That's just so France.

Post: #7

(12-03-2012 12:39 PM)LibertarianfoeReal Wrote:  Liberalism Gone wrong ! But then again ... when was it ever right ?

Borderline political trolling.

Post: #8

Quote:The justification for this proposed ban? Inequality. According to a statement from an official at the French Embassy, “When it comes to homework, the President said it should be done during school hours rather than at home, in order to establish equal opportunities.” Homework favors the wealthy, Hollande argues, because they are more likely to have a good working environment at home, including parents with the time and energy to help them with their work.

I actually think this guy is on to something. Homework is bullshit. Why go to school if you're just going to force them to learn at home?


However, banning homework isn't going to help if they aren't learning shit in schools...

Post: #9

As someone who would have been high honor roll every marking period without homework I am all for this. I don't think homework should be banned outright since some students could use the extra practice. However, there is a problem when 30%+ of your final grade is based on doing work outside of the classroom.

Post: #10

Can we get someone from France to chime in? I'm under the impression that school hours are much longer and dreary compared to the typical ~6 hours a day typical in the US. It's the sort of thing like homework may only provide marginal returns in their style of education system...

Post: #11

I fucking hated homework. I had like 1-2 hours of homework for each class so I would come home after school and would be on that shit for like 5-6 hours. And it wasn't even effective learning, it was bullshit like go look up 30-40 definitions from a dictionary or do 30 math problems that are all exactly fucking the same. I did a shit load less work in college and in both my jobs than in highschool, which when you think about is completely retarded the order in difficulty.

Post: #12

(12-03-2012 12:39 PM)LibertarianfoeReal Wrote:  http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/20...-homework/

Liberalism Gone wrong ! But then again ... when was it ever right ?

Regarding "liberalism" (did you mean socialism?) in France - it's not really a negative concept there... you have to realize that there is a strong public trust and desire in their government to fix their problems and needs; which is just not the same in the US, where people don't trust their government and generally believe in self-reliance as a virtue. French people find the American style just as confounding in the other direction.

Post: #13

(12-03-2012 12:39 PM)LibertarianfoeReal Wrote:  http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/20...-homework/

Liberalism Gone wrong ! But then again ... when was it ever right ?

It's a good idea, but the implementation much more expensive and difficult than they realize.

They will have to extend the school day and probably increase the amount of staff, or set up some sort of homework assistance model (peer tutoring? Khan Academy)

WIA

Post: #14

(12-03-2012 06:04 PM)Fatless Wrote:  

(12-03-2012 12:39 PM)LibertarianfoeReal Wrote:  http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/20...-homework/

Liberalism Gone wrong ! But then again ... when was it ever right ?

Regarding "liberalism" (did you mean socialism?) in France - it's not really a negative concept there... you have to realize that there is a strong public trust and desire in their government to fix their problems and needs; which is just not the same in the US, where people don't trust their government and generally believe in self-reliance as a virtue. French people find the American style just as confounding in the other direction.

The ruling class has managed to disparage "gubmint" pretty well with a cost-no-obect propaganda campaign targeted at the dimwitted, but once people taste the protection of a good social program they don't want to be at the mercy of their owners any more.

Ronald Reagan, that great hero of independence, grew up with a father that worked for the WPA, the make-work gubmint program designed to help people through the depression. But I have some respect for Reagan at least because he was a self-made man and actually had a job, not like Bush 2.

http://millercenter.org/president/reagan...iography/2

Take Social Security for example. Wall Street DESPERATELY wanted ( and wants) to get their paws on the retirement money of the masses, but what was funny was their campaign peaked right before the stock market crash which showed it to be completely unreliable.

SS is over 99% efficient, meaning out of every dollar you and your owner put in, over 99 cents goes out to recipients. The workers at the SS administration and all the buildings, overhead-- including their Federal pensions-- come out of less than 1% of the SS funds. Bet Wall Street would give you 99% of your money back, right? Sure they would.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/20...alone.html

So when you bad mouth "socialism", ask your parents to send back their social security checks first. Ayn Rand applied for social security and Medicare. Shows you how serious "libertarians" are.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-fo...92184.html

So when all these privileged people, or brainwashed peasants, talk about how bad "social" programs are, the rich people mean government programs to help YOU are bad-- _they_ still deserve them. And the peasants are, well, fighting against themselves because they're brainwashed. Crabs in a bucket, by design, courtesy of their owners.

Post: #15

I had a teacher in high school who had an anti-homework policy. He was a very popular teacher. It was refreshing.

Most teachers would just give you hours of worksheets and dumb stuff to keep you busy.

Post: #16

If I were a teacher, I'd give them a choice:

1. Homework on a regular, though not daily, basis.
2. No homework. But intermittent pop quizzes.

Either way, they learn the material. Homework, if done properly, is supposed to force you to practice the shit.

That said, I'd prefer No. 2 as both a student and hypothetical teacher.

Post: #17

(12-03-2012 06:56 PM)deepcov3r Wrote:  SS is over 99% efficient, meaning out of every dollar you and your owner put in, over 99 cents goes out to recipients.[/b] The workers at the SS administration and all the buildings, overhead-- including their Federal pensions-- come out of less than 1% of the SS funds. Bet Wall Street would give you 99% of your money back, right? Sure they would.

That's also the problem with social security. It's not really an investment, it's just a continual transfer from people presently working to people who are retired. That works great when lots of people are working and the economy is growing and the relative number of retirees is small. Unfortunately, we are heading into the exact opposite situation. The social security trust fund has already been raided by congress to the point where it's an accounting fiction.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that I trust Wall Street, but I'd much rather be able to keep my FICA taxes and invest them in an IRA.

As for France and liberalism, it's more correct to call it social democracy. In Europe, liberal still has its original meaning.

Post: #18

(12-03-2012 07:38 PM)j r Wrote:  

(12-03-2012 06:56 PM)deepcov3r Wrote:  SS is over 99% efficient, meaning out of every dollar you and your owner put in, over 99 cents goes out to recipients.[/b] The workers at the SS administration and all the buildings, overhead-- including their Federal pensions-- come out of less than 1% of the SS funds. Bet Wall Street would give you 99% of your money back, right? Sure they would.

That's also the problem with social security. It's not really an investment, it's just a continual transfer from people presently working to people who are retired. That works great when lots of people are working and the economy is growing and the relative number of retirees is small. Unfortunately, we are heading into the exact opposite situation. The social security trust fund has already been raided by congress to the point where it's an accounting fiction.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that I trust Wall Street, but I'd much rather be able to keep my FICA taxes and invest them in an IRA.

As for France and liberalism, it's more correct to call it social democracy. In Europe, liberal still has its original meaning.

I'm not an accountant, but I believe all that needs to be done to solve the demographic problem is to remove the earnings limit from social security tax so people who make, say, 10 Million a year pay 7% just like the people who make under the ceiling-- something like 150k ( not sure of exact amount. )

http://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/policybri...09-01.html

Right now, someone "earns" 10 million a year pays the same social security tax as someone at the ceiling ( something like 150k)

Gee, never heard about that did we? Wonder why: It means raising taxes on the rich.
.
Notice how you never hear how great SS works? That's because billionaires own all the TV stations and newspapers, almost literally.

All the anti-SS propaganda is aimed at getting that money to the Brokerage houses. You may be smart enough and earn enough to save, but Social Security reduced the poverty rate among the elderly by a HUGE amount. Many if not most people just aren't smart enough or earn enough to save much, and there's no way that's going to change.

http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=1863

They were starving in their shacks before it. So if that's what you want, vote "conservative."

It works great, protects older people form eating dog food under a bridge, and can be fixed with minor changes.
All the bullshit is so Wall Street can steal more.

Post: #19

What's funny about this homework proposal is that it is likely to work in exactly the opposite direction as it is intended. Hollande is putting it forward as a way of equalizing achievement between rich and poor. As if absolving parents of the responsibility of dealing with their kids homework won't, in the long run, just do more to destroy the family structure among the poor. I suspect that the real reason the French like this sort of thing is that it allows the upper middle class to have children without it impacting their lifestyles too much.

Every so often I read an article in The Atlantic or Salon where someone, usually a woman, talks about how great the French childcare system is. It always boils down to this: it's great because the government takes your kids for most of the day, first in daycare and then in school, so you're free to focus on your career and living your fabulous French lifestyle. This may be great for yuppies, but it doesn't work out so well for the poor, because the government services that the poor get are almost always substandard.

Post: #20

(12-03-2012 07:43 PM)deepcov3r Wrote:  I don't have the citation, but I heard one radio show state that all that needs to be done to solve the demographic problem is to remove the earnings limit from social security tax so people who make over 150l pay 7% just like the people who make under 150k ( not sure of exact amount.

Right now, someone "earns" 10 million a year pays the same social security tax as someone at the ceiling ( something like 150k) .

Notice how you never hear how great SS works? That's because billionaires own all the TV statins and newspapers, almost literally.

All the anti-SS propaganda is aimed at getting that money to the Brokerage houses.

Social security payments are capped, so it makes sense that the taxes are capped as well. Again, social security has worked great for demographic reasons. Also, the social security problem is relatively minor compared to the sustainability of Medicare. Our present entitlement system won't survive the baby boomers in its present form.

It's a crappy situation for the rest of us to be in. It's not even as simple as not depending on social security. Taxes will likely go up, so you have to wonder if it's even worth it to do the responsible thing and save up your own fat retirement wad. You might save up a healthy nest egg only to face some ridiculous tax rate to make up for all the people who didn't save.

Post: #21

(12-03-2012 07:51 PM)j r Wrote:  Our present entitlement system won't survive the baby boomers in its present form.

To keep it really good the rich guys have to pay more. Too bad. They made their fortunes on the backs of all those workers.Who weren't smart enough to be wall street parasites. Please cite data sources as I did. The massive reduction in poverty (cited above) among the elderly is well worth tax increases on those with mid-six figure salaries and up.

Please explain your position on elderly poverty so we know who you are.

Post: #22

(12-03-2012 07:54 PM)deepcov3r Wrote:  Bullshit. Please cite your data sources as I did.

Look bud, I'm not trying to sell you anything. If you think social security and medicare are going to come through for you, more power to you. I wish you nothing but the best. Personally, I'm doing everything I can to make sure that I have other options.

Post: #23

(12-03-2012 07:54 PM)deepcov3r Wrote:  Please explain your position on elderly poverty so we know who you are.

You don't know who I am. And since it seems like you're all about coming on the internet to get into shouting matches about things you don't know much about, let's keep it that way.

Post: #24

(12-03-2012 08:01 PM)j r Wrote:  

(12-03-2012 07:54 PM)deepcov3r Wrote:  Bullshit. Please cite your data sources as I did.

Look bud, I'm not trying to sell you anything. If you think social security and medicare are going to come through for you, more power to you. I wish you nothing but the best. Personally, I'm doing everything I can to make sure that I have other options.

Good idea to plan for the worst. Which would be Wall street getting even richer while old folks rot with their electricity off.

Post: #25

(12-03-2012 07:54 PM)deepcov3r Wrote:  

(12-03-2012 07:51 PM)j r Wrote:  Our present entitlement system won't survive the baby boomers in its present form.

To keep it really good the rich guys have to pay more. Too bad. They made their fortunes on the backs of all those workers.Who weren't smart enough to be wall street parasites. Please cite data sources as I did. The massive reduction in poverty (cited above) among the elderly is well worth tax increases on those with mid-six figure salaries and up.

Please explain your position on elderly poverty so we know who you are.

Bullshit. Social Security wasn't meant to be a tax but additional income for retirement. Hell, it wasn't suppose to replace retirement.

Now you want them to pay for your retirement because you didn't make yourself successful enough to take care of yourself.

Make their fortunes on the backs of people. haha No one held a gun to a employees head and made them work. Stop this nonsense. Anyone can create their own business and use leverage to become wealthy.

Instead of being lazy why don't you make the sacrifices, create a comnpany, hire people and take care of their retirement? You do realize not every rich person got his money from wall street?