Test Your Political Stand

The_Amber_Spyglass wrote:Well I can see the problems with "No Child Left Behind" but at the same time, I do not like the idea of schools segregating themselves. Over here the sort of schools who would be most likely to do that would be religious schools. As you may or may not know, religious schools concern me in that they - without regulation - may be teaching children some pretty unsavoury ideas particularly about women's rights, homosexuals, people of other religions and of the scientific veracity of evolution. I have no problem with independent schools per se, but I think there ought to be an independent regulatory body to make sure that they adhere to a certain set of standards and quality control. So I guess given the choice my answer would be "other".

If I'm correct, our schools (religious, private or otherwise) have to teach the same stuff as public schools as per the individual state's standards. This is for basic learning (math, English, etc).

It's the quality of education that can set the three types of schools apart. For instance, in my town, the Catholic school gets some of the highest output than the public schools here do. They score higher on state standards. Meaning, the kids coming out of there are better educated than those coming out of public schools. It doesn't mean that they come out religious fundamentalists either. I know a couple people that graduated from Catholic school and don't even go to church or recognize their born religion.

Actually, you don't have to be Catholic, or even religious to go to a Catholic school (as is the case with most parochial schools). And if you're not Catholic, in most Catholic schools you aren't required to take religion classes. And yes, they teach evolution in Catholic schools.

dblboggie wrote:Actually, you don't have to be Catholic, or even religious to go to a Catholic school (as is the case with most parochial schools). And if you're not Catholic, in most Catholic schools you aren't required to take religion classes. And yes, they teach evolution in Catholic schools.

That's interesting. But I'm too old to go to school now.

TexasBlue wrote:

dblboggie wrote:Actually, you don't have to be Catholic, or even religious to go to a Catholic school (as is the case with most parochial schools). And if you're not Catholic, in most Catholic schools you aren't required to take religion classes. And yes, they teach evolution in Catholic schools.

That's interesting. But I'm too old to go to school now.

Why that's utter nonsense... I'm older than you by a fair margin... and I'm going to school...

And it's a Catholic university no less...

dblboggie wrote:

TexasBlue wrote:

dblboggie wrote:Actually, you don't have to be Catholic, or even religious to go to a Catholic school (as is the case with most parochial schools). And if you're not Catholic, in most Catholic schools you aren't required to take religion classes. And yes, they teach evolution in Catholic schools.

That's interesting. But I'm too old to go to school now.

Why that's utter nonsense... I'm older than you by a fair margin... and I'm going to school...

And it's a Catholic university no less...

Don't you remember from your test? I'm dumb!

TexasBlue wrote:

dblboggie wrote:

TexasBlue wrote:

dblboggie wrote:Actually, you don't have to be Catholic, or even religious to go to a Catholic school (as is the case with most parochial schools). And if you're not Catholic, in most Catholic schools you aren't required to take religion classes. And yes, they teach evolution in Catholic schools.

That's interesting. But I'm too old to go to school now.

Why that's utter nonsense... I'm older than you by a fair margin... and I'm going to school...

And it's a Catholic university no less...

Don't you remember from your test? I'm dumb!

Ah.... right....

dblboggie wrote:Actually, you don't have to be Catholic, or even religious to go to a Catholic school (as is the case with most parochial schools). And if you're not Catholic, in most Catholic schools you aren't required to take religion classes. And yes, they teach evolution in Catholic schools.

Of course they do. The Catholic Church do not deny evolution nor do they pretend that it is "just a theory... one among many that are equally valid". My concern about Catholic schools is what they might teach about contraception. My concern about Islamic schools is what they might teach about women's rights. My concern about Jewish schools or Christian fundamentalist schools is what they might teach about evolution.

Because when you start telling kids what to think instead of how to think, that is not education it is indoctrination and kills the point of having a school in the first place.

There is a Catholic school in my home town and I do not know anybody who went there that wasn't Catholic. The other problem is that my segregating these children from mainstream society, they are not going to mix much with people outside of their belief group. That creates the idea that they are "special" or "better" than everybody else.

The_Amber_Spyglass wrote:

dblboggie wrote:Actually, you don't have to be Catholic, or even religious to go to a Catholic school (as is the case with most parochial schools). And if you're not Catholic, in most Catholic schools you aren't required to take religion classes. And yes, they teach evolution in Catholic schools.

Of course they do. The Catholic Church do not deny evolution nor do they pretend that it is "just a theory... one among many that are equally valid". My concern about Catholic schools is what they might teach about contraception. My concern about Islamic schools is what they might teach about women's rights. My concern about Jewish schools or Christian fundamentalist schools is what they might teach about evolution.

Because when you start telling kids what to think instead of how to think, that is not education it is indoctrination and kills the point of having a school in the first place.

There is a Catholic school in my home town and I do not know anybody who went there that wasn't Catholic. The other problem is that my segregating these children from mainstream society, they are not going to mix much with people outside of their belief group. That creates the idea that they are "special" or "better" than everybody else.

Unfortunately, that is precisely what our government schools have become - centers of indoctrination on the myriad benefits of big government and the liberal agenda. Our K-12 institutions are overrun by those who think big government is the source of all that is good and right with America. And our government institutions of higher learning are no better off.

When the government controls the dollars to schools, it has a vested interest in promoting an agenda that sustains and enhances the realization of their agenda. To me, it's nuts that we have government involved in education - particularly given the history of our founding and writings in our founding documents. But hey, that's just me.

I always get into trouble at that old political identity & location test. If memory serves, the Libertarians were the first to debut it on the web a good number of years ago. The code eventually escaped into the wild and there have been a hundred derivatives since.



I really don't lean on party platforms or any political doctrine that is more rigid than a dollar bill standing on end. For the most part, I agree with the Libertarian viewpoint but when it comes to things like Social Security and the military draft, I get kicked around a bit.

I do have the view that SS should be handled by the government, mainly because the public has some oversight and an avenue to redress - even as limited as it is - that they wouldn't if it were privatized.

I also think that we could maintain our peacetime army better if every person had to serve a minimum stint; males no less than 2 years and females, no less than 18 months. This would include (of course) basic training where they would get a lesson or two in respect for weapons and their fellow human beings. They learn how to take on a task that looks damned near impossible and stick with it until it's done. This is something sorely lacking in our kids today. I think a brief military tour would be good for everyone.

The outcome is that I generally don't fit in a dedicated political environment anywhere on the compass. Hell, Puff Huffington and the big Communicative Bluff don't let me comment on political subjects anymore, period. If it's something off the wall like UFOs or movie reviews? Yeah. But I generally end up in a bug fight with some of their more aggressive, long term residents on political issues.

What else can I say?

Don't shoot... I'm just here for the beer and cee-gars.

I love dissenting opinion. I like the debate. I crave it. The loonier the position, the more I like to debate it.

I think that SSA is a huge problem here. It's been ruined by the politicians of both parties for decades. I think Bush had a good idea but was sorry in the way he presented it. Privatize it and let people opt into if they want. If they prefer the old system, they can stay.

Mandatory draft in the realm you discussed would be fine by me. I'll go one further.... the person gets to choose the branch and the MOS they want. They just have to serve.

I think that SSA is a huge problem here. It's been ruined by the politicians of both parties for decades.

Agreed. It has indeed been rur'nt... fondled, abused, gutted, raped and then simonized by politcals from both sides.

I think Bush had a good idea but was sorry in the way he presented it. Privatize it and let people opt into if they want. If they prefer the old system, they can stay.

I have my doubts that it can exist in both worlds.
Generally neglected; the Baby Boomer parents... aka: The Greatest Generation, are dying by the thousands each day. The heaviest burden on the system right now are those who lived the Great Depression/WW2 and they will be mostly gone in less than a decade. The boomer generation that followed, 1947 - 1967(zzt), where I fit in, will be another problem but we've already spent most of our lives paying into it. There's really no turning back.
The upside (for SS) is that we won't live forever. Left as-is and maybe with a few less abusers... SS could begin to emerge as a huge cash cow for the government in say... oh, 20 years or so.

Mandatory draft in the realm you discussed would be fine by me. I'll go one further.... the person gets to choose the branch and the MOS they want. They just have to serve.

Yeah, I could agree with that.

I think the current crew of retirees will really strain this system to a breaking point.

TexasBlue wrote:I think the current crew of retirees will really strain this system to a breaking point.

I have this route I take when approaching issues. It backtracks to the source of the problem... or, at least, tries to, lol.

SS has cost more not so much because of the number of those feeding from it, but because of the COLAs that were regularly applied to keep payment rates up with the standard cost of living. When I began paying into SS, gasoline was like 29 cents a gallon, bread was a quarter, a pound of ground beef came in around 39-49 cents. The sums paid into SS at that time reflected that cost of living. No one had the slightest notion that the inflation we have realized since, would ever happen.

In sum, the outgo has outstripped the income because the economy was not properly forecasted and... and I must stress this next part, and because those aforementioned politicals loved dipping into this fund for their pork barrel pet projects. So far as I am aware, not a single red cent has ever, even once, been paid back into the system by those who took from it, at a rate that reflected market interest rates.

The system has been abused and unfortunately, it is that abuse that will lead to suffering and divisions in our nation that were wholly avoidable.

The next roll goes back to how we've lost control of our energy supply and jobs market to globalism.

Don't get me started on that... (damn! I wish I could make those angry little emoticon guys work right now!)

Let's move this discussion here.

You? A Libertarian? Bwah ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!!

Seriously, where's your disgust in how this current bunch of politicians are going after civil liberties? Also, if you're a true Libertarian, you'd be against ObamaCare (and just about everything else by the Dems). Also, a true Libertarian will take shots at any politician who advocates big gov't.

I'd like to know how you answered on the questions of that test.

Btw, Prez, you scored exactly as I did. Exact numbers.

http://superiorpolitics.com/t99-test-your-political-stand#710

TexasBlue wrote: a true Libertarian will take shots at any politician who advocates big gov't.

I don't think this "test" is meant to be taken seriously. I would need more than 8 questions to get a good call on how people think.

Anyway, I don't want big government but I realize it's needed to some extent at this time. The idea of your limited government doing nothing as companies flop, flounder, and fail in 2008-2010 is totally irresponsible and scary.
Both politics and the corporate world are creepy lying corrupted weasels. But doing nothing as the corporate weasels go down due to irresponsible actions would have been disastrous for all of the common citizens

TheNextPrez2012 wrote:I don't think this "test" is meant to be taken seriously. I would need more than 8 questions to get a good call on how people think.

True to an extent but the test also has very "to the point" questions that are pretty obvious in how one can answer.

TheNextPrez2012 wrote:Anyway, I don't want big government but I realize it's needed to some extent at this time. The idea of your limited government doing nothing as companies flop, flounder, and fail in 2008-2010 is totally irresponsible and scary.

Gov't has its role. Bailing out corporations isn't part of it. Ask yourself this; did the gov't bail out the many small businesses that went under in 2009? No, they weren't "too big to fail" and that's bullshit. That's crony capitalism.... picking winners and losers.

TheNextPrez2012 wrote:Both politics and the corporate world are creepy lying corrupted weasels. But doing nothing as the corporate weasels go down due to irresponsible actions would have been disastrous for all of the common citizens

That's what we have Chapter 11 bankruptcy laws for. There's another "chapter" that I can't remember that's similar. Maybe Dbl remembers what it's called and it's purpose.