Nevertheless, happy end of the world day.
Friday, December 21, 2012
Cartoon of the Hour
Nevertheless, happy end of the world day.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
My Two Cents: Education
When you were in school did your teachers ask you on a regular basis what you thought of things? Did they stimulate discussion? Did they ask for individuality? Or did they search for a specific answer that you could find out of a book and not out of your brain?
In most cases I'm going to guess the second option was what happened. If you got the first then what a lucky duck you are.
In my opinion, most of the problems in America can be traced to the education system. Critical thinking is not usually part of the criteria for high schools across the nation, so many Americans never learn critical thinking which is something completely essential in order to make our country work. People need to be able to think deeply in order to choose what they think is right for them instead of what those in power think would be right in order to stay in power.
Another issue with not being able to think for ourselves lies in competing world wide. Although we have some of the best colleges and universities in the world many of the graduates from those colleges and universities are not American citizens. Americans are slowly becoming the dumbest of the 1st world countries when there is no need for that.
This is a fairly easy problem to fix. All we would have to do is change our teaching style. Teachers would have to ask questions like "What do you think?... Please support your answer with evidence from (whatever)". It's simple. We also should challenge our students linguistically, mathematically, and scientifically. Most countries have their students study more than one language all through middle school and high school (or the equivalent of). We don't. Most schools split up their students according to their abilities and what they wish to do in the future. We don't. We stick the academically gifted with students who could care less about school and want to be athletes, artists, etc. This makes it difficult at times for people who are academically minded to be challenged accordingly and it makes those who just don't have the knack for academics feel stupid when they are simply gifted in other areas.
It isn't fair to either party, so why do we continue to do it?
This might sound crazy, but I think it's the people in power who keep it this way. The dumber Americans are the easier it is for them to be re-elected.
It's all a conspiracy!! ;)
In most cases I'm going to guess the second option was what happened. If you got the first then what a lucky duck you are.
In my opinion, most of the problems in America can be traced to the education system. Critical thinking is not usually part of the criteria for high schools across the nation, so many Americans never learn critical thinking which is something completely essential in order to make our country work. People need to be able to think deeply in order to choose what they think is right for them instead of what those in power think would be right in order to stay in power.
Another issue with not being able to think for ourselves lies in competing world wide. Although we have some of the best colleges and universities in the world many of the graduates from those colleges and universities are not American citizens. Americans are slowly becoming the dumbest of the 1st world countries when there is no need for that.
This is a fairly easy problem to fix. All we would have to do is change our teaching style. Teachers would have to ask questions like "What do you think?... Please support your answer with evidence from (whatever)". It's simple. We also should challenge our students linguistically, mathematically, and scientifically. Most countries have their students study more than one language all through middle school and high school (or the equivalent of). We don't. Most schools split up their students according to their abilities and what they wish to do in the future. We don't. We stick the academically gifted with students who could care less about school and want to be athletes, artists, etc. This makes it difficult at times for people who are academically minded to be challenged accordingly and it makes those who just don't have the knack for academics feel stupid when they are simply gifted in other areas.
It isn't fair to either party, so why do we continue to do it?
This might sound crazy, but I think it's the people in power who keep it this way. The dumber Americans are the easier it is for them to be re-elected.
It's all a conspiracy!! ;)
Friday, June 29, 2012
My Two Cents: Obamacare
Does everyone remember learning about the Industrial Revolution? About how most of the population during the that time were poverty stricken and living in abysmal conditions due to factory owners who cared more for money than for the people who made their money?
Well this scenario is happening all over again with healthcare. The only difference is that as a nation we decided to uphold the rights of the working class during the Industrial Revolution. This is not the case today.
Obamacare plays right into the hands of the insurance company and the nation for the most part went blindly along with this because the vast majority of Americans are not educated enough about healthcare in general. Insurance companies raise their rates so high that it's sometimes impossible for families to buy insurance. So, since when is Obamacare affordable? Since when is Obamacare universal healthcare? What Obamacare does is force people to buy healthcare they can't afford. What do you think that's going to do to the thousands of families who are already suffering from job loss, unemployment, and a many other economic problems?
What's wrong with the debate of Obamacare is that people aren't seeing this as an issue that is for everyone. Healthcare is not a democrat vs. republican issue. It isn't a group of people vs. another group of people issue. It's an issue that affects every single one of us individually. This issue is based on people having money as a priority rather than other human beings.
What the Supreme Court decided is appalling. Healthcare is a product not a tax. It's kind of like saying that everyone must buy a computer because the government says so. People should have the right to choose whether they have healthcare or not. Even better everyone should just be covered for healthcare like in Canada or in some European countries. We should all just pay together for healthcare because it's cheaper that way. It's like when a bunch of people pitch in to get a gift for a friend. You can get a better quality gift that way because more people are involved in spending the same amount of money you would have on that crappy whatchamacallit from the dollar store.
Don't let your healthcare be a crappy whatchamacallit from the dollar store that costs as much as a Gucci handbag.
Well this scenario is happening all over again with healthcare. The only difference is that as a nation we decided to uphold the rights of the working class during the Industrial Revolution. This is not the case today.
Obamacare plays right into the hands of the insurance company and the nation for the most part went blindly along with this because the vast majority of Americans are not educated enough about healthcare in general. Insurance companies raise their rates so high that it's sometimes impossible for families to buy insurance. So, since when is Obamacare affordable? Since when is Obamacare universal healthcare? What Obamacare does is force people to buy healthcare they can't afford. What do you think that's going to do to the thousands of families who are already suffering from job loss, unemployment, and a many other economic problems?
What's wrong with the debate of Obamacare is that people aren't seeing this as an issue that is for everyone. Healthcare is not a democrat vs. republican issue. It isn't a group of people vs. another group of people issue. It's an issue that affects every single one of us individually. This issue is based on people having money as a priority rather than other human beings.
What the Supreme Court decided is appalling. Healthcare is a product not a tax. It's kind of like saying that everyone must buy a computer because the government says so. People should have the right to choose whether they have healthcare or not. Even better everyone should just be covered for healthcare like in Canada or in some European countries. We should all just pay together for healthcare because it's cheaper that way. It's like when a bunch of people pitch in to get a gift for a friend. You can get a better quality gift that way because more people are involved in spending the same amount of money you would have on that crappy whatchamacallit from the dollar store.
Don't let your healthcare be a crappy whatchamacallit from the dollar store that costs as much as a Gucci handbag.
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