tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post7330425212193438505..comments2024-03-19T07:48:54.021-06:00Comments on Gus Van Horn: Quick Roundup 538Gus Van Hornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-77955054185626727322010-06-09T17:04:08.829-06:002010-06-09T17:04:08.829-06:00Jim,
Good point about the insistence that we have...Jim,<br /><br />Good point about the insistence that we have a complete blueprint, not to mention a great one line comeback to that.<br /><br />Also, I had not thought of the problem with concrete-bound types from that angle before, although it reminds me of a guy I knew in college (who aspired to become a lawyer) who, upon learning about my opposition to taxation, suggested I become a (gag!) tax lawyer.<br /><br />GusGus Van Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-28226268194459923212010-06-09T16:39:49.052-06:002010-06-09T16:39:49.052-06:00Regarding the "Battle of imagination"&qu...Regarding the "Battle of imagination"": that's what is behind the common insistence on the part of statists that we should shut up if we can't give them a complete blueprint of how things would be done under conditions of liberty, e.g. who would build the roads, etc.<br /><br />My answer: A failure of imagination on your part does not constitute a failure of ideology on my part.<br /><br />It's the same sort of error behind certain specialists (<a href="http://www.newclarion.com/2009/07/epistemological-primitivism-in-action-ii/" rel="nofollow">lawyers, most often in my experience</a>) who wave away arguments from fundamentals and insist that if we are not specialists like they are, we cannot address issues that fall within their specialty's purview.Jim Maynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-8573867470859090462010-06-08T09:55:39.090-06:002010-06-08T09:55:39.090-06:00Thanks. I agree that this is a good time to try id...Thanks. I agree that this is a good time to try ideas like this in education, and it has been for some time, given the abysmal failures of the public schools.<br /><br />What may have changed more recently is the fact that, with Obama at the helm, there has never been a better time to question the whole idea of public education. <br /><br />Raising such a question is made far easier when one has examples like this in mind to discuss in conversations with others.Gus Van Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-25400523654047411812010-06-08T09:30:42.709-06:002010-06-08T09:30:42.709-06:00I think you make a very pregnant observation about...I think you make a very pregnant observation about the success of the individualism embodied in this private academy approach. When I moved from the Netherlands (I lived in the home town of Ajax) to the USA I noticed how the approach here asks it's talented youth to become "cardboard men" (men without personality and without depth) I sensed the presence of this vast vacuum in child rearing and education. <br /><br />The presence of the "cardboard" perspective is so overwhelming everywhere that one has to be very clear, conceptually, to implement a different approach. Maybe the time is ripe for this idea in many areas of education. There is so much more to be done in fostering individualism, beyond encouraging kids to read "The Fountainhead."Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01093428350889505330noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-36183073155003030202010-06-08T05:02:57.244-06:002010-06-08T05:02:57.244-06:00HTDI: Agreed. The real surprise to me is that anyt...HTDI: Agreed. The real surprise to me is that anything in Europe is AS free as this.<br /><br />SWW: I'm no astronomy expert, but from the limited rerading I've done so far, it may be that if an event is severe enough to affect the power grid, a UPS many not be enough, and may itself get destroyed.<br /><br />CT: That is quite an apt comparison.Gus Van Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-72457220679484735952010-06-08T01:16:42.176-06:002010-06-08T01:16:42.176-06:00"How They Do It": I'm not surprised ..."How They Do It": I'm not surprised that Europe has some areas in which it is more free-enterprise oriented than we are. This has occurred to me when someone points out they have some social or economic feature that is better or more prosperous than the U.S. My reaction to this is that it must be freer than in the U.S., thus disproving the attached assertion that we need to rush headlong into socialism.<br /><br />"Solar Weather Watch": time to buy a good UPS.<br /><br />"Changing Times": Reminds me of the movie "Idiocracy", in which people who speak normally are regarded as "gay" because everyone else is so stupid. A silly movie but still funny.mtnrunner2https://www.blogger.com/profile/10974435572236740294noreply@blogger.com