Earlier quoted context omitted.
What's a first degree satire look like then?
Playing it totally straight.
Wouldn't that be zeroth degree satire?
Harrison Bergeron (1961)
191–200 of 275 posts
Re: Harrison Bergeron (1961)
#192Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's an unnecessary large brush. There are 300 million of us. Are we all the same?
When I say "people like ice cream" and you say "not all people like ice cream" I reply "I didn't say all ." "All" is a modifier for a reason. For example, people are demanding that the SATs should not be used to evaluate students academic ability, because it's unfair that some students do better on the test than others. Have you ever seen anyone advocate this sort of thing for the school sports program? How about it…
Using the term "people" or "men" or "women" without a quantifier is misleading. I could say "people think the earth is flat" and it doesn't matter if it's one person or one billion people but the difference is very important.
Re: Harrison Bergeron (1961)
#193Earlier quoted context omitted.
Equity, not equality. Big difference in modern parlance.
It's all double-speak for Marxism, or equal outcomes for everyone.
AFAIK Marxism isn't about equal outcomes, but it is opposed to enforced classes. So a Marxist would likely argue you shouldn't have lower and advanced courses separate, but you'd still have one course with a distribution of grades. The teacher would just focus more on the kids that need more help to improve the mean of the distribution, where our current method would create unnatural multi-modal distributions
If you're opposed to Marxism you should also know "double-speak" comes from a book written in support of socialism[1]
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Orwell#Spanish_Civil_Wa...
Re: Harrison Bergeron (1961)
#194Earlier quoted context omitted.
Interesting. I've always felt the story to be a bit of a straw man. Don't we always celebrate and idolize ability, beauty etc?
There have been school districts lately that have been getting rid of advanced math classes in the name of equality.
The cynical among us might suspect the real reason to be budget.
Re: Harrison Bergeron (1961)
#195Earlier quoted context omitted.
There have been school districts lately that have been getting rid of advanced math classes in the name of equality.
Like the sibling poster said this is probably a cost cutting measure. However, I really hate the dichotomy of “special ed” vs “gifted/advanced” that permeates education. Every student has special educational needs, and by that I mean not just academics. I excelled in school with no real effort and never got the support I needed in other areas because, clearly, I was doing great. I now have a 2e kid that goes to a Wal…
> Boredom in school for bright kids can definitely be a problem but I’m not sure it’s the end of the world.
Until they completely lose the habit of learning. Which might come handy later on when the extra stuff they knew is no longer advanced.
Re: Harrison Bergeron (1961)
#196Earlier quoted context omitted.
Note the contrast between that and the athletic department, where schools are absolutely delighted to get a kid with an aptitude for sport, and push him hard to achieve.
I think the big difference here is that it doesn't really matter if someone isn't athletic. A school can have 10 kids for an amazing basketball team and 990 that are terrible at basketball and it doesn't affect anything, but if you have 10 geniuses and 990 kids that can't read then it's a huge negative for society
Given the test-driven nature of modern education in the US, having 1000 kids that can just read at grade level is better than having 985 kids at grade level, 5 below, and 10 above. Any resources spent on the latter would be better spent on the 5 that are below grade level.
Re: Harrison Bergeron (1961)
#197Earlier quoted context omitted.
Like the sibling poster said this is probably a cost cutting measure. However, I really hate the dichotomy of “special ed” vs “gifted/advanced” that permeates education. Every student has special educational needs, and by that I mean not just academics. I excelled in school with no real effort and never got the support I needed in other areas because, clearly, I was doing great. I now have a 2e kid that goes to a Wal…
I had a similar experience in school and definitely agree > I do think there is a push not to equalize everyone but to actually address individual needs, and those may draw resources from areas like advanced courses This is a great point and reminds me of the quote "When you're accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression". I definitely got a lot of privileges in school my friends didn't because I got good…
For teachers is more fun to teach interested kids rather rather than people who clearly and blatantly aren't paying any attention.
You try talking for an hour to someone on the train, and keep going when they put their earphones on and start scrolling on the phone… it's not that easy.
Re: Harrison Bergeron (1961)
#198Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you have a source for this claim? Sounds incredible.
Here's one: https://stanforddaily.com/2022/04/07/stanford-and-cal-profes... > the reformed framework attempted to remedy achievement gaps by urging public schools to remove certain accelerated math tracks from middle school education. Boaler’s guidelines have become a basis for a statewide push to move these classes, specifically Algebra I, out of middle school.
Basically they do that to kill force people who can to send their kids to private schools.
Re: Harrison Bergeron (1961)
#199Earlier quoted context omitted.
Americans idolize athletic skill and beauty, but look down on intellectual achievement. "nerds"
Media and popular culture teaches the nerd/jock dichotomy to children, who internalize it and let it become a self fulfilling prophesy. When the influence of this meme is diminished, athletic and intellectual ability have a positive correlation with each other. People with healthy strong bodies are more likely to have healthy and strong minds as well, and vice versa. The quality of a school and a community's attitude…
Mens sana in corpore sano
Re: Harrison Bergeron (1961)
#200Earlier quoted context omitted.
Great. You want a pat on the back for doing the easy things? A lot of accommodations cost money and are supported by taxes. Are you one of the rare Libertarians who doesn't also believe "taxation is theft"? Other accommodations require regulation because incentives (money) alone don't work (and have been repeatedly proven not to). Have you squared your Libertarianism with the need for useful regulations of accommodat…
"taxation is theft" is compatible with a desire to help the less fortunate. We don't all have to subscribe to your ideology of forcing "conpassionate" behavior to actually help people. There's plenty of reasons that a voluntary approach can (and does) work. Not perfectly, of course, but nothing is perfect. But it arguably works better than the more authoritarian approach you prescribe.
> "taxation is theft" is compatible with a desire to help the less fortunate. We don't all have to subscribe to your ideology of forcing "conpassionate" behavior (sic) to actually help people.
So you mean saying "oh poor you!" giving a sad look and moving on with your day?
I'm sure the less fortunate are really happy about that.
Or can you detail what's the plan to help the less fortunate without taxation on the more fortunate?