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London student reported to police: “Enchanted by anarchism and individualism”

the-libertarian.co.uk

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Re: London student reported to police: “Enchanted by anarchism and individualism”

#11

Post by eCa »

auctiontheory wrote: post #5
thotpoizn wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, the anarchy could have been forgiven, but individualism ? Put him up against the wall! I've looked at the blog in question ( http://hampsteadtrash.blogspot.co.uk/ ) - and it's obvious that the real problem was about his being critical of the school administration. His petty thug of a headteacher seems perfectly deserving of every bit of the attention he is about to receive.

Hey! Teacher! Leave them kids alone.

Or, in the words of The Clash[1]:

    You have the right to free speech
    As long as you're not
    Dumb enough to actually try it
Considering how the school has reacted to his writings, I'd say that he is probably right.

[1] http://www.metrolyrics.com/know-your-rights-lyrics-the-clash...

Re: London student reported to police: “Enchanted by anarchism and individualism”

#12

Post by protomyth »

Two things came to mind when I read this:

1) It doesn't often happen, but having the establishment individual confirm the blog's POV through word and deed is refreshing.

2) If you are from the University and read what this fool said to the newspapers / police, then you should be suspect of any individual whom he gave a recommendation.

Re: London student reported to police: “Enchanted by anarchism and individualism”

#13

Post by mezmor »

rhizome wrote: post #6

The headteacher, in addition to reporting Zaloom to the police, phoned Glasgow University, where the student had applied to study, in an attempt to dissuade them from accepting him. Not the best way to counter charges of endemic corrpution in society, I must say. In the US, this kind of interference would pose a great deal of trouble for the ambitious functionary.

The UK has pretty strict libel laws. I wouldn't be surprised if approaching Glasgow U falls under that category.

Re: London student reported to police: “Enchanted by anarchism and individualism”

#14

Post by hga »

guard-of-terra wrote: post #9
hga wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But as long as that sabotage severely curtails his future, do they care?

Would it? 2013 says it's pretty hard to curtail one's future. No single entity controls it, there's no gatekeeper. They just show their own misery.

The headteacher appears to think he can keep this guy from getting a college education, and he might well be right.

True, there's no single gatekeeper, but there are a zillion little ones, and too large a fraction of them will stop someone without a degree, or one without a higher tier one ... and probably more in the Great Recession when there are so many credentialed unemployed.

Re: London student reported to police: “Enchanted by anarchism and individualism”

#15

Post by omarrr »

This is the kind of behavior current political systems are encouraging to the members of our society. Instead of teachers reaching out to students to create bonds and personal connections, we have a system that promotes unjustified surveillance, profiling and reporting.

Re: London student reported to police: “Enchanted by anarchism and individualism”

#16

Post by switch007 »

mezmor wrote: post #13
rhizome wrote: post #6

The headteacher, in addition to reporting Zaloom to the police, phoned Glasgow University, where the student had applied to study, in an attempt to dissuade them from accepting him. Not the best way to counter charges of endemic corrpution in society, I must say. In the US, this kind of interference would pose a great deal of trouble for the ambitious functionary.

The UK has pretty strict libel laws. I wouldn't be surprised if approaching Glasgow U falls under that category.

The costs involved with libel cases are nothing short of eye-watering [1]. Strict libel laws are pointless if you can't afford to bring a case. (Though, there are "no-win, no-fee" agreements available)

[1] http://pcmlp.socleg.ox.ac.uk/research/project/comparative-st...

Re: London student reported to police: “Enchanted by anarchism and individualism”

#17

Post by guard-of-terra »

hga wrote: post #14
guard-of-terra wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would it? 2013 says it's pretty hard to curtail one's future. No single entity controls it, there's no gatekeeper. They just show their own misery.

The headteacher appears to think he can keep this guy from getting a college education, and he might well be right. True, there's no single gatekeeper, but there are a zillion little ones, and too large a fraction of them will stop someone without a degree, or one without a higher tier one ... and probably more in the Great Recession when there are so many credentialed unemployed.

If this guy wants to be a politician, which he seems to do, then passing thru hostile gatekeepers is his job description.

Anyway, even if he would not it's not as easy either. Imagine someone cold-calling univercities telling he's a headteached (whatever this means) and persuading not accept the student N. He'll be seen as a lunatic, wouldn't he?

Re: London student reported to police: “Enchanted by anarchism and individualism”

#18

Post by sillysaurus2 »

scarmig wrote: post #8
auctiontheory wrote: post #2

I somehow doubt that sabotaging the kid's education would reduce his anarchism and individualism.

Is kicking someone out of a building that bears more than a passing resemblance to a prison really sabotaging their education?

... Yes. As a self-taught programmer, I believe university is important. It gives quite a lot of advantages (mostly social ones, which are the most important). And undergrad universities select primarily based on school performance, so kicking him out definitely would've sabotaged his higher education.

To piggyback on this comment in hopes of finding some assistance: I've been trying to figure out some long-term strategy of how to get into a top-tier university. I have the ACT scores for it, but I dropped out of highschool to go work in software. The decade of dev experience is certainly nice, and I've studied core CS theory on my own (xv6 and paxos for example), but I'd really like to attend a top uni in order to do graphics research. I wonder if it's even possible for a 25 year old highschool dropout to achieve this? I was thinking I could do well for a couple years at some local university, then apply to transfer to Penn, Stanford, etc. I've heard transfer students are more likely to be accepted. But I wonder what else I could do to increase my chances.

Re: London student reported to police: “Enchanted by anarchism and individualism”

#20

Post by lolkkk »

scarmig wrote: post #8
auctiontheory wrote: post #2

I somehow doubt that sabotaging the kid's education would reduce his anarchism and individualism.

Is kicking someone out of a building that bears more than a passing resemblance to a prison really sabotaging their education?

Uh, yes?
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