Why America hates its children
businessinsider.com
Why America hates its children
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Re: Why America hates its children
#2Also, recently in the Atlantic: Why Parents Struggle So Much in the World’s Richest Country
Gift link:
https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2024/01/america-f...
Re: Why America hates its children
#3Children don’t vote. If they would only get up off their butts and vote, they’d get some representation. Imagine what they could do if they pooled all their lunch money and started a SuperPAC! Then Congress would take notice.
Their parents sure as hell aren’t going to do the voting for them. They just want lower taxes.
Re: Why America hates its children
#4So this article goes on for paragraphs blaming republicans and evangelicals and the red scare and slavery. But why do democrats (apparently) hate their children as well? After all, education is 90% funded by states and municipalities. That’s not unique to the US—education is a local issue everywhere from Sweden to Canada to Germany. Why are schools falling apart in Baltimore and Chicago? Why aren’t social services for children materially better in Illinois and New York?
For example, the article prominently quotes a state Rep from Idaho to illustrate why the author’s political opponents have the wrong values. But 8th graders in Idaho do better in reading than those in California, Delaware, Oregon, and Maryland, and comparably to New York, Vermont, Connecticut, and Minnesota. https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/subject/publications/s.... And Idaho is a lot poorer than those states!
The author’s comparison to Greece is unintentionally revealing. Allegedly, Greece doesn’t hate its children. But Greece spends only 4% of GDP on education, in comparison to 6% for the US. Another telling data point: over 90% of Greek children live with both parents, compared to under 70% in the US.
Re: Why America hates its children
#5"Last summer, my kids and I spent a month in Greece, where their grandfather lives."
Very first sentence of the article.
God do I hate this style. Do we always need to start with your own, personal, true-to-you, totally-happened experience this one time?
Is it a new thing or it's always been like that and I didn't realize it?
Re: Why America hates its children
#6"Virtually every other industrialized nation provides more government aid for their children than America does. "
Somehow I knew that would be the main point as soon as I saw the title and the publication. For many, the answer to all problems is government spending.
Re: Why America hates its children
#7Children don’t vote. If they would only get up off their butts and vote, they’d get some representation. Imagine what they could do if they pooled all their lunch money and started a SuperPAC! Then Congress would take notice. Their parents sure as hell aren’t going to do the voting for them. They just want lower taxes.
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Re: Why America hates its children
#8Children don’t vote. If they would only get up off their butts and vote, they’d get some representation. Imagine what they could do if they pooled all their lunch money and started a SuperPAC! Then Congress would take notice. Their parents sure as hell aren’t going to do the voting for them. They just want lower taxes.
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There’s always Somalia. I heard it’s got great schools, if “child soldier” is what you aspire your children to be.
But hey at least no one will be there to “steal” your hard earned currency that was minted by a central government or build you those pesky roads or whatever.
Re: Why America hates its children
#9"Virtually every other industrialized nation provides more government aid for their children than America does. " Somehow I knew that would be the main point as soon as I saw the title and the publication. For many, the answer to all problems is government spending.
Given the increasingly inverse educational outcomes relative to per pupil spending, it really does sound like they've reduced a complex situation down to a single variable that has a rather poor predicative function.
Re: Why America hates its children
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
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There’s always Somalia. I heard it’s got great schools, if “child soldier” is what you aspire your children to be. But hey at least no one will be there to “steal” your hard earned currency that was minted by a central government or build you those pesky roads or whatever.
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