Monday, May 9, 2011
If Supermarkets were like Public Schools
For grade due 13 May 2011. What if the military were like supermarkets?? Then everyone could have their own private army??? Where do you stand on this issue? Are some things inherently "public"? Does education fit into those guidelines??
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I strongly believe that all children should be entitled to a public education up to a certain age level. Once a child reaches the age of 14, they should be required to take an aptitude test. This will determine whether they will move on to a higher school level or learn at a trade school. This form of education will accurately evaluate the youth population and ensure that all students are able to live up to their potential without negatively affecting other students.
ReplyDeleteI see that as fine, if you can afford your own private military then more power to you. Again a private army would never be able to go against the public military, nor would it have the power too. If Supermarkets we're like public schools, they might actually be more efficient. Consider that a supermarket does what is profitable, trash and products that are past its due date are thrown away. Of course, with special students there would be exceptions, but for the vast majority of students who come to school without wanting to learn, then they'll end up in the costco of the school systems.
ReplyDeleteSchools in general should have the power, in general, to decide who can stay and who can go. By way of testing, or performance throughout the year. The kids that don't want to learn, they can go learn the trades and jobs that don't require much education, while we fill up the jobs that do require education and pay a lot higher. Fine by me.
ReplyDeletePublic education systems should be justified for possesing the ability to choose who they want in the school and who they don't. The schools would inherently only accept those students who desire the education and stamina to learn as opposed to the under-acheiving students who'd rather be counting the amount of wrinkles on their bedspread.
ReplyDeleteI feel that if everyone had their own private armies, there would be a lot more conflicts and casualties. Therefore, I'm glad we each don't have private armies. However, there are certain items that are public. For instance, I believe education should stay public. Even though there are many kids who don't want to learn and do not do anything in school, having public education does benefit the society. If there was no school, delinquents would roam free and do whatever they want. School can be seen as temporary prison, where it helps to keep kids out of trouble.
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ReplyDelete"Excuse me sir, where are the anti-aircraft shells?" "Why in aisle 7." "Thank you!"
ReplyDeleteDefense is inherently a public good, as it is non rival and non-excludable. Education does not necessarily fit into a "public good". This is because there is rivalry in consumption (I'll assume that because this is an AP Econ class that everyone knows what rivalry means as it relates to private/public goods.) A lot of the time, those who are forced to attend public schools decrease the amount of utility everyone around them can consume. This may be due to apathy, hostility, and immaturity. It would be better of, economically and financially if these kids were not even enrolled in school.
As of now, public education does exhibit non_excludability. This is not because it is inherently a public good, this is because we made it a public good.
To conclude, education is not inherently public, though is does embody a classic problem in economics, that is to say equity versus efficiency.
People make it a big deal regarding the fact of whether or not civilians should be able to own guns. Some feel that no matter what the situation is, people do not have the authority and the right judgment to shoot someone. So if owning a gun is already this much of a problem,the idea of owning a private army would not persist.
ReplyDeleteSchools should be able to choose the students through fair selective tests. The students have a choice to either apply to an academic schools so they can move on to college and earn a degree or go to a tech school if they think they don't have the patience to sit through high school. This doesn't mean that people who go to vocational or tech school are any less intelligent than people who sit through high school and go to college. There really is no point in trying to force everyone to sit through high school and learn the same thing. Physicists do not need to know about psychology, unless they are interested in it, and musicians don't really give a darn about the solar system, unless that's where they get their inspiration from.
I definitely agree with the idea of schools being as selective as supermarkets. Honestly, certain people do not belong in public schools and their presence greatly detracts from the attention that other eager students deserve. With schools choosing who they want and don't want, the entire idea of education would be more efficient as a whole. People with intrinsic motivation would become educated and serve a greater purpose in society and those not would simply be trained to work and beenfit society in that manner.
ReplyDeleteThe military should not be private. It would be a disaster to give everyone the opportunity to obtain tons and tons of dangerous weapons. I do think that education should remain private though. Although not everyone may seem as if the belong in school, it is still crucial to the growth of our society that the majority e educated. Furthermore, if education were private, poor people would struggle to pay tuition and some who want to be educated would be left behind.
ReplyDeleteI am personally glad that I don't have to raise my own army. I think there would be many more casualties in the world if we all had to make our own armies; not to mention discrimination of who u would pick based on strength and other criteria. To stop hysteria I think some things must be public. Education however should not be public. On the the hand, money should not be the determining factor of which school a student is allowed into. Right now if you have the money you can get into the best schools, most are private. Instead of this qualification, those of us who want to learn and/or are willing to test into schools should be able to pick where we want to attend.
ReplyDeleteI think it is an incredibly stupid idea to privatize the military because I feel only the government should have access to troops as extensive as ours. Also, if the government wants to go to war, they should not need to buy men from private institutoins. Also,the soldiers would be terrible because they are no longer fighting for their country with the pride instilled in US military sldiers now. Instead, they are simply fighting for a pay check.
ReplyDeleteAs for schools, I think education is a right for all, but if one is not willing to work for their education and they are just wasting our tax dollars by being enrolled, getting free lunch, and skipping or sleeping through all their classes, they won't graduate and they won't do anything prductive with their life. If you are not maintaining certain standards like passing classes and showing up, go to trade school or do something productive with your time. I also feel there should be a motivation and the students who excell should be given the opportunity to go to better schools with better teachers, similar to the way universities work but students shouldn't necesserily pay for tuition. Right now, we are wasting so much money on kids who only show up to school for free lunch and because they have nothing better to do. Education is a right, but I believe its one you need to prove worthy of.
The idea of everyone having their own personal army is absurd, impossible, and dangerous. There is no need for everyone to possess an army. If the world ever came to that point, then we are basically doomed. An army is suppose to protect the nation and its citizens. It is natually a public asset. As for education, it should be a public thing too because not everyone can afford private school. If public school was not free, then qualified intelligent individuals would never have the chance to educate themselves and improve society. As a result, society will probably suffer with the emergence of a less intelligent generation.
ReplyDeletei think that education should not be a public good. it should instead be selective4 in that people who don't want to learn shouldn't be forced into a school that cant handle them the fact of the matter is that they are decreasing the total utility of the students who actually want to learn and without these loafers our school would be a much more productive place that would be better adept to taking care of the needs of a select hardworking few.
ReplyDeleteThe analogy implied in this article is fundamentally flawed. The comparison made between supermarkets, the private military industry, and public schools is neither appropriate nor accurate. Education is a good which improves the overall welfare of the economy. The military-industrial complex does not.
ReplyDeleteOn a more pragmatic note: please don't post any more articles from the Wall Street Journal or other major newspapers with a pay wall. I am not prepared to pay $1.99 to read a clearly biased article based on reductio ad absurdum.
I feel that education should be provided to students who "want" to learn and not waste money on those children who don't want to. A test should be administered and if they don't pass they should be put into trade school. This would be a lot more effective to the economy and raise production levels a lot. The education system should have the power to do this because not only does it save money it's also beneficial.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that I am going to have to repost my blog entry even though I was the first one to post for this article and for some reason my post got deleted. Basically, students should be required to take an aptitude test when they reach the age of 14. If they get a high enough score, they should be able to move on to a secondary school while everyone else will learn at a trade school. This course of action will ensure that the students who have the desire to learn will not be negatively impacted by students of lower intelligence.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe Marcus really just said reductio ad absurdum. However, I do agree with him. The inherent difference between a supermarket and a public school is individual utility. Jon was on the right track. Deontologically, violating someone's right to an education is devaluing their life. And while I appreciate Publix a lot, it's not a deontological need. The simple fact is, by interpreting government operation of public companies and services as a method to either improve efficiency in the economy and finance, or to reduce the corruption of price gauging in the market, the government is treating it's people as a means to achieve an end. "The people should not be afraid of their government, the government should be afraid of it's people." All of the arguments based on efficiency maybe allocatively efficient, but they are certainly not operating at maximum efficiency of utility. Therefore, Don't touch my Wal-Mart government.
ReplyDeleteI believe that education should be a public good because everyone should have a fair chance at learning. Children should at least be allowed to finish middle school and then they should take some form a test that sees if they can move on to a higher form of education. Also, I find it absurd that everyone should have a private army because an army is suppose to serve the nation as one. Therefore, everyone should already be protected and should not need their own personal army.
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