[Rhodes22-list] That Black Man is at it again [Political]

Herb Parsons hparsons at parsonsys.com
Wed Dec 3 17:19:35 EST 2008


Ben wrote:
"So we shouldn't let our teachers judge whether our kids know a material 
well enough to avoid additional homework or not?ben wrote"

Did you even read the article? It said nothing about "home work" or 
"material". It was talking about community service, and it's a valid 
question. What DOES qualify an educator to judge that one activity is a 
"community service" and the other is not?


> That's one of the dumbest opinions I've ever read.
>
> Of course schools -- especially universities -- have the right to decide what to require in order to grant their students a degree.  That's not denying the students freedom in any way.  Of course I wouldn't have used my "freedom" as an electrical engineering student to stay all night in computer labs or to spend my Sundays wiring a circuit board.  But that's what I had to do to get my degree. 
>
> He asks " What in the world qualifies teachers and
> members of college admissions committees to define what is good for society
> as a whole, or even for the students on whom they impose their arbitrary
> notions?"
>
> Seriously?
>
> What qualifies te4achers to define what is good for the students?
>
> So we shouldn't let our teachers judge whether our kids know a material well enough to avoid additional homework or not?
>
> Of course not. 
>
> Ben S.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org [mailto:rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org] On Behalf Of Tootle
> Sent: Wednesday, December 03, 2008 11:14
> To: rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org
> Subject: [Rhodes22-list] That Black Man is at it again [Political]
>
>
> Folks, he is at it again:
>
> Freedom and the Left 
>
> By Thomas Sowell 
>
> Most people on the left are not opposed to freedom. They are just in favor
> of all sorts of things that are incompatible with freedom. 
>
> Freedom ultimately means the right of other people to do things that you do
> not approve of. Nazis were free to be Nazis under Hitler. It is only when
> you are able to do things that other people don't approve that you are free. 
>
> One of the most innocent-sounding examples of the left's many impositions of
> its vision on others is the widespread requirement by schools and by college
> admissions committees that students do "community service." 
>
> There are high schools across the country from which you cannot graduate,
> and colleges where your application for admission will not be accepted,
> unless you have engaged in activities arbitrarily defined as "community
> service." 
>
>   Every weekday NewsAndOpinion.com publishes what many in the media and
> Washington consider "must-reading". HUNDREDS of columnists and cartoonists
> regularly appear. Sign up for the daily update. It's free. Just click here. 
>
> The arrogance of commandeering young people's time, instead of leaving them
> and their parents free to decide for themselves how to use that time, is
> exceeded only by the arrogance of imposing your own notions as to what is or
> is not a service to the community. 
>
> Working in a homeless shelter is widely regarded as "community service"— as
> if aiding and abetting vagrancy is necessarily a service, rather than a
> disservice, to the community. 
>
> Is a community better off with more people not working, hanging out on the
> streets, aggressively panhandling people on the sidewalks, urinating in the
> street, leaving narcotics needles in the parks where children play? 
>
> This is just one of the ways in which handing out various kinds of benefits
> to people who have not worked for them breaks the connection between
> productivity and reward, as far as they are concerned. 
>
> But that connection remains as unbreakable as ever for society as a whole.
> You can make anything an "entitlement" for individuals and groups but
> nothing is an entitlement for society as a whole, not even food or shelter,
> both of which have to be produced by somebody's work or they will not exist. 
>
> What "entitlements" for some people mean is forcing other people to work for
> their benefit. As a bumper sticker put it: "Work harder. Millions of people
> on welfare are depending on you." 
>
> The most fundamental problem, however, is not which particular activities
> students are required to engage in under the title of "community service." 
>
> The most fundamental question is: What in the world qualifies teachers and
> members of college admissions committees to define what is good for society
> as a whole, or even for the students on whom they impose their arbitrary
> notions? 
>
> What expertise do they have that justifies overriding other people's
> freedom? What do their arbitrary impositions show, except that fools rush in
> where angels fear to tread? 
>
> What lessons do students get from this, except submission to arbitrary
> power? 
>
> Supposedly students are to get a sense of compassion or noblesse oblige from
> serving others. But this all depends on who defines compassion. In practice,
> it means forcing students to undergo a propaganda experience to make them
> receptive to the left's vision of the world. 
>
> I am sure those who favor "community service" requirements would understand
> the principle behind the objections to this if high school military
> exercises were required. 
>
> Indeed, many of those who promote compulsory "community service" activities
> are bitterly opposed to even voluntary military training in high schools or
> colleges, though many other people regard military training as more of a
> contribution to society than feeding people who refuse to work. 
>
> In other words, people on the left want the right to impose their idea of
> what is good for society on others— a right that they vehemently deny to
> those whose idea of what is good for society differs from their own. 
>
> The essence of bigotry is refusing to others the rights that you demand for
> yourself. Such bigotry is inherently incompatible with freedom, even though
> many on the left would be shocked to be considered opposed to freedom. 
>
> Posted for your understanding.
> Ed K
> Addendum:"If someone is going down the wrong road, he doesn't need
> motivation to speed him up. What he needs is education to turn him around." 
> Jim Rohn
>
>
>
>   

-- 
Herb Parsons



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