[MathGeek]

Originally Posted by AceArcher

What we have failed to do in our education system is to teach people how to think. Our education system remains embedded in the old world Prussian method of Memorize, Memorize, and then Memorize some more. Pass your exams and then forget 90% of what you have learned.

Actually, it's much worse than that. Not even much memorization is happening any more. Even things like spelling, multiplication tables, state capitals, and the periodic table that were traditionally memorized are things greatly lacking in most high school graduates. Critical thinking skills are built on some minimal knowledge base. Not even a minimal knowledge base is in place any more, but they do teach pretty good fakery for whatever assessments are used.

Originally Posted by AceArcher

So in my opinion to solve this country's problems you must leave religion at the doorstep. You have to recognize a few things.

Each American should feel at complete liberty to bring his faith into the public sphere and political discourse to whatever degree he feels appropriate. Others should not insist matters of faith be left at the doorstep (excluded from public discourse).

Originally Posted by AceArcher

#1 Tolerance and understanding of your fellow man (If he chooses to live with different beliefs than you, whether you agree with them or not, he should receive an equal level of courtesy and respect as you)

I would go further. One should never endeavor to manipulate governmental powers to suppress the beliefs, expressions, and faith-based practices of your fellow man.

Originally Posted by AceArcher

#2 Education is of utmost importance (not just book learning, but learning how to critically think, learning how to do mundane everyday things) Those are of utmost importance.

I'd rate character above education. I'd rather produce men and women of the character of those who arrived on the Mayflower rather than the education and character of the average Microsoft employee or silicon valley engineer.

Originally Posted by AceArcher

Education requires long-term, coherent and focused system-wide attention to achieve improvement.

Respect teachers: Good teachers are essential to high-quality education. Finding and retaining them is not necessarily a question of high pay. Instead, teachers need to be treated as the valuable professionals they are, not as technicians in a huge, educational machine.

My wife and I have been educational professionals for a long time, and it's a challenge for even us to identify where the teaching profession went wrong in America. It has something to do with the same entitlement mentality and big government foolishness that plagues most of government. You're close to the core problem when you can see how teachers think they should receive the same kudos as public servants that it makes sense to offer soldiers returning home from war.

Originally Posted by AceArcher

Parents are neither impediments to nor saviours of education: Parents want their children to have a good education; pressure from them for change should not be seen as a sign of hostility but as an indication of something possibly amiss in provision. On the other hand, parental input and choice do not constitute a panacea. Education systems should strive to keep parents informed and work with them.

Most parents cannot distinguish between the knowledge and skills true education represents, and the diploma and other ways of documenting the knowledge and skills. When push comes to shove, many parents will push for the documentation rather than the actual knowledge.

Originally Posted by AceArcher

Educate for the future, not just the present: Many of today's job titles, and the skills needed to fill them, simply did not exist 20 years ago. Education systems need to consider what skills today's students will need in future and teach accordingly.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. Good education creates a fit mind, just as a good workout program creates a fit body. A person with a fit body can quickly learn to excel at sports he has not specifically trained for over many years. Likewise, a fit mind can adapt and acquire new skills and master new disciplines. A strong, disciplined, well trained mind can be produced without tailoring the program to guesses about future job markets.

Originally Posted by AceArcher

#3 Teaching our children Self Reliance, How to grow things, hunt / fish for food, good work skills to earn income.... etc.

To me, these are more parental responsibilities that should be supported and encouraged by the educational system. Marksmanship and archery skills can be added to PE, but on the whole, I'd rather public education focus on reading, writing, history, science, and math.

Originally Posted by AceArcher

#4 Stop allowing politics and special interests to divide us. It's not an accident that different racial groups of people tend to lean far in one political direction or another. It is intentional political manipulation. We are all here for the same things, to live, love & prosper.

It depends on where the divisions actually occur. The liberty to choose your friends and associates according to one's personal preferences is fundamental. The personal preferences need not be rational.

Originally Posted by AceArcher

#5 Our government is no longer a Constitutional Federal Republic. Its has instead changed itself into a Corporatocracy, that is hidden behind a relatively nice sounding stated agenda of becoming a Social Democracy. As such all decision have become one's of what is in the best interests of the Mega Corporations with the political lobbying war-chests. In every political action, simply follow the money and you see who is pulling the strings.

This is oversimplified and fails to explain many aspects of the social agendas that are actually bad for business: radical environmentalism, gay marriage, anti-RKBA agendas, etc.

Originally Posted by AceArcher

#4 I believe there are groups of people who would change this if they came into power. (I am a registered libertarian, and do believe if this party gained meaningful power they would be able to enact some real changes that would help us)

Too bad they want to legalize drugs.

Originally Posted by AceArcher

But, in a first to post election (which is what we have) It is basically a statistical certainty that anything other than a 2 party system is impossible. If any group ever begins to push a majority electoral system we all need to rally to that cause.

The solution is not primarily political. As Paul Harvey said, (paraphrasing) "Self-government is not possible without self-discipline."

Originally Posted by AceArcher

As such history and reality show us that, Things in america will probably not get better until they get much, much worse. Typically free thinking democratic societies change over time and end up as facist / communist / oppressive societies... Then revolutions occur and the cycle begins again.

Therefore anarchist's might just have it right..... The only way that change is ever going to happen is for things to get so bad that people are readily willing to die to change it.

Sad, but I think you are probably right. But a more pneumatikos view would be to realize that this fulfills the Biblical expectation that a society will reap what it has sown. After a period of reaping and weeping, repentance and restoration becomes possible.