marsCubed (August 28, 2008 at 11:51 pm)

conservatism is an inability to imagine a better world. in the ancient past we made cave paintings, today we have mathematics. it is a quantitive change which has become a qualititive change. what makes us different to the other beasts it the ability to imagine something which could be. the technology is there and so is the intelligece. we can make a world beautiful if we only would. conservatism is as boring as milton, the mud which could drown us all.

FreakishDonQuixote (August 28, 2008 at 9:55 pm)

he's a moron

dannidandannikins (August 27, 2008 at 12:14 pm)

so nice to see an interviewer who will shut up long enough for his guest to speak.

andrewsurtees (August 27, 2008 at 1:19 am)

can we get rid of the name "conservative"? It's the same in Britain, the most Conservative party is the Labour party, they want to conserve the status quo, the so-called "Conservatives" (Tories) want to make a change. They're not perfect libertarians, but they're the best we have, as the Republicans may well be the best "we" have in the US.

TimeWarp66 (August 22, 2008 at 8:47 pm)

All schools that help the disabled are private. And private schools have every right to discriminate on petty things such as race and religion. But those schools would be very few and far between and would not likely last due to protests and bad media coverage.

TimeWarp66 (August 22, 2008 at 8:46 pm)

So you want to hinder the talents and motivations of the majority of intelligent and hard working students because of the small percentage of bad apples in the mix? I'd rather advocate policies that aid and support the best among us, rather then the worst.

BeondaPale (August 22, 2008 at 8:19 pm)

By law, public schools MUST accept ANY student. So all the undesirable students would end up at public schools fundamentally undermining the competitiveness of the public schools and leading to a vicious circle that would tend toward the total abolition of the public schools and perhaps the end of universal education.

BeondaPale (August 22, 2008 at 8:19 pm)

what do you say to the economist argument of "cream skimming,"? Private schools can be more selective over which students to admit, excluding those who do not belong to a preferred group (for instance, religion or ethnicity), those with disabilities such as autism or multiple sclerosis or disciplinary problems.

TimeWarp66 (August 22, 2008 at 7:44 pm)

oh not at all. If a private schools tuition is $20,000 a year, and everyone is given an $8,000 voucher, then that student and his/her family would have to pay the other $12,000 out of pocket IF they choose to decide to go to a private school. The public schools of course would have to accept that $8,000 voucher as full payment. So it provides more opportunities, more options, more competition it's a win win situation.

BeondaPale (August 22, 2008 at 7:40 pm)

So you're saying that even though all schools are now essentially private, they wouldn't be allowed to make money outside of this $X per student allowance?