Comments on: Meeting Overview 11/06/07

By: Frank

Frank — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 08:37:23 +0000

I think there is strong evidence out there suggesting a positive association between education and voter turnout. A simple google search will bring up tons of research suggesting a positive correlation between voter turnout and education (controlling for other variables). There is no question about the correlation between these two factors, however, as with any attempt to describe human behavior through a mathematical model, proving causation is difficult if not impossible in many cases.

Nevertheless, considering that a majority of research points towards a strong correlation between these two variables (and what my gut tells me), I will err on the side of caution and take the side of where most research seems to point.

My view on the correlation however does not mean my endorsement of government enforced “education.” For such a thing wouldn’t be education, it would be indoctrination. It is only consistent with my view that freedom of choice trumps any “social good.”

By: HeavyGod

HeavyGod — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 08:26:22 +0000

Really good and really interesting post. I expect (and other readers maybe :)) new useful posts from you!
Good luck and successes in blogging!

By: slade

slade — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 14:50:12 +0000

thanks for correcting me. as always, conversation moves fast and i am sure to miss things here and there.

just for the record, i’m not necessarily advocating compulsary education at higher levels. i understand you favor vouchers, and david mentioned a sort of universal system with a merit-based caveat. i don’t believe that’s incompatible with where i stand. i would draw a distinction between “being in school” and “being educated” in order to flesh out your argument that more participation is not an end in itself. more educated people is a good thing. more people in or who have been to college might not be. if someone truly doesn’t want to be there, he probably isn’t gaining anything (in which case clearly neither are we).

By: Admiral

Admiral — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 02:35:03 +0000

I’m not going to make a stink about education being an end in itself. If you want to believe it has “intrinsic value” (I sympathize with it, but don’t agree that it is served by public or compulsory education as determined by elites), then that is your business. But I definitely have to draw the line at the “ideal” of more people participating.

Mainstream media (from CBS to MTV to New York Times) and academia are complicit in the brainwashing of our youth in regards to this. More participation is not an end in itself. It’s a value neutral sort of thing. We don’t want to impose that on people either. In Australia, they decided to mandate it and it doesn’t change anything. It’s up to people themselves to decide whether they want to vote or not, and if they don’t, then they don’t care. Why do I want people who don’t care to vote? While the number of people who vote may increase with education, it is not necessarily BECAUSE of education, and there’s a HUGE amount of “educated” people who don’t vote. Let’s leave it alone.

Also, I actually never said that you said one would have to be educated to vote — and that’s a good thing as far as I’m concerned. I said AT said it (which you said he didn’t, but he confirmed my interpretation after your departure; I have no idea what Friedman said on the subject).