I also have pondered this very idea while mowing the lawn. I find it’s where I do my best thinking.

The private school would be like college’s now. Socialized education is something that I am heavily favored for.

I hate all those things about the medical system. HATEHATEHATEHATEHATEHATE. Yet, as a pragmatic person, I don’t see how it could work. If it could - heck yes. Things I hear and read from canada are not good. The system costs a huge amount of money, the service is absolutely terrible. From what I know, the US companies foot the bill for all the research.

I don’t know. Wants and cans are two diffrent things. I want Universal Health Care, College for free for the able, a fair tax, ect… but I am afaid it would not work or not ever get changed.

when it comes to basic human rights, I go to a view of the natural condition. On my own, what am I owed and not owed? Beyond that if it can happen, great, if not then that is life.

I think I’m with Honzo on human rights. The founding fathers listed life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Pretty broad. Did our creator endow us with the right to stuff (medicine, text books, etc.)? As governments are here to secure our rights, the only way they can secure our rights to stuff is by taking stuff away from someone else (at gunpoint). Of course as a libertarian, I’d pull the plug on drug company subsidies in a second. (The Republicrats are obviously big fans of these and many other such subsidies.)

Honzo…where do you get your info regarding the “poor” healthcare in Canada?

As I posted on my blog a while back - if I am wealthy, I want to be in the US for my healthcare. If I am not wealthy, I want to be in Canada.

As a teacher, I find it interesting that our country forces all young people to attend school for 13 years, but health care is forced upon no one. Ironic, considering that more people, if given the choice, would rather have access to medicine than knowledge. I know many people who consider their middle and high school experiences to be a waste of time, and many of my students, if given the option, would choose not to attend school. I doubt that anyone would refuse medicine in the same way. This being the case, how did education become compulsory instead of health care?

I have often wondered what it would be like if education was private and health care was social. I think the difficulty in socializing these things is that socialization requires some uniformity. High schools are like an assembly line, where everyone must take the same classes and teachers have minimal influence over the complete learning experience of students because they have 120 strangers each year who they rarely see again. Educational research has shown that this type of approach is not conducive to student learning because everyone learns at different times and at different speeds. Not to mention the desire and intrinsic motivation required on the part of the student in order for learning to truly take place. Interesting, considering that no one has to be forced to get/want health care.

In our country, we certainly want everyone to have the opportunity to get an education and health care regardless of their economic resources. That being said, it seems we should have public schools and public health clinics. The key word is public. “Public” schools are nothing like “public” libraries. Perhaps schools should be more like libraries: no one tells you what to read, how fast to read it, or forces you to visit the library on any regular basis. People choose to come of their own volition, for a specific purpose, and the library is usually able to get you whatever you need.

So perhaps our schools (community learning centers?) should function the same way as libraries, perhaps after 10th grade. Clinics could work this way as well. There are still many problems with such a plan, but it could be a step in the right direction.

“So perhaps our schools (community learning centers?) should function the same way as libraries, perhaps after 10th grade.”

In this scenario, all but the last two years of school would still be mandatory, which is not that different from the way schools function now. Many students do decide to drop out during their junior or senior year.

I almost suggested 8th grade because many other countries make the “cut” at 8th grade. At that point students in these countries are tracked to certain professions based on test scores. I’m not sure whether this is too soon to base career decisions, and I don’t know whether people who end up in the lower tracks are disappointed that they have no educational mobility. I think such a system should provide opportunities for young people to switch tracks after 8th grade if they so choose and prove they are able to learn. Eighth graders aren’t that mature, and we all look back and think we could have done things better. Again, with the “library” set up, anyone of any age could learn in accordance with their individual needs. Even junior-year drop-outs who, four years down the road, realize the benefits of an education. It takes time to appreciate knowledge.

A related story: I heard on the radio of a 98-year old man who was receiving his high school diploma this past May because he went off to fight in World War II and never finished high school. Many schools have been offering honorary degrees for soldiers, but apparently this guy had 1/2 credit left to finish his graduation requirements! Maybe he was the one who wanted to finish what he started, but if anyone would deny a high school diploma to a 98-year old man for a lousy 1/2 credit, they’re crazy. Hasn’t he learned enough? What does a credit even mean?