From: tyadav@athena.mit.edu (T.Y.)
Subject: Re: So whats in a constitution.......?
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Date: Thu, 24 Dec 1992 20:52:31 GMT

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>|> From: tyadav@athena.mit.edu (T.Y.)
>|>  Should a constitution enable equal education for everyone?
>
 hira@cme.nist.gov writes:
>You miss (purposely?) an important word there, *access*. A better way
>to phrase it may be, 'enable equal access to educational opportunities.'

 My apologies Ron - the word *access* - wasn't left out purposely.
 It was left out because it seemed, to me, unimportant/redundant here.
 May be I am wrong; in which case let me know what makes the word
 *access* important here. Need I quote education/schools related stuff from
 Perot infomercials :).

 And don't forget that we both agree on:

>|>  Education is something which an individual works for. The four walls of 
>|>  a university (ivy league or otherwise) is not what makes "education." 
>
>I strongly agree with this stmt. Wow, we actually agree on something.

 So, what do you mean by "equal access to education?"
 Apparently that wouldn't be four walls of a university - that ain't what
 makes education; therefore access to four walls would be superficial.

>How were you educated? I assume that you either study or work @ MIT, which
>is heavily subsidized by our tax dollars. Would you suggest that the gov't
>should also stop subsidizing higher education? 

 I'm 3rd yr PhD student at MIT, working to graduate in 1993. 
 How MIT is funded? - is an interesting question to ask.
 Is it govt subsidy or govt sponsored grants or exorbitant fees or combination
 of these - well lets save time and return to the main point: Does equal
 access to education mean equal access to MIT? Or does that mean govt
 should tax more and spend equally on everyone? I think both these policies 
 are destructive.

 Well, I prefer competition and free choice for the customer (free market
 in other words). "Equal opportunity for anything" with time becomes
 "equal misery for everyone." Everything moves with the rate limiting 
 constraint. That is not in the interest of anyone.
 Anyway, we are moving into sci.edu debates. See you there :)

 How was "I" educated?
 The terse answer is: Self Study. Yes, little more than a decade ago,
 I was poor enuf to need street lights and museums and public library. I know
 what hardship means, because I have been thru all that - without help and
 "without a desire for help." Well, times and bank accounts have evolved... :)
 Aren't we getting too personal. Lets skip this "How was I educated?" story.
 Lets pursue reason.

>|>  More rat race for Grades/Degrees/Union cards - is all this "Stamp out 
>|>  this Evil" - would achieve. Thats not "equal education." 
>
>The rat race for degrees and materialism is fostered quite a bit by the
>individualism that you so dearly espouse. Isn't this one of the tenets
>of capitalism?

 I don't think so. One of us misunderstands what all these terms mean. As such,
 what you assert is a tall claim, Ron. I don't know how you interpret
 individualism, capitalism......etc. The rat race has (a lot) to do with 
 insecurity and low self esteem. Enforced "sort of equal opportunity" seems
 another cause. For "what is capitalism/individualism/etc." may I suggest
 other alt.* newsgroups. May be we can argue there :) 
 
 Still wondering, what "equal access to education" really means?

T.Y.
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tyadav@athena.mit.edu
Newsgroups: alt.culture.us.asian-indian