On Mon, 19 Apr 2004 22:00:49 +0100, "IMM" wrote:


"Andy Hall" wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 19 Apr 2004 11:57:24 +0100, "IMM" wrote:


The way you defend cowboyism and the vast profits they make, leads me to
believe you may have a cowboy streak in you too.

I'm not defending cowboyism at all.

You are.

I talked only about profit. You raised the subject of cowboyism.

We need people to go to universities,
as history will show that a highly
educated population always prospers.

Yes but that notion does not extend to 50%
of the population going to "university" as
Mr EU Turn seems to think.

Has someone done a study to assess what %age need to go to uni? Those who
are against are mainly Little Middle Englanders.

Not really - only realists.



There's nothing wrong
with higher education for a broad section of the population as such -
it is question of appropriateness. Not everybody can benefit from an
academic university education,

What a stupid comment.

It isn't at all. Not everybody will benefit from an academic
university education. That's obvious because not everybody is
academically gifted. Some people are gifted in other areas, but it
doesn't make them less valuable members of society.

The problem lies in the misguided belief that academic education and
institutions delivering it should be delivered to everybody or at
least a substantial proportion. That is plainly impossible, because
only a small percentage actually *do* benefit from a high level
academic education.

The mistake is in not accepting that but in dropping standards to make
it happen. It does a disservice to the students and reduces skill
levels. Not what should be happening at all.

The even bigger mistake is in arguing that this has to do with
snobbery and elitism. It has nothing to do with those at all.
You can have excellence in particle physics and excellence in
carpentry. Both are important to society as a whole.



There is a long waiting list for plumbing
and heating courses which
rubbishes your petty snob views.

This has nothing to do with snobbery at all.

It has.

Therein lies the inverted snobbery and chip on shoulder mentality that
does nobody any good.




The real question is why is there a
proposal to bribe 16 year olds to
stay on in education?

We need a highly educated population. Graduates tend to be into positions
of power. If many of them are from the working class a form of meritocracy
will prevail, and hopefully these people will get rid of the public
school/Oxbridge self interest group.

Graduates end up in positions of power in situations where they also
have leadership or other skills appropriate to that position.

It isn't a class issue at all apart from in the minds of people who
choose to have that view for their own political reasons.





You can't be that dumb. The riches people in the UK take RENT and become
billionaires to the detriment of the people as a whole. That is obvious.

I'm not at all dumb.

People own property. They let it to others and charge a rent.
It's simple return on investment.

So some people have more than others. That's how it is.


snip nonsense
..andy

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