Charles Krauthammer's Essay: Decline is a Choice

[Jae Onasi]

instead of just filling our numbers with under-trained grunts.

That has to be one of the most ill-informed opinions I've seen, and very surprising for you. Do you know how much training each and every enlisted soldier and sailor goes through? We had enlisted personnel who are programming and working with computers, doing all sorts of tasks in hospitals and clinics (surgical tech, LPN, medical techs, dental hygienists, etc), working with advanced scientific equipment such as meteorological, radar, chemical, sonar, and other delicate instruments, and many, many more things than I can possibly list here. Most of these training courses lead to concurrent civilian associate college degrees or advanced technical certificates.

 

Every single soldier and sailor not only finishes basic training, but takes an extra 8 weeks to a year of training on top of that for their specialty. If you want to advance above E-4, you have to take additional courses.

 

You can call the military many things, but 'untrained grunts' is a completely inccorect characterization.

[jrrtoken]

Problem w/education spending is that we have little to show for what we do spend, and it's still more than most (if not all other) countries. Perhaps what's needed there is more accountability for the money that is doled out, just like what would be demanded of any govt agency (yes, including the Pentagon). Perhaps pull the govt out of education altogether. It does a pretty bad job there compared to private schools.

To be honest, most of my experience with incompetence in the public education system was at the local government level; they're the ones who make the real decisions concerning policy and standards. They may adhere to federal and state guidelines, but other than that, they're free to do what they want, regardless of constituent feedback. I'd say that any idea should be made welcome to reforming the education system, and along with a somewhat consistent funding scheme, real reform should start at the local level, even if that means gutting districts completely and allowing private corporations to administrate them in a way they see fit.

PM is right about people here in general. Besides, he didn't say poor=lazy, you made that jump for him. There are a lot of middle class people, even rich, that are pretty lazy. It's not a question of rich or poor. If people quit looking to the govt for handouts and excuses, they might make something of themselves, besides an albatros on everyone elses' necks. There may always be something of a need for an emergency safety net for some people, but there's no reason to build an entitlement class (for business or individual).

I do agree that incentive is definitely imperative, even if that means curtailing some benefits and entitlements. However, welfare and unemployment benefits are there for reason, which is the main point that I was making.

[Totenkopf]

@Pastrami--my bad, the allegation was in reference to "under-trained grunts", which was WR's.

[Point Man]

In my discussion of education funding, I was simply pointing out the fallacy that education budgets are smaller than 50 years ago. That is just not true.

 

My belief is that money is not the issue with educational decline. The problem is that everyone defines the issue incorrectly. Instead of asking how we should fix our schools, we need to ask how we can produce better-educated citizens. The most important thing we can do to insure this is for parents to take more responsibility in their children's education. When we rely on a government institution, or even a private school, to do the job, we should expect children not to learn much. I believe most of the blame for poorly-educated children belongs to the explosion of single-parent households in the past 50 years. Diminished parental involvement = diminished education.

 

I was not saying poor = lazy. I grew up poor, even though my father worked two, and sometimes three, jobs. He was not lazy in the least, but with a big family, we never had much money. My point is that Krauthammer was right in pointing out that if we allow laziness and entitlement to take precedence over world leadership, we will reap terrible consequences.

 

The basic point is this: nobody is entitled to an easy life. You have to work hard for what you get, and you have to defend it against those who would seek to take it or destroy it.

[Web Rider]

<Snipped>

 

Unless you have first-hand knowledge of military training, please refrain from making ill-founded comments like this. The US military is the best-trained force in the world, bar none. I know because I am a soldier.

Then maybe you can tell me why almost anyone with any other possible line of work DOESNT go into the army?

 

The only thing that needs fixed in America is for people to get of their couches and work for what they want, instead of relying on the government to provide it for them. While it would be nice to tell the world to take care of itself, it is hopelessly naive to believe they will stop those who wish to do us harm. We ignored the warning signs for eight years under a liberal president, and look what it got us: 3000 civilians killed.

Oh great, the Clinton excuse. I'm sorry, I thought I was having a rational discussion. If you're gonna turn every argument around to "Darn them liberals!" Then I'll pass thank you.

 

Face it. There are evil people in the world who will not listen to reason. They will only be surrendered to or defeated. I prefer not to surrender.

Good for them. Let someone else deal with them. It's time the world did exactly what you said, stood up, worked for themselves, and stopped depending on America to save them.

 

In my discussion of education funding, I was simply pointing out the fallacy that education budgets are smaller than 50 years ago. That is just not true.

 

Of course education budgets are bigger! We have more students and more schools. What part of "more people cost more money" did you miss?

 

Which I already explained is due to inflation, and increased operation costs. Things are simply more expensive now, and we're simply not spending the money WELL. I don't care if we CAN spend more money on our students, it will be worthless if nothing improves. We need to spend money more effectively, I already gave some suggestions to aid with teacher retention.

[Point Man]

<snipped>

 

Then maybe you can tell me why almost anyone with any other possible line of work DOESNT go into the army?

For the same reason people with another line of work don't go into medicine, or law, or education. They chose something else. It may be hard for you to believe, but most soldiers join the Army because they want to be in the Army.

 

 

Oh great, the Clinton excuse. I'm sorry, I thought I was having a rational discussion. If you're gonna turn every argument around to "Darn them liberals!" Then I'll pass thank you.

Deny them all you want, but the facts remain the same. There were several instances of terrorism upon the United States that should have been dealt with more strongly. Our weak-kneed responses only emboldened the enemy.

 

 

Good for them. Let someone else deal with them. It's time the world did exactly what you said, stood up, worked for themselves, and stopped depending on America to save them.

And I'm sure they will get right on that just because you said so, or because President Obama said so. <snipped>

 

 

 

Of course education budgets are bigger! We have more students and more schools. What part of "more people cost more money" did you miss?

And what part of the words "per child" did you miss?

 

I don't care if we CAN spend more money on our students, it will be worthless if nothing improves.

We agree there. However, as I said in a previous post, it isn't about improving schools. It's about focusing on educating children, which starts with stabilizing home life. American society must get back to two-parent homes. The school cannot educate children who have no preparation or support in the home.

[jonathan7]

Let's chill out here guys, this discussion was going so well; let's leave out the sarcasm, short and snidey comments and derogatory remarks at each other and those at an opposite end of the political spectrum please! -- j7

[Darth Avlectus]

For now just an observation: We spend more on schools, yet teachers are still unhappy; hours are getting longer with increased work loads but kids are getting less quality education and preparedness for college or even just the workforce. What's wrong with this picture?

 

I have my opinions, but I want to see what everyone else has to say about this. I think it is highly relevant to the article as our schools and youth are indicative of future trends to come.