The Purpose of Education

It seems to me that in an earlier age, higher education served a higher purpose.  There were trade schools, which trained the lower classes the skills needed for skilled labor, but for the upper class, education had a broader mandate: to teach the student how to live.

Granted, the upper reaches of academia were reserved for the sons and daughters of the upper crust, and those in that situation, through birth and connections, were assured of a good position on graduation, so long as they did nothing to blatantly indicate unfitness.  And so preparation for a job, per se, was not entirely necessary.  Instead, one learned the classics, and received a deep and thorough grounding in literatures and philosophy.  An undergraduate education provided the breadth, and graduate school provided the depth in a specific field of choosing.

It seems to me that in recent years, the point of undergraduate education has shifted.  There is no longer an aim to teach the student how to live, and how the world works.  Instead, it is all about job preparation.  In a sense, we are now all in trade school.

From kindergarten through college, the focus is on getting a job.  And while becoming a productive individual is certainly of value to society, I wonder if something has gotten lost in the process.

I encounter too many educated people these days who haven’t learned to think logically.  Too many who cannot write clearly.  An inability to write clearly is, I believe, an inability to think clearly.  For what is thought made of, but words?

At a dinner party the other night, I heard a contradictory perspective.  A friend who had graduated with a liberal arts degree (I don’t know, off hand, in what subject) was bemoaning the difficulties she has had in life due to the fact that college did not prepare her for any specific job.

There must be a balance.  At the risk of raising the bar for new graduates, perhaps there needs to be a new standard.  Perhaps the master’s is the new bachelor’s.  Perhaps undergraduate education should be about establishing that grounding in the humanities -- that is, what it is to be a human.  And graduate school should be about depth in a particular field.

Why the federal government should invest in cities

There are many reasons why Obama, in his second term, should start investing heavily in cities.

1) WPA 2.0

There are many WPA style projects that could really benefit the unemployed, while also benefiting cities. These projects would put people to work, and help rebuild the economy while also strengthening our cities.

2) Why cities?

Because that's where 80% of the people live, and that's where the wealth is created.

http://digg.com/newsbar/topnews/why_is_the_u_s_wealthier_than_europe

Also, it is more environmentally friendly (ironically) to centralize people in cities, rather than having them spread out in suburbs or in the countryside. Leaves more open space for the critters.

3) A couple projects that come to mind:

a) Put cables Underground

Already some neighborhoods (mostly the rich ones) have their cables underground. But this should be done throughout all our cities. Federal money could be put towards this effort. All neighborhoods would become more beautiful. This would help attract people to cities, and retain them there (rather than fleeing to the burbs).

b) More smart traffic signals

A hybrid vehicle recycles energy from braking. But all cars, hybrid and non, would be even more efficient if they could avoid needless stops. Smart traffic signals would both improve traffic flow, and provide better fuel economy.

c) Free public transportation

Think how many more people would take public transport if it were free. One may ask: how can a city afford this? The same way it affords to pave streets, and man the fire department. Taxes. However by making public transport free, there will be less traffic and parking congestion, and the increase in people living in the city (because it's a more attractive place to be, what with the underground wires and free public transport) will provide a larger tax base with which to fund free public transport. I once heard Gavin Newsom propose this idea, and it blew my mind.

I hope these are the sort of things Obama does in his second term. That would be a great legacy.

Obama should grow a pair

I recently read that President Obama bemoaned the fact that he had not done a better job of reaching across the aisle to build a stronger bipartisan relationship with the Republicans in the Senate. Echos of Neville Chamberlain. Does he really believe that this was remotely possible? The Republican party has become so self serving... their ONLY goal is power, at the expense of America. It's ok if the economy suffers -- in fact, all the better if it does, because American suffering increases their chances of regaining power. I suspect De Toqueville had something to say about this.

I wish Obama would lay the blame for the troubled economy where it belongs:
a) Deregulation of finance
b) The Bush tax cuts
c) The Bush wars in Iraq and Afghanistan

Forget the olive branch. It's time for bare knuckles politics, Chicago style. Something that Barack knows a thing or two about.

Christians without a moral compass

Last year, the local Catholic school, Holy Name, had a problem on their hands. There were too few 3rd grade girls to field a volleyball team. However, the Catholic Youth Organization's rule state that any girl in a church's parish can play on the team, and they asked my daughter, Claire, to help them fill out the team. My daughter is neither athletic nor Catholic, but she agreed.

Now Claire is not the best member of the team. In fact, she may be the worst. But she tries hard, has a good attitude, and probably has one of the best attendance records. However she missed the last practice due to a cold, and when we showed up for the game today, we were told that there was a CYO rule stating that any girl that misses a practice cannot play at the subsequent competition.

When I got home, I looked up the CYO rules for Girl's Volleyball. There was no such rule. Some individual schools have rules concerning unexcused absences, but my wife had sent the coach an email saying that Claire was sick. No, this had nothing to do with rules. This was simply a case of a coach (actually, he wasn't even the coach -- just a parent who is very involved in the Volleyball team), taking matters into his own hands, giving the team an edge by lying to me and my daughter to prevent her from playing.

How pathetic. How stupid. How morally crippled.

As an atheist, I rely on my own moral compass. It seems like some Christians lost theirs when they delegated their morality to the church.

The Great Recession

I love the fact that people are starting to call the current economic crisis "The Great Recession". By pinning a name on it, we can start to define it. When did it start, what are its causes, and who is to blame. It seems to me that it started with the economic meltdown in the waning days of the Bush administration. The stage was set by the deregulation of the banking industry (pushed primarily by Republicans), which lead to the real estate bubble. The second blow was the Bush tax cuts, which lowered revenues, and the third were the two Bush wars, which caused the deficit to explode.

Now dolts like Perry and Cain suggest the solution is further tax cuts (primarily benefiting the rich) and further deregulation. If those were such good ideas the first time around, why are we in this mess?

Republicans

When I was young, the Republicans were the stodgy party. Sensible, responsible, conservative... too conservative for my tastes, but decidedly not loony (well, except for Lyndon Larouche). But over the years, they've drifted farther and farther into loony land -- a land that was once the sole dominion of the left. When did that happen? Was it with Reagan's election? I thought he was bad, but I had no idea how much worse it would get. Reagan was a brain trust compared to George II, and at least had charm. Bush Jr. had neither. But even he was a bright spark compared with Palin and Bachman. I just shake my head in wonder. How do these bozos get so far?

And how does America vote? How can it oscillate between Clinton/Bush/Obama? I think swing voters are really just morons who vote largely based on the height of the candidate. Ooh, he's tall! Fortunately, neither Bachman nor Palin are as tall as Obama, so maybe we're safe for this next election. Better check the stats on that yahoo from Texas...

Accessing USB storage on NetGear wifi

I just got a new NetGear DGN3500 DSL Modem/WIFI router. It has a USB port on the back for storage, but I could find no documentation for how to access it from the Mac. Here's how:
1) Open the NETGEAR web console (192.168.0.1)
2) Select USB Storage/Basic Settings
3) Copy the smb url (in my case, smb://readyshare/USB_STORAGE)
4) Open the Finder on the mac
5) Hit COMMAND-K
6) Paste the smb url into the Server Address field
7) Log in as guest (worked for me, anyway)