Re: Edited Edupage, 9 May 1996

[tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May)]

At 3:57 PM 5/14/96, Doug Hughes wrote:

>I wouldn't normally respond to such an offtopic post, but this post is
>so egregious I couldn't let it pass. Who says they make a choice to live
>in rural areas? Do they also choose not to have enough money to pay
>for shoes? So, because they live in a poor district they are not entitled

Your shoe example is apt. Fact is, we *don't* pay for people's shoes. Why
should we pay for their Net access when we don't pay for their shoes, or
their food, or their electricity, or their phone bill, or their cable t.v.
subscription? Many of these things seem like higher priorities than being
able to "surf the Net."

(It is true that we as a society--wrongly in my opinion, but this is
another topic--give people various handouts. These handouts can be used to
buy things, presumably including a $20/month unlimited access Internet
account.)


>to the same level of education as a rich city suburb?  The illiteracy
>rate in Alabama is 40%! This is just plain sick!  I don't think that
>every school needs a net connection, I think they need better teachers. But

"Better teachers"? I doubt this changes anything. Only a cultural change
will. (Why is it that dirt-poor "boat people" who floated into San
Francisco Bay on inner tubes had children go from nearly zero English to
99% literacy in less than 5 years? Often in crowded schools, too. Think
about it.)


>Education is one thing (perhaps the only thing) that deserves to be
>subsidized in this country. We're rapidly falling behind.

Actually, the subcultures in American society which value learning and
achievement are doing extremely well. Hand a motivate kid a book and he'll
learn. Hand a gang-banger a book and he'll pull out a gun and kill you for
the thrill of it.

As a result, some subcultures are headed for the scrap heap. Think of it as
evolution in action.

--Tim May

Boycott "Big Brother Inside" software!
We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed.
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Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
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