No, but I don't trust power-hungry politicians either.

Idiocy and ineptitude both result in bad choices, but (in theory) you can educate idiots - I'm less sure you can fix politicians.

I'm not so sure you can educate idiots - they're idiots by virtue of being unable or unwilling to learn, aren't they?

They're idiots because (on the whole) the education system in this country is absolutely awful, and doesn't teach people how to learn.

Well yeah - they're unwilling/unable because The System (which includes more than just the education system) has let them down.

Teaching kids how to learn isn't enough - they need to want to learn, and that's a problem that runs far deeper than the education system alone.

I dunno, I think I agree with Pete. Kids inherently want to learn. I mean they're fucking genetically programmed to want to learn. Though I agree with you that the problem is broader than just education (though that is a big problem), it's cultural.

Inherently yeah, they probably do want to learn, but in some places (basing this on my own experience in school, which I fully realise is purely anecdotal) peer pressure can override that - learning isn't "cool" (christ I feel like an old man writing it in quotes like that :( ), which where, as you say, the cultural issues arise.

I kinda agree with you on the peer pressure point of view, but I think that peer pressure is down to the group of friends you have.

 

One of my best friends (I'm not 8, honest) since high school has just recently graduated as a commercial pilot, and previously went to uni and graduated with a Masters in Aerospace Engineering. During high school he made the decision to change his group of friends, for a number of reasons, I still to this day believe if he didn't do that he wouldn't have been as academically successful as he has been. When comparing the two sets of friends the academic achievements of them are polar opposites.

 

I'm not saying academic achievement is the most important thing in life but since it's the context of this discussion I think it's relevant.

Which is a flaw in the current education system.

Put the exact same people in the right environment and they'll not only find it cool, they'll be bubbling with enthusiasm and curiosity. (Of course, what that environment is depends on the people involved.)


I'd also not say the problem is broader than just education - the problem is that education is not broad enough. (In that, "education" shouldn't be a distinct thing that happens for a while, it should be a general foundation to society, (if I'm making any sense at all?))

I agree that education isn't broad enough, and yeah, it should be much more integrated and fundamental to society.

And while I agree that theoretically "all" that needs to be done is to put kids into the right environment, in reality it's far from simple given the diversity of backgrounds, especially when the government try to standardise everything.

I don't think I said all that needs doing is putting kids in the right environment (if I did, I didn't mean that) - it's also a question of having the correct "required" subjects at appropriate stages, a real selection of optional/selected subjects, the right framework for providing a taste of different subjects, and lots more.

But yeah, the only way it's got the slightest chance of happening is if a half-decent government comes along and has enough time, money, and support to do it with - which is pretty much impossible, so we're all doomed. Oh well. :(

>>it's also a question of having the correct "required" subjects at appropriate stages, a real selection of optional/selected subjects,

 

Bollocks. All you need to teach someone are a teacher that knows teh subject, and a teacher that actually knows how to teach. Preferably the same person, tbh.

 

>>the right framework for providing a taste of different subjects

 

Do you mean a school?

No, I don't mean a school (in the form they currently exist), because that whole model doesn't work for most people. (Which is exactly what I'm whining about.)

I mean a way to identify what people are good at and what they enjoy, so that they can learn useful and engaging things - instead of everyone being taught about (and then mostly forgetting about) crevasses and arêtes and so on, because the majority will never need or want to know what they are.

>>I mean a way to identify what people are good at and what they enjoy, so that they can learn useful and engaging things

 

So some kind of system where people can learn a bit about everything, like about crevasses and arêtes for instance, so they can understand what they like/are good at and want to study in more depth? Like at, for instance, a university or something?

 

And I disagree that school is a system that doesn't work for most people. Surely it doesn't work for some people, but most? Come on, Peter. Could schools be better? Hell yes, mainly be teaching teachers how to actually teach, and teaching Heads how to be proper administrators.

What I'd like to see is a system where the party with the most votes wins, not one where the most seats does.

 

I think in the last election more of the population voted LibDem, however the cons won more seats and thus the election overall (kinda).

 

For example if out of 10 seats 4 are won by the LD and 6 by Con, Con take power. But 8 million people in total may have voted LD in the 4 seats and only 4million in total voted Con in the 6 seats. So twice as many of the population may have wanted a LD government than a Con one but because they won less seats the Cons take power.

You want PR then.

Not getting involved.

Aww, please?

I have a politics blog. I'm not supposed to blog about politics due to my job, so i don't engage in any partisan/party stuff. I mostly blog about how politics work, about parliamentary procedure and a lot about the UK coalition since i figure blogging about UK politics will be less against the rules than blogging about Canadian politics.

 

So naturally, i've blogged a fair bit about the referendum. The past couple of weeks, the keyword search activity on my blog has been really interesting. I'm getting so many hits from people in the UK looking for info about AV, trying to clarify the crapola the No side has been spouting, etc. So much so that i've started writing targetted blog posts to address some of the most common issues people seem to be looking for (if i didn't already have something written). UK visitors have pushed my little blog into the top 10 among Canadian political blogs. I will miss the traffic boost once this thing is over and my blog returns to its usual anonymity.

 

On a related note, we had a general election on Monday which resulted in a Conservative majority (boo!). So i ran the seats that weren't won with 50%+1 of the vote under a simulated AV count and it resulted in the Cons losing 19 seats and their majority. Plus the 2nd and 3rd place parties would have commanded a majority of seats, so could have formed a coalition or something. Just saying'.

Now that is actually an interesting result when looking from an AV point of view.

Where's yer blog?