BMX Bandit said:
can you define socialism for us so we are all on the same page?
The Economic Times condenses it pretty well:
Quote:
The general socialism definition, broadly speaking, is a political and economic system in which the means of production and property have public ownership and are not controlled by the government. The core essence of socialism meaning is that public ownership of means of production contributes to equality in society.
Socialism meaning has changed over the years. Common socialism meaning is that every person in a community should have an equal share in the production and distribution of resources. Socialism has practical challenges and is often referred to as a "utopian society". Socialism meaning is that it creates equality in society and provides a sense of security. People receive a share in the community according to their contributions.
Anyone arguing that no government should ever provide public education might have a leg to stand on and arguing that public education, in general, constitutes "socialism." I would disagree with them, but they would at least have a decent argument
what is being argued here is simply a question of the level of government at which education should be funded.
Is it "socialism" to fund education at a district level, rather than town or city? What if (egad) two districts combined to form a consolidated district? my God, Marx is beating at the door. County wide school? Lenin is at the gates.
Schools have been funded by governmental entities through taxation for centuries. The theory, and it is not a bad one, is that an educated populace is better-able to exercise the obligations of citizenship in a democracy (cue the quibbling about "republic"). in essence, this makes education a "public good," because the effect of the rational exercise of the franchise affects not only the voter himself, but everyone in his community.
is the system 100% effective? Of course not. We see 100 posts per day here, clearly demonstrating that a fine public institution like Texas A&M is, in many cases, doing a rather poor job of educating its graduates