None of the following is what I LIKE, but it is the reality that has
remained in my sight even before I allowed myself to believe it:

Corruption is an important and necessary part of any society. It ensures the
overly na=EFve do not reproduce extensively. =


"A society of sheep must begat a government of wolves." =


In a healthy society, corruption is constantly checked, weeded out, and
destroyed... Mostly... But, in reality, at some low level, it still exists
and if it did not, those who guard against it would eventually die off and
the system would become unprotected; unguarded, no longer inoculated. And so
it would be ripe for a fresh infection which could kill it entirely.

In some cultures, corruption provides a "safety valve" for an overly ridged
bureaucracy; allowing those with great need (and the available means) to get
what they require without following the rules.

In most cultures, corruption enforces the "great rule:" Might makes right.
AKA: Survival of the fittest. =


The question is, who has the might: The society as a whole, or an individual
in that society? When the society levels the playing field entirely and
allows no one to rise above another, there is no motivation to rise. When
one or few have all the power, there is no hope of rising. Cultures try to
strike a happy medium and succeed or fail against one another in time to the
correctness of that decision.

It's all sad, but true.

When it comes to education, I think the issue is one of waste: I've always
liked the old NAACP slogan: "A mind is a terrible thing to waste." There are
no studies that predict raw mental capacity of offspring based on the
capacity of the parents. Most of the geniuses of our time have come from
average stock. So by not providing education to all, we probably waste a
percentage of the minds from which we would otherwise reap great benefits. =


A good farmer waters ALL the crops.

--
James.

-----Original Message-----
From: piclist-bounces@mit.edu [mailto:piclist-bounces@mit.edu] On Behalf Of
Apptech
Sent: Monday, March 10, 2008 06:44
To: Microcontroller discussion list - Public.
Subject: Re: [OT] Education reform:

<SNIP>

May I add a "straw man" that I hope is correct, and may or =

may not be :-).

Assertion:    There are limits to what is acceptable =

cultural 'bias'. There is a limit beyond which it is by =

definition unacceptable to go, even if doing so looks to =

"make things work". Because, the very act of accepting such =

fixes destroys the level playing field one is attempting to =

create. This may be so self evident as to be not worth =

saying, or may not.

<SNIP>


-- =

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