[rescue] Cluesticks (was Mounting and Dumping)

[Charles Shannon Hendrix]

Tue, 20 Jan 2004 @ 16:32 -0500, Nick said:

> My problem is what we are doing now seems to be alot of holding the
> average and above folks back so the below average folks can keep up.  This
> seems like a bad idea.

Yes, it is a bad idea.

It sounds great in theory, but the result is just as you say: we push
everyone down to the lowest common level, and actively work against
people trying to rise above that.

I feel sorry for people who are handicapped in some way, small or large,
but it isn't right to hold others back.  Besides, we can still take care
of them and give them opportunity, without perpetuating a lie.

We should push them instead of accomodating them or trying to
dissolve the differences.  I never have understood why "helping" the
disadvantaged always has to affect others and has to be so dishonest.

Think about it... we tell people they are not different when they
actually are, we tell them they are as good as everyone else when they
really are not, and we push everyone down and call it "fair".  We hold
people back to keep others from feeling bad about it.

Life is not fair.  I have problems which hold me back.  It frustrates
the hell out of me that some things I want to do, I cannot do.  At the
same time, it would be unfair for me to force that limit on everyone
around me. 

On the other hand, I have abilities that some of you do not have.  I can
do things and attain things you cannot.  I don't want to be held back to
keep from being unfair to you either.

It's the combination of our advantages and disadvantages that make it
worthwhile for us to all work together.

Being dishonest about this is maddening.  I don't want my problems
hidden, I want to see them so I can either fix them or work around them.
When we sell this stupid idea that everyone is the same, it causes far
more pain than recognizing our differences ever could.

Damned soap box... :)

> . Let me rephrase that, it would be the stupidest
> idea I'd ever heard if I'd never heard politicans or suits talk.  I don't
> claim to know the solution, that's the hard part.  Most folks seem
> unwilling to see what's going to happen in the next few decades as these
> badly educated folks flood the markets.  I'm not looking forward to those
> years.

It's already happening.

It is not just bad education.  Too many people I see already in the
market have some really bizarre ideas:

*   They feel like they are entitled to certain minimum luxuries and
    priveledges, regardless of their contributions.

*   They feel that they should be able to do what they please without
    regard for how well skilled they are.
    
*   They don't give a damn about doing a good job.  They have no 
    respect for themselves, the people they work for, or their
    customers.

*   This drive for "fairness" and "equality" has now caused an even
    greater sense of a class system, where formerly honorable jobs
    are now seen as degradation and "unfair" to certain people.

*   A lot of workers feel they should not have to push hard to do
    work unless they reach a certain financial reward.  They feel
    like someone who went to college for 8 years should not get paid
    more than them, even though they were a drug-addicted highschool
    dropout.  After all, that would be elitist and "unfair".

*   People don't seem to want to learn.  Just look at how we are
    pushing so hard to dumb everything down, from computers to
    almost all devices, even automobiles.  IMHO, you either learn
    or you have no business using the things.

I also feel like we have far too many people engaged in post-modernist
thinking, where they feel all science is suspect and unnecessary, and
they don't have faith in anything.


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