Working as Intended

[Ferno]

Don't forget the electricity that his computer uses, or the water he drank from a socialist program... the garbagemen who picked up his trash, the toilet of his that's tied into the sewage system, or even the school he attended.

yeah, socialism is a real terrible idea, huh.

[Spidey]

Except that, public school is the only thing in that list that actually qualifies as socialism.

Your trash is not collected in the name of fairness and equality, it’s simply a municipal service, that is set up to provide economy of scale and sanitation.

Electricity: paid for by the kilowatt hour, to a profit making business.
Water: paid for by the cubic meter, to a profit making business.
Sewer and storm: here in Philadelphia, paid for in accordance to the property size.

I guess as long as people fail to realize that socialism has a political aspect, anything can qualify.

There are some gray areas regarding the infrastructure for said services, so I wont argue about those, and rural electrification definitely qualified as socialism, but usage of said services is definitely not socialistic.

[woodchip]

Water? I have my own well. Sewage? I have a septic tank and drain field. Heat? I burn wood and pay for propane from private supplier.
Garbage? I pay a private co. to remove. Schools? There are private Charter schools.

[callmeslick]

Schools? There are private Charter schools.

I was ok up to here. However, one of the reasons we have an ever dumber populace is that we've lost sight of the absolute necessity for robust PUBLIC EDUCATION. Jefferson knew about the concept, as did other folks back in the late 18th century. For the ensuing 200 years, we had the most educated general population of any nation on the planet(with allowances, sadly for the effects of segregated schooling). Look at the writings in diaries of common farmers and miners during the Civil War, should you doubt that assertion. The notion that some for-profit charter school can come reasonably close for the average citizen(we're not talking Prep school here) is ludicrous.

[Spidey]

There have always been private schools in this country, that doesn’t negate the fact that the public school system is an example of true socialism.

But, I do have to admire slick’s attempt to discredit private schools.

[callmeslick]

There have always been private schools in this country, that doesn’t negate the fact that the public school system is an example of true socialism.

But, I do have to admire slick’s attempt to discredit private schools.

Private schools have been around forever, and are fine. Charter schools are NOT prep schools, in case you ever bothered to look into them. You get what you pay for, but get far more bang for the buck in public education, well done.

[woodchip]

There have always been private schools in this country, that doesn’t negate the fact that the public school system is an example of true socialism.

You get what you pay for, but get far more bang for the buck in public education, well done.

Tell that to the Dem controlled public schools in inner cities like Detroit.

[Tunnelcat]

Water? I have my own well. Sewage? I have a septic tank and drain field. Heat? I burn wood and pay for propane from private supplier.
Garbage? I pay a private co. to remove. Schools? There are private Charter schools.

That's all OK, unless you happen to live in an urban or suburban area. There are too many people located in one area to have septic systems or wells. Everyone's septic system would contaminate everyone's wells, or yards. If everyone in suburbia and the city burned wood to heat their homes, we'd all choke on a smoke cloud so thick, we'd have to cut it with a knife. Then, once the trees were all cut down, we'd be screwed out of all sorts of things, like building materials for homes. As for propane, that's only feasible in a rural area and it's more expensive than natural gas. But then it comes back to that pesky roads issue. If there only toll roads, you'd have to pay quite a bit more to get your propane and wood delivered (unless you're cutting down the forest around your house) and pay more for the gasoline to run your chain saw and vehicle and even pay more to call in some septic truck service to come clean out your septic system when it overflows. Plus, you can thank the socialist FDR for bringing into your rural area that lovely electrical infrastructure (now run by private enterprise of course since they didn't want to foot the bill to install it in the first place) to run your computers and other electric powered items. And I know you must use electricity woody. You're posting on the net.

Tell that to the Dem controlled public schools in inner cities like Detroit.

I went through the Portland public school system and my education was great. It was sufficient enough to go on to college as well.

[callmeslick]

well, if it's anything like Philly, Baltimore and Wilmington, the public schools are VASTLY superior, educationallly, to the charters. You see, one advantage ANY private school has is that they can limit how many challenging students attend. A public school has no such luxury, handling disciplinary, emotional, developmental issues as they appear. It's the sort of deceptive logic used to privatize ANYTHING that is in the public sphere. It's a bogus relationship.

[woodchip]

My first wife was a teacher in middle school. Want to see how well meaning educators can screw things up? Look up the term "Tracking".

[Tunnelcat]

Never saw that in my school system back then, and yes, I looked it up.

[Spidey]

Yea, they had tracking here in Phila, and I was taken off of the academic track and placed on the technical track when I had a few “behavior” problems.

[Ferno]

Except that, public school is the only thing in that list that actually qualifies as socialism.

Your trash is not collected in the name of fairness and equality, it’s simply a municipal service, that is set up to provide economy of scale and sanitation.

Guess leaving the garbage out to rot and stink up the joint doesn't qualify as 'fairness and equality', huh? Good contradiction there, Spidey.

As for the rest of the 'rebuttals', sorry. They're still municipal utilities, either run or overseen by government. But you knew that already. Do you see private enterprises out there, competing to provide you electricity, water, or sewage? No. So don't pretend they're private businesses.

pay for propane from private supplier.

Who gets it from the petroleum company that is subsidized by government. Same deal with your private garbage collector. They have a contract with the municipal government.

[Spidey]

Never said they were private, utilities for the most part are publicly owned.

And if you believe the water department is based in socialism, why don’t you go ask someone who has their water turned off.

[Ferno]

Never said they were private, utilities for the most part are publicly owned.

Yes you did, don't bull★■◆● me.

Electricity: paid for by the kilowatt hour, to a profit making business.
Water: paid for by the cubic meter, to a profit making business.

your own words.