Opinion of the Issue, part 42

[Associate Justice PiT]

32	Criminal Trials by Jury	81.3; 9.4; 0.0; 3.1; 6.3
1	Women in the Military	83.3; 5.6; 11.1; 0.0; 0.0
38	Aid for Importing Prescription Drugs	40.0; 46.7; 0.0; 6.7; 6.7
37	Water as a Public Good	80.0; 6.7; 0.0; 0.0; 13.3
9	Legalize Prostitution	73.1; 11.5; 0.0; 3.8; 11.5
19	Legalize Marijuana	74.0; 10.0; 0.0; 6.0; 10.0
31	Jury Nullification	79.2; 4.2; 4.2; 4.2; 8.3
25	Job Outsourcing	58.6; 20.7; 6.9; 0.0; 13.8
6	Allow Gay Marriage	75.9; 6.9; 0.0; 0.0; 17.2
17	Government-Sponsored Health Care	62.5; 15.0; 0.0; 7.5; 15.0
26	Line-Item Veto	47.8; 26.1; 0.0; 8.7; 17.4
22	Nuclear Power	58.6; 13.8; 6.9; 6.9; 13.8
18	Eliminate the Deficit	40.0; 32.0; 12.0; 4.0; 12.0
29	Doctor-Assisted Suicide	56.7; 13.3; 0.0; 10.0; 20.0
30	Reduce Military Fudning	60.0; 8.6; 0.0; 8.6; 22.9
4	Free Trade Expansion	41.7; 25.0; 2.8; 11.1; 19.4
10	Legalize Selling Human Body Parts	44.0; 16.0; 0.0; 8.0; 32.0
5	Legalize Hard Drugs	31.3; 28.1; 6.3; 9.4; 25.0
23	Protect Strikers' Jobs	50.0; 7.7; 0.0; 19.2; 23.1
15	Campaign Finance Reform	40.6; 15.6; 3.1; 6.3; 34.4
16	Funding of Religious Charities	19.4; 35.5; 3.2; 16.1; 25.8
21	Offshore Drilling	30.3; 24.2; 15.2; 12.1; 18.2
33	Reduce the Corporate Tax	36.7; 10.0; 6.7; 16.7; 30.0
34	Limit CO2 emissions	27.3; 18.2; 18.2; 18.2; 18.2
8	Punish Illegal Immigrants	26.9; 11.5; 0.0; 7.7; 53.8
39	Increase Foreign Aid	25.0; 10.7; 3.6; 14.3; 46.4
14	Privatize Social Security	31.3; 3.1; 9.4; 12.5; 43.8
41	Continue Monetary Aid to Israel	22.9; 11.4; 0.0; 17.1; 48.6
35	Require Helmets for Skiing	18.2; 15.2; 3.0; 3.0; 60.6
13	Reduce Federal-Owned Lands	24.0; 8.0; 24.0; 12.0; 32.0
40	Permit Segregation in Prisons	18.2; 13.6; 4.5; 18.2; 45.5
12	Stricter Gun Control	22.6; 3.2; 9.7; 16.1; 48.4
7	Eliminate the Income Tax	16.1; 9.7; 0.0; 6.5; 67.7
11	Restrict Abortion	22.9; 0.0; 5.7; 20.0; 51.4
27	Allow Procedural Filibuster	13.6; 9.1; 4.5; 9.1; 63.6
28	Government Price Controls	14.8; 3.7; 7.4; 18.5; 55.6
20	Censor Indecent Broadcasts	3.7; 14.8; 0.0; 18.5; 63.0
24	Support NCLB	8.0; 8.0; 4.0; 32.0; 48.0
3	Return to the Gold Standard	9.1; 4.5; 4.5; 9.1; 72.7
2	Support the Patriot Act	4.0; 4.0; 4.0; 12.0; 76.0
36	Ability to ban Films and Video Games	5.6; 0.0; 2.8; 13.9; 77.8

     Question courtesy of officepark.

[Mint]

Lean No, but only if they're getting some other kind of education.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Lean Yes.

[Marokai Backbeat]

Lean Yes.

[A18]

Government has no business imprisoning the innocent. But if it has to do so, it would make more sense to imprison adults than children.

[Associate Justice PiT]

Government has no business imprisoning the innocent. But if it has to do so, it would make more sense to imprison adults than children.

     Funny you would refer to it that way. My mother has always maintained that public schools exist to keep kids from roaming the streets in the daytime, & that the function of education is wholly secondary.

[RIP Robert H Bork]

Lean No, but only if they're getting some other kind of education.

I agree that some form of education should be guaranteed. I really meant this question, of course, not as "should children be required to get at least a basic education", but more like "should public schools be the only option" (thus the inclusion of "public" in the question), and my position on that question is obvious.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

You can talk when you can think up a sane and workable alternative.

[Scam of God]

This is one of the very few things I believe that the State ought to have the power to mandate to children. Better children getting pumped full of government than religious propaganda. And an educated citizenry is integral to a well-functioning democracy.

[k-onmmunist]

Lean No. Children shouldn't be forced into anything.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Yes. No private schools. No homeschooling.

[TeePee4Prez]

Yes. No private schools. No homeschooling.

I agree on the homeschooling thing.  Children need interaction.

[Mint]

Lean No. Children shouldn't be forced into anything.

Children generally aren't capable of making major life decisions, that's sort of why they have parents.

[Earth]

You can talk when you can think up a sane and workable alternative.

As opposed to the insane concept of public school being mandatory now? How about make it voluntary? Children should not be made to attend public school, or anything else.

It doesn't surprise me that alleged "liberals" like Democrats support this idea.

[Horus]

No, but homeschooling should be banned. I have yet to meet someone who was homeschooled and turned out normal.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

How about make it voluntary?

Because not every parent has the time or the money to educate their children themselves. The sort of communal institutions that might once have been able to plug some (and only ever some) of the gap don't really exist anymore and would not magically spring back into existence because they might be needed (things don't work like that, regrettably). You'd end up with generations of people unable to read. They might have had more freedom as children, but as adults they would be infinitely less free than would have otherwise been the case; they would be the hewers of wood and the drawers of water and have no chance to be anything else. Inevitably, the people who would end up suffering the most would be the poorest (the relationship between class and losing out under such a system would be stark). Of course, that is, tragically, the case under the existing system (everywhere). But not on the same scale, nowhere close.

Don't get me wrong; I'm not exactly a huge fan of existing education systems. I'm not even opposed to the principles that seem to be behind your view. But trying to introduce utopia as public policy is asking for disaster. In order to get away from some degree of compulsion, you would have to change, and change totally, the order of society and the economic system.

[Earth]

How about make it voluntary?

Because not every parent has the time or the money to educate their children themselves. The sort of communal institutions that might once have been able to plug some (and only ever some) of the gap don't really exist anymore and would not magically spring back into existence because they might be needed (things don't work like that, regrettably). You'd end up with generations of people unable to read.

You seem to be misunderstanding. You seem to be implying that masses of children will go without education if education becomes voluntary. I don't believe so. This is to protect those that otherwise would not have anything to do with education, and to protect others. Compulsory education treats all children as one in the same, cut from the same cloth, when it is a vast oversimplification. The onus for change has to be upon the parent, not legislation, nor the institution.

They might have had more freedom as children, but as adults they would be infinitely less free than would have otherwise been the case; they would be the hewers of wood and the drawers of water and have no chance to be anything else. Inevitably, the people who would end up suffering the most would be the poorest (the relationship between class and losing out under such a system would be stark). Of course, that is, tragically, the case under the existing system (everywhere). But not on the same scale, nowhere close.

I think you're hearts in the right place, but you're misdirected. What is to say that those same "wood hewers" would benefit from compulsory, and regimented education, where year after year, manual labor seems to be on the way out, at least pertaining to the American style education system. You're essentially forcing children to undergo education, not for their sake, but for the sake of the market, to gain marketable skills, whether or not it would benefit them, at the expense of their free will. The trouble at the heart of this is the educational system itself, and without vast reforms, compulsory education is a waste.

Don't get me wrong; I'm not exactly a huge fan of existing education systems. I'm not even opposed to the principles that seem to be behind your view. But trying to introduce utopia as public policy is asking for disaster. In order to get away from some degree of compulsion, you would have to change, and change totally, the order of society and the economic system.

Thankfully, I'm not trying to introduce a utopia as public policy, but the autonomy that I believe should be available for everyone. I'm not expecting to change society, nor rid society of the concept of compulsory what-have-you, simply that mandatory education is a farce. A child cannot be forced to learn, nor should a parent face consequences for determining their child's placement within education. I don't for one second believe government to be looking out for the welfare of children in this instance, nor that they should have the ability to decide what is not their domain in the first place.

[Lunar]

No, but homeschooling should be banned. I have yet to meet someone who was homeschooled and turned out normal.

Tim Tebow

[Associate Justice PiT]

No, but homeschooling should be banned. I have yet to meet someone who was homeschooled and turned out normal.

     I take offense to the suggestion that I'm not normal.

[Rowan]

No. Private schools and homeschooling are acceptable(though I do have cousins that were homeschooled and are really weird).

[The Ex-Factor]

I know one homeschooled kid who's one of the smartest guys I've ever met, but that was because both of his parents were professors and gave him an inane workload and made sure he got plenty of interaction with other kids his age. Unfortunately I've met many more homeschooled kids who are incapable of looking me in the eye. Those are the situations that make me wish homeschooling was banned.

Voted no on this question though. Nothing wrong with private schools.

[Rowan]

Unfortunately I've met many more homeschooled kids who are incapable of looking me in the eye. Those are the situations that make me wish homeschooling was banned.

Yeah, thats the thing, many of them are socially awkward because they don't meet many kids their age and don't have the chance of interaction that a "real" school brings. Not sure if thats a reason to ban it, but it is definitely a downfall.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

Lean yes. Although I think they should be required to attend school. I love private schools over public ones, of course. I've never met anyone who was legit homeschooled, but I only hear bad things about them.

[Lunar]

another idea for a question (feel free to reword it to aid your abbreviated forms for the list etc):

As an aggregate whole, without picking apart individual crimes, prison sentences should be slightly shortened.


Originally was going to write "lengthened" - but with the liberal internet bias, I think this is better

[Franzl]

lean yes....for the education, of course, but more importantly, because I think it's important for kids to interact with each other from the very beginning, which builds necessary social skills that will be needed later in life, regardless of what you end up doing.