Could Basic Income work in the US?

[Ray From Cleveland]

Something like a guaranteed income would allow many families to have a stay at home parent again. You know....like it was in "the good ol' days" That alone would result in benefits that far outweigh the cost.

That would allow more women to home-school their children. Think of all the money we could save on that alone!

Yes, all of those uneducated housewives teaching another generation of morons! Right!

Yeah, right, it takes such special talents to teach kids.

I remember as a child all those uneducated nuns that did just fine. In fact, back then, I would have put any of our students against any public school students in the surrounding area.

Don't worry about home schooling, it's something people have done long before the teachers unions were formed. In fact a close friend of mine had his wife teach their children. Two of them are in college today doing very well and the youngest one is already making plans.

Was she a high school graduate?

A college graduate as well.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

Something like a guaranteed income would allow many families to have a stay at home parent again. You know....like it was in "the good ol' days" That alone would result in benefits that far outweigh the cost.

That would allow more women to home-school their children. Think of all the money we could save on that alone!

Yes, all of those uneducated housewives teaching another generation of morons! Right!

Yeah, right, it takes such special talents to teach kids.

I remember as a child all those uneducated nuns that did just fine. In fact, back then, I would have put any of our students against any public school students in the surrounding area.

Don't worry about home schooling, it's something people have done long before the teachers unions were formed. In fact a close friend of mine had his wife teach their children. Two of them are in college today doing very well and the youngest one is already making plans.

Was she a high school graduate?

A college graduate as well.

Great! I fully support home schooling fro those who are qualified. That is why teachers have such strict education requirements. The blind do not fare well when leading the blind.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

That would allow more women to home-school their children. Think of all the money we could save on that alone!

Yes, all of those uneducated housewives teaching another generation of morons! Right!

Yeah, right, it takes such special talents to teach kids.

I remember as a child all those uneducated nuns that did just fine. In fact, back then, I would have put any of our students against any public school students in the surrounding area.

Don't worry about home schooling, it's something people have done long before the teachers unions were formed. In fact a close friend of mine had his wife teach their children. Two of them are in college today doing very well and the youngest one is already making plans.

Was she a high school graduate?

A college graduate as well.

Great! I fully support home schooling fro those who are qualified. That is why teachers have such strict education requirements. The blind do not fare well when leading the blind.

Well I've discussed subjects with you before and of course, read things you wrote to other people. I think the hardest thing for us all to accept is that machines and technology are taking our place in the work world, your profession no exception.

With the help of various online courses and businesses that have online teaching, it's only a matter of time before schools are a thing of the past. Of course I'm not talking tomorrow, next week, next year or ten years, but I can't see public schools being in operation let's say 50 years from now; at least not in the capacity they are today.

This is why home schooling can be done by a person with an 8th grade education as well as a college graduate. They are not actually doing the teaching.

I've always said that if there are two things in my life I am fortunate enough to have, it's being born in this great country, and at a time to witness and experience this technological revolution. Technology has been very beneficial in many ways, but very destructive in others.

 

[SuperDemocrat]

I ask this question because it was a discussion on the Michael Smerconish show on satellite radio. What basic income would do is eliminate all social programs we know as the safety net, and instead, just have government write every adult (21 and older) a check for $1,700 a month. It doesn't matter what you do with it, it's yours to spend as you like.

The savings from all these social programs would mostly fund the idea. It would eliminate tiers of bureaucracy and the hundreds if not thousands of government workers that oversee and operate these programs. There would be no food stamps, no HUD, no TANF, no welfare checks, unemployment checks, nothing. Anything you or your family needs comes out of that government check. Plus unlike our current system, it wouldn't discourage people from working. You get this check if you are Bill Gates or a homeless guy in the gutter. It would encourage people to work instead of discourage them. It would stop people from having unwanted children in order to get more goodies from the government. It would actually discourage poor people from procreating unlike our current system that rewards it. For those who could live solely on that $1,700 a month, they wouldn't have to work thus leaving open a job opportunity for those that may want it.

Switzerland is now putting it up for a vote as a trial program. If successful, it may the the law of the land. But the question I have is, who here would support such a program, and what party affiliation do you have?

Switzerland Will Hold The World's First Universal Basic Income Referendum

It would actually end the need for social welfare programs. It would also encourage employers to pay something above 1700 a month since why work if you get paid that much for free. A fascinating idea that might work on paper but I really don't feel comfortable with writing everyone a check for free in this country. We could do it but make people do something for it such as pick the cotten out Obama's ass or something like that.

 

[Skull Pilot]

Why would a couple making a joint income of $40,800 per year even want to wok?

Because that don't buy much.

How a Family of Four Manages to Live Well on Just $14,000 Per Year

 

[Skull Pilot]

Think about this

1700 a month saved at an average return of 8% would give you 2.5 million by the time you were 50. If you were married as a couple you'd have 5 million

You could then live as a couple on 20,000 a month until you die and still leave over a million to your kids who would then be able to add their 1700 a month to that lump sum

The government would basically make everyone a potential multi millionaire if they were smart at all with that money and would increase generational wealth

And we can't have all those rich people running around. I mean who would we blame for everything that goes wrong?

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

Think about this

1700 a month saved at an average return of 8% would give you 2.5 million by the time you were 50. If you were married as a couple you'd have 5 million

You could then live as a couple on 20,000 a month until you die and still leave over a million to your kids who would then be able to add their 1700 a month to that lump sum

The government would basically make everyone a potential multi millionaire if they were smart at all with that money and would increase generational wealth

And we can't have all those rich people running around. I mean who would we blame for everything that goes wrong?

The same people we blame today.

I mean, surviving is not all that difficult. Graduate high school, don't have any children until you are financially stable, stay away from drugs, and work hard at your job.

Then there are extras if you want better such as use your money for a trade school and learn a career, or take your money and invest it instead of getting that new I-phne and big screen that comes out every year, or maybe invest in your own business.

You don't need $1,700 a month to do any of those things, yet, people find it too difficult to do.

 

[Wilbur Right]

Why would a couple making a joint income of $40,800 per year even want to wok?

Because that don't buy much.

How a Family of Four Manages to Live Well on Just $14,000 Per Year

They took advantage of Nevada's declining housing market to score a cheap foreclosure.

By the time Wagasky's husband came home from Iraq, they had managed to scrape together the $30,000 they needed for a downpayment on a home.

"But we decided the best option would be not to have a mortgage payment at all," she said. "We found a fixer-upper that didn't have a kitchen ... and we paid cash."

Price tag: $28,000. With the leftover cash, they were able to finish the kitchen and install wood flooring throughout the house.






People never get the full fucking story from you do they? Only your fantasy version.

You think they could live on 14000 a year if they paid 800 rent or housepayment? Fuck no.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

I ask this question because it was a discussion on the Michael Smerconish show on satellite radio. What basic income would do is eliminate all social programs we know as the safety net, and instead, just have government write every adult (21 and older) a check for $1,700 a month. It doesn't matter what you do with it, it's yours to spend as you like.

The savings from all these social programs would mostly fund the idea. It would eliminate tiers of bureaucracy and the hundreds if not thousands of government workers that oversee and operate these programs. There would be no food stamps, no HUD, no TANF, no welfare checks, unemployment checks, nothing. Anything you or your family needs comes out of that government check. Plus unlike our current system, it wouldn't discourage people from working. You get this check if you are Bill Gates or a homeless guy in the gutter. It would encourage people to work instead of discourage them. It would stop people from having unwanted children in order to get more goodies from the government. It would actually discourage poor people from procreating unlike our current system that rewards it. For those who could live solely on that $1,700 a month, they wouldn't have to work thus leaving open a job opportunity for those that may want it.

Switzerland is now putting it up for a vote as a trial program. If successful, it may the the law of the land. But the question I have is, who here would support such a program, and what party affiliation do you have?

Switzerland Will Hold The World's First Universal Basic Income Referendum

It would actually end the need for social welfare programs. It would also encourage employers to pay something above 1700 a month since why work if you get paid that much for free. A fascinating idea that might work on paper but I really don't feel comfortable with writing everyone a check for free in this country. We could do it but make people do something for it such as pick the cotten out Obama's ass or something like that.

I understand that, but look at the money we are already paying now. Then there is this class warfare it creates such as when I see somebody at the grocery store buying food with their food stamps, and with cash, they pick up their beer, cigarettes, cat litter, huge bags of dog food, flowers and so on. If you checkout quick enough and see them going to their vehicle, they drive a nicer car than you do.

A flat check to everybody would end all of that and more. You get the $1,700 a month whether you stay single and have no children or you decide you want five. Nobody has anything to say about it because we are all on an equal playing field.

The concept is that if you can live on that check and be happy, by all means, it's your choice. If you want extra, you can get a job and work on top of that check, so no employer would have to increase wages to get people to work. After all, would you quit working to live on $1,700 a month?

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

Yes, all of those uneducated housewives teaching another generation of morons! Right!

Yeah, right, it takes such special talents to teach kids.

I remember as a child all those uneducated nuns that did just fine. In fact, back then, I would have put any of our students against any public school students in the surrounding area.

Don't worry about home schooling, it's something people have done long before the teachers unions were formed. In fact a close friend of mine had his wife teach their children. Two of them are in college today doing very well and the youngest one is already making plans.

Was she a high school graduate?

A college graduate as well.

Great! I fully support home schooling fro those who are qualified. That is why teachers have such strict education requirements. The blind do not fare well when leading the blind.

Well I've discussed subjects with you before and of course, read things you wrote to other people. I think the hardest thing for us all to accept is that machines and technology are taking our place in the work world, your profession no exception.

With the help of various online courses and businesses that have online teaching, it's only a matter of time before schools are a thing of the past. Of course I'm not talking tomorrow, next week, next year or ten years, but I can't see public schools being in operation let's say 50 years from now; at least not in the capacity they are today.

This is why home schooling can be done by a person with an 8th grade education as well as a college graduate. They are not actually doing the teaching.

I've always said that if there are two things in my life I am fortunate enough to have, it's being born in this great country, and at a time to witness and experience this technological revolution. Technology has been very beneficial in many ways, but very destructive in others.

If you had any real experience with students you would know that most have a serious problem following examples, and have to be walked through the process of solving math problems step-by-step. Virtual schooling is a poor substitute for actual teaching. Most of the the on-line courses I have seen are not intensive enough to prevent students from just simply guessing multiple choice answers, which does not indicate they have any idea of what they are doing. Also, the few programs that require students to actually show their thought processes are too poorly designed to account for various approaches to solving problems and will tell a student they are incorrect, but they are correct. Formatting the answers is always a major issue. All three of my children have had classes that used programs on-line for their instruction in high school and college, and they all hated them because of these errors.

 

[Skull Pilot]

Why would a couple making a joint income of $40,800 per year even want to wok?

Because that don't buy much.

How a Family of Four Manages to Live Well on Just $14,000 Per Year

They took advantage of Nevada's declining housing market to score a cheap foreclosure.

By the time Wagasky's husband came home from Iraq, they had managed to scrape together the $30,000 they needed for a downpayment on a home.

"But we decided the best option would be not to have a mortgage payment at all," she said. "We found a fixer-upper that didn't have a kitchen ... and we paid cash."

Price tag: $28,000. With the leftover cash, they were able to finish the kitchen and install wood flooring throughout the house.






People never get the full fucking story from you do they? Only your fantasy version.

You think they could live on 14000 a year if they paid 800 rent or housepayment? Fuck no.

I gave you the full story with the link you MORON

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

Yeah, right, it takes such special talents to teach kids.

I remember as a child all those uneducated nuns that did just fine. In fact, back then, I would have put any of our students against any public school students in the surrounding area.

Don't worry about home schooling, it's something people have done long before the teachers unions were formed. In fact a close friend of mine had his wife teach their children. Two of them are in college today doing very well and the youngest one is already making plans.

Was she a high school graduate?

A college graduate as well.

Great! I fully support home schooling fro those who are qualified. That is why teachers have such strict education requirements. The blind do not fare well when leading the blind.

Well I've discussed subjects with you before and of course, read things you wrote to other people. I think the hardest thing for us all to accept is that machines and technology are taking our place in the work world, your profession no exception.

With the help of various online courses and businesses that have online teaching, it's only a matter of time before schools are a thing of the past. Of course I'm not talking tomorrow, next week, next year or ten years, but I can't see public schools being in operation let's say 50 years from now; at least not in the capacity they are today.

This is why home schooling can be done by a person with an 8th grade education as well as a college graduate. They are not actually doing the teaching.

I've always said that if there are two things in my life I am fortunate enough to have, it's being born in this great country, and at a time to witness and experience this technological revolution. Technology has been very beneficial in many ways, but very destructive in others.

If you had any real experience with students you would know that most have a serious problem following examples, and have to be walked through the process of solving math problems step-by-step. Virtual schooling is a poor substitute for actual teaching. Most of the the on-line courses I have seen are not intensive enough to prevent students from just simply guessing multiple choice answers, which does not indicate they have any idea of what they are doing. Also, the few programs that require students to actually show their thought processes are too poorly designed to account for various approaches to solving problems and will tell a student they are incorrect, but they are correct. Formatting the answers is always a major issue. All three of my children have had classes that used programs on-line for their instruction in high school and college, and they all hated them because of these errors.

I can understand that, but I also think that a parent can detect those problems, and possibly address it better than a teacher. After all, who knows your kid better than you do?

What I think you are talking about here is technique. There we can agree. While I've never been a school teacher, I've taught music at home and music stores one on one. I can't imagine trying to do that in a class setting.

In the later part of doing that, I started to have kids approach me with things they learned on YouTube. Sometimes they could play the part just like the guy on the video, but had no idea why they were playing what they were playing. Or they would learn parts of a song completely wrong because the guy on the video had no clue what he was doing either.

It's much more miserable trying to teach somebody that self-taught either by themselves or using videos than it is somebody that knew nothing about the guitar. Once somebody is taught wrong, it's time consuming trying to "un-teach" them the wrong way of doing things. But on the other hand, I've had the same experience with kids that had crummy teachers in their past. I'm sure school teachers have faced the same problems.

 

[Wilbur Right]

I gave you the full story with the link yo

What you like to do is lie by omission. You didn't bother to say that your example HAD 30k from time in the military. And paid cash for housing. And it's a temporary situation. You forgot all of that. Lie by omission.

Is that your plan for prosperity. Everyone join the Army, save 30k, buy a foreclosure and live on 14k a year?

WOW.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

Was she a high school graduate?

A college graduate as well.

Great! I fully support home schooling fro those who are qualified. That is why teachers have such strict education requirements. The blind do not fare well when leading the blind.

Well I've discussed subjects with you before and of course, read things you wrote to other people. I think the hardest thing for us all to accept is that machines and technology are taking our place in the work world, your profession no exception.

With the help of various online courses and businesses that have online teaching, it's only a matter of time before schools are a thing of the past. Of course I'm not talking tomorrow, next week, next year or ten years, but I can't see public schools being in operation let's say 50 years from now; at least not in the capacity they are today.

This is why home schooling can be done by a person with an 8th grade education as well as a college graduate. They are not actually doing the teaching.

I've always said that if there are two things in my life I am fortunate enough to have, it's being born in this great country, and at a time to witness and experience this technological revolution. Technology has been very beneficial in many ways, but very destructive in others.

If you had any real experience with students you would know that most have a serious problem following examples, and have to be walked through the process of solving math problems step-by-step. Virtual schooling is a poor substitute for actual teaching. Most of the the on-line courses I have seen are not intensive enough to prevent students from just simply guessing multiple choice answers, which does not indicate they have any idea of what they are doing. Also, the few programs that require students to actually show their thought processes are too poorly designed to account for various approaches to solving problems and will tell a student they are incorrect, but they are correct. Formatting the answers is always a major issue. All three of my children have had classes that used programs on-line for their instruction in high school and college, and they all hated them because of these errors.

I can understand that, but I also think that a parent can detect those problems, and possibly address it better than a teacher. After all, who knows your kid better than you do?

What I think you are talking about here is technique. There we can agree. While I've never been a school teacher, I've taught music at home and music stores one on one. I can't imagine trying to do that in a class setting.

In the later part of doing that, I started to have kids approach me with things they learned on YouTube. Sometimes they could play the part just like the guy on the video, but had no idea why they were playing what they were playing. Or they would learn parts of a song completely wrong because the guy on the video had no clue what he was doing either.

It's much more miserable trying to teach somebody that self-taught either by themselves or using videos than it is somebody that knew nothing about the guitar. Once somebody is taught wrong, it's time consuming trying to "un-teach" them the wrong way of doing things. But on the other hand, I've had the same experience with kids that had crummy teachers in their past. I'm sure school teachers have faced the same problems.

No, I don't think parents can detect the problems with those programs. If they could, they would not use them. Maybe it is because I teach math, but I have has very few student tell me that their parents actually helped them with their assignment. Considering the thousands of students I have taught, that is truly sad. If they do get help, it is usually from a sibling or cousin, and probably more than half of the time the instruction is wrong.

 

[Skull Pilot]

I gave you the full story with the link yo

What you like to do is lie by omission. You didn't bother to say that your example HAD 30k from time in the military. And paid cash for housing. And it's a temporary situation. You forgot all of that. Lie by omission.

Is that your plan for prosperity. Everyone join the Army, save 30k, buy a foreclosure and live on 14k a year?

WOW.

So what?

You said I didn't give the whole story and yet I did. It was all there in the link,

Did you need me to read it to you?

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

A college graduate as well.

Great! I fully support home schooling fro those who are qualified. That is why teachers have such strict education requirements. The blind do not fare well when leading the blind.

Well I've discussed subjects with you before and of course, read things you wrote to other people. I think the hardest thing for us all to accept is that machines and technology are taking our place in the work world, your profession no exception.

With the help of various online courses and businesses that have online teaching, it's only a matter of time before schools are a thing of the past. Of course I'm not talking tomorrow, next week, next year or ten years, but I can't see public schools being in operation let's say 50 years from now; at least not in the capacity they are today.

This is why home schooling can be done by a person with an 8th grade education as well as a college graduate. They are not actually doing the teaching.

I've always said that if there are two things in my life I am fortunate enough to have, it's being born in this great country, and at a time to witness and experience this technological revolution. Technology has been very beneficial in many ways, but very destructive in others.

If you had any real experience with students you would know that most have a serious problem following examples, and have to be walked through the process of solving math problems step-by-step. Virtual schooling is a poor substitute for actual teaching. Most of the the on-line courses I have seen are not intensive enough to prevent students from just simply guessing multiple choice answers, which does not indicate they have any idea of what they are doing. Also, the few programs that require students to actually show their thought processes are too poorly designed to account for various approaches to solving problems and will tell a student they are incorrect, but they are correct. Formatting the answers is always a major issue. All three of my children have had classes that used programs on-line for their instruction in high school and college, and they all hated them because of these errors.

I can understand that, but I also think that a parent can detect those problems, and possibly address it better than a teacher. After all, who knows your kid better than you do?

What I think you are talking about here is technique. There we can agree. While I've never been a school teacher, I've taught music at home and music stores one on one. I can't imagine trying to do that in a class setting.

In the later part of doing that, I started to have kids approach me with things they learned on YouTube. Sometimes they could play the part just like the guy on the video, but had no idea why they were playing what they were playing. Or they would learn parts of a song completely wrong because the guy on the video had no clue what he was doing either.

It's much more miserable trying to teach somebody that self-taught either by themselves or using videos than it is somebody that knew nothing about the guitar. Once somebody is taught wrong, it's time consuming trying to "un-teach" them the wrong way of doing things. But on the other hand, I've had the same experience with kids that had crummy teachers in their past. I'm sure school teachers have faced the same problems.

No, I don't think parents can detect the problems with those programs. If they could, they would not use them. Maybe it is because I teach math, but I have has very few student tell me that their parents actually helped them with their assignment. Considering the thousands of students I have taught, that is truly sad. If they do get help, it is usually from a sibling or cousin, and probably more than half of the time the instruction is wrong.

To me, math is a talent more than a subject. That's probably why you don't get a lot of parental help with it. Years ago my company sent me to electronics school, and electronics is all math. Much of it I got, but there were parts that left me sitting there with my mouth open.

 

[my2¢]

I'm a middle-of-the-road Republican. Initially I like the idea, although I've consistently worked the past 40 years and so being unfamiliar with the present system I really have no basis to compare it to. Two things about Basic Income strike my fancy. First it doesn't pay people to have kids. Second, for folks like Bill Gates and I who don't need the $1700 a month, we could provide it to charitable organizations. I'd much rather use non-profit charitable organizations to provide for those in need rather than the government.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

I'm a middle-of-the-road Republican. Initially I like the idea, although I've consistently worked the past 40 years and so being unfamiliar with the present system I really have no basis to compare it to. Two things about Basic Income strike my fancy. First it doesn't pay people to have kids. Second, for folks like Bill Gates and I who don't need the $1700 a month, we could provide it to charitable organizations. I'd much rather use non-profit charitable organizations to provide for those in need rather than the government.

That's a good point.

But yes, a flat check would discourage people from having kids they can't afford. The system we have now rewards people for having kids because the more kids you have, the more government goodies you get.

You can't stop poverty unless you discourage people from making more poverty kids. The apple usually doesn't fall far from the tree, and the system we have now promotes poverty and irresponsibility.

 

[Norman]

Great! I fully support home schooling fro those who are qualified. That is why teachers have such strict education requirements. The blind do not fare well when leading the blind.

Well I've discussed subjects with you before and of course, read things you wrote to other people. I think the hardest thing for us all to accept is that machines and technology are taking our place in the work world, your profession no exception.

With the help of various online courses and businesses that have online teaching, it's only a matter of time before schools are a thing of the past. Of course I'm not talking tomorrow, next week, next year or ten years, but I can't see public schools being in operation let's say 50 years from now; at least not in the capacity they are today.

This is why home schooling can be done by a person with an 8th grade education as well as a college graduate. They are not actually doing the teaching.

I've always said that if there are two things in my life I am fortunate enough to have, it's being born in this great country, and at a time to witness and experience this technological revolution. Technology has been very beneficial in many ways, but very destructive in others.

If you had any real experience with students you would know that most have a serious problem following examples, and have to be walked through the process of solving math problems step-by-step. Virtual schooling is a poor substitute for actual teaching. Most of the the on-line courses I have seen are not intensive enough to prevent students from just simply guessing multiple choice answers, which does not indicate they have any idea of what they are doing. Also, the few programs that require students to actually show their thought processes are too poorly designed to account for various approaches to solving problems and will tell a student they are incorrect, but they are correct. Formatting the answers is always a major issue. All three of my children have had classes that used programs on-line for their instruction in high school and college, and they all hated them because of these errors.

I can understand that, but I also think that a parent can detect those problems, and possibly address it better than a teacher. After all, who knows your kid better than you do?

What I think you are talking about here is technique. There we can agree. While I've never been a school teacher, I've taught music at home and music stores one on one. I can't imagine trying to do that in a class setting.

In the later part of doing that, I started to have kids approach me with things they learned on YouTube. Sometimes they could play the part just like the guy on the video, but had no idea why they were playing what they were playing. Or they would learn parts of a song completely wrong because the guy on the video had no clue what he was doing either.

It's much more miserable trying to teach somebody that self-taught either by themselves or using videos than it is somebody that knew nothing about the guitar. Once somebody is taught wrong, it's time consuming trying to "un-teach" them the wrong way of doing things. But on the other hand, I've had the same experience with kids that had crummy teachers in their past. I'm sure school teachers have faced the same problems.

No, I don't think parents can detect the problems with those programs. If they could, they would not use them. Maybe it is because I teach math, but I have has very few student tell me that their parents actually helped them with their assignment. Considering the thousands of students I have taught, that is truly sad. If they do get help, it is usually from a sibling or cousin, and probably more than half of the time the instruction is wrong.

To me, math is a talent more than a subject. That's probably why you don't get a lot of parental help with it. Years ago my company sent me to electronics school, and electronics is all math. Much of it I got, but there were parts that left me sitting there with my mouth open.

You are completely mistaken. Math is a subject as any, but definitely being intelligent also plays a role.

Anyway, college classes could easily be computerized. It could be a robot talking and no one would notice - that's the level of interaction that generally takes place.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

Great! I fully support home schooling fro those who are qualified. That is why teachers have such strict education requirements. The blind do not fare well when leading the blind.

Well I've discussed subjects with you before and of course, read things you wrote to other people. I think the hardest thing for us all to accept is that machines and technology are taking our place in the work world, your profession no exception.

With the help of various online courses and businesses that have online teaching, it's only a matter of time before schools are a thing of the past. Of course I'm not talking tomorrow, next week, next year or ten years, but I can't see public schools being in operation let's say 50 years from now; at least not in the capacity they are today.

This is why home schooling can be done by a person with an 8th grade education as well as a college graduate. They are not actually doing the teaching.

I've always said that if there are two things in my life I am fortunate enough to have, it's being born in this great country, and at a time to witness and experience this technological revolution. Technology has been very beneficial in many ways, but very destructive in others.

If you had any real experience with students you would know that most have a serious problem following examples, and have to be walked through the process of solving math problems step-by-step. Virtual schooling is a poor substitute for actual teaching. Most of the the on-line courses I have seen are not intensive enough to prevent students from just simply guessing multiple choice answers, which does not indicate they have any idea of what they are doing. Also, the few programs that require students to actually show their thought processes are too poorly designed to account for various approaches to solving problems and will tell a student they are incorrect, but they are correct. Formatting the answers is always a major issue. All three of my children have had classes that used programs on-line for their instruction in high school and college, and they all hated them because of these errors.

I can understand that, but I also think that a parent can detect those problems, and possibly address it better than a teacher. After all, who knows your kid better than you do?

What I think you are talking about here is technique. There we can agree. While I've never been a school teacher, I've taught music at home and music stores one on one. I can't imagine trying to do that in a class setting.

In the later part of doing that, I started to have kids approach me with things they learned on YouTube. Sometimes they could play the part just like the guy on the video, but had no idea why they were playing what they were playing. Or they would learn parts of a song completely wrong because the guy on the video had no clue what he was doing either.

It's much more miserable trying to teach somebody that self-taught either by themselves or using videos than it is somebody that knew nothing about the guitar. Once somebody is taught wrong, it's time consuming trying to "un-teach" them the wrong way of doing things. But on the other hand, I've had the same experience with kids that had crummy teachers in their past. I'm sure school teachers have faced the same problems.

No, I don't think parents can detect the problems with those programs. If they could, they would not use them. Maybe it is because I teach math, but I have has very few student tell me that their parents actually helped them with their assignment. Considering the thousands of students I have taught, that is truly sad. If they do get help, it is usually from a sibling or cousin, and probably more than half of the time the instruction is wrong.

To me, math is a talent more than a subject. That's probably why you don't get a lot of parental help with it. Years ago my company sent me to electronics school, and electronics is all math. Much of it I got, but there were parts that left me sitting there with my mouth open.

So why didn't you get a computer program to teach you?