Comments on: A Small Payout to Classrooms

By Liz Marchi on 11-07-07

thanks for this story.  We all need to think about what the lottery means for our culture in Montana.
Liz

By Dave Skinner on 11-07-07

The lottery is a crummy regressive tax.
The odds stink in that payouts are a bit over half of what goes in. A dollar to get sixty in the long run? Who invests in that? People who don’t know how to invest, which is pretty much the lower socioeconomic cadres.
I will buy a lotto ticket once in a great while, usually when the Power Ball or Mega Prize payoff odds are better than usual. But other than that, forget it. It’s a slimy rip off, dishonest to the core, unethical. Kinda like gambling, but at least gambling you know it’s not for “the children.”

By Roark on 11-08-07

Lotteries are the most ethical way to fund PROPER government functions, public education is NOT a proper gov’t function.

By j davis on 11-08-07

Education not a government function? It’s one of the few actual services we receive for our taxes. If not the government then who? Sounds like nutjob Rick Jore and his racist constitution party buddies.

By Roark on 11-08-07

j davis, you may want to actually READ my post thoroughly. I said ‘public education is NOT a PROPER gov’t function’. You said,’If not the government then who’?
Let me make this point very clear. The key issue here is whether one is forced to pay for education of oneself (or others) VOLUNTARILY of one’s own free-will—as with private education; or, if one is forced to pay for the education of oneself (or others) at the point of a gun (to see this gun appear, simply volunteer to refuse to take part in “voluntary” school taxation).

Government is an agent of force; force and mind are opposites; to impose the will of public officials upon its citizens, is to render its citizens slaves. Contrary to the collectivist doctrines espoused throughout American schools, the mind of a child, or an adult, does not belong to the state: each man is an end to himself. It is said that children learn by example, is there any doubt to what kind of example “public-free” schooling is teaching?

Your accusing me of racism is typical of liberals who are devoid of sound logic and idea’s and who use the platitudes of emotionalism to dominate their constant irrationality. If anyone is a racist it is you, who most likely supports state based racism, i.e. affirmative action. Whereas I judge a man based on his integrity, character, and ability, you judge a man by his color, sex, creed, and altruism.

By Nick on 11-08-07

Wow… kudos, j davis… you just received the award for hitting the biggest nerve with Roark that anyone ever has!

In response:  I realize you don’t like taxes and govt control, but the fact of the matter is that without free public education, this country would no-doubt be on a downward spiral to a horrible society.  We need public education so the lazy parents that wouldn’t otherwise give their kids a chance, do have a chance to succeed in life.  You think crime, poverty, illiteracy, etc are bad now… it would be magnified a hundred times without that chance for our youth.  I will gladly pay taxes to fund schools… in fact, I wish our teachers were paid more and given more authority and control in schools… stupid liberals and their sue-happy lawyers have ruined it for schools to do anything to students that disrupt everyone else.  Our public education system sucks right now and needs to be fixed.

By j davis on 11-08-07

“Government is an agent of force; force and mind are opposites; to impose the will of public officials upon its citizens, is to render its citizens slaves.” That could easily be a quote from Alexander Berkman or Emma Goldman both famous anarchists. I never accused you of racism I said that your rhetoric sounded like something from the constitution party which IS racist. And for the record I despise affirmative action I think it is an insult to minorities. People are not ends in and of themselves they are part of a society, you are just spouting the ridiculous ideology of Ayn Rand. When one lives in a community there are certain obligations that go with citizenship. And dismissing everyone who disagrees with you as a liberal or Marxist hardly lends credibility to your posts. Public education has been the vehicle that has launched millions on the road to success and gives even the poorest among us the ability to rise above his or her circumstances. To equate education with slavery is probably the most absurd thing you have said so far.

By Roark on 11-08-07

“People are not ends in and of themselves they are part of a society”
---Say’s who?
“When one lives in a community there are certain obligations that go with citizenship.”
---Say’s who?-and who sets down MY ‘obligations’ to ‘society’?

‘Public’ (gov’t) education has done more to ruin genius in America than any other institution. They have ‘public’ education in North Korea, too, and well we can see where that leads. You are trying to justify the means by the ends. How is ‘public education’ NOT slavery?

Man is NOT the servant of the state or other man, man IS an end in himself, anyone who tells you otherwise intends to have slaves and masters.

By j davis on 11-09-07

The above post just goes to show you can’t have a battle of wits with an unarmed person. Give us examples of public education destroying genius--just one.

By Nick on 11-13-07

Roark,

Are you really comparing us to North Korea?  That might be the most uninformed post you’ve made to date… ok, wait, that’s not true… all of your posts are uninformed and unintelligble.  Nonetheless, you take one example (and a horrible one at that) and compare it to us.  That’s like apples and oranges big guy… sure they’re both fruits, but they are WAY different.

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