Mmmmm....Education.
So I think education is a human right. Yup, I think that if "society" was smart it would realize just how important a liberal education is to our society and would stop commodifying it.
So I got to meet Ralph Klein on Friday. He's the rather embarrassing premier of my province. Sadly, he doesn't share my opinion on education and I would also say a lot of Albertans don't share this opinion either, so this upcoming election on the 22nd will most likely benefit Mr. Klein and his party and that makes me sad. What surprised me even more was his size. He's so wee. I had no idea...it caught me off guard and I marveled at it. I've been studying history and my prof likes to highlight the height of tyrants. Something could be said about powerful men and their stature...Hitler, Kim Jong Il , Napoleon(but I certainly won't make that comparison here). I just thought of how many wee men have taken their inferiority complex...This "short man syndrome" to a whole new level. (Apparently David Suzuki is also wee and look at what he's done with his power...) Things that make you go Hmmm....
I finally got to see the movie Boys on The Bus (Thanks to Lancaster). It is a movie about the Oilers in the cup winning days. It was pretty funny to watch and Gretzky is hilarious. "I want the puck...the rest of you can get your own..." I got my fill of sad 80's mullets, too. It was heartbreaking to revisit the infamous Smith Goal, although the movie makers were smart to only touch on it briefly, not really showing it at all, and move on as fast as they could. Oh and the sequel "Back on The Bus" is terrible...although seeing Kelly Buchberger at such a young age was pretty cool. He's the assistant coach with the Edmonton Road Runners now...
So there you go, I had an interesting weekend, a brush with the most powerful man in Alberta and a glimpse back into the lives of the best hockey players in the world. Now if only we could send Klein back to the 80's or trade him, like The Oilers did Coffey, at the very least...
"Knock, knock"
"Who's there?"
"Paul"
"Paul who?"
exactly.
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2 comments:
The sequel was called "The Boys are Back." And you're right, it was terrible.
Education is not a human right because you don't need it to survive, and you don't even need it to be happy. Some people do, but that's the choice they make. Some people are perfectly happy hauling trash for $32 an hour, and some aren't, but just because it doesn't require post-secondary education doesn't make it a less valuable service. In fact, I actually believe I've gotten dumber since high school. University = the idiot factory...I've said it before and I'll say it again. And just 10 minutes ago, I wrote out my 10 reasons why we shouldn't have free university education, but I won't bother copying and pasting and making this lousy comment any longer than it is, because I'm going to be spit on and called a fascist for what I've said already.
And if a lot of Albertans don't share that opinion, then I guess democracy wins. Maybe we should do away with democracy instead! 4 more years for Klein, take that hippies! :P
--The Dude
Weeds et al,
I have been doing some thinking lately about 'rights', and what they mean in our society. In fact you could say that Canada has become the 'Rights Society'. Each issue or disagreement is eventually distilled down to a question of fundamental or competing rights. Education, abortion, healthcare and many other things besides have at one time or another been claimed as rights.
However, my question to the proponents of 'rights', is very simple. What have you done to deserve these rights? I mean this question in it's most basic sense. Other than being born in an indulgent society, what claim do the various crusaders for rights make? Have you fought in any meaningful way to maintain the priveledges accorded to you? Have you advanced understanding, or led such an exemplary life that you should be granted undeniable benefits and protections in law(rights)?
It seems one thing we can all agree is that we have a right to life. That is, if someone was trying to kill us, we would feel the 'right' to fight back and possibly kill the attacker. Most societies sanction this action, feeling that life is an undeniable right and we can take whatever means necessary to protect this right. How many other 'rights' meet this test?
I make no claim as to whether the various causes are indeed 'rights' or not, that's not my purpose. I merely want to know what lengths some 'rights' claimers would go to protect the rights they passionately pursue. For example, would you take up arms to protect your 'right' to obtain an abortion if it was taken away? Would you write your MP? Or just go have a beer and forget about it? How far would you go to defend something you claim to believe is a fundamental right?
If the truth is not very far, perhaps we need to stop throwing around the term 'rights' and start talking about priveledges. The next subject after that would be responsibilities, as these two terms are inextricably linked. Have you ever wondered why when you see someone in the media making claim to one right or another they seldom mention this word?
duke
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