You rant and rave about how wonderful capitalism, privatisation and competition is...then you rant about both parents pursuing their "carriers" is wrong. What do you think is one of the MAJOR reasons WHY more and more these days both parents work? That's right, the very system you're in love with. It's getting harder and harder to get by on one salary.....and those private schools you're pimping? The money for that comes from? That's right again. Mum and dad both working their *** off to put their kids through private school and college, but no, let's just pretend they don't really care.

Spork studies economics, he knows what he's talking about. Dismissing his post like that just makes you look like one big ball of misinformed ideology.

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"The moral of the story? No means no, especially when it comes to the English language. It's not into the kinky stuff you want it to do, and therefore you should not force it." - Darko

Wal Mart has low prices because their merchandise sucks. It's low quality stuff. Other than the low quality stuff, their prices are the same as everyone elses.

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I figure that one day I'll either be famous, or in prison. But I guess if I'm going to prison, I should probably try to do something that would make me famous anyway.

Gordon wins.

Because unskilled labor is only worth a couple cents a day and the welfare rolls are full enough as it is. Like oS keeps saying, the only hope for American industry is to create new products and new markets faster than other nations can co-opt, improve, and expand them. Forever. That, or spend hundreds of billions of our tax dollars subsidizing farmers and other useless professions.

Bill: Actually, Wal-Mart has this awesome automated distribution system. End result, Wal-Mart can often sell an identical product for less with larger margins.

[This message has been edited by Ictus (edited August 01, 2004).]

I was going to address some of your points, but I'll just make a quick summary instead. You are misinformed, idealistic, and have absolutely no idea how the real world works. Getting rid of public education won't solve any problems, it will only create more. And really, how is the system you describe any different than the current public school system?

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Some of you should learn to think a bit and discover - *gasp* - that someone can dislike Michael Moore, Kerry, and Bush!
-Wolfy

Their merchandise looks a lot like the merchandise I see at other retail stores.

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<ubuu> does hitler have a last name?
<jipe> .. yes, Ubuu, we're racist commy nazi jews, and we hate male pattern baldness
<Professor`K> Sorry, but half-way through your logic, my head exploded

Studied. I have a degree

But yeah you're right, it aint much point debating with someone like that.



Actually their prices are low because they have a lot of purchasing power. They can buy from manufacturers in very large quantities to supply their entire network of stores. Bulk purchases usually attract a discount, so they can still protect their margins.

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The Massassi-Map
There is no spoon.

[This message has been edited by Spork (edited August 01, 2004).]

W.......T........F........
Are you serious?

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Clarinetists, unite!

-writer of Bloodwing: Fallen Soldier
(no site up yet...)

Walmart can sell stuff cheap because they tell the people selling to them to give it to them cheaply or Walmart won't stock it. Which leads to the companies making the product making almost no profit, and smaller businesses getting choked out by Walmart.

(I see on preview that Spork basically said this, but in less of a conspiracy-theorish way)

Private schools have a good reputation because they can:

a) charge heaps of money, and
b) kick out/accept anyone they like. Obviously they'll only accept good students. Your average public school has to deal with poor and undesirable kids. Any smart or gifted kid that goes to a public school also might be "poached" by private schools with a scholarship to make their school look better, and the public schools even worse.

Education should not be run like a business, anyway. And the reason that parents can't teach their children is that most parents don't know enough; my parents certainly couldn't teach me anything at a high school level that isn't something they do in their day-to-day lives, and I doubt I'll be able to do trigonometry in 30 years, either. Hell, I can't even remember it now, and I only finished high school three years ago...

[edit: deleted a duplicate quote]

[This message has been edited by Matthew Pate (edited August 02, 2004).]