Opinions that are unpopular in your political "tribe"

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Opinions that are unpopular in your political "tribe"

Post by Pwns »

Self-explanatory thread title. These are several realities over the years that I've gradually found I just have to accept.

1. Corporate America largely takes the left's side on culture wars and kind of works with the worst aspects of the left (e.g. censorship). We should use more economic production to build a consumer class that spends their money in the American economy and stop prioritizing corporate profit margins.

2. Treating higher ed as a business has been a disaster, and I'm not even talking about expenses for families. When you have a system where students and parents are customers and diplomas are products instead of one where tax payers are customers and students are the product you get a loss of rigor and administrators that kowtow to every grade and microaggression complaint.

3. If you think too many teachers are low-achieving liberal ne'er do wells (there is some level of truth to that), we're going to have to accept that we need to increase pay of teacher positions.

4. Health care is not and never will function as a competitive market like restaurants competing for your lunch money. I don't know what the least sucky answer is but our system now is just preposterously expensive train wreck that only benefits insurance companies. Either fix the system or recognize expanding Medicare for everyone becomes inevitable.
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Re: Opinions that are unpopular in your political "tribe"

Post by kalm »

Pwns wrote: Thu Mar 16, 2023 12:49 pm Self-explanatory thread title. These are several realities over the years that I've gradually found I just have to accept.

1. Corporate America largely takes the left's side on culture wars and kind of works with the worst aspects of the left (e.g. censorship). We should use more economic production to build a consumer class that spends their money in the American economy and stop prioritizing corporate profit margins.

2. Treating higher ed as a business has been a disaster, and I'm not even talking about expenses for families. When you have a system where students and parents are customers and diplomas are products instead of one where tax payers are customers and students are the product you get a loss of rigor and administrators that kowtow to every grade and microaggression complaint.

3. If you think too many teachers are low-achieving liberal ne'er do wells (there is some level of truth to that), we're going to have to accept that we need to increase pay of teacher positions.

4. Health care is not and never will function as a competitive market like restaurants competing for your lunch money. I don't know what the least sucky answer is but our system now is just preposterously expensive train wreck that only benefits insurance companies. Either fix the system or recognize expanding Medicare for everyone becomes inevitable.
I’d answer but I’m post-tribe.

Yours are all highly reasonable statements though.
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Re: Opinions that are unpopular in your political "tribe"

Post by UNI88 »

Pwns wrote: Thu Mar 16, 2023 12:49 pm Self-explanatory thread title. These are several realities over the years that I've gradually found I just have to accept.

1. Corporate America largely takes the left's side on culture wars and kind of works with the worst aspects of the left (e.g. censorship). We should use more economic production to build a consumer class that spends their money in the American economy and stop prioritizing corporate profit margins.

2. Treating higher ed as a business has been a disaster, and I'm not even talking about expenses for families. When you have a system where students and parents are customers and diplomas are products instead of one where tax payers are customers and students are the product you get a loss of rigor and administrators that kowtow to every grade and microaggression complaint.

3. If you think too many teachers are low-achieving liberal ne'er do wells (there is some level of truth to that), we're going to have to accept that we need to increase pay of teacher positions.

4. Health care is not and never will function as a competitive market like restaurants competing for your lunch money. I don't know what the least sucky answer is but our system now is just preposterously expensive train wreck that only benefits insurance companies. Either fix the system or recognize expanding Medicare for everyone becomes inevitable.
1) I suspect that that is the corporate America that makes the news. I would guess that most of corporate is more focused on their stock price and only cares about what moves that needle and increases their bonuses. We need business owners and managers who are focused on building great companies for the long-term.

2) Federal government involvement in funding higher ed through loans has proven a disaster. Administrative costs ballooned to suck up the available federal funds without corresponding increases in funding for educators. Now they institutions of higher ed want to keep their bureaucracies and use non-tenured professors to keep their costs down. Unwillingness to offend students with serious discussions about divisive topics isn't helping.

3) As a former substitute teacher, teachers are similar to the rest of society. There is a small percentage of rock stars who do a phenomenal job despite being hamstrung by government restrictions and requirements. The vast majority are pretty good teachers who work hard to teach their students within those restrictions and requirements. And there is a small percentage of teachers who are skating and like the restrictions and requirements because the result is school districts purchase one-size-fits-all step-by-step guides from the major publishers. I don't know how many teachers are indoctrinating students. I suspect it's a small percentage but 1 is 1 too many.

4) Don't disagree but I'm not sure medicare for all will be much better than what we have now. Wish our leaders had the courage to try and come up with a solution that fits the American people.


kalm is as post-tribe as trump is the personification of grace and pacifism.
Being wrong about a topic is called post partisanism - kalm
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Re: Opinions that are unpopular in your political "tribe"

Post by kalm »

UNI88 wrote: Thu Mar 16, 2023 5:12 pm
Pwns wrote: Thu Mar 16, 2023 12:49 pm Self-explanatory thread title. These are several realities over the years that I've gradually found I just have to accept.

1. Corporate America largely takes the left's side on culture wars and kind of works with the worst aspects of the left (e.g. censorship). We should use more economic production to build a consumer class that spends their money in the American economy and stop prioritizing corporate profit margins.

2. Treating higher ed as a business has been a disaster, and I'm not even talking about expenses for families. When you have a system where students and parents are customers and diplomas are products instead of one where tax payers are customers and students are the product you get a loss of rigor and administrators that kowtow to every grade and microaggression complaint.

3. If you think too many teachers are low-achieving liberal ne'er do wells (there is some level of truth to that), we're going to have to accept that we need to increase pay of teacher positions.

4. Health care is not and never will function as a competitive market like restaurants competing for your lunch money. I don't know what the least sucky answer is but our system now is just preposterously expensive train wreck that only benefits insurance companies. Either fix the system or recognize expanding Medicare for everyone becomes inevitable.
1) I suspect that that is the corporate America that makes the news. I would guess that most of corporate is more focused on their stock price and only cares about what moves that needle and increases their bonuses. We need business owners and managers who are focused on building great companies for the long-term.

2) Federal government involvement in funding higher ed through loans has proven a disaster. Administrative costs ballooned to suck up the available federal funds without corresponding increases in funding for educators. Now they institutions of higher ed want to keep their bureaucracies and use non-tenured professors to keep their costs down. Unwillingness to offend students with serious discussions about divisive topics isn't helping.

3) As a former substitute teacher, teachers are similar to the rest of society. There is a small percentage of rock stars who do a phenomenal job despite being hamstrung by government restrictions and requirements. The vast majority are pretty good teachers who work hard to teach their students within those restrictions and requirements. And there is a small percentage of teachers who are skating and like the restrictions and requirements because the result is school districts purchase one-size-fits-all step-by-step guides from the major publishers. I don't know how many teachers are indoctrinating students. I suspect it's a small percentage but 1 is 1 too many.

4) Don't disagree but I'm not sure medicare for all will be much better than what we have now. Wish our leaders had the courage to try and come up with a solution that fits the American people.


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Re: Opinions that are unpopular in your political "tribe"

Post by UNI88 »

kalm wrote: Thu Mar 16, 2023 5:22 pm
UNI88 wrote: Thu Mar 16, 2023 5:12 pm

1) I suspect that that is the corporate America that makes the news. I would guess that most of corporate is more focused on their stock price and only cares about what moves that needle and increases their bonuses. We need business owners and managers who are focused on building great companies for the long-term.

2) Federal government involvement in funding higher ed through loans has proven a disaster. Administrative costs ballooned to suck up the available federal funds without corresponding increases in funding for educators. Now they institutions of higher ed want to keep their bureaucracies and use non-tenured professors to keep their costs down. Unwillingness to offend students with serious discussions about divisive topics isn't helping.

3) As a former substitute teacher, teachers are similar to the rest of society. There is a small percentage of rock stars who do a phenomenal job despite being hamstrung by government restrictions and requirements. The vast majority are pretty good teachers who work hard to teach their students within those restrictions and requirements. And there is a small percentage of teachers who are skating and like the restrictions and requirements because the result is school districts purchase one-size-fits-all step-by-step guides from the major publishers. I don't know how many teachers are indoctrinating students. I suspect it's a small percentage but 1 is 1 too many.

4) Don't disagree but I'm not sure medicare for all will be much better than what we have now. Wish our leaders had the courage to try and come up with a solution that fits the American people.

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Re: Opinions that are unpopular in your political "tribe"

Post by kalm »

UNI88 wrote: Thu Mar 16, 2023 5:43 pm
kalm wrote: Thu Mar 16, 2023 5:22 pm

Kalm is bigly-post tribe!
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I’m a member of the lost tribe of rational conservatives.
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Re: Opinions that are unpopular in your political "tribe"

Post by Winterborn »

kalm wrote: Thu Mar 16, 2023 6:28 pm
UNI88 wrote: Thu Mar 16, 2023 5:43 pm

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How is Roanoke these days?
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Re: Opinions that are unpopular in your political "tribe"

Post by kalm »

Winterborn wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2023 8:12 am
kalm wrote: Thu Mar 16, 2023 6:28 pm

I’m a member of the lost tribe of rational conservatives.
How is Roanoke these days?
Warmer than New Foundland.
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Re: Opinions that are unpopular in your political "tribe"

Post by Winterborn »

UNI88 wrote: Thu Mar 16, 2023 5:12 pm
Pwns wrote: Thu Mar 16, 2023 12:49 pm Self-explanatory thread title. These are several realities over the years that I've gradually found I just have to accept.

1. Corporate America largely takes the left's side on culture wars and kind of works with the worst aspects of the left (e.g. censorship). We should use more economic production to build a consumer class that spends their money in the American economy and stop prioritizing corporate profit margins.

2. Treating higher ed as a business has been a disaster, and I'm not even talking about expenses for families. When you have a system where students and parents are customers and diplomas are products instead of one where tax payers are customers and students are the product you get a loss of rigor and administrators that kowtow to every grade and microaggression complaint.

3. If you think too many teachers are low-achieving liberal ne'er do wells (there is some level of truth to that), we're going to have to accept that we need to increase pay of teacher positions.

4. Health care is not and never will function as a competitive market like restaurants competing for your lunch money. I don't know what the least sucky answer is but our system now is just preposterously expensive train wreck that only benefits insurance companies. Either fix the system or recognize expanding Medicare for everyone becomes inevitable.
1) I suspect that that is the corporate America that makes the news. I would guess that most of corporate is more focused on their stock price and only cares about what moves that needle and increases their bonuses. We need business owners and managers who are focused on building great companies for the long-term.

2) Federal government involvement in funding higher ed through loans has proven a disaster. Administrative costs ballooned to suck up the available federal funds without corresponding increases in funding for educators. Now they institutions of higher ed want to keep their bureaucracies and use non-tenured professors to keep their costs down. Unwillingness to offend students with serious discussions about divisive topics isn't helping.

3) As a former substitute teacher, teachers are similar to the rest of society. There is a small percentage of rock stars who do a phenomenal job despite being hamstrung by government restrictions and requirements. The vast majority are pretty good teachers who work hard to teach their students within those restrictions and requirements. And there is a small percentage of teachers who are skating and like the restrictions and requirements because the result is school districts purchase one-size-fits-all step-by-step guides from the major publishers. I don't know how many teachers are indoctrinating students. I suspect it's a small percentage but 1 is 1 too many.

4) Don't disagree but I'm not sure medicare for all will be much better than what we have now. Wish our leaders had the courage to try and come up with a solution that fits the American people.
If you think Healthcare is expensive now, just wait till it is free.- P.J. O'Rourke :coffee:

Overall I agree with what you and Pwns stated. There is no black and white but many shades of grey and almost always those shift depending on the topic, time of year, persons involved, etc.. I think much could be done, but will not hold my breath for it.

Came to the realization that one just learns to live with it and use it to ones advantage. Is that enabling the system we have, I think it is, but then as I have become older I have become less idealistic and realize that the momentum may be too great to change. The other thing I tell myself to remember is that we hear about all the bad stuff, because that sells clicks. The world is not all doom and gloom.

That doesn't stop me from complaining, voting, or trying to make a difference in ways that I can. Guess I am as much of a hypocrite as the politicians I complain about are. But it sure feels good at tax time. :lol:
“The best of all things is to learn. Money can be lost or stolen, health and strength may fail, but what you have committed to your mind is yours forever.” – Louis L’Amour

“Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times.” - G. Michael Hopf

"I am neither especially clever nor especially gifted. I am only very, very curious.” – Albert Einstein
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Re: Opinions that are unpopular in your political "tribe"

Post by Winterborn »

kalm wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2023 8:22 am
Winterborn wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2023 8:12 am

How is Roanoke these days?
Warmer than New Foundland.
That doesn't take much. :lol:

One more good blizzard here and the National Guard are going to have to break out the big snowblowers. Old man winter sneezes and the interstates shut down due to drifting snow. :ohno:
“The best of all things is to learn. Money can be lost or stolen, health and strength may fail, but what you have committed to your mind is yours forever.” – Louis L’Amour

“Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times.” - G. Michael Hopf

"I am neither especially clever nor especially gifted. I am only very, very curious.” – Albert Einstein
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