Re: Umesh on Education

["Tiwari, Umesh K" <UKTiwari@pcgb.com>]

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Hi Parth: 

To your point :
"I find it curious that you seem to equate "free things" or
"governmentprovision" with the "fruits of freedom." Who has ever fought for
freedom because they want a big government giving them desired goodies?
Freedom is freedom to act not to some specific goods or results. As the
American Constitution says ...right to the _pursuit_ of happiness ...not
happiness itself or happiness guaranteed by any government."
It is not the "free things" that one expects out of freedom, but the
equitable development of infrastructure in the nation that provides
opportunities to engage in free enterprise. If you don't care for the
development of areas that have been ignored and left to degenerate, if you
don't care to lift people who are forgotten, then the about modern society
and progress is futile. Why do you have social security net (by your strict
definition, that would amount to socialism isn't it?), why talk about
healthcare for all? and again why talk about education for all?
Dr. Shah, we are a society first and then a nation state, and if not, then I
have nothing to talk about. And a society is the community of people who
depend on each other and work together to ensure everyone progresses.
Socialism as we know in communism, is one big failed attempt. But that does
not negate the state's responsibility to care for those who are unable to
carry on, and that's what happens in most capitalist economies. In fact US
is more extreme a case, even here you can find huge socialistic programs
being run by the government. Just across the border, up in Canada, the level
of socialism is even higher, the taxes are higher and everyone gets free
medical coverage. I am sure lot of people here in the States don't agree
with it. Similarly, the welfare programs of United Kingdom are much more
liberal, and hardworking people end-up paying heavy taxes because of that. 
You can keep throwing arguments of the United States, such as the latest
from you being population census sampling..., and I can keep on arguing as
to why those arguments don't hold much water in the context of Indian
Education policy, not even here in the United States. But that in turn
becomes a debate on whether the policies implemented in the United States
are fair or not.
Please please, let us try to work on some original solutions, rather then
remaining fixated with the US Policy. You yourself have said that US
Education model is not the best to follow when it comes to primary
education, let us look some place else for better solutions, and mind you,
no country other then perhaps China (which you wouldn't want to emulate) has
the amount of population burden and hence the responsibility to educate the
number of children then us in India. 
Therefore, we have to start thinking afresh, away from voucher driven market
system, and not shy away from looking at other working systems simply
because that might not fit in the new so called capitalist thinking.
Thank You. 

Umesh Tiwari


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