2. reform the Justice system. Broadly speaking: first conviction = re-education second conviction = punishment third conviction = life imprisonment or capital punishment
1. Abolish all compulsory taxes apart from a property (real estate) tax limited to no more than 0.5% of the value of the property per year.
Everyone would still be allowed to voluntarily opt in to state run welfare, health and education by paying contributions to these services. I doubt if many people would do this after an initial readjustment period because of the lack of value for money.
Why do this? To increase personal freedom. To provide a maasive boost to the economy - petrol at 30pence per litre - no corporation tax leading to massive foreign investment etc etc.
When I was 7 we moved to a London suburb. There was a wide choice of local primary schools.
My mother looked up which school had the best 11+ results.
It was a catholic school. So she sent us there.
She was years ahead of her time in that respect.
My mother told us to say "yes" to any religious questions that were asked of us.
So 2 weeks into school I went to my first mass with the rest of the school.
When it came time for Communion, most but not all of the children went up to the priest.
I hesitated. Not sure what to do.
My teacher came up to me and asked me a series of questions that I didn't understand:
"Have you received your First Communion?" "Yes" "Did you go to confession last week-end?" "Yes" "Have you eaten anything this morning?" "Yes" "Did you have some sweets on the way here?" "Yes" "Sit down then" "Yes"
Oxford and Cambridge are the best universities in the world for reputation.
In the school hallway there was a plaque that listed the name and year of every pupil that went to Oxford or Cambridge. Most years there were 2 or 3 names. 1 year there were 15 names.
When I was 13 the school changed from being an RC (Roman Catholic)boys only grammar school to a co-educational RC comprehensive. The headmaster retired. A number of the best teachers left. After that, the number of pupils appearing on the plaque dropped to 0 per year.
I can tell you a story about why I went to an RC school when I was never a Catholic...
Do a technical degree at Oxford or Cambridge and you'll never be out of work for long.
As a 17 year old I read an article in the Economist that told me about London City International Finance banks like Merill Lynch recruiting science graduates - especially ones that could speak a foreign language - from Oxbridge and paying them enormous wages and bonuses.
In terms of knowledge a mechanical engineering graduate from Cambridge probably doesn't know any more than one from a Polyversity.
In terms of getting the best jobs there's a big difference.
And I always thought a Catch 22 was a logical contradiction that stopped you from doing something.
For example, you go to the USAF doctor and say "I'm crazy. Discharge me from the airforce". The doctor replies "You can't be crazy. If you were crazy you'd want to stay in the airforce".
At the time I wasn't bothered about getting my education rolling. Or not bothered enough. I had vague dreams of going to Cambridge, but never had the motivation to put the work in to get there. If I'd had good teachers that had really pushed me, I might have gone to Cambridge.
Your Electrical teacher was useless, Gilly.
At the age of 16 I didn't have the confidence to ask questions in class.
In the end of year exams I'd usually be top of my class, or 2nd in my class at Maths, English language, Physics, Geography. I'd come 2nd to 5th in Chemistry, about 6th in English Literature, 12th in history, 20th at RE, 22nd at French, 20th at latin before I dropped it, 22nd at art and woodwork before I dropped them and 30th out of 30 at music before I dropped it.
When I left school I went to Poly to study Mechanical Engineering.
If I was a teenager again. If I was at the right school I'd do Maths, Physics and Geography A-levels - but only if I had the right teachers to get me to Oxford or Cambridge.
If there was little chance of me going to Oxbridge I wouldn't bother with A-levels. I'd do a City and Guilds in plumbing, become a CORGI registered plumber and earn a very good living as a jobbing plumber.
Or maybe do a CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Administrator) or MCSE (Microsoft Certified Software Engineer).
When I was 16 I stayed at the same school to do my A-levels that I did my O-levels at.
Even though Mr Calcott, the teacher in charge of timetabling was a useless blob. On Tuesdays I had no lessons till 3.30 (when most the other pupils went home) and then I'd have a single Physics lessons. He also said that I wasn't good enough to do Additional maths A-level as well as Maths A-level. Thanks for the vote of confidence, Mr Calcott.
Mr Saji my Physics teacher was a really nice bloke, but far too soft on his pupils.
I didn't get on with my maths teacher Mrs Evans - her teaching style didn't suit me.
My Chemistry teacher Mrs Sikabonyi was a left-wing tree-hugging CND member who couldn't explain things in laymans terms and who would go off in technical tangents.
My fellow pupils: typical of any school. Some I liked, some I didn't.
Looking back on it now I should have walked out of that school and done my A-levels somewhere else. Anywhere else.
I probably would have got better grades and I would have matured more by quitting that school and joining the local 6th form college.
So, I'm with you on this one Gilly. Sometimes it's best to follow your instincts and walk away.
It takes the bad bits in life to make the good bits seem so good.
And for anyone living in a first world country, even the bad bits are still pretty good - ie always enough to eat and a warm dry place to sleep at night.
There was a nice girl in Bahrain Who was driving me totally insane With her posts on this site Made me laugh all the night Till my tummy was cramped-up in pain
lint874 Forum Posts (414)
Well said. I totally agree.
RE: has anybody ever walked out ofcollege or university because they never liked the people in the class
No..