Hello Gentle -L-ers,

I apologize if my comment came across as accusing you of something other
than your latest comment.  I was quoting you out of context to make a
point about something we hear a lot from other people, not Wirt, and
didn't say so as clearly as I could have.

Thanks,
Howard Hoxsie

-----Original Message-----
From: HP-3000 Systems Discussion [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Wirt Atmar
Sent: Thursday, June 02, 2005 12:26 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [HP3000-L] OT: More Evolution

Howard writes:

> I've admired the commentary of Wirt for a number of years on this list
>  and his comment exposes, or at least alludes to, a point of view all
too
>  commonly heard within the vox populi, namely, that your children are
>  your responsibility, not mine.
>
>  I'm not pointing a finger at Wirt, just using his comment as an
example.
>  I'm sure he's smart enough to recognize the value of education as
much
>  or more than just about anyone we can think of.

That isn't at all what I meant, even if it was interpreted in that
manner.

The point I meant to argue was every child's first, best teachers are
their
parents. These are the people who either instill a joy in life-long
learning,
or they stifle it. I've been in homes where there are no books, the
children
aren't read to at night, nor are they even rarely spoken to in an
intelligent
manner.

Ignorance, superstition and poverty are as much learned attributes as
any
other form of knowledge or behavior, and the larger the percentage of
these
children that come to exist, the more they impoverish us all. It is in
our own
enlightened self-interest to do whatever we can to elevate our
neighbors' children
to their highest potentials, to provide them with every possible
economic and
educational opportunity.

I can't imagine anyone being so disconnected from the world that he
can't
understand that.

But there is only very short time window to truly educate a child, and
much
of it occurs before the child enters school. By age 12 or so, if the
child
isn't fully engaged in the process of self-education, it's almost as if
his soul
has been lost, and I am not exaggerating when I say that I consider that
a form
of murder.

Wirt Atmar

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