Comments for Pondering Money http://ponderingmoney.com Thinking in different ways about money. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:58:18 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.1 Comment on An Educational Mystery by Rick Francis http://ponderingmoney.com/2010/02/18/an-educational-mystery/#comment-216 Rick Francis Sat, 20 Feb 2010 01:30:10 +0000 http://ponderingmoney.com/2010/02/18/an-educational-mystery/#comment-216 Jon, Thank you for commenting! I would not expect the system to change quickly- it is both large and conservative. I agree large colleges don't have the economic incentive to change- they are the ones taking in a ton in tuition. Even if government is resistant to change- it seems to me there must be small private colleges that would be open to change. They could become more competitive by making these types of changes- offering more courses to their students at a lower cost. -Rick Francis Jon,

Thank you for commenting! I would not expect the system to change quickly- it is both large and conservative. I agree large colleges don’t have the economic incentive to change- they are the ones taking in a ton in tuition. Even if government is resistant to change- it seems to me there must be small private colleges that would be open to change. They could become more competitive by making these types of changes- offering more courses to their students at a lower cost.

-Rick Francis

]]> Comment on An Educational Mystery by Jon Runge http://ponderingmoney.com/2010/02/18/an-educational-mystery/#comment-213 Jon Runge Fri, 19 Feb 2010 20:06:10 +0000 http://ponderingmoney.com/2010/02/18/an-educational-mystery/#comment-213 <p>I had a website http://afreecollegedegree.com for a couple of years. I made the point that you are making in many different ways. It is astonishing how much resistance there is to setting up a program whereby students can take a test and get a degree once they have participated in Internet programs like the ones you describe. But that day is coming. The problem is that education is largely a government monopoly, and that government education is ultimately not about the students but about employing government educators. This country spends well over half a trillion dollars every year on education, which is no small chunk of change. I have started another free website recently at http://opalescently.weebly.com/, which is thrown together and which needs editing when I can get around to it. The point is that government is unable to educate students because government education is politically correct, while true education and the pursuit of truth and true moral character is politically incorrect. To put it differently, in the age of Obama the goal of education is to indoctrinate the public so that the public looks to government as the solution to all our problems. You are proposing an educational system that does the opposite. So the answer to your last question is not a matter of simple logic because simple logic provides an answer which is unacceptable to the current government educational system. In thinking more about an answer to your question, you need to figure out how to motivate people to take steps in actually implementing such a program. Here is one of the problems you will encounter. Bill Gates wants to improve education. He has a lot of money. But he will not do anything to assist in implementing your ideas I suspect because it would be bad for Microsoft's business. Think of how much software all of the divisions and departments of government buy from Microsoft, for example. Bill Gates does not want to aggravate so many customers, or at least that is one theory. In other words the answer to your question rests in figuring out the various factors that make people resistant to a sensible idea for providing free, privately funded, high quality, easily accessed Internet educational systems. Once you get answers to questions like this, then you can see what steps are required for successfully implementing the free, high quality educational programs that you are proposing. We seem to be thinking along the same general track. Contact me and we perhaps we can do something constructively to improve the American educational system. P.S. I looked briefly over your website, and your site seems to be concerned about money generally. So another way to pursue an answer to your question is first to recognize that money (and the corruption that the blind pursuit of money brings) is at the heart of problems in American education.</p> I had a website http://afreecollegedegree.com for a couple of years. I made the point that you are making in many different ways. It is astonishing how much resistance there is to setting up a program whereby students can take a test and get a degree once they have participated in Internet programs like the ones you describe. But that day is coming. The problem is that education is largely a government monopoly, and that government education is ultimately not about the students but about employing government educators. This country spends well over half a trillion dollars every year on education, which is no small chunk of change. I have started another free website recently at http://opalescently.weebly.com/, which is thrown together and which needs editing when I can get around to it. The point is that government is unable to educate students because government education is politically correct, while true education and the pursuit of truth and true moral character is politically incorrect. To put it differently, in the age of Obama the goal of education is to indoctrinate the public so that the public looks to government as the solution to all our problems. You are proposing an educational system that does the opposite. So the answer to your last question is not a matter of simple logic because simple logic provides an answer which is unacceptable to the current government educational system. In thinking more about an answer to your question, you need to figure out how to motivate people to take steps in actually implementing such a program. Here is one of the problems you will encounter. Bill Gates wants to improve education. He has a lot of money. But he will not do anything to assist in implementing your ideas I suspect because it would be bad for Microsoft’s business. Think of how much software all of the divisions and departments of government buy from Microsoft, for example. Bill Gates does not want to aggravate so many customers, or at least that is one theory. In other words the answer to your question rests in figuring out the various factors that make people resistant to a sensible idea for providing free, privately funded, high quality, easily accessed Internet educational systems. Once you get answers to questions like this, then you can see what steps are required for successfully implementing the free, high quality educational programs that you are proposing. We seem to be thinking along the same general track. Contact me and we perhaps we can do something constructively to improve the American educational system.
P.S. I looked briefly over your website, and your site seems to be concerned about money generally. So another way to pursue an answer to your question is first to recognize that money (and the corruption that the blind pursuit of money brings) is at the heart of problems in American education.

]]> Comment on Best of Money Carnival #37 by Rick Francis http://ponderingmoney.com/2010/02/08/best-of-money-carnival-37/#comment-184 Rick Francis Sun, 14 Feb 2010 15:34:50 +0000 http://ponderingmoney.com/2010/02/08/best-of-money-carnival-37/#comment-184 Monevastor, Thank you for submitting an interesting post and you make a good point - hedge funds have gotten a lot of media attention when they did well... but when they didn't do so well I don't remember hearing much at all. -Rick Francis Monevastor,

Thank you for submitting an interesting post and you make a good point - hedge funds have gotten a lot of media attention when they did well… but when they didn’t do so well I don’t remember hearing much at all.

-Rick Francis

]]> Comment on Best of Money Carnival #37 by Monevator http://ponderingmoney.com/2010/02/08/best-of-money-carnival-37/#comment-178 Monevator Sat, 13 Feb 2010 19:38:27 +0000 http://ponderingmoney.com/2010/02/08/best-of-money-carnival-37/#comment-178 Hi, thanks for including my post! I'd like to stress that while it's interesting to know how you can use hedge fund style technques on your own portfolio, I don't necessarily recommend it for private investors! Dollar cost averaging into a tracker is usually safest. :) Anyway, thanks again, off to check out some of the other posts now. Hi, thanks for including my post!

I’d like to stress that while it’s interesting to know how you can use hedge fund style technques on your own portfolio, I don’t necessarily recommend it for private investors!

Dollar cost averaging into a tracker is usually safest. :)

Anyway, thanks again, off to check out some of the other posts now.

]]> Comment on Best of Money Carnival #37 by Dustin | Engaged Marriage http://ponderingmoney.com/2010/02/08/best-of-money-carnival-37/#comment-168 Dustin | Engaged Marriage Wed, 10 Feb 2010 05:01:09 +0000 http://ponderingmoney.com/2010/02/08/best-of-money-carnival-37/#comment-168 Thanks, Rick! It's much appreciated. Thanks, Rick! It’s much appreciated.

]]> Comment on Best of Money Carnival #37 by Rick Francis http://ponderingmoney.com/2010/02/08/best-of-money-carnival-37/#comment-166 Rick Francis Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:38:25 +0000 http://ponderingmoney.com/2010/02/08/best-of-money-carnival-37/#comment-166 Adam, Thank you for submitting a great post! -Rick Adam,

Thank you for submitting a great post!

-Rick

]]> Comment on Best of Money Carnival #37 by Rick Francis http://ponderingmoney.com/2010/02/08/best-of-money-carnival-37/#comment-165 Rick Francis Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:36:52 +0000 http://ponderingmoney.com/2010/02/08/best-of-money-carnival-37/#comment-165 Dustin, I thought you did a great job with an important and controversial topic and it was different enough to stand out for me. -Rick Dustin,

I thought you did a great job with an important and controversial topic and it was different enough to stand out for me.

-Rick

]]> Comment on Best of Money Carnival #37 by Adam http://ponderingmoney.com/2010/02/08/best-of-money-carnival-37/#comment-162 Adam Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:05:02 +0000 http://ponderingmoney.com/2010/02/08/best-of-money-carnival-37/#comment-162 Thanks so much for your kind words and for featuring my post here in the Money carnival. I'm honoured to have made it through the selection process with one of my first blog posts. Great carnival and I hope to see you around the blogosphere! Adam Thanks so much for your kind words and for featuring my post here in the Money carnival. I’m honoured to have made it through the selection process with one of my first blog posts.

Great carnival and I hope to see you around the blogosphere!

Adam

]]> Comment on Best of Money Carnival #37 by Dustin | Engaged Marriage http://ponderingmoney.com/2010/02/08/best-of-money-carnival-37/#comment-158 Dustin | Engaged Marriage Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:01:10 +0000 http://ponderingmoney.com/2010/02/08/best-of-money-carnival-37/#comment-158 Thank you for choosing my post in the #1 spot! It's very exciting and quite fulfilling for a "marriage blogger". I totally agree with you that this is a very important topic for a successful relationship. I have also found that it is quite controversial based on the comments on this post and other discussions I had on the EM Facebook page. Thank you for choosing my post in the #1 spot! It’s very exciting and quite fulfilling for a “marriage blogger”. I totally agree with you that this is a very important topic for a successful relationship. I have also found that it is quite controversial based on the comments on this post and other discussions I had on the EM Facebook page.

]]> Comment on How I Would Choose a Financial Advisor by Rick Francis http://ponderingmoney.com/2010/01/28/how-i-would-choose-a-financial-advisor/#comment-142 Rick Francis Thu, 04 Feb 2010 23:49:33 +0000 http://ponderingmoney.com/2010/01/28/how-i-would-choose-a-financial-advisor/#comment-142 @Financial Planner, Thanks for commenting! A search engine would be very helpful for finding initial prospects. From your alias I take it you are an advisor- how would you feel about getting some of those questions? -Rick @Financial Planner,

Thanks for commenting! A search engine would be very helpful for finding initial prospects. From your alias I take it you are an advisor- how would you feel about getting some of those questions?

-Rick

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