Homeschool World Forum

I agree, and I'm not saying that everyone needs even a high school degree to be helpful to those around them - but speaking, reading, and writing English is a basic necessity if you live in the US. And the notion of "improving oneself" is not self-serving - it's more that you want to make yourself as useful as possible for God and your country and so on. If you don't learn something that will help you do a better job just because it's a lot of work, then that's laziness, not efficiency.

Yes, I always extrapolate to extremes, but before you can advocate a plan of action, you have to think about what would happen if a lot of people went with it. You can't just say it's ok for some people and then leave it at that. What is the benefit of not being able to speak, read, and write English or do at least basic math? There are people who've done great things with no education - but think how much more they could have done with an education.

On a personal note, I tought myself programming and web design, but I still took a course on Unix and a course on mySQL because I know it would fill in any holes I missed. Could I do well as a programmer without those courses? Yes. Could I be as effective as possible without those courses? No. You have to try to be the best you can in your area of expertise. Anything else is letting down the client. And basic English and math skills are the core to everything.

Actually, once you realize you need an education, it's often too late to get one. You pretty much have until you get married to learn, and the patterns need to be set in your brain as early as possible to get best results. Children learn languages much more easily than adults, for instance.

As for not doing the same things with an education as without - how can you say that they wouldn't have done the exact same thing, only even better? The Founding Fathers were all highly educated men, imagine if they'd only had the equivalent of a high school or grade school education, and knew relatively little about history.

Again - you can theoretically do great things without an education, but that's no excuse for not having one. You can dig a hole with a rock, but if you're doing that because you forgot or were too lazy to bring a shovel, then you're an idiot. Voluntarily skipping your education doesn't help anyone.

Incidently, I'm not trying to attack anyone personally here. I notice the debate has gotten a little heated in places.

Hi Everyone,

I am replying to a previous question about scripture that talks about accountability and community. Here are a few:

Ecclesiastes 4

9 Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their work:

10 If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!

11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?

12 Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.


Romans 15:14

14I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another.

I will try to find the ones my pastor used or a book used later.

Have a great day!

Jan

Good quotes, Jan. I think they all refer to someone who would be a fellow believer, not the government. So to have some accountablility to a fellow believer would be helpful, but to have more accountability to the government wouldn't be, in my opinion.

Calleigh