good quote of Pirsig, Platt. Thanks. woods
________________________________ From: Platt Holden <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, October 22, 2008 3:39:25 PM Subject: Re: [MD] growth and sustainability Hi Andre, An excellent lesson in unintended consequences of government action in the name of the "public good." I am especially taken by your description of government action in your second paragraph as a "push to . . ." It reminded me of the language used in the U.S. Congress's recent $700 billion bail out bill where government action is described as "encourage to . . ." What is meant, of course, is "Do it or else." Few people realize that government power, for good or ill, ultimately rests at the point of a gun. Pirsig does: "All the laws of history, all the arguments, all the Constitutions and the Bills of Rights and Declarations of Independence are nothing more than instructions to the military and police. If the military and police can't or don't follow these instructions properly they might as well have never been written." (Lila, 24) Platt > Hi Mel, Platt, Woods > > I caught the words Day Care and couldn't resist jumping in. > > Quite a number of years ago the cry for Day Care facilities ran high in > Holland as well. This was due to essentially 2 things which are linked: > a > push to increase private home ownership and a push for 'affirmative > action'/equal opportunity/ increased female participation in the > workplace. > > The first boosted the private housing market so mortgages went up and up > and > up...necessitating both parents to work just to keep up with the > payments. > And the second ( forcing women into the workforce and this process is > still > going on) necessitating more facilities to look after the children. > > The Govt. initially (partly) subsidised these DayCare Centres. > However, soon it became clear that the staff at these centres were,in > many > cases, unqualified,kids were neglected, not stimulated etc etc. They had > no > idea how to look after children! > > Then the call came to improve standards, not only of the facilities > themselves but also of the staff working there. The need for qualified > childcare workers. > This of course led to an increase in costs of running the Centre, > increased > wage demands, the value of the (Govt.) subsidies eroded, increasing the > financial burden of the parents in a never ending spiral. > > It is estimated that approx. one quarter of the combined wages earned by > the > parents goes towards Day Care. > > Many mothers and fathers want to share the responsibility of looking > after > their own children but many can't because of the effects of these two > policies. These effects extend through to post primary school level > where > starting and finishing times of primary schools do not coincide with > Mum's > or Dad's working hours. Hence the need for "Before"- and "After"care > facilities..and the circle continues. > > They create difficult times for parents and children. But on the > positive > side they have resulted f.ex. in flexi-time arrangements, > family-friendly > businesses, doing work from your own home (via a computerlink). > > But being an old-fashioned sort of bloke, I am pro-choice. Parents do > not > have that choice now despite many wanting to but... well...raising your > own > children...where is the (short term) economic value in that? > > Andre Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/ Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
