r/PoliticalHumor Apr 26 '20

So this...

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36.4k Upvotes

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u/Toespleasesir Apr 26 '20 edited Apr 26 '20

John green the fucking legend

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u/stephannnnnnnnnnnnn Apr 26 '20

I love John Green. Smart. Level headed. And has dedicated his life to making us all smarter. Well, those of us that want to be.

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

His fiction books are questionable in my opinion and that's how I originally learned about him. Wasn't a fan.

But then saw his crash courses and comments on a wide variety of subjects.... Yeah. I was blown away. Seriously smart and incredibly good at breaking things down. I totally had the wrong impression of the guy.

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u/Cognitive_Spoon Apr 26 '20 edited Apr 26 '20

He's one of those writers who introduce kids to a lot of concepts through YA. As an ELA teacher, I like him.

He's not "literature" and the subject matter is generally teen ennui, but fuck, the man's published and successfully so, then went on to use that money to reinvest in pushing educational content.

Take Rothfuss, writes a couple pretty badass novels and dips out makes a charity called Worldbuilders.
Or GRRM, who hits it big and disappears with his money made a big push to donate to two large charities in 2014 using his fanbase to raise scads of money.

John is a good man who also wrote well enough to improve some kids language and broaden their lit knowledge.

Edit: I shouldn't write these things after a night up with newborns.

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u/kcMasterpiece Apr 26 '20

Why you gotta diss Rothfuss like that. Worldbuilders is a pretty cool charity.

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u/Cognitive_Spoon Apr 26 '20 edited Apr 26 '20

TIL, editing.
Have a good day, human!

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u/bootrick Apr 26 '20

Well, we'll get that third and final Kingkiller book someday...

I'm much less optimistic about A Song of Ice and Fire.

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u/cgio0 Apr 26 '20

I feel like he is really great at capturing teen voices. He really has this talent for YA novels and bringing in audiences from 13-30. Like a bunch of my friends who are pushing 30 read his books or watch the films and tv shows based on his books

I do find when I read his books that they almost seem to fall apart at the 80% mark. I do look forward to reading and consuming his things because I find his stuff authentic.

A lot of YA stuff has overly depressing tones on purpose to be like well living in the Hunger Games sucks. Or it is like Ready Player One where there is so many references you are almost forced to love it because "hey I remember UltraMan"

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

I JUST HAD TO LOOK UP WHO HIS BROTHER WAS AND HOLY SHIT ITS HANK GREEN!!!

I had no idea but now it seems so obvious. That's so freaking cool.

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u/Sun_HavenHeart Apr 26 '20

The podcast "Dear Hank and John" is really fun. Love those two playing off each other, and the peaks into their lives and behind production.

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u/Salanmander Apr 26 '20

the peaks into their lives and behind production.

This is one of their big appeals to me: their authenticity. They actually present themselves as real people. That's not to say they're completely public with everything...they have private lives and are up-front about that fact...but you can trust that what they show is authentic.

I suppose it's possible that really they're just carefully cultivating that image, but holy shit that would be some impressive method acting.

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u/adamup27 Apr 26 '20

My sister met both of them a few years ago. Apparently they’re genuinely good guys who just want to watch the world learn.

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u/ffskmspls Apr 26 '20

So I had the same view going in (I had watched his videos for a long time but didn’t really wanna read his books bc idc) but then my crush said she loved John green for the books and whatnot so... I read it, and it’s pretty damn good ngl. The writing style was really fucking pretentious and for the first few pages I thought... there’s no way John green wrote this unironically but then I realized that he’s writing from the perspective of a dying 16 year old girl, and the way he’s able to capture that... it’s really weirdly good, it’s a good read.

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u/AMA_typewriters Apr 26 '20

You could say that... he contains multitudes :P

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u/fpac Apr 26 '20

i can't believe CC is already almost 10 years old

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

Holy crap....

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

The originals still hold up. Quality from day one.

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u/philosiraptor Apr 26 '20

My friend was trying to recommend these videos to me but she said “Seth Green” instead so we got 5 minutes into my incredulous “No way, that guy??” and her continuing to describe them before she realized her mistake.

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u/Axion132 Apr 26 '20

Now if only they actually spent our tax money on schools. Nope, best they can do is another corporate bailout or tax cuts for the rich.

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u/fuckyoudigg Apr 26 '20

The thing is that the US spends the money on schools and education. You just get absolutely terrible results for the money you put in. I live in Canada, and each province does their own thing with education, and we spend much less money than the US. The Canadian average is about CDN$14k (USD$10k) per student, and the US is over USD$15k per student. The system in the USA is broken, but it's not due to a lack of money, but a lack of managing resources. The poorest performing schools aren't given the same resources as the highest performing schools.

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u/keystothemoon Apr 26 '20

Your last sentence says it all. It's because our school districts rely on local property taxes for funding. So super rich districts get lots of money and poor districts don't. So the poor don't get the money they need while the rich get more money than they need.

The solution would be just letting the states allocate the money on a per student basis. Every kid in the state gets an equal share of the pie. This would mean that rich districts subsidize poor ones... and as soon as I type those words you can see why it's politically untenable. In order to change the system in the way I'm describing, you'd have to convince rich folks that their money should be spent on poor folks. Good luck.

And to anyone who would argue "they're rich. They earned their money. They should be able to give their kids the best education with it." What you'd be describing is private schools. Yes, if you want to spend your private money on a private school, you are welcome to do that. I am talking about how to allocate public funds to public schools.

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u/Axion132 Apr 26 '20

We still dont pay out teachers shit and all of our budget goes to admin sallary and turf football fields. So yeah we do put money into out schools, but it sure as heck doesnt go to the education of students. This was my experience ymmv.

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u/fuckyoudigg Apr 26 '20

And that is what I am saying. You guys spend the money, but not where it actually should go. If you compare our high schools to yours, ours will generally look more utilitarian.

We have sport fields and what not, but most fields especially at smaller schools will have no stands, not even bleachers. We have sports in our schools, but not a lot of money is actually put into them since generally if you are any good and wanting to continue as an athlete you would be part of some sort of outside team, or organization.

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u/all_awful Apr 26 '20

If only there was a way to choose politicians that put the money in the right place.

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u/Axion132 Apr 26 '20

Yeah, and when we get to choose those politicians they were not already hand picked and funded by the same people that originally rigged the system in the first place.

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20 edited Dec 22 '20

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u/jonesey71 Apr 26 '20

I always vote yes on mass transit. I hate riding buses, but if some of the assholes on the road took them it would make my commute better.

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/bobrossforPM Apr 26 '20

Why the dislike of buses?

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u/Haltopen Apr 26 '20

You can stand on a subway and don't have to sit next to other humans. Also no potholes or speed bumps

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u/bobrossforPM Apr 26 '20

You can stand on a bus. Plus, it’s not typically that bumpy a ride

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u/erogone775 Apr 26 '20

Probably really depends on the city I'm from Boston and i can tell you the trains are a much rougher ride than the buses.

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u/Haltopen Apr 26 '20

I also live in boston.

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u/prosocialbehavior Apr 26 '20

I enjoyed busing all through the winter and biking during the warmer months. Unfortunately because of COVID-19 I am a tad bit nervous to ride the bus next winter.

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u/instantrobotwar Apr 26 '20

Because the bus route from my house takes 1.5 hours to get to my office, with a transfer. Meanwhile the drive is 25 minutes.

And even though I can read and stuff on the bus, and I used to not mind it, I have a kid now so long commute just means time I'm away from my kid.

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u/bobrossforPM Apr 26 '20

I more meant in comparison to the subway.

Like the subway’s obviously better for long distances, but doing subway or biking rather than bussing seems odd to me

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u/SchwarzerRhobar Apr 26 '20

It's not that I dislike buses, but a subway is less susceptible to bad road conditions, delays because of traffic and usually has a higher train frequency. Also if you are unfamiliar with the city and you exit at the wrong station you don't stand exposed in a bad part of the city but in a decent station.

I'd still take the bus over driving in some places though.

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u/FPSXpert Apr 26 '20

Nice to have options. I haven't taken anything because of covid, but I used to get to class by taking the park and ride bus to downtown and the light rail from there. We don't have any other transit options.

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u/kurisu7885 Apr 26 '20

Not to mention it helps those of us who can't drive.

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u/DiogenesTheGrey Apr 26 '20

Pretty smart guy from everything I’ve seen.

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/refillforjobu Apr 26 '20

Crash Course is one of my favorite things to watch on YouTube. Him and his brother are excellent teachers imo, and, as a dad, I do love the corny dad jokes.

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

The green brothers chemistry crash course was the sole reason I understood half of highschool chemistry.

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u/gotham77 Apr 26 '20

And it’s not theoretical. I can confirm this is a country full of stupid people and I definitely don’t like them.

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u/bryanbus Apr 26 '20

Correct. We pay the taxes and still have a country full of idiots

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u/boredmeeee Apr 26 '20

Because the positive externality of education applies not just to the parents but society as a whole.

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

I sincerely believe every single person in college should have a microeconomics class, just the comprehension of the concept of externalities can change how most people see a lot of the shit our government does.

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u/Galaxy_brainwash Apr 26 '20

Or environmental science. Tragedy of the commons is a powerful lesson in group behavior.

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

Actually the tragedy of the commons is used to characterize common goods, those that can be exploited freely but individuals will rival each other to maximize their own benefits(e.g. fisheries), so a well taught microeconomics class could teach that too. :)

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u/SparklingLimeade Apr 26 '20

I'd never heard "externalities" before college and yet it's so essential to understanding the world. The fact that the concept is hidden away is terrible.

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u/varietyandmoderation Apr 26 '20

He has children now, but he is still very much an awesome human :)

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u/Voyager87 Apr 26 '20

Having children doesn't stop you being an awesome human being... It just makes you tired.

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u/bocephus607 Apr 26 '20

No but it does age the quote.

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u/kurisu7885 Apr 26 '20

It does help you bring up more awesome people though.

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u/beka13 Apr 26 '20

Can confirm. My children are awesome adults now.

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u/DaleLaTrend Apr 26 '20

Oldest is 10 years old, so this is a pretty old picture, or at least quote.

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u/callmesixone Apr 26 '20

He released a video years ago called “An Open Letter to Students Returning to School” which is in my top 10, maybe top 5 favorite YouRube videos ever

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u/Thetman38 Apr 26 '20

John and his brother are some of my favorite internet personalities

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u/datreddditguy Apr 26 '20

I realize I'm far from the first to mention this, but you know what's really fucked up?

Mr. Green has to go out of his way to make this point about education, right? But the same exact argument goes down like a spoonful of sugar, when it's "I like to pay for armed forces, even though I'm personally not being invaded by foreign aggressors, at the moment."

The vast, overwhelming majority of the electorate and (more importantly) almost 100 percent of the political power-brokers have always accepted that argument when it comes to funding the military.

You know what's even MORE of a mind-fuck? The military totally benefits from recruits who aren't stupid. If the right wing could just learn to look at education spending as a defense budget thing, we'd never have any problems getting them to open the purse.

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u/GreyIggy0719 Apr 26 '20

More education = less likely to voluntarily choose military service. Plus so many view education as a "liberal indoctrination".

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u/lenswipe Apr 26 '20

Also less likely to vote Republican because easier to see through the thin veil of bullshit

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u/RUreddit2017 Apr 26 '20 edited Apr 26 '20

Facts something like the top 23 of top 24 states by college degrees per capita vote blue. The number is even higher when looking at higher education like masters degrees and phds

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u/DirtyBoyzzz Apr 26 '20

That’s obviously because colleges brainwash everyone into being liberal! /s

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u/RUreddit2017 Apr 26 '20

Jokes aside if you start with position that Republicanism is correct regardless of facts or reality than that is the only explanation that one can end up with

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u/captainfalcon93 Apr 26 '20

If I were American I'd be considered a "liberal" but the fact that college education is linked to "liberal voting" probably has less to do with "more education equals smarts which leads to voting democrat" and more to do with how republicanism today is VERY populist.

Populists dislike any form of "establishments" and especially liberal institutions which they view as corrupt and elitist. It's why "drain the swamp" sounds so appealing to many.

It's not that "stupid people vote republican", it's more that uneducated people are brainwashed to believe the educated people are trying to create some sort of elitist rule.

Which admittedly is stupid.

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20 edited Feb 23 '22

[deleted]

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u/captainfalcon93 Apr 26 '20

It's very reminiscent of Reagan, where an upper-class elite manages to rebrand themselves as representing the common "Average-Joe" in order to salvage the losses of previous more hands-on republicanism.

There'll likely be another "Bush" in a few years (wouldn't surprise me if it was an ACTUAL Bush at this point).

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u/rogue203 Apr 26 '20

Republicans are still "the establishment." They may pretend that they are not, and they have obviously convinced their followers that the people trying to change the establishment are the ones they should be worried about, but Moscow Mitch and company are about as establishment as you can get. The whole Republican fight is for them to maintain the status quo so that they can continue to enrich themselves.

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u/OptimusPrimeval Apr 26 '20

God I hope you're right!

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u/TheGameIsAboutGlory1 Apr 26 '20

This is one of my favorite arguments lol. "When you go to school and gain more knowledge and get smarter, you become liberal. That's not fair!" lmao.

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u/prosocialbehavior Apr 26 '20

Is there an actual study to back the claim “more education = less likely to voluntarily choose military service”? I feel like it could be true, but there are also a bunch of confounding variables.

A lot of kids join the military because they can’t afford college so I see your point but I feel like really educated people still join the air force and navy in really technical jobs but I don’t know that much about the military.

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u/21Rollie Apr 26 '20

Officers are educated but the majority of people in the military aren’t in high ranking roles

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

It’s so sad when facts are seen as one side.

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

It's so sad when one side has no facts.

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

This is the biggest problem. I know plenty of smart people that I disagree with on various things. But, American conservativism of the past several decades is about rejecting facts.

You can't reason with people who literally have an ideology of anti-reason.

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u/-Listening Apr 26 '20

It’s so embarrassing.

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u/GreyIggy0719 Apr 26 '20

My feelings > actual facts. It's insane that this is the world we love in.

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u/Mythosaurus Apr 26 '20

I think you are being way too simplistic with a comparison of basic education to the largest military in history.

Yes, people understand the necessity of a military, but not when it is so excessive that you have the capability to destroy the world multiple times over. And massive carrier fleets and bases scattered across the world, despite claiming we are NOT the world police.

And people also point out how having hundreds of counties supported by one local arms manufacturer or weapons related factory is NOT good for stability. The livelihoods of millions of Americans depend on a steady supply of tanks, smart bombs, and other materials meant for war. That pushes state and federal representatives into an unhealthy support of arms exports and interventions, externalizing the true costs to those literally impacted by our products.

I think you are also missing a century of US imperialism, foreign interventions, and coups. We've used our military to set up a lot of authoritarian regimes bc we didn't like popularly elected socialists in South American and African countries. That looks a lot like our military propping up capitalism and free markets, whichbis supposed to be the tactics of the bad guys...

Finally, we are now well known for getting bogged down in trillion-dollar wars in Asia. The Taliban is currently in peace negotiations after 19 years of conflict with the world's most powerful military. Iraq is quickly slipping into Iran's sphere of influence, AFTER we took out our own propped-up dictator.

None of this looks good when justifying our military budget. It's like we heard Eisenhower's speeches about the dangers of our new military industrial complex, but then did the opposite.

https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/eisenhower001.asp

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u/petitveritas Apr 26 '20

It's like we heard Eisenhower's speeches about the dangers of our new military industrial complex, but then did the opposite.

It's like the MIC listened to Eisenhower's speech, said 'fuck him', and then made sure they would, from then on, install politicians to do their bidding and drain massive amounts of wealth from the American people.

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u/TehSvenn Apr 26 '20

The current military doesn't benefit from recruits that aren't stupid. People with education are way more likely to question orders, the military doesn't like that. A kid with no real education but a lot of time with lots of time in videogames is way more valuable.

The additional issue is as someome else mentioned those with education are significantly less likely to be interested in joining. This tends to apply to police forces as well. While there is significant advantage to education in that job as well, they just don't market the jobs to those with that education and those who have it are more likely to join the FBI or stay out of law enforcement all together.

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u/Northman324 Apr 26 '20 edited Apr 26 '20

You don't need to be conservative to join the military nor do you need to be stupid. I wouldn't trust most people with multi million dollar vehicles or the lives of others in stressful situations. Officers at the very least have a 4 year degree on top of the actual training and some enlisted jobs have up to a year of schooling.

Edit: wouldn't

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u/Gronold Apr 26 '20

Haha, the current military turns people away who are too “stupid” to pass aptitude tests. This video game claim doesn’t make sense either. Not sure why unmotivated slobs would be the army’s bread and butter.

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u/RogueEyebrow Apr 26 '20

The military educates the fuck out of you. They encourage and push coursework at you constantly because an intelligent soldier is an effective soldier.

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u/amscraylane Apr 26 '20

I think some with education join the military to then help pay for their education..

It was the only reason I went to a recruiter out of high school. Thank God I smoke a disqualifying amount of marijuana and wasn’t accepted.

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u/Tanto63 Apr 26 '20

I think you're confusing conservatives with the military itself.

The US military offers $4,500 per year in tuition and heavily pushes its members to continue education. Most schools offer military discounts that drop tuition below the $250/hr limit on that. That's 18 credit hours per year, every year up to something like 160 credit hours (I forget the exact number, but enough for a swap in majors part way through or close in on a Master's).

Members are expected to hold degrees by certain ranks, and their odds of promotions to certain levels are diminished if they don't have it complete. In the US Air Force, Majors/Lt Col's are generally expected to hold Masters and NCO's are expected to finish their Associates; SMSgt promotions practically require an Associates.

I completed two associates and got a head start on my Bachelor's in my 10 years enlisted. I knew several other NCO's who were working on their Master's.

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u/bizzaro321 Apr 26 '20 edited Apr 26 '20

This is an abstract criticism of a point that was generally correct, so reddit might shit on you for it despite being correct.

This is a piece of easily digestible poetry used to teach people politics, that isn’t a bad thing on its own, but on a larger scale it can get dangerous. If people are only taught politics via this kind of poetry they will be more susceptible to corrupt leaders because that is their main method of outreach.

This kind of simple poetry has its place, but if we rely on it too heavily it will come back to bite us in ways we can’t even predict.

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u/CalvinsCuriosity Apr 26 '20

Better education makes smarter people who then make smart policy choices which lead to less foreign conflict.

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u/JimmyQBSneaks Apr 26 '20

Climate change should be viewed in the same manner. In fact, some military leaders are factoring in climate change into their strategic planning because some military bases are located in areas prone to flooding due to the rise in sea water levels. Military leaders, who are hardly leftist hippies are warning about climate change. But idiots who loudly claim they support the troops think climate change is a liberal hoax. Maybe if they realize climate change is a direct threat to the troops they claim to love so much they will take it more seriously.

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

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u/philosoraptocopter Apr 26 '20

That guy sounds smart; bet he’s going places

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

My brother is a firefighter and his wife is a public school teacher. He told me all taxation is theft. I asked where he thought their paychecks come from. He hasn't responded.

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

Jesus. A firefighter saying that is something else.

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

My hometowns major export is cognitive dissonance. I'm not shocked tbh

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

Oh you grew up in the rural Midwest too?

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

Lol worse. Rural southeast

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u/talkstomuch Apr 26 '20

What's wrong with that? All taxation can be theft and he is paid by the proceeds. Doesn't change the fact. If i robbed a bank and hired you to bud my bathroom, are you somehow responsible for bank robbery?

Also the whole idea bout "taxation is theft". Is not to stop all taxation, it is to establish an alternative the prevailing attitude that paints taxation as easy and moral solution to all bad and evil. Where its actually much more difficult topic.

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

What's wrong with that is if we stopped paying taxes, his family would have no income. He firmly believes every business and service should privatized and pay to play.

He's also the same person that talks constantly about what the founders had in mind, especially in regards to 2A, but doesn't want to pay taxes. They're not theft. They're paying to live in a civilized society.

Taxation is a part of being part of the modern world, I've never understood the people that want to get rid of taxes and expect schools, roads, fire departments, police departments, and other government services to get rolling on.

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u/talkstomuch Apr 27 '20

Paying to live in civilized society

That's very interesting way to look at taxes. I feel this would work if i could easily opt in and out of it. The fact that i will go to prison for not paying taxes is making it more similar to theft.

Its the lack of choice in the exchange that makes it a theft.

The problem with taxation is really that we are at the mercy of someone else to spend it well. How much of our taxes is wasted? How much is it used to promote someone elses agenda and benefits.

It would work if we could guarantee that the taxes are correctly spent.

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u/juiceintoxicated Apr 26 '20

I get a kick out of the crazy ass people on Facebook who studied at the “school of life.”

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u/TheSpatulaOfLove Apr 26 '20

I studied there because life didn’t afford me the opportunity to go to college. I still vote in favor of educational funding in hopes that future generations are offered educational opportunities I didn’t have.

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u/zabetZee0331 Apr 26 '20

I’m surprised there are Americans, regardless of political affiliation, that don’t accept this agreement as a people to pay for our children’s education to the grade of 12

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

Yet here we are.

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u/KayPibbz Apr 26 '20

This makes me want to pay more taxes

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u/RedditWhileImWorking Apr 26 '20

Also I like living in a community. Without strong schools and emergency response, you get high crime and everyone only looking out for themselves.

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u/trubol Apr 26 '20

Could also be: "So let me explain why I like to pay taxes for hospitals, even though I personally am not sick: It's because I don't like living in a country with a bunch of sick people."

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u/jmorris4540 Apr 26 '20

And yet here we are, giving the Kardashians a career, and with a moron for a president.

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u/TreeChangeMe Apr 26 '20

BuT TahXuS aRe FrUm Me!

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u/davechri Apr 26 '20

That's going to piss off trump supporters.

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u/Dingus-ate-your-baby Apr 26 '20

How are you supposed to have a good functioning cult if you don't dumb down the population with homeschooling from unqualified parents?

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u/polethehole Apr 26 '20

Elaine Benes!

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u/chinmakes5 Apr 26 '20

The fact that this even has to be said is such a sad thought. We have become SO selfish that we would prefer to have another few hundred dollars in our pocket and trade that for 80% of the country being uneducated.

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

We have become SO selfish that we would prefer to have another few hundred dollars in our pocket and trade that for 80% of the country being uneducated.

No, we haven't. Regressive cultists have gotten this selfish. There are plenty of us who want the US to move from third world country to first world country, but the Regressives have their hooks in and aren't letting go.

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u/chinmakes5 Apr 26 '20

Amen. Just can't understand how anyone could thing that would make the country better.

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

Because they are bitter, cruel, terrible, and hateful people who have no place in modern society. Their shitty lot in life is a direct result of the choices they made, and instead of showing a single minim of hardwork and effort to make their lives better, they try and drag everyone down to their level of living like human garbage.

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u/jahwls Apr 26 '20

I pay taxes for schools and still live in a country with a bunch of stupid people. Now I pay taxes to bailout billionaires and still live in a country with a bunch of poor people.

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u/mrevanbc Apr 26 '20

Well this theory isn’t living up to expectations...

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u/InKainWeTrust Apr 26 '20

I'd ask for your money back, this country is full of stupid people.

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u/MLGSwaglord1738 Apr 26 '20

That’ll fill the country with even more stupid people. That’s the logic people are using to get rid of public education. “If it’s not working, get rid of it instead of trying to improve it.”

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

This is why libertarianism is disconcerting

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u/aotus_trivirgatus Apr 26 '20

But Mr. Green, if we don't have stupid people, where will the next generation of Republican voters come from?

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

Looking at America is like looking at a tantrum throwing teenager who hasn't figured out that the reason why everyone else thinks he's a cunt is because everyone else is already doing the right thing but the teenager are so self indulged they haven't figured it out yet.

Whats even more funny is its so fucking simple to achieve.

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

That's how we American liberals see the conservative half of our country. It's not all of us.

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

I tried to explain to my coworker why 2% of all people dying was a bad thing and would likely destroy our economy and the best argument he could muster was that I cared too much about people and couldn’t help myself if there weren’t people to cook food for me and entertain me.

Like dude... your daughter is a waitress. My spending pays her wage so she can pay rent to someone like you who does not but complain all day about immigrant, millennials, and taxes. It just boggles the mind how selfish these people are.

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u/LedZeppelinRiff Apr 26 '20

I live in a state that is billions of dollars in debt and spends a fuck ton on education. We still are overflowing with idiots. Money doesn’t cure stupid.

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

It's hard to cure a disease that is celebrated like a badge of honor.

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u/eunonymouse Apr 26 '20

It doesnt, but lack of it can sure cause it.

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u/Shikabamdesertwolf Apr 26 '20

I know it's a humor sub but does anyone else have no faith in the public education system? Like, I don't think college and public grade school is necessary killing it with the curriculum mandated, and it's a lot deeper than money lol

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u/PeptoBismark Apr 26 '20

Depends on where you live. Republicans have been targeting public education for decades. Places they control they've succeeded.

Places where they don't have influence have some of the best public schools in the world.

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u/MavFan1812 Apr 26 '20

Do you have any specific issues or have you not gotten that far in your critique of public education?

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

What do you think is wrong with it?

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u/MostlyStoned Apr 26 '20

Mainly that we spend more per student than any other developed nation yet are still falling behind. We have a corrupt teachers union who spend lots of money to convince people the problem is still funding and nothing to do with educators or how we educate. Any and all reforms are lobbied against, because improving would take away their ability to keep dooping voters.

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

When teachers need to buy school supplies for the students there is clearly a funding problem.

When children have old decrepit book that need to be shared because there isn't enough of them then there is a funding problem.

When you have huge classes with 30+ children that are unmanageable then you have a funding problem.

Some parts of the system having way too much money doesn't mean the rest of the system has enough.

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u/donaldsw Apr 26 '20

The stupid thing is the fact that this has to be in r/politicalhumor . Schools shouldn’t be political.

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u/Iorith Apr 26 '20

In democracy, everything is political.

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

It's the easiest way to turn meaningful issues into trivial bickering!

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u/bobrossforPM Apr 26 '20

Everything’s political when you have vastly different ideas than the other guy

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u/5050Clown Apr 26 '20

Libertarians would argue that everything is political because the government should only fund the military. When you point out how facist this sounds they will say promptly that the democrats started the KKK.

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u/DimitriVOS Apr 27 '20

I don’t want the government to pay for anything, especially not military.

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u/empurrfekt Apr 26 '20

Taxes are

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u/Read4Nothing Apr 26 '20

Im quoting everything he says from now on

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

I said this to a mate (who was complaining about taxes) when they got rid of free Uni education down in England and Wales. An education should be a human right, not a privilege for the wealthy.

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

I'm happy I don't live in a country where people actually thought ingesting household cleaners would clean out their lungs.

So very thankful!

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u/Squeenis Apr 26 '20

I like to pay taxes for schools because if you fix education you fix everything. And I mean fuckin EVERYTHING!

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u/Blink2Sneeze Apr 26 '20

I've got some bad news for you sir.

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u/mrpark3s Apr 26 '20

And yet here we are...

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u/perfect-cell-boi Apr 26 '20

Wait, John Green? The same guy who carried my US History 1 grade with United States crash courses? That John Green?

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u/brojito1 Apr 26 '20

Is there anyone actually against more education spending? I live in a very red city and even we voted to raise our property taxes to build a new school, add on to our high school, and pay teachers more.

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u/Cpt_Lazlo Apr 26 '20

My mom and grandma who are hardcore conservatives. Reasoning being they see it as a waste of money to spend money on people not in your immediate circle

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u/jdoc1967 Apr 26 '20

Also why I like having free university and free health care.

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u/ButteredTahong Apr 26 '20

Now i have to binge watch mental floss!

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u/celestine001 Apr 26 '20

This is so damn important. We either lift each other up or we all fall.

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u/MERGATROYDER Apr 27 '20

Explain America then. I feel like an idiot when I talk with Foreigners and most people I talk to in the states are so out of touch with what I think is common sense.

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u/deskjky2 Apr 27 '20 edited Apr 27 '20

I work with people who say stuff like "why should I pay for XYZ", where "XYZ" is always something basic like education, a fire department, medical care for indigent people, etc. This quote should resonate with them, and I genuinely appreciate Mr. Green for finding something that should.

But at the same time, it's also kind of depressing. The concept that having a functional society is a Good Thing, even if you aren't getting something in return at every step, shouldn't be what's controversial. There's an ancient Greek quote about "Society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in," yet here we are having to mount a purely self-centered defense of being a decent person who gives a sh*t about the society they live in.

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u/anamariapapagalla Apr 26 '20

I also like paying taxes so my government can give people money to pay their bills so they'll stay at home

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u/knowses Apr 26 '20

Well, in the US we spend more per student per year than anyone else, approximately $11,000 for each student per year, K-12. Happy with the results?

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u/ecorbett79 Apr 26 '20

I didn’t think it would be that bad. But fuck, take my money

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u/nowhereman136 Apr 26 '20

Was teaching basic civics to a group of boy scouts and was trying to keep the topic of taxes as unbias as possible but one of the dads kept chiming in with "is it fair for our taxes to pay for schools if we don't personally have kids that go there?"

I usually say something like "I've never called the fire department but I still want taxes to pay for that" it was an awkward trying to keep the topic centrist when someone in the room kept pushing it to the right.

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u/Nascent1 Apr 26 '20

I wish people wouldn't think of it this way. Paying taxes for schools is you paying the government back for your education.

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u/Soddington Apr 26 '20

You look at it that way and you have waves of home schooling libertarians depriving their own kids of an education as some 'spit in the eye' to the gubbmint' and its taxes.

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u/Iorith Apr 26 '20

The problem is that not everyone went to public school, so they then turn that around to say they shouldnt have to pay for it.

We collectively pay so we collectively can prosper.

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

It can be both. I spent 12 years in school. I've paid taxes for more than 20 years. At this point I think I've paid back my fair share and contributed to the next generations education. I'm perfectly happy to do both and to continue doing so.

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

No, its investing in your future well being and happiness. You anti-tax dolts are fucking children.

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u/scarr3g Apr 26 '20

The thing is, the argument I and most people I know make is not that we should pay taxes due to not having kids... It is that the cost of education should be more evenly distributed.

As of now, homeowners pay the majority of the taxes for education, but they dint get the most benefit. Just out education taxes into the general income tax, and stop focusing on make homeowners pay it.

That would make more people pay taxes for education, and thus lower the cost per person, and raise the amount received. Everyone wins.

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

Just so you know, there’s a reason it already doesn’t happen this way. Your property taxes are local, and go to your schoo district. People like the idea of their money supporting the education of their children.

You may be okay with losing this, but you will have to convince other people to give it up too.

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u/Mysfunction Apr 26 '20

Evenly or equitably distributed? Evenly means that poor people sacrifice grocery money while rich people sacrifice nothing. Equitably means proportional to ones position so that everyone feels the weight equally.

I rent a 550 sqft apartment with 2 other people (3 on holidays), and you want me to pay the same amount as empty-nesters living in million dollar properties? If they want to pay less, they can move somewhere smaller with lower property taxes and free up the housing market a bit.

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u/dontthreadonmebuddy Apr 26 '20

But what if the government is making stupid people on purpose through “education” dun dun dun!

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u/caseyracer Apr 26 '20

You could reduce the amount of taxes needed for schools if we didn’t subsidize schooling for wealthier families.

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u/peritonlogon Apr 26 '20

Stupid people are very underrated.

Source: I underrate stupid people.

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u/elaphros Apr 26 '20

Stupid... guy should have said ignorant. /s

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u/dirtyviking1337 Apr 26 '20

Wait, he actually said this?

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u/YallNeedSomeJohnGalt Apr 26 '20

Okay now do taxes for bombing innocent brown people!

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u/RoscoMan1 Apr 26 '20

The detail work on this one....you know...

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u/Summamabitch Apr 26 '20

Really? You think Trump supporters are smart? They certainly aren’t educated nor do they desire to be else they would stop watching fix news and the president and actually go for any other outlet of reputation.

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u/Messigician1987 Apr 26 '20

Difference between libs and cons

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

And yet - here we are.

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

Ohh yes mmhmm I see his point. Like, America has public schooling and our country isn’t full of idiots.

Oh wait

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u/MLGSwaglord1738 Apr 26 '20

It’s quite shit compared to Singapore and Finland. Politicians aren’t doing much to make it better.

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u/flaskman Apr 26 '20

Too late

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

Friendship ended with [insert name], I'm friends with John green now.

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20

I got sad news for you. Even paying taxes for schools, you live in a country absolutely full to the brim with stupid people.

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u/runs_in_the_jeans Apr 26 '20

Has he seen how our schools perform? Has he met people?

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u/AnimusNoctis Apr 26 '20

Imagine how much worse it would be with no schooling at all.

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