Saturday, October 09, 2010
Excellent read
Article in London Telegraph about black Republicans likely to win this year.
Unlike most Brits, author Toby Harnden understands America fully. The story is partly about the fact that these three black candidates are aligned with the Tea Party, but mostly about Tim Scott, almost certain to win in South Carolina.
Huge point, and I hope Scott hits it often instead of following the usual idiotic line that all kids need a PhD from Harvard. The world of work is vastly more important and vastly more educational than any college, and a good boss can change your life more than a good teacher. Few if any students need the last two years of high school; nearly all should get into apprenticeship or technical training or plain old work by 16. College (for some) comes later, after you know why you need it. ¶ 6:20 PM
Unlike most Brits, author Toby Harnden understands America fully. The story is partly about the fact that these three black candidates are aligned with the Tea Party, but mostly about Tim Scott, almost certain to win in South Carolina.
Tim Scott described last week how he was born into poverty and a broken home, much like Barack Obama.
"My dad was gone by the time I was seven," the black candidate for the House of Representatives told a mixed group of students at Fort Dorchester High School in North Charleston. "I was flunking out of high school. I failed geography, civics, Spanish and English. When you fail Spanish and English, you are not bilingual, you are bi-ignorant."
But the conclusions that Scott, 45, drew were very different from those of Obama. When he was 15, a man who ran a Chick-fil-A fast-food restaurant taught him "that there was a way to think my way out of the worst conditions". Scott went on to became a small businessman and a proud "conservative Republican".
Huge point, and I hope Scott hits it often instead of following the usual idiotic line that all kids need a PhD from Harvard. The world of work is vastly more important and vastly more educational than any college, and a good boss can change your life more than a good teacher. Few if any students need the last two years of high school; nearly all should get into apprenticeship or technical training or plain old work by 16. College (for some) comes later, after you know why you need it. ¶ 6:20 PM
