Getting himself elected and also getting a job at a company would probably be considered a conflict of interest, rh.

:-P

How so? I'm not talking about running for US congress, try a city council first, see how people respond to your ideas.

Actually, it isn't. He can't hold two offices and he can't hold an office with say over purchases his company might be involved in, but if he was elefted to a school board seat and his business had nothing to do with schools, there is no conflict of interest.

True, certainly most state-level things do allow people to have jobs as well.

I was just trying to be a smart-aleck though.

Hey, I didn't much sleep last night, OK? Leave me alone! Bullies.

semck I recently pronounced you "site's intellectual heavy weight" in YJ's thread: you'll have to do better than this :P

Err, I don't mean to burst your bubble, but Putin is living in a capitalist society. If anything, he needs to try communism to see if he actually likes it as much as he thinks.

NY education system ≠ capitalist society

I for one do not want putin anywhere near the NY or any other educational system.

@redhouse - Putin is from Ohio (or at least went to OSU).

A swing state, better yet. Putin 2014!

You know, when he isn't discussing the joys of Communism, he's pretty damn smart...

Did you clowns get your 2 Minute Hate in yet?

How is this not a brilliant idea?

In fairness, I think rh was serious and wanted an answer. I'm the only person who really said anything anti-putin here.

Actually, Putty, some of us didn't hate on you at all in this thread. But now that you called us all clowns...

"If anything, he needs to try communism to see if he actually likes it as much as he thinks."

I lived in China for six months (cue "China isn't socialist" mantra). I also spent a good deal of time in Serbia and saw what socialism achieved there. So you can kindly piss off.

How were China and Serbia?

" If you had some success with any of these things and you still believe in the cruelty of the western system,"

Because you can see the cruelty of the western system from your obscure air conditioned middle manager job being a paper pushing bureaucrat for some company that sells bullshit and thinks it's actually valuable.

Ow I'm sorry was that for me? I don't actually do middle management, I'm pretty much not managing anything in my job and in fact, I can barely manage myself! :-)

My company actually sells valuable stuff though. I don't want to reveal my identity too much because I like my privacy, but I'm not working on getting the new generation of school children on diabetes or something like that.

Night all. I love you all. Especially Putin, the guy's got passion. ^Be sure to sleep on my idea, you're gonna love capitalism.

Love it, yes. I love being overcharged for shitty garbage and seeing the planet destroyed. I love having you capitalists run the global economy into the ground with your incompetence. I love seeing people's life savings go up in smoke after investing it in your glorious stock markets. I love seeing wars being fought to line the pockets of big corporations. I love people being fired for no reason. I love millions of people dying from preventable diseases. I love millions more not getting access to drugs because Big Pharma won't give up their patents. I love the environment going to shit. I love people commiting suicide in third world countries because corporations like Apple and Wal Mart won't give them basic human rights.

But all of those feelings would somehow go away if I, being a self-absorbed jackass, made money off the Wall Street casino after being a bureaucrat for some faceless do-nothing company. Because all that really matters is me. The enslavement of the planet for my cushy lifestyle is of no concern.

Now I understand why you love capitalism so much.

@Zmaj

@Putin - Either wall street costs life savings or males fortunes. You have to.pick.one because it doesn't do both to the smart investor. If someone is a smart investor and lose their life savings then only the truly lucky idiots make money on it. So pick.one.

"I for one do not want putin anywhere near the NY or any other educational system."

I actually think Putin would be a decent professor. He's very knowledgeable (although I don't agree with the conclusions he draws from that knowledge) and passionate about his subject. He would make students work for their grade, but I don't think he would fail people he doesn't agree with. And considering how much time he spends arguing with the peanut gallery, I'm sure he'd make plenty of time for office hours.

I would jist be concerned with the ideas from those faulty conclussions that would be imprinted on young impressionable minds.

That and the fact he likes to insult and belittle those he doesn't agree with would be problematic as well. You cannot belittle those who thirst for knowledge for asking questions and coming to their own conclussions. Good teachers want the students to male their own decisions. Cultish brainwashers want the students to come.to the same.conclussions as their teachers. Putin would most likely be the latter.

I taught for 3 years and didn't get a single complaint about pushing my viewpoint on students. Conservatives are so insecure in their beliefs they mandate that all instructors must think like them.

"Either wall street costs life savings or males fortunes. You have to.pick.one because it doesn't do both to the smart investor."

No, I really don't. The pirates make bank while everybody else has their money go down the drain.

Stocks go up or down. They don't do one thing for one investor and something else for another. They wise investor studies and follows the market turning thousabds into 10s of thousands and 10s of thousands into 100s of thousands and on and on. But I guess your definition of success makes me a pirate despite all my investments being in retirement accounts and still being a working stiff.

Draug, you do the same thing. You know how many times you've called me and idiot or a fucktard or some shit like that?

And why is it that not pushing one agenda means another has to be pushed in your book, Putin. Do you not believe in teaching actual facts? You say politics is a real science, so teach the facts and teach any competing theories will equal enthusiasm pointing out which theories have the most facts backing them. Basically teach the subject neutrally and without prejudice.

Yes, but I don't claim to be or want to be a teacher. Computers don't give a fuck about my opinion. So if I choose to argue one way, it won't affect my work. My attitude is irrelevant to my work.

"Love it, yes. I love being overcharged for shitty garbage and seeing the planet destroyed. I love having you capitalists run the global economy into the ground with your incompetence. I love seeing people's life savings go up in smoke after investing it in your glorious stock markets. I love seeing wars being fought to line the pockets of big corporations. I love people being fired for no reason. I love millions of people dying from preventable diseases. I love millions more not getting access to drugs because Big Pharma won't give up their patents. I love the environment going to shit. I love people commiting suicide in third world countries because corporations like Apple and Wal Mart won't give them basic human rights.

But all of those feelings would somehow go away if I, being a self-absorbed jackass, made money off the Wall Street casino after being a bureaucrat for some faceless do-nothing company. Because all that really matters is me. The enslavement of the planet for my cushy lifestyle is of no concern.

Now I understand why you love capitalism so much. "

-So you're not a fan per se, I respect that. But there's companies that make good stuff out there. I don't know, go work for a company that prints and sells (educational) books for children, or cleaner cars. See if it suits you. And get the fuck elected, you're a good debater! And you'll become an even better debater against capitalism if you showed that you can get along with the system but genuinely don't like it.

I dunno, perhaps you'll even move to social-democracy after seeing stuff. It could all happen. America is the land of oppurtunity and the only oppurtunity you seem to be taking is complaining about it!

The fact is, Capitalism is the only system that:
1) is moral
2) works in real life
3) plays to all strengths of humans, not weaknesses

If someone disagrees, I might actually back these up...

what is meant by 'capitalism' the word to me sounds like the ability for people to own the means of production. so you can have 'state-capitalism'. maybe the better suggestion is for him to strive for a free market. because just allowing people to own the means of production does not mean that the government won't just take property from some and give to others (eg eminent domain, bailouts).

i agree that the free market, as a general rule is more moral and realistic than the other options proposed. but even the free market will eventually have condensed wealth, and a few haves with a lot of have-nots. so you need some kind of cap on it. and i would propose that a communitarian society, where people set laws in their own communities (so if they don't grant corporations freedom from liability or lower taxes or if they don't want a walmart they can ban it) can sometimes be more fair that state-enforced capitalism.

"The fact is, Capitalism is the only system that:
1) is moral"

wat

"what is meant by 'capitalism' the word to me sounds like the ability for people to own the means of production."

lol

That way it sounds like capitalism is the only true form of communism. :D

laissez faire capitalism is probably what you are referring to, and it is a mess. There are a lot of market failures that need to be addressed in pure unregulated capitalism. Or, were you talking about something else?

Also, there isn't really any implementation of laissez faire capitalism.