I finally got around to hearing it (on youtube) and this was my favorite part:
Education — education is the civil rights issue of this century.
Equal access to public education has been gained, but what is the value of access to a failing school? We need…
We need to shake up failed school bureaucracies with competition, empower parents with choice.
Let’s remove barriers to qualified instructors, attract and reward good teachers, and help bad teachers find another line of work.
When a public school fails to meet its obligations to students, parent — when it fails to meet its obligations to students, parents deserve a choice in the education of their children. And I intend to give it to them.
Some may choose a better public school. Some may choose a private one. Many will choose a charter school. But they will have the choice, and their children will have that opportunity.
Sen. Obama wants our schools to answer to unions and entrenched bureaucrats. I want schools to answer to parents and students.
And when I’m president, they will.
The full speech can be found here.
My favorite part was when it was over!
I actually suspect McCain’s speech was very effective. After all the craziness of Romney, Giuliani and Graham, I think McCain did an excellent job of convincing regular Americans that McCain is not one of them. His speech delivery is never good, but the calming effect of having someone who isn’t implicitly (and angrily) calling the Democrats baby-killers and traitors really cannot be over-estimated.
Just my opinion as a “regular American”. I could be wrong.
This was my favorite part:
If you find faults with our country, make it a better one. If you’re disappointed with the mistakes of government, join its ranks and work to correct them. Enlist in our Armed Forces. Become a teacher. Enter the ministry. Run for public office. Feed a hungry child. Teach an illiterate adult to read. Comfort the afflicted. Defend the rights of the oppressed. Our country will be the better, and you will be the happier. Because nothing brings greater happiness in life than to serve a cause greater than yourself.
I think that idealism without altruism is empty rhetoric. The last sentence in this passage makes that point.
I don’t like it - if altruism is your goal, don’t do it through the least efficient means possible - the government - do it through charities, or Churches, or other means where the efficiency is much higher.
Altruism without results is just as empty.
Hmmmm…I re-read the passage to be sure I understood the gist of the message and deconstructed it using your analysis.
Least efficient: government service, armed forces, public office
More efficient: enter the ministry, feed a hungry child (I assume through charitable means), teach an illiterate adult to read (volunteer service?), comfort the afflicted (church volunteer?), defend the rights of the oppressed (individual initiative), become a teacher (this one could go either way in my estimation).
By my count, only 3 of the 9 suggestions were slanted towards the least efficient manner for producing results. I took that passage as a call for participation in something greater than oneself and in a manner that would produce results.
I do agree with your observation that altruism without results is an empty gesture. I can’t decide which is worse, investing resources without results, or talking about “how it oughta be!” without taking any action.