NorthernGent
Posts: 8730
Joined: 7/10/2006
Status: offline
|
'Definitely addresses the question, Chey. I can relate to the 18 kids. As a rule, Middle Class children have far better foundations to achieve than Working Class children, which they can't grasp as adults because they haven't been brought up in an environment of unemployment/low income, alcoholism, single parent families, a lack of attention, and a lack of a work ethic being instilled. Fortunately, my parents weren't like that, but I was brought up in an area with the highest rate of unemployment in the country, and went to school with children whose homes were a nightmare. These children had more pressing issues than concentrating on studying. It's no coincidence that the schools with the lowest grades are housed in the areas with the highest unemployment, as it breeds alcoholism and a lack of personal pride and ethics (within parents, which is passed down to their children). Obviously, the Middle Class/Working class distinction is a rule, rather than applying across the board.
My strong opinion is that where a person is provided with adequate opportunity i.e. at least one loving parent, and at least some value placed on personal ethics, then there's no excuse for not taking the opportunities to thrive that are available in the West, barring some profound change that has a dramatic effect on the conscience, but, as you say, some children are simply set up to fail and a life of under-achievement.
I know what you mean by "probably never stop". I left University with a Modern History degree, and decided to study for an industry accountant qualification which took me another 4 years of hard studying while in a job of 50/60 hours a week. After 4 years of that, I thought bollocks to all that...time to relax, but it doesn't taken long to start thinking about more learning/another string to the bow/keeping one step ahead of the game etc....within 8 months I'd enrolled for something else. It's hard to fathom, sometimes, but there's so many factors that go towards producing that sort of work ethic...even religious morals play a part, for example, such as Calvinism and Luther (may seem a tenuous link, particularly as I couldn't give a flying one whether or not there's a god, but there's sense in it).
I agree the environment has a major impact.....from the political framework to the climate. An interesting question for me is how much a person exerts his/her will on nature's matter and society's morals......do we create our own ethics/morals or do we take on board the norm? If we think that the very foundations from which we ask questions and discuss answers are bound by the conceptual framework set by a select group of thinkers, then the flow of ideas and the huge influence of a tiny minority of people on the rest of society become apparent.....the English Liberal thinkers of the 18th century, the romanticists across Europe who advocated exerting themselves on society rather than being bound by society's morals (which today seems obvious, but it was a breathtaking concept 250 years ago). Machiavelli, Aristotle, Christian morality etc...all of these shape the conceptual framework in which we think. Without the guidance of these people, we would be viewing our place in the world in a completely different manner, and acting accordingly.
I won't attempt to pass opinions on your submission, with the exception of saying I'm sure it's appreciated :-)
_____________________________
I have the courage to be a coward - but not beyond my limits.
Sooner or later, the man who wins is the man who thinks he can.
|
RE: Environment or/and Self? - 
Profile
New Messages
No New Messages
Hot Topic w/ New Messages
Hot Topic w/o New Messages
Locked w/ New Messages
Locked w/o New Messages
Post New Thread