Leigh, if you're determined to lose a debate by descending into abuse, at least try to make it clever, incisive abuse.

If everyone is worried so much about the disintegration (or metamorphis, for some) of our education system, why not buck it and HOMESCHOOL?

Yeah I know..you have a big mortgage, you have a root canal bill to pay...can't afford to stay home and educate the kids...blah blah blah

I get really annoyed when people whinge about a system designed to be convenient for the masses...if you are so individual, why not take the less worn, but equally legally entitled to...path. After all, everyone on this forum likes to think they are intellectual, don't they?

Supposedly this is what democracy is? Choosing your own (or your childrens) individual path?

Secretly...I have my doubts as to what "democracy" actually means.

Thanks for reading :)

Bill Gates flipped burgers, once.

It seems he did quite well out of the experience.

The article above seems to me yet another "kick then Yanks" effort which also implys that Australia's present immigration program is good for Australia. Please note that the author of this article studiously avoids any mention of race, probably because she another one who believes in the equality of the human race.

A completely different explanation as to why Australians may be more upwardly mobile that Americans, is because we have considerably less proportions of troublesome ethnic minorities than the yanks.

The growing proportions of negroes and Hispanics in US society are noted for their low educational attainment levels and poor grades, even though US schools have been integrated by "bussing" for decades. I submit that this tends to reinforce the fact that these two miniorities are not as smart as whites and Asians.

If Australia is beginning to follow the US lead where the population is becoming less upwardly mobile, the explanation may be that we are now importing some of the same ethnic groups who have been such a drag on US society. Although there may be smart people among these ethnic groups who do socialise and can be accepted in higher society, the proportions of smart to dumb is much lower than for whites and Asians.

As such, most of them start on the botom rung and stay there, creating ethnic ghettoes noted for their high levels of welfare dependency and serious crime.

The author seems to forget that since the abolition of the White Australia Policy, the same phenomonon is happening in Australia.

You've chosen an apt name, redneck.

Plus, you ignore the fact that the article is about the upwardly mobile - and in terms of numbers, the races you mention, start at the bottom rung of the ladder and have more of a distance to climb.

Plus, with many people holding repugnant perceptions such as yours in private, of course it's harder for them.

I have an appropriate name, have I TLTR? Struth, if I was to label poor black people with a disparaging name like "niggers" and then stereotype them as stupid and ignorant, people like you would run around in red faced apoplexy saying that I am a racist.

But people like yourself, have exactly the same views about poor white people. You label them with a disparaging name like "rednecks" and stereotype them as stupid and ignorant. In other words, TLTR, you are just as racist as I am, but you can not see the contradiction in your own logic.

You know, I once was just as anti racist as you think you are. But unlike you, I was smart enough to see the contradiction. We live in a world where educated and supposedly intelligent young people have ben conditioned to believe that anything that ever went wrong with the black races was all the fault of white people.

Examine the logic of any of the so called anti racist, Howard, Bush, USA and white hating ideologues, and it all boils down to that. Of course, suggesting that white people are to blame for everything is racist, but once again, people like you cannot see the contradiction because of your ideological blinkers.

This is my first exchange with you, and I am heartened that you have already put your foot in your mouth. I rate you as easy meat, and I am glad you are on the supposely "anti racist" side and not on mine.

Intellectual entry standards for those who aspire to be evaluated as "anti racist" do not appear to be very high.