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So government is speding on high-tech start-ups, to (hopefully) create jobs presumably for foreign educated workers, since school budgets are cut savagely. Don'

So government is speding on high-tech start-ups, to (hopefully) create jobs presumably for foreign educated workers, since school budgets are cut savagely. Don't get me wrong, I am all for small government, I just believe they are forgetting their primary objectives in particular the educaton of children.

toyg 15y ago
Oh, I'm sure Eton will still take care of that like they've done in the past. </snark> Jokes aside, it's a fact that politicians cannot look further than the next round of elections. This is even more so for this particular government, which will likely be wiped out the map in large parts of the country as soon as people get the chance to vote. So they're trying to boost numbers in the short term, because in the long run they won't be in power anyway. The funniest thing is that it's not even working: we're now officially back into recession, and as much as I love startupping, I don't think we can go from here to Silicon-Valley status in 6 months -- because that's the sort of scale the UK economy needs right now to compensate for the rest of the economy tanking.
- ktizo 15y ago
  Putting money into startups isn't going to sway me given the other changes brought in. Sure, this government has done many things I can take advantage of. For instance, if I set up a holding company on the Isle of Man for any work I do in the UK, I now only have to pay around 2% tax on UK profits as an independent contractor. And this is not tax avoidance, it is the official recommendation from the government. However while this is individually wonderful for my pocket, it does absolutely nothing for the society of which I am a part. You could argue that it will due to the trickle down effects of me having more cash, but given how I spend my cash in this global economy, any trickle down is likely to go towards large corporations that produce computer technology, so is really more of a trickle up instead.
ed209 15y ago
Don't forget that part of the solution to education is role-models. You can teach all you want, but if kids ain't interested - they ain't interested. High tech startups (and when they are seen by the public to be successful) are good role models covering entrepreneurship, engineering, design etc. So I'd argue that putting money into science, tech, entrepreneurship _is_ doing good for the education of our children. (I'd rather my daughter looked up to the likes of notch than some x-factor winner). Listen to Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson on NASA whose budget could equally be spent on education, welfare etc full episode at 34m 30s http://www.theverge.com/2012/3/28/2909148/on-the-verge-episode-004-dr-neil-degrasse-tyson http://www.theverge.com/2012/3/28/2909148/on-the-verge-episo...
- stygianguest 15y ago
  Not to disagree with you, more thinking out loud. Shouldn't teachers provide the primary role model? In stead, teaching has become a profession for losers. The status and quality of teaches have all gone down consistently during the last 20-30 years. Children's first role-models should be the best of the best. And, to disagree with you a bit anyway. I have the feeling that the example set by start-up role-models is more of the make-lotsa-money-fast kind, than the technical kind. Maybe that's not mutually exclusive, but I remain sceptical.

toyg 15y ago

Oh, I'm sure Eton will still take care of that like they've done in the past. </snark> Jokes aside, it's a fact that politicians cannot look further than the next round of elections. This is even more so for this particular government, which will likely be wiped out the map in large parts of the country as soon as people get the chance to vote. So they're trying to boost numbers in the short term, because in the long run they won't be in power anyway. The funniest thing is that it's not even working: we're now officially back into recession, and as much as I love startupping, I don't think we can go from here to Silicon-Valley status in 6 months -- because that's the sort of scale the UK economy needs right now to compensate for the rest of the economy tanking.

ktizo 15y ago
Putting money into startups isn't going to sway me given the other changes brought in. Sure, this government has done many things I can take advantage of. For instance, if I set up a holding company on the Isle of Man for any work I do in the UK, I now only have to pay around 2% tax on UK profits as an independent contractor. And this is not tax avoidance, it is the official recommendation from the government. However while this is individually wonderful for my pocket, it does absolutely nothing for the society of which I am a part. You could argue that it will due to the trickle down effects of me having more cash, but given how I spend my cash in this global economy, any trickle down is likely to go towards large corporations that produce computer technology, so is really more of a trickle up instead.

ed209 15y ago

Don't forget that part of the solution to education is role-models. You can teach all you want, but if kids ain't interested - they ain't interested. High tech startups (and when they are seen by the public to be successful) are good role models covering entrepreneurship, engineering, design etc. So I'd argue that putting money into science, tech, entrepreneurship _is_ doing good for the education of our children. (I'd rather my daughter looked up to the likes of notch than some x-factor winner). Listen to Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson on NASA whose budget could equally be spent on education, welfare etc full episode at 34m 30s http://www.theverge.com/2012/3/28/2909148/on-the-verge-episode-004-dr-neil-degrasse-tyson http://www.theverge.com/2012/3/28/2909148/on-the-verge-episo...

stygianguest 15y ago
Not to disagree with you, more thinking out loud. Shouldn't teachers provide the primary role model? In stead, teaching has become a profession for losers. The status and quality of teaches have all gone down consistently during the last 20-30 years. Children's first role-models should be the best of the best. And, to disagree with you a bit anyway. I have the feeling that the example set by start-up role-models is more of the make-lotsa-money-fast kind, than the technical kind. Maybe that's not mutually exclusive, but I remain sceptical.