4 ms·

Small government for topics we don't care about, like education. Big government for agendas that we're pushing. (and when we say 'pushing' we mean 'planning t

Small government for topics we don't care about, like education. Big government for agendas that we're pushing. (and when we say 'pushing' we mean 'planning to profit from').

fastball 5mo ago
Not sure I follow. What happened to student attainment after the DoEd was introduced?
- BLKNSLVR 5mo ago
  https://www.npr.org/2025/11/18/nx-s1-5607221/education-department-trump https://www.npr.org/2025/11/18/nx-s1-5607221/education-depar... https://www.ed.gov/about/initiatives/returning-education-states https://www.ed.gov/about/initiatives/returning-education-sta... https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/11/doge-education-department-cuts-trump https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/11/doge-educati... https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-12/us-education-department-to-cut-half-its-staff-trump-doge/105042214 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-12/us-education-departme...
  - fastball 5mo ago
    Right, but you didn't answer my question. How are you measuring impact of the DoEd?
  - thesmtsolver2 5mo ago
    https://edsource.org/2024/california-should-follow-mississippis-lead-on-reading-instruction/706540 https://edsource.org/2024/california-should-follow-mississip... https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/edcast/26/03/what-mississippi-got-right-about-reading https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/edcast/26/03/what-mississi...
- cherry_tree 5mo ago
  [flagged]
  - fastball 5mo ago
    No, I am directly addressing the parent's implication that for things "we care about", small (central) government is somehow bad or a curious choice or hypocrisy. I'd like to make a cleaner point, but the parent itself is very vague.
    - BLKNSLVR 5mo ago
      Republicans / Conservatives, whatever the terminology, generally have an aim of "small government"; minimal intervention. This is not a bad thing in and of itself. I was attempting to point out the hypocrisy that they choose Big Government for specific topics because what they actually want, when they say Small Government, is minimal responsibility for what they consider trivial or politically inert or personally boring, and Big Government when it suits their agenda; when it will score political points or personally profit individuals making the decisions. Specifically denying States the ability to pass laws seems... overtly paranoid. It shows their hand on how desperate they are about US success of AI. As if they know the bubble will inevitably pop and are legislating against the possibility of anyone creating something that might look like a pin, so as to delay the pop until, hopefully, after the next election.
    - cherry_tree 5mo ago
      [flagged]
      - fastball 5mo ago
        Believing government should be big for some things and small for others is not intrinsically hypocrisy.
        BLKNSLVR 5mo ago
        No, that's fair enough, and probably the correct answer overall: Find the size that best fits the "thing". Hypocrisy is invoked, however, when a party that rallies around "small government" as core to their ideology legislates in a "big government" fashion to such an extent that it is to explicitly prevent "small government" behaviour (ie. allowing states to make their own decisions). What this does it totally and completely give their game away: They're betting the farm on AI (currently synonymous with US Big Tech).
rayiner 5mo ago
> Small government for topics we don't care about, like education. Every federal system has a division of responsibility between the federal government and sub-national governments. And education is assigned to the sub-national governments not just in the U.S., but in other federal systems: Canada, Germany, Switzerland, etc. Switzerland, for example, doesn't even have a federal ministry of education: https://www.aboutswitzerland.eda.admin.ch/en/switzerlands-education-system https://www.aboutswitzerland.eda.admin.ch/en/switzerlands-ed....
- em-bee 5mo ago
  the distributed responsibility for education in germany was expressly designed that way to prevent national indoctrination.
  - rayiner 5mo ago
    Education is considered a local issue pretty much everywhere. Even Sweden, which is a unitary state the size of Virginia, has principles of decentralization that places primary responsibility for education in the municipal governments.

Small government for topics we don't care about, like education. Big government for agendas that we're pushing. (and when we say 'pushing' we mean 'planning to profit from').

fastball 5mo ago

Not sure I follow. What happened to student attainment after the DoEd was introduced?

BLKNSLVR 5mo ago
https://www.npr.org/2025/11/18/nx-s1-5607221/education-department-trump https://www.npr.org/2025/11/18/nx-s1-5607221/education-depar... https://www.ed.gov/about/initiatives/returning-education-states https://www.ed.gov/about/initiatives/returning-education-sta... https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/11/doge-education-department-cuts-trump https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/11/doge-educati... https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-12/us-education-department-to-cut-half-its-staff-trump-doge/105042214 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-12/us-education-departme...
- fastball 5mo ago
  Right, but you didn't answer my question. How are you measuring impact of the DoEd?
- thesmtsolver2 5mo ago
  https://edsource.org/2024/california-should-follow-mississippis-lead-on-reading-instruction/706540 https://edsource.org/2024/california-should-follow-mississip... https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/edcast/26/03/what-mississippi-got-right-about-reading https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/edcast/26/03/what-mississi...
cherry_tree 5mo ago
[flagged]
- fastball 5mo ago
  No, I am directly addressing the parent's implication that for things "we care about", small (central) government is somehow bad or a curious choice or hypocrisy. I'd like to make a cleaner point, but the parent itself is very vague.
  - BLKNSLVR 5mo ago
    Republicans / Conservatives, whatever the terminology, generally have an aim of "small government"; minimal intervention. This is not a bad thing in and of itself. I was attempting to point out the hypocrisy that they choose Big Government for specific topics because what they actually want, when they say Small Government, is minimal responsibility for what they consider trivial or politically inert or personally boring, and Big Government when it suits their agenda; when it will score political points or personally profit individuals making the decisions. Specifically denying States the ability to pass laws seems... overtly paranoid. It shows their hand on how desperate they are about US success of AI. As if they know the bubble will inevitably pop and are legislating against the possibility of anyone creating something that might look like a pin, so as to delay the pop until, hopefully, after the next election.
  - cherry_tree 5mo ago
    [flagged]
    - fastball 5mo ago
      Believing government should be big for some things and small for others is not intrinsically hypocrisy.
      - BLKNSLVR 5mo ago
        No, that's fair enough, and probably the correct answer overall: Find the size that best fits the "thing". Hypocrisy is invoked, however, when a party that rallies around "small government" as core to their ideology legislates in a "big government" fashion to such an extent that it is to explicitly prevent "small government" behaviour (ie. allowing states to make their own decisions). What this does it totally and completely give their game away: They're betting the farm on AI (currently synonymous with US Big Tech).

rayiner 5mo ago

> Small government for topics we don't care about, like education. Every federal system has a division of responsibility between the federal government and sub-national governments. And education is assigned to the sub-national governments not just in the U.S., but in other federal systems: Canada, Germany, Switzerland, etc. Switzerland, for example, doesn't even have a federal ministry of education: https://www.aboutswitzerland.eda.admin.ch/en/switzerlands-education-system https://www.aboutswitzerland.eda.admin.ch/en/switzerlands-ed....

em-bee 5mo ago
the distributed responsibility for education in germany was expressly designed that way to prevent national indoctrination.
- rayiner 5mo ago
  Education is considered a local issue pretty much everywhere. Even Sweden, which is a unitary state the size of Virginia, has principles of decentralization that places primary responsibility for education in the municipal governments.