An important concept behind Liberalism as a theory is that through reason and education, human-kind can overcome any problem. To that end, we know have the $100 laptop for developing countries (but I can't help but thing most of our inner city schools could probably use it first).
The £50 laptop to change the world
"The long awaited $100 (£50) mini-computer from the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative, is aimed at improving the quality of education in developing nations.The XO laptop (its proper name) will be sold...to the governments of developing nations in bulk and then distributed without charge to school-age children.
OLPC insists that “it will come with at least two of three options: a crank, a pedal, or a pull-cord” and children will be able to generate power themselves at a ratio of 10 minutes of use per one minute of manual charging."
5 comments:
This is a great idea, however, I agree that our inner-city schools and our isolated rural schools could use these also. I'm not saying to not give them to developing countries, just that there is no reason why they shouldn't be made available here also.
Josh Evirs
389
right or wrong, OLPC's will not be in USA schools
I'm pretty sure the kids there would rather have food than a piece of plastic. Also a stable living enviorenment would also be nice. Won't be long before these are seized by a certain group and traded or sold for Ak-47's.
I don't think a child in the worst possible enviorenment in this nation has it nearly as bad as those living in certain parts of Africa. At least there is food that you can actually obtain. No one is wiping out your entire village.
I'm sure that these laptops were made with good intentions and I hope that they do what is promised but I can't help wonder if we are skipping over some more vital steps.
Let's solve the AIDS, World Peace, and World Hunger problems before we go putting millions into laptops that will eventually fall into the wrong hands.
There is nothing wrong with setting our goals high to achieve World Peace, a cure for AIDS, etc., however this doesn't mean that we shouldn't be willing to accept the small victories. When we set our goals too high and aren't willing to accept anything else, we face the possibility of remaining at a stand still with no progress at all. These computers might not put food on their plate or rid them of any diseases, but they could possibly improve their educational oppurtunities at the very least.
Josh Evirs
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