[geeks] $100 One Laptop Per Child - grist for the mill

[Geoffrey S. Mendelson]

On Sat, Nov 18, 2006 at 04:44:59PM -0800, William Kirkland wrote:
> no, you have missed my point, food, water, shelter and basic security  
> (the security to know that food water shelter will be here tomorrow  
> too) have a much higher priority, without which education will be  
> difficult.
> 
> Education *is* important, though there are basic needs which have  
> priority, just so that the potential students will learn. Until those  
> needs have been addressed, one may find a tree would make a better  
> student.

You are making two assumptions that are incorrect IMHO:

1. There is no one that needs the education that is not already
   secure and at the subsistance level or better unfed.

2. You need to use the $100 laptops to educate everyone in a village.

If you gave everyone  who had security, shelter and food that needed
education a $100 laptop, you would need billions of them.

If you gave one person in each village a laptop, they could use the education
to help provide the basic needs of the village.

It's not all or nothing, there is lots of in betweens.

Geoff.


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