Recall this image from the home page:


Certainly, it sounds nice when we say, "If we don't increase funding for our schools, children won't have the resources they NEED to learn! There is no other way." It is what we call a feel-good argument; that is, it has no real merit, but it makes you feel like a good person. Anyone who doesn't agree with this idea is indicted as being anti-school.

However, we can and should look at this objectively. The United States, as the above graph demonstrates, spen...
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UPDATE: A PDF of this post is now available in the Essays section

A brief comment on goals:

Goals are good,
Goals are nice,
The means themselves just don't suffice.

The goal of the introduction is to catch your attention. Every good writer knows this. One method (or means) of creating an effective introduction might be to write a nice poem. Poems are great, if you're into that sort of thing. But what happens if I focus my attention on making my introduction rhyme? Certainly, 'nice' and 'suffice' d...
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