Tainted conceptions of socialism

There's one word in my title that would jump out and suddenly create judgements and that is socialism. Now I don't want to argue for or even against socialism but rather look at it as a whole and its reactions from it.

I wish to start from the simple statement that the word socialism has become a word that people wish to avoid to associate themselves. This is understandable considering some of its theories have had serious implications, as shown in events such as the Cold War. 

However, I do not wish to go into historical debate but these events have shaped our views towards socialism. Now what are these views? I believe that I do not need to say as widespread this stereotype is, it is implanted into anyone interested in politics. This stereotype of socialism is that it is a threat to our freedom, security and something to be feared. I agree that a small minority is something we should not adopt by the 'left.' However there is a small minority of the right we should not adopt as we have seen with the rise of fascism. But I ask why is the concept of socialism seen as dirty, whereas conservatism is seen as a perfectly plausible.

The reason I believe is the use of propaganda, purposely aiming to taint the concept of socialism by associating it with tragic and awful events caused by unjustified use of power. If however such propaganda was used to taint conservatism then it would succeed, but why?

Well those to the right of the political spectrum tend to have money and power or aspire to have money or power. Therefore they have the willingness and resources to produce this propaganda to enforce a hatred towards a political ideal they do not agree with.

I shall conclude that socialism is a political concept we should not stamp out, reject or hate, neither should we fully accept it but see it as a perfectly reasonable conception of politics. Socialism has shed new light on social responsibility, equal opportunities and has challenged the existing power relations. Therefore if the new age of neo-liberalism/neo-conservatism has been brought about by the manipulation of a political concept, then we must reverse this propaganda to establish a political spectrum that has equal weighting. Otherwise we would end up with a political consensus that would lead to a more unjust weighting in power leading to the more extreme right.

Who's topped the maths tables? - Does it really matter?

I agree that Maths is important and a key aspect of your future, however this differs from the importance of Maths tables by country. I feel that while this country should improve its scores for maths, it should be given no more a priority over English, Science or even History.

While it may seem that we have truly been whooped by Asia's rankings in the Maths league tables, this does not show that it has the best education system. I believe that in such countries such as Shanghai there has been an over emphasis on Maths whereas skills such as analytic skills, essay writing, communication and teamwork etc. have been neglected. Therefore, we must not follow suit into this one subject specialisation to pamper up our education system but rather it excel in a wide range of subjects not the few/one.

Furthermore, should we want to have a high statistic on pupils grades, that would be simple, make all education private and make it so that only the wealthiest can afford education (assuming that low income correlates negatively on grades.) But clearly this seems wrong, and it is! So why obsess over statistics (as much as they can be helpful) and not take a step back and view it as a whole.

I believe that while improvement shouldn't go a miss in the education system, we should not feel urge to leap forward into one subject specialisation as people are better at different things and we need future employers/employee's to have a range of skills, not just the one.