Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Just enjoying my lazy Saturday and then I came across this article:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/nickmorrison/2016/11/29/far-east-strengthens-grip-on-math-science-rankings-u-s-students-slip-further-behind/

It looks like we are (North Americans) are getting our behinds handed to us by the hard working kids in Asia.

More power to them but what can we do to improve our situation?

If this trend continues, there is no doubt in my mind that we will fall behind in Science and Technology.

Is there something we can do to create more 'innovators'. We have Elon Musk but it wouldn't hurt to have a few of him.

Every time a politician offers tax cuts, dont vote for them.

We slash the budget to the CSIRO* every few years and each time we do, we trim off a bit of our future.

We do the same for education and other special programs that make for a brighter future for our kids.

Most people take self interest and a few extra dollars in their pocket every time, when the reality is that the world in general is a better place if you invest in the future and spend as much as you can on anyone looking for education, or anyone doing anything innovative.

I dont have kids.



The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation is the federal government agency for scientific research in Australia. Its chief role is to improve the economic and social performance of industry, for the benefit of the community. Wikipedia

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My system

120 THINGS IN 20 YEARS - My blog about my learning adventure

My skills include being able to move slowly forward in time, and if I really concentrate, I can sometimes tell what I'm thinking.

Could bring out my soapbox on this issue, but I'm not going to. In my opinion, the basis of the education issues begin at home with discipline and motivation. Throwing money at the issue only enriches the administration. Would be nice if more people took personal responsibility instead of looking for someone else to blame things on........and not just in education.

I agree I teach my children to work hard and study hard....we get upset with B's from our oldest however we are not too hard on her we let her know she can do better and she does. I think also some problems are the "entitlement" many feel they have. I was taught your not entitled squat but you earn what you have and nobody can take that from you. Now kids feel they are just entitled stuff. But that's just my .02

I think a lot of hard working people fail because they don't fit in with the values of the system and it's not enough just to work hard and study hard. Many others fail for health reasons and others reasons. I'm using fail in the monetary sense because in my opinion these people are often a success in other ways and like it or not our society perceives those with money as successful.

In so far as kids are concerned, I think it's a matter of giving them hope and some motivation although some will never get it. Show them that it is possible to succeed and show them how and I think you might be surprised. I think Financial Independence (FI) should be a goal that's suggested early on and they should be given the tools to understand how to accomplish this, whether they do so by living frugally and saving or by making bundles of money and saving. Other than that the only thing I wish for them is happiness. Once they reach FI they can do whatever they want so the earlier they get started the earlier this happens. College education doesn't necessarily get you to FI faster than other options but these are the kind of things you can figure out - do I become a plumber or a nuclear scientist .

This might be of interest but obviously won't apply to everyone, it's just to give you an idea - https://networthify.com/calculator/earlyretirement?income=50000&initialBalance=0&expenses=20000&annualPct=5&withdrawalRate=4

hit the head of the nail there...I couldn't have said it better its like you read my mind. even though I might have worded it wrong. I am all about FI and not being dependate on outside means I try to live as self sufficant as possible. Like I tell my kids, work to live not live to work. meaning the work we do around our homestead benefits us in return and not just monetarly.

this from Bullwinkle has got me going

[[We slash the budget to the CSIRO* every few years and each time we do, we trim off a bit of our future.]]
Some areas of the csiro do good work
But a bloke I know[ neighbour] for the last 2 and a 1/2 years is studying meat [if you feed animals different grain ect do you get better meat]
I can imagine a farmer being told to feed his animals different stuff to get better quality meat
Most meat production is quantity not quality I may be wrong [I often am]

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If it/s free pick it up
If it isent broke dont fix it

There are around 350,000 results for a google search of "CSIRO meat"

I'm guessing they are working on quite a few different things (obviously not all of those hits are meaningful).

I had a Wagyu cheeseburger at the Lion Hotel in Adelaide on Tuesday night that was truly amazing. I doubt the CSIRO is ignoring Wagyu beef.

(there are only 7770 search results on google for the words CSIRO and Wagyu beef)

But I do get your point. I can raise a meat bird (chicken) to market size on nothing but white rice - the result is it's pretty much white rice turned into protein, with all the nutrient (or lack of nutrients) you expect from white rice)

There was a time when chicken was a good source of Omega Three Fatty Acids.

A chook raised in your backyard on veggie scraps, and whatever they find in your lawn probably still is.

The CSIRO would be concentrating on mass producing low value/quality protein, high value/quality protein, and everything else there is a market for.

At least they should be if there is any research required for it, and they have the cash to do it.

I often buy the least expensive chicken thigh Coles can provide, because that's what I can afford at those times. Other times I buy a tiny cheeseburger for $16

If you look into what the cost of a loaf of bread would be if not for the efforts of research bodies like the CSIRO , you'll find it will be around $7 as of last time I spoke to my brother (when he was working peas).

There's nothing quite like planting millions of seeds under stringent test environments that check yields under different soil types and moisture conditions to move a crop ahead in terms of yield. - Except for genetic modification.

Farmers have been doing it for ages quite well. But nothing like a well funded body like the CSIRO can do.

Natural selection doesn't come close to what a well funded research body can do.

Not even close.

As always, it's up to we voters to decide what the priorities are. Vote for monkeys, and you get really big peanuts that dont necessarily have any real value.

just my 2 cents worth

_________________
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My system

120 THINGS IN 20 YEARS - My blog about my learning adventure

My skills include being able to move slowly forward in time, and if I really concentrate, I can sometimes tell what I'm thinking.

Elon Musk? oh no please...

What I wanted to see is for people around the world to cooperate not compete so that no one falls behind and everyone will be happy going easy go lucky.